Two brecciated shear zones (NNW-SSE) are found crosscutting cataclastic rocks. The cataclastic rocks (3.0 km2) occupy the core of the granitic pluton and enclose a roof pendant of mafic-ultramafic rocks. The NNW-SSE-e...Two brecciated shear zones (NNW-SSE) are found crosscutting cataclastic rocks. The cataclastic rocks (3.0 km2) occupy the core of the granitic pluton and enclose a roof pendant of mafic-ultramafic rocks. The NNW-SSE-extending lamprophyre dykes vary in thickness from 0.5 m to 1 m and up to 800 m long, cutting the cataclastic rocks and are composed mainly of plagioclases, amphiboles, relics of pyroxenes and K-feldspar phenocrysts embedded in fine-grained groundmass. They are characterized as being peraluminous, calc-alkaline in composition (chemical trap) and enriched in calcite, sulfide and P2O5. The lamprophyres were affected by hydrothermal alteration (chlorite-carbonate alteration) while the cataclastic rocks were affected by diagenetic alteration (K-feldspar-albite alteration). Uranium mineralization is the product of hydrothermal events and has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), involving primary uranium minerals (U3O8) and secondary uranium minerals (uranophane and beta-uranophane, kasolite, torbernite, autonite and meta-autonite) in addition to U- bearing minerals (astrocyanite, betafite and fergusonite). The presence of different mineral parageneses associated with clay minerals indicates that the lamprophyres were subjected to acidic and alkaline mineralizing solutions. Moreover, the U-Zr/U, U-Ce/U values show negative correlations, confirming U-enrichment in both cataclastic rocks and shear zones while the Th-eU/eTh, Th-Zr/Th and Th-Ce/Th values show negative correlations, indicating that the U-bearing solutions are rich in Th in the cataclastic rocks only.展开更多
The younger granitoids of the Shalatin district in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt, are of biotite and two-mica granite compositions. The geochemistry of rare-earth elements (REE), yttrium, thorium and uranium forms ...The younger granitoids of the Shalatin district in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt, are of biotite and two-mica granite compositions. The geochemistry of rare-earth elements (REE), yttrium, thorium and uranium forms the basis for many important methods to reconstruct igneous petrogenesis. Since the recognition that REE, Y, Th, U-rich accessories may play an important role in controlling the geochemistry of crustal melts, a considerable amount of work has been done in an attempt to understand their effects. However, this effort has been almost exclusively focused on three minerals: zircon, monazite and apatite. Nevertheless, the variety of REE-Th-U-rich accessories in granite rocks are neither limited to these three minerals nor are they always the main REE, Y, Th carriers. The geochemistry of REE, Y, Th and U reflects the behavior of accessories and some key major minerals such as garnet and feldspars, and may therefore give valuable information about the conditions of partial melting, melt segregation and crystallization of granite magmas in different crustal regimes. The geochemistry of U and Th during magmatic differentiation has been studied in many granites from different areas and it has been known that the U and Th contents of granitic rocks generally increase during differentiation, although in some cases they decrease. The Th/U ratio can either increase or decrease, depending on redox conditions, the volatile content or alteration by endogene or supergene solutions. The accessory assemblage of muscovite-rich granites and high-grade rocks is composed of monazite, xenotime, apatite, Th-orthosilicate, secondary U-mineralization and betafite-pyrochlore. REE, Y, Th and U are not suitable for geochemical modeling of granitoids by means of equilibrium-based trace element fractionation equations, but are still useful petrogenetic tools.展开更多
