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Uranium scavenging during mineral replacement reactions

  • Kan Li , Allan Pring , Barbara Etschmann , Edeltraud Macmillan , Yung Ngothai , Brian O’Neill , Anthony Hooker , Fred Mosselmans and Joël Brugger EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: August 12, 2015
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American Mineralogist
From the journal American Mineralogist Volume 100 Issue 8-9

Abstract

Interface coupled dissolution-reprecipitation reactions (ICDR) are a common feature of fluid-rock interaction during crustal fluid flow. We tested the hypothesis that ICDR reactions can play a key role in scavenging minor elements by exploring the fate of U during the experimental sulfidation of hematite to chalcopyrite under hydrothermal conditions (220-300 °C). The experiments where U was added, either as solid UO2+x(s) or as a soluble uranyl complex, differed from the U-free experiments in that pyrite precipitated initially, before the onset of chalcopyrite precipitation. In addition, in UO2+x(s)- bearing experiments, enhanced hematite dissolution led to increased porosity and precipitation of pyrite+magnetite within the hematite core, whereas in uranyl nitrate-bearing experiments, abundant pyrite formed initially, before being replaced by chalcopyrite. Uranium scavenging was mainly associated with the early reaction stage (pyrite precipitation), resulting in a thin U-rich line marking the original hematite grain surface. This “line” consists of nanocrystals of UO2+x(s), based on chemical mapping and XANES spectroscopy. This study shows that the presence of minor components can affect the pathway of ICDR reactions. Reactions between U- and Cu-bearing fluids and hematite can explain the Cu-U association prominent in some iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits.

Keywords: Uranium; scavenging; IOCG deposits; experiment; sulfidation reaction; interface coupled dissolution-reprecipitation reactions
Received: 2014-7-13
Accepted: 2015-2-3
Published Online: 2015-8-12
Published in Print: 2015-8-1

© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Data, ideas, and the nature of scientific progress
  2. Beyond the equilibrium paradigm: How consideration of kinetics enhances metamorphic interpretation
  3. Magmatic volatiles (H, C, N, F, S, Cl) in the lunar mantle, crust, and regolith: Abundances, distributions, processes, and reservoirs
  4. The mafic component of the lunar crust: Constraints on the crustal abundance of mantle and intrusive rock, and the mineralogy of lunar anorthosites
  5. Degassing pathways of Cl-, F-, H-, and S-bearing magmas near the lunar surface: Implications for the composition and Cl isotopic values of lunar apatite
  6. Uranium scavenging during mineral replacement reactions
  7. New structure of high-pressure body-centered orthorhombic Fe2SiO4
  8. Spectroscopic study of ordering in non-stoichiometric magnesium aluminate spinel
  9. High-pressure behavior of cuprospinel CuFe2O4: Influence of the Jahn-Teller effect on the spinel structure
  10. Field and model constraints on silicic melt segregation by compaction/hindered settling: The role of water and its effect on latent heat release
  11. Formation of rhyolite at the Okataina Volcanic Complex, New Zealand: New insights from analysis of quartz clusters in plutonic lithics
  12. Experimental investigation of F, Cl, and OH partitioning between apatite and Fe-rich basaltic melt at 1.0–1.2 GPa and 950–1000 °C
  13. Synthesis, characterization, and thermodynamics of arsenates forming in the Ca-Fe(III)-As(V)-NO3 system: Implications for the stability of Ca-Fe arsenates
  14. High-pressure phases of cordierite from single-crystal X-ray diffraction to 15 GPa
  15. Planar microstructures in zircon from paleo-seismic zones
  16. Ultra-deep subduction of Yematan eclogite in the North Qaidam UHP belt, NW China: Evidence from phengite exsolution in omphacite
  17. Elastic wave velocity anomalies of anorthite in a subducting plate: In situ experiments
  18. Current limitations of molecular dynamic simulations as probes of thermo-physical behavior of silicate melts
  19. Three-component mixed-layer illite/smectite/kaolinite (I/S/K) minerals in hydromorphic soils, south China
  20. Melting curve of NaCl to 20 GPa from electrical measurements of capacitive current
  21. Grain size measurement from two-dimensional micro-X-ray diffraction: Laboratory application of a radial integration technique
  22. Decrease of hydrogen incorporation in forsterite from CO2-H2O-rich kimberlitic liquid
  23. Provenance determination of sapphires and rubies using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and multivariate analysis
  24. Structural insights and elasticity of single-crystal antigorite from high-pressure Raman and Brillouin spectroscopy measured in the (010) plane
  25. Magnetic anisotropy in natural amphibole crystals
  26. Resolving oxygen isotopic disturbance in zircon: A case study from the low δ18O Scourie dikes, NW Scotland
  27. Accurate determination of Fe3+/ΣFe of andesitic glass by Mössbauer spectroscopy
  28. Recoil-free fractions of iron in aluminous bridgmanite from temperature-dependent Mössbauer spectra
  29. Chemical interactions between a sedimentary diapir and surrounding magma: Evidence from the Phepane Dome and Bushveld Complex, South Africa
  30. The crystal structures of Mg2Fe2C4O13, with tetrahedrally coordinated carbon, and Fe13O19, synthesized at deep mantle conditions
  31. New Mineral Names
  32. Book Review: Geodynamics, Third edition.
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2015-5125
Keywords for this article
Uranium; scavenging; IOCG deposits; experiment; sulfidation reaction; interface coupled dissolution-reprecipitation reactions

