Geologic, fluid inclusion, and isotopic studies of the Findlay Arch district, northwestern Ohio

Journal Article · · Economic Geology (plus the Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2113/gsecongeo.89.1.67· OSTI ID:7233585

Carlson, E H ^[1]

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1. Kent State Univ., OH (United States). Dept. of Geology

The Findlay Arch district is a cluster of noneconomic, carbonate-hosted mineral occurrences centered in northwestern Ohio. T[sub h] and T[sub m] measurements of fluid inclusions in fluorite and sphalerite indicate that these minerals were precipitated from a warm Na-Ca-Cl brine, likely derived from the northern Appalachian basin. The flow path is inferred from westward-diminishing salinity values the are documented in successive generations of inclusions. The dominant thermal trend was a regional temperature plateau that peaked at about 110 C. Thermal and salinity data imply the flow system developed during the Alleghenian orogeny when burial depth of host rocks was at a maximum and when the brine was diluted isothermally as it migrated westward across the arch. Similar sulfur isotope compositions in sphalerite and galena show that these sulfides are genetically related. These data generally agree with sulfur compositions of late Paleozoic seawater sulfate, which is consistent with an Alleghenian age for the Findlay arch sulfur source. Lead isotope compositions of galena (Haden, 1977) fall in the field of the Appalachian ores and diagenetic galena, indicating further that nonradiogenic Paleozoic sedimentary rocks to the east were the likely source of lead. Brown calcite in veins associated with the Bowling Green fault zone contains strontium that is slightly radiogenic relative to vug-filling calcite. This, along with the prehydrocarbon age of the brown calcite, indicates that these early veins and the fluorite-sphalerite mineralization are not coeval.

• OSTI ID: 7233585
• Journal Information: Economic Geology (plus the Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists); (United States), Journal Name: Economic Geology (plus the Bulletin of the Society of Economic Geologists); (United States) Vol. 89:1; ISSN 0361-0128; ISSN ECGLAL
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
152004 -- Geothermal Data & Theory-- Isotope & Trace Element Studies
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
CALCITE
CARBONATE MINERALS
CHEMISTRY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GALENA
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOTHERMOMETRY
INCLUSIONS
ISOTOPE RATIO
MINERALIZATION
MINERALS
NORTH AMERICA
OHIO
SPHALERITE
SULFIDE MINERALS
USA