The podiform chromitites occur in a well-preserved mantle sequence consisting of lherzolite-harzburgite with abundant lenses of olivine dunite. The podiform chromitite deposits are common as small and irregularly shap...The podiform chromitites occur in a well-preserved mantle sequence consisting of lherzolite-harzburgite with abundant lenses of olivine dunite. The podiform chromitite deposits are common as small and irregularly shaped masses in the Southeastern Desert (SED) of Egypt. The podiform chromitites exhibit a wide range of compositions from high Cr to high Al varieties. The Cr of chrome spinel ranges from 0.67 to 0.88 in olivine-dunite, quite similar to that of the high-Cr chromitite, whereas it is around 0.62 in lherzolite-harzburgite. Primary hydrous mineral inclusions, amphibole and phlogopite, in chrome spinel have been reported for the first time from the Pan-African Proterozoic podiform chromitites. On the other hand, petrographic and geochemical evidence suggests that podiform chromitites in the SED of Egypt were formed as a result of crystallization of mafic melts, probably of boninitic composition, the boninitic parental magmas were probably produced by a second stage of melting above a subduction zone. Three types of chromite ores can be distinguished within the SED of Egypt: (a) sulphide-poor podiform ores; (b) brecciated ores; and (c) sulphide-rich ores. Two textural types of inclusions in chromite are distinguished: (1) primary silicate inclusions generally have high Mg-number (>96), Cr and Ni, and are dominated by pargasitic amphibole, forsterite, diopside, enstatite and Na-phlogopite. A diversity of primary and secondary platinum group minerals (PGM) is described from the chromitites, including alloys, sulphides, sulpharsenides and arsenides of Ru, Os, Ir, Rh, Ni, Cu, Fe and Co; (2) in addition to primary PGM and hydrous silicates, the fluids are of low to moderate salinity, sodium-dominated aqueous solutions with complex gas contents. Variable amounts of water, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxides and nitrogen have been determined in inclusion-rich samples. The chondrite-normalized PGE patterns of lherzolite-harzburgite and olivine-dunite have negative Ir and Pt, and positive Pd and Au anomalies. Chromitites are homo-geneous in composition but texturally zoned on a large scale. They carry elevated IPGE, manifested in numerous, primary and secondary PGM phases.展开更多
The field relations, mineralogy, and major and trace elements (including REE analyses of whole-rock samples and minerals) of granites and their associated molybdenite + uranium mineralized aplites in Southeastern Dese...The field relations, mineralogy, and major and trace elements (including REE analyses of whole-rock samples and minerals) of granites and their associated molybdenite + uranium mineralized aplites in Southeastern Desert, Egypt, have been studied. The granites are leucocratic and mostly peraluminous in nature with muscovite increasing at the expense of biotite. The chemical and mineralogical characteristics of the granitic rocks indicate that their melts originated from the LILE-enriched mantle wedge by partial melting and are contaminated by crustal melts, followed by thermogravitational processes. Leucogranites with higher Na2O/K2O ratios from Um Dargag and Um Maiat crystallized under H2O-saturated equilibrium conditions in which the exsolved vapor continuously migrated away. The REE patterns of the granites studied are characterized by LREE enrichments and negative Eu anomalies. In comparison, the potassic aplites and the more sodic leucogranites are depleted in LREE, enriched in HREE and show more remarkable negative Eu anomalies. Allanite and monazite are the most important REE carriers in the granites. These minerals are strongly enriched in LREE, whereas fluorite and xenotime, which are more abundant in the aplites, are enriched in HREE. The average Lu/Ce ratio represents the fractionation trend with respect to HREE. It is 0.71 for radioactive fluorite, and it increases to 1.22 for non-radioactive fluorite. The high REE contents of molybdenite represent re-deposition of the mobilized Mo and REE. Due to the strong control of accessory minerals, the REEs are of limited use in petrogenetic modelling of highly evolved granitic systems.展开更多
