Tectonic and economic implications of trace element, Ar-40/Ar-39 and Sm-Nd data from mafic dykes associated with orogenic gold minerals in central Victoria, Australia : reply
- Authors: Bierlein, Frank , Hughes, Martin , Dunphy, J. , McKnight, Stafford
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Lithos Vol. 63, no. 1-2 (Jul 2002), p. 119-123
- Full Text: false
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Tectonic and economic implications of trace element, Ar-40/Ar-39 and Sm-Nd data from mafic dykes associated with orogenic gold mineralisation in central Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Bierlein, Frank , Hughes, Martin , Dunphy, J. , McKnight, Stafford , Reynolds, P. , Waldron, H.
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Lithos Vol. 58, no. 1-2 (Aug 2001), p. 1-31
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Mafic to intermediate dykes are spatially and temporally closely associated with major post-tectonic granitic complexes in the western Lachlan Orogen of SE Australia. These dykes, which range petrographically from basaltic to andesitic, are concentrated within several, north- to northwest-trending zones and were emplaced during two broad intervals of extensive magmatic activity during the Silurian–Devonian period. Geochemical and Sm–Nd isotopic characteristics of these mafic intrusives are consistent with their formation in a complex subduction-related tectonic setting. Interaction between mantle-wedge material, sinking oceanic crust and input from the overlying continental crust resulted in the petrological and geochemical variations displayed by these and more felsic dykes throughout the study region. Field evidence and 40Ar/39Ar data show that in the eastern part of the Stawell Zone and in the northwest portion of the Bendigo Zone, mafic dyke were intruded between 410 and 400 Ma (Late Silurian/Early Devonian). Further emplacement in the Bendigo Zone and the eastern part of the Melbourne Zone took place at between 375 and 365 Ma (Middle to Late Devonian). Episodic mantle-derived magmatism was possibly related to step-wise rollback, slab detachment or changes in the angle and rate of westward subduction in response to periodically occurring accretionary pulses. A close spatial and temporal relationship also exists between the dykes and orogenic gold mineralisation in the central Victorian gold province. Mafic to intermediate dykes both crosscut, and are host to, mineralisation in a number of goldfields. Although there is little evidence for a direct genetic association, the two processes are linked by the common utilisation of translithospheric structures, which facilitated the rapid ascent into shallow crustal levels of both mantle-derived magma and crustal-scale ore-forming fluid systems. Previous studies have suggested that transfer of heat into the crust via ascending mafic mantle magmas can provide a thermal engine which triggers and sustains extensive crustal melting, thus explaining the commonly observed close association of mafic to intermediate and felsic intrusive suites. This study supports the viability of this mechanism and in addition, indicates that a causal link exists between the formation of mantle magmas in collisional zones and the generation of orogenic gold deposits.
- Description: C1
Evolution of the boundary between the western and central Lachlan Orogen : Implications for tasmanide tectonics
- Authors: Spaggiari, Catherine , Gray, David , Foster, David , McKnight, Stafford
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Earth Sciences Vol. 50, no. 5 (2003), p. 725-749
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- Description: Differences in oblique overprinting, along-strike complexity as well as structural, metamorphic and timing constraints suggest that the boundary between the western and central subprovinces of the Lachlan Orogen, currently designated by the Governor Fault, cannot be a single structure. Previously limited data on the nature and kinematics of the fault/shear systems defining the boundary have led to varying scenarios for the tectonic evolution of the Lachlan Orogen. These scenarios either involve large-scale strike-slip displacement along the boundary with subsequent overthrusting or convergence of oppositely vergent thrust-systems with limited strike-slip translation. Geometrical constraints, fabric chronology and kinematic indicators in both the Mt Wellington (Melbourne Zone) and Governor (Tabberabbera Zone) Fault Zones indicate that maximum displacements relate to thrusting and duplex formation, followed by minor strike-slip faulting perhaps in response to slightly oblique collision of the Melbourne and Tabberabbera structural zones. Collision of these zones took place between ca 400 and 390 Ma. At Howqua, structural relationships indicate that collision involved northeast-directed thrusting of the Melbourne Zone (Mt Wellington Fault Zone) over the Tabberabbera Zone (Governor Fault Zone), and was followed by regional, northwest-trending, open folding. These structures overprint the dominant fabrics and metamorphic assemblages