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Data, ideas, and the nature of scientific progress
  2. Beyond the equilibrium paradigm: How consideration of kinetics enhances metamorphic interpretation
  3. Magmatic volatiles (H, C, N, F, S, Cl) in the lunar mantle, crust, and regolith: Abundances, distributions, processes, and reservoirs
  4. The mafic component of the lunar crust: Constraints on the crustal abundance of mantle and intrusive rock, and the mineralogy of lunar anorthosites
  5. Degassing pathways of Cl-, F-, H-, and S-bearing magmas near the lunar surface: Implications for the composition and Cl isotopic values of lunar apatite
  6. Uranium scavenging during mineral replacement reactions
  7. New structure of high-pressure body-centered orthorhombic Fe2SiO4
  8. Spectroscopic study of ordering in non-stoichiometric magnesium aluminate spinel
  9. High-pressure behavior of cuprospinel CuFe2O4: Influence of the Jahn-Teller effect on the spinel structure
  10. Field and model constraints on silicic melt segregation by compaction/hindered settling: The role of water and its effect on latent heat release
  11. Formation of rhyolite at the Okataina Volcanic Complex, New Zealand: New insights from analysis of quartz clusters in plutonic lithics
  12. Experimental investigation of F, Cl, and OH partitioning between apatite and Fe-rich basaltic melt at 1.0–1.2 GPa and 950–1000 °C
  13. Synthesis, characterization, and thermodynamics of arsenates forming in the Ca-Fe(III)-As(V)-NO3 system: Implications for the stability of Ca-Fe arsenates
  14. High-pressure phases of cordierite from single-crystal X-ray diffraction to 15 GPa
  15. Planar microstructures in zircon from paleo-seismic zones
  16. Ultra-deep subduction of Yematan eclogite in the North Qaidam UHP belt, NW China: Evidence from phengite exsolution in omphacite
  17. Elastic wave velocity anomalies of anorthite in a subducting plate: In situ experiments
  18. Current limitations of molecular dynamic simulations as probes of thermo-physical behavior of silicate melts
  19. Three-component mixed-layer illite/smectite/kaolinite (I/S/K) minerals in hydromorphic soils, south China
  20. Melting curve of NaCl to 20 GPa from electrical measurements of capacitive current
  21. Grain size measurement from two-dimensional micro-X-ray diffraction: Laboratory application of a radial integration technique
  22. Decrease of hydrogen incorporation in forsterite from CO2-H2O-rich kimberlitic liquid
  23. Provenance determination of sapphires and rubies using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and multivariate analysis
  24. Structural insights and elasticity of single-crystal antigorite from high-pressure Raman and Brillouin spectroscopy measured in the (010) plane
  25. Magnetic anisotropy in natural amphibole crystals
  26. Resolving oxygen isotopic disturbance in zircon: A case study from the low δ18O Scourie dikes, NW Scotland
  27. Accurate determination of Fe3+/ΣFe of andesitic glass by Mössbauer spectroscopy
  28. Recoil-free fractions of iron in aluminous bridgmanite from temperature-dependent Mössbauer spectra
  29. Chemical interactions between a sedimentary diapir and surrounding magma: Evidence from the Phepane Dome and Bushveld Complex, South Africa
  30. The crystal structures of Mg2Fe2C4O13, with tetrahedrally coordinated carbon, and Fe13O19, synthesized at deep mantle conditions
  31. New Mineral Names
  32. Book Review: Geodynamics, Third edition.
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