Item talk:Q151887
Brine history indicated by argon, krypton, chlorine, bromine, and iodine analyses of fluid inclusions from the Mississippi Valley type lead-fluorite-barite deposits at Hansonburg, New Mexico
Argon, krypton, chlorine, bromine, and iodine were measured in a homogeneous population of high-salinity hydrothermal fluid inclusions from the Tertiary-age Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) lead-fluorite-barite deposits at Hansonburg, New Mexico to establish new types of evidence for the history of both the fluid and the major dissolved salts. Noble gases and halogens in fluid inclusions containing 10−10–10−9 L of brine (Cl= 3 molal) were analyzed by laser microprobe noble-gas mass spectrometry (lmngms) on neutron-irradiated samples.
The concentrations of36Ar (4.7 × 10−8 molal) and84Kr1.8 × 10−9 molal) in the fluid inclusions are equal to those of fresh surface waters in equilibrium with air at approximately20 ± 5°. The mole ratios ofBr/Cl (1.2 × 10−4) andI/Cl (1–2 × 10−6) are among the lowest measured in any natural waters, similar to those of modern brines formed by dissolution of Permian NaCl-bearing evaporites in southeast New Mexico.40Ar/36Ar ratios (600) are twice that of air, and indicate that the fluid inclusions had excess radiogenic40Ar (1.4 × 10−5 molal) when trapped. The amount of excess40Ar appears to be too large to have been acquired with Cl by congruent dissolution of halite-bearing evaporites, and possibly too small to have been acquired with Pb by congruent dissolution of granitic basement rocks with Proterozoic KFile:Http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/sbndAr ages.
From thelmngms data, combined with published Pb and S isotope data, we infer the following sequence of events in the history of the Hansonburg MVT hydrothermal brine: (1) the brine originated as relatively dilute meteoric water, and it did not gain or lose atmospheric Ar or Kr after recharge; (2) the originally dilute fluid acquired the bulk of its Cl and sulfate in the subsurface after recharge by dissolving halite-bearing Permian? marine evaporites; (3) the high salinity brine then acquired most of its Pb and excess radiogenic40Ar from interactions with aquifer rocks other than evaporites, possibly clastic sedimentary rocks or basement rocks with Phanerozoic KFile:Http://cdn.els-cdn.com/sd/entities/sbndAr “ages”; and (4) the brine deposited fluorite without having boiled or degassed.