The Zargat Na’am ring complex crops out 90 km NW of Shalatin City in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt. The ring complex forms a prominent ridge standing high above the surrounding mafic-ultramafic hills. It is cut by...The Zargat Na’am ring complex crops out 90 km NW of Shalatin City in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt. The ring complex forms a prominent ridge standing high above the surrounding mafic-ultramafic hills. It is cut by two sets of joints and faults which strike predominantly NNW-SSE and E-W, and is injected by dikes, porphyritic alkaline syenites, and felsite porphyries. It consists of alkali syenites, alkali quartz syenites, and peralkaline arfvedsonite-bearing granitic and pegmatitic dikes and sills. The complex is characterized locally by extreme enrichments in REEs, wolframite and rare, high field strength metals (HFSM), such as Zr and Nb. The highest concentrations ({1.5} wt% Zr, {0.25} wt% Nb, {0.6} wt% ∑REEs) occur in aegirine-albite aplites that formed around arfvedsonite pegmatites. Quartz-hosted melt inclusions in arfvedsonite granite and pegmatite provide unequivocal evidence that the peralkaline compositions and rare metal enrichments are primary magmatic features. Glass inclusions in quartz crystals also have high concentrations of incompatible trace elements including Nb (750×10+{-6}), Zr (2500×10+{-6}) and REEs (1450×10+{-6}). The REEs, Nb and Zr compositions of the aegirine-albite aplites plot along the same linear enrichment trends as the melt inclusions, and Y/Ho ratios mostly display unfractionated, near-chondritic values. The chemical and textural features of the aegirine-albite aplites are apparently resultant from rapid crystallization after volatile loss from a residual peralkaline granitic melt similar in composition to the melt inclusions.展开更多
The present paper investigates the stream sediment geochemistry, behavior of gold and associated elements, delineates Au-anomalous sites and defines related sources in the Wadi Umm Rilan area. Fifty three major and tr...The present paper investigates the stream sediment geochemistry, behavior of gold and associated elements, delineates Au-anomalous sites and defines related sources in the Wadi Umm Rilan area. Fifty three major and trace elements were analyzed using ICP-MS and treated applying various statistical and mapping techniques. The results showed a significant difference of mean and median Au and most chemical elements in the three portions of the area, and higher values were recorded in the western portion. Furthermore, Au-anomalous sites appeared in upper and lower parts of the Wadi Umm Rilan, along the tributaries of metavolcanic unit and near granitoid contacts. This indicates the main source of Au mineralization is related to emplacement of granitoid plutons and accompanying hydrothermal solutions. There are significant indications for the presence of more than one mineralization event forming a probable single major episode of mineralization in the area, involving Au, Pb and U mineralizations. Geology, geomorphologic aspects and weathering processes could control stream sediment geochemistry, anomalies of Au and associated elements, elemental association and their dispersion patterns. Therefore, the area is fruitful and regarded as a promising target for Au exploration, using Ag, As, Sb, Cd, Cs, and TI as pathfinder elements.展开更多
文摘Two brecciated shear zones (NNW-SSE) are found crosscutting cataclastic rocks. The cataclastic rocks (3.0 km2) occupy the core of the granitic pluton and enclose a roof pendant of mafic-ultramafic rocks. The NNW-SSE-extending lamprophyre dykes vary in thickness from 0.5 m to 1 m and up to 800 m long, cutting the cataclastic rocks and are composed mainly of plagioclases, amphiboles, relics of pyroxenes and K-feldspar phenocrysts embedded in fine-grained groundmass. They are characterized as being peraluminous, calc-alkaline in composition (chemical trap) and enriched in calcite, sulfide and P2O5. The lamprophyres were affected by hydrothermal alteration (chlorite-carbonate alteration) while the cataclastic rocks were affected by diagenetic alteration (K-feldspar-albite alteration). Uranium mineralization is the product of hydrothermal events and has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), involving primary uranium minerals (U3O8) and secondary uranium minerals (uranophane and beta-uranophane, kasolite, torbernite, autonite and meta-autonite) in addition to U- bearing minerals (astrocyanite, betafite and fergusonite). The presence of different mineral parageneses associated with clay minerals indicates that the lamprophyres were subjected to acidic and alkaline mineralizing solutions. Moreover, the U-Zr/U, U-Ce/U values show negative correlations, confirming U-enrichment in both cataclastic rocks and shear zones while the Th-eU/eTh, Th-Zr/Th and Th-Ce/Th values show negative correlations, indicating that the U-bearing solutions are rich in Th in the cataclastic rocks only.