that are interpreted to relate to disruption and underthrusting of Cambrian oceanic/arc crust during closure of a marginal basin. Major deformation in the Tabberabbera Zone took place from ca 445 Ma and was associated with mélange formation, underplating and imbrication or duplexing (Governor Fault Zone, East Howqua segmennt). At slightly higher crustal levels, and following deposition of Upper Ordovician black shale and chert sequences (ca 440 Ma), Tabberabbera Zone evolution included offscraping of a serpentinite body (Dolodrook segment) that may have been either a Marianas-style seamount or transform fault zone within the Cambrian oceanic/arc crust. Major thrusting in the Mt Wellington Fault Zone was underway sometime after ca 420 Ma, and in contrast to the Governor Fault Zone, no mélange or broken formation was produced, metamorphism was at slightly higher temperatures and deformation probably occurred under higher strain states.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000547
Leven Star deposit: An example of Middle to Late Devonian intrusion-related gold systems in the western Lachlan Orogen, Victoria
- Authors: Whittam, R. R. , Bierlein, Frank , McKnight, Stafford
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Earth Sciences Vol. 53, no. 2 (2006), p. 343-362
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- Description: This study documents an example of atypical gold mineralisation in the central Victorian gold province of the western Lachlan Orogen, Australia. Unlike the vast majority of orogenic gold deposits in this region, the Leven Star deposit at Malmsbury is characterised by a disseminated-stockwork style of mineralisation, a close spatial and temporal association with post-tectonic felsic intrusions, complex alteration characteristics and a Au-As-Sb (±Bi-Te-Cu-Zn-Pb-Sn-W) ore assemblage. In contrast to orogenic-style, metamorphism-related gold mineralisation (ca 440 Ma), which pre-dated magmatism in the western Lachlan Orogen by tens of millions of years, ore formation in the Leven Star deposit was synchronous with, and is paragenetically younger than, Middle to Late Devonian (ca 370 Ma) magmatism. On the basis of these timing relationships, as well as whole-rock geochemistry, and structural, petrographic and fluid-inclusion data, it is suggested that the Leven Star deposit is not orogenic in character and instead should be classified as intrusion-related. © Geological Society of Australia.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001628
Illite crystallinity and the b-spacing values of white micas and their implications for gold mineralisation in the Lachlan Orogen
- Authors: Wilson, C. , McKnight, Stafford , Dugdale, A. , Rawling, T. , Farrar, A. , McKenzie, M. , Melling, W.
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Earth Sciences Vol. 56, no. 8 (2009), p. 1143-1164
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Gold mineralisation in the Lachlan Orogen of western Victoria, is generally hosted in turbidites with very low-grade metamorphic assemblages. Metamorphic data from these turbidites are relatively rare because of the fine-grained nature of the pelitic component and lack of suitable assemblages for thermobarometric estimates. In this study, 'illite crystallinity' (Kubler Index) and b-lattice spacing measurements were carried out on white micas in metapelites, collected from near the inferred western margin of the Selwyn Block, as well as three exploration targets, in an attempt to relate thermal and barometric conditions to mineralisation. Higher-grade (epizone) metamorphic conditions are recorded in sequences west of the Whitelaw Fault and lower-grade (anchizone) metamorphic conditions to the east of the fault. The change from epizonal to anchizonal grade is abrupt, resolved to a distance of a few hundred metres. The b-spacing values change adjacent to the Muckleford Fault. This is due to rocks to the east being exhumed as the edge of the Selwyn Block moved westward during the Middle Devonian Tabberabberan Orogeny at 380Ma. We propose that the juxtaposition of rocks with contrasting thermal and barometric histories represents expression of the upper crustal location of the western margin of the Selwyn Block at the time of peak deformation, at about 440Ma, and this crustal structure controlled the distribution of the major quartz-vein-type gold deposits. The Middle Devonian orogenic activity (380Ma) was accompanied by the formation of disseminated gold deposits such as Fosterville. This represents a mineralising event that overprints the earlier gold deposits in a corridor at least 50km wide and to the west of the Whitelaw Fault, that parallels the margin of the Selwyn Block. The correlation between gold assays and 'illite crystallinity' results, from X-ray diffraction and from short-wave infrared-reflectance field-spectroscopy data, were ambiguous. Kubler Indices are not found to be effective in targeting of mineralisation as the values obtained from the alteration and the host-rock assemblages were similar and reflected the ambient P-T conditions at the time of mineralisation.