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2635 Ma amphibolite facies gold mineralisation near a terrane boundary (suture) on Storø, Nuuk region,southern West Greenland [查看] AllenP.Nutmana、OleChristiansen、ClarkR.L.Friend

Gold on Storø (in the Nuuk region of southern West Greenland) occurs in a slice of strongly deformed, amphibolite facies,Neoarchaean quartzo-feldspathic metasedimentary rocks and amphibolites in tectonic contact with the Eoarchaean Færingehavn terrane and the Meso- to Neoarchaean Akia terrane. The gold is associated with either l¨ollingite (FeAs) + arsenopyrite or pyrrhotite, which belong with the amphibolite facies silicate mineral assemblages. Zircons were U/Pb dated by SHRIMP to constrain the timing of mineralisation. The 2700–2830 Ma oscillatory-zoned, high Th/U volcano-sedimentary zircon as whole grains and cores are interpreted to give the maximum depositional age of the rocks hosting the gold. A granite sheet barren of gold that cuts gold mineralised rocks gives an age of ca. 2550 Ma, which is the absolute minimum age of mineralisation. Metamorphic zircons associated with auriferous arsenopyrite (particularly close to secondary l¨ollingite), pyrrhotite and in the coexisting amphibolite facies silicate minerals were dated in situ, in polished thin sections. These have lower average Th/U and yielded dates of ca. 2635 Ma, which is interpreted as the age of the gold-bearing mineral assemblages and hence probably the mineralisation.Supracrustal packages containing abundant quartzo-feldspathic sedimentary rocks with depositional ages of ca. 2800 Ma and metamorphosed at 2650–2600 Ma also occur as folded tectonic intercalations along the western edge of the Færingehavn terrane south of Storø. Moreover, in the 3080–2960 Ma Kapisilik terrane to the north and east of Storø, high-grade metamorphic events also occurred between 2650 and 2600 Ma. However, the Eoarchaean Færingehavn terrane to the south and east of Storø shows widespread zircon growth and recrystallisation during 2720–2700 Ma regional metamorphism, but not at 2650–2600 Ma. The Storø gold prospect is thus located near an important tectonic terrane boundary (cryptic suture?) between domains with different Neoarchaean metamorphic history. Storø mineralisation at ca. 2635 Ma probably occurred during deformation of this boundary shortly after it was created, and at Storø maybe was focussed in an area of low strain in a major antiform. The general tectonic frameworks for ca. 2635 Ma gold mineralisation on Storø and in the Yilgarn Craton are similar. These gold provinces are compared and contrasted, and the likely reason why so much less gold occurs in the Nuuk region is discussed.