文摘The younger granitoids of the Shalatin district in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt, are of biotite and two-mica granite compositions. The geochemistry of rare-earth elements (REE), yttrium, thorium and uranium forms the basis for many important methods to reconstruct igneous petrogenesis. Since the recognition that REE, Y, Th, U-rich accessories may play an important role in controlling the geochemistry of crustal melts, a considerable amount of work has been done in an attempt to understand their effects. However, this effort has been almost exclusively focused on three minerals: zircon, monazite and apatite. Nevertheless, the variety of REE-Th-U-rich accessories in granite rocks are neither limited to these three minerals nor are they always the main REE, Y, Th carriers. The geochemistry of REE, Y, Th and U reflects the behavior of accessories and some key major minerals such as garnet and feldspars, and may therefore give valuable information about the conditions of partial melting, melt segregation and crystallization of granite magmas in different crustal regimes. The geochemistry of U and Th during magmatic differentiation has been studied in many granites from different areas and it has been known that the U and Th contents of granitic rocks generally increase during differentiation, although in some cases they decrease. The Th/U ratio can either increase or decrease, depending on redox conditions, the volatile content or alteration by endogene or supergene solutions. The accessory assemblage of muscovite-rich granites and high-grade rocks is composed of monazite, xenotime, apatite, Th-orthosilicate, secondary U-mineralization and betafite-pyrochlore. REE, Y, Th and U are not suitable for geochemical modeling of granitoids by means of equilibrium-based trace element fractionation equations, but are still useful petrogenetic tools.
文摘The podiform chromitites occur in a well-preserved mantle sequence consisting of lherzolite-harzburgite with abundant lenses of olivine dunite. The podiform chromitite deposits are common as small and irregularly shaped masses in the Southeastern Desert (SED) of Egypt. The podiform chromitites exhibit a wide range of compositions from high Cr to high Al varieties. The Cr of chrome spinel ranges from 0.67 to 0.88 in olivine-dunite, quite similar to that of the high-Cr chromitite, whereas it is around 0.62 in lherzolite-harzburgite. Primary hydrous mineral inclusions, amphibole and phlogopite, in chrome spinel have been reported for the first time from the Pan-African Proterozoic podiform chromitites. On the other hand, petrographic and geochemical evidence suggests that podiform chromitites in the SED of Egypt were formed as a result of crystallization of mafic melts, probably of boninitic composition, the boninitic parental magmas were probably produced by a second stage of melting above a subduction zone. Three types of chromite ores can be distinguished within the SED of Egypt: (a) sulphide-poor podiform ores; (b) brecciated ores; and (c) sulphide-rich ores. Two textural types of inclusions in chromite are distinguished: (1) primary silicate inclusions generally have high Mg-number (>96), Cr and Ni, and are dominated by pargasitic amphibole, forsterite, diopside, enstatite and Na-phlogopite. A diversity of primary and secondary platinum group minerals (PGM) is described from the chromitites, including alloys, sulphides, sulpharsenides and arsenides of Ru, Os, Ir, Rh, Ni, Cu, Fe and Co; (2) in addition to primary PGM and hydrous silicates, the fluids are of low to moderate salinity, sodium-dominated aqueous solutions with complex gas contents. Variable amounts of water, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxides and nitrogen have been determined in inclusion-rich samples. The chondrite-normalized PGE patterns of lherzolite-harzburgite and olivine-dunite have negative Ir and Pt, and positive Pd and Au anomalies. Chromitites are homo-geneous in composition but texturally zoned on a large scale. They carry elevated IPGE, manifested in numerous, primary and secondary PGM phases.
文摘The field relations, mineralogy, and major and trace elements (including REE analyses of whole-rock samples and minerals) of granites and their associated molybdenite + uranium mineralized aplites in Southeastern Desert, Egypt, have been studied. The granites are leucocratic and mostly peraluminous in nature with muscovite increasing at the expense of biotite. The chemical and mineralogical characteristics of the granitic rocks indicate that their melts originated from the LILE-enriched mantle wedge by partial melting and are contaminated by crustal melts, followed by thermogravitational processes. Leucogranites with higher Na2O/K2O ratios from Um Dargag and Um Maiat crystallized under H2O-saturated equilibrium conditions in which the exsolved vapor continuously migrated away. The REE patterns of the granites studied are characterized by LREE enrichments and negative Eu anomalies. In comparison, the potassic aplites and the more sodic leucogranites are depleted in LREE, enriched in HREE and show more remarkable negative Eu anomalies. Allanite and monazite are the most important REE carriers in the granites. These minerals are strongly enriched in LREE, whereas fluorite and xenotime, which are more abundant in the aplites, are enriched in HREE. The average Lu/Ce ratio represents the fractionation trend with respect to HREE. It is 0.71 for radioactive fluorite, and it increases to 1.22 for non-radioactive fluorite. The high REE contents of molybdenite represent re-deposition of the mobilized Mo and REE. Due to the strong control of accessory minerals, the REEs are of limited use in petrogenetic modelling of highly evolved granitic systems.
文摘The Zargat Na’am ring complex crops out 90 km NW of Shalatin City in the Southeastern Desert of Egypt. The ring complex forms a prominent ridge standing high above the surrounding mafic-ultramafic hills. It is cut by two sets of joints and faults which strike predominantly NNW-SSE and E-W, and is injected by dikes, porphyritic alkaline syenites, and felsite porphyries. It consists of alkali syenites, alkali quartz syenites, and peralkaline arfvedsonite-bearing granitic and pegmatitic dikes and sills. The complex is characterized locally by extreme enrichments in REEs, wolframite and rare, high field strength metals (HFSM), such as Zr and Nb. The highest concentrations ({1.5} wt% Zr, {0.25} wt% Nb, {0.6} wt% ∑REEs) occur in aegirine-albite aplites that formed around arfvedsonite pegmatites. Quartz-hosted melt inclusions in arfvedsonite granite and pegmatite provide unequivocal evidence that the peralkaline compositions and rare metal enrichments are primary magmatic features. Glass inclusions in quartz crystals also have high concentrations of incompatible trace elements including Nb (750×10+{-6}), Zr (2500×10+{-6}) and REEs (1450×10+{-6}). The REEs, Nb and Zr compositions of the aegirine-albite aplites plot along the same linear enrichment trends as the melt inclusions, and Y/Ho ratios mostly display unfractionated, near-chondritic values. The chemical and textural features of the aegirine-albite aplites are apparently resultant from rapid crystallization after volatile loss from a residual peralkaline granitic melt similar in composition to the melt inclusions.
文摘The present paper investigates the stream sediment geochemistry, behavior of gold and associated elements, delineates Au-anomalous sites and defines related sources in the Wadi Umm Rilan area. Fifty three major and trace elements were analyzed using ICP-MS and treated applying various statistical and mapping techniques. The results showed a significant difference of mean and median Au and most chemical elements in the three portions of the area, and higher values were recorded in the western portion. Furthermore, Au-anomalous sites appeared in upper and lower parts of the Wadi Umm Rilan, along the tributaries of metavolcanic unit and near granitoid contacts. This indicates the main source of Au mineralization is related to emplacement of granitoid plutons and accompanying hydrothermal solutions. There are significant indications for the presence of more than one mineralization event forming a probable single major episode of mineralization in the area, involving Au, Pb and U mineralizations. Geology, geomorphologic aspects and weathering processes could control stream sediment geochemistry, anomalies of Au and associated elements, elemental association and their dispersion patterns. Therefore, the area is fruitful and regarded as a promising target for Au exploration, using Ag, As, Sb, Cd, Cs, and TI as pathfinder elements.
