Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T20:38:52.517Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trevorite: Ni-rich spinel formed by metasomatism and desulfurization processes at Bon Accord, South Africa?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

B. O’Driscoll ,
P. L. Clay ,
R. G. Cawthorn ,
D. Lenaz ,
J. Adetunji  and
A. Kronz
B. O’Driscoll*
Affiliation:
School of Physical and Geographical Sciences, Keele University, Keele ST5 5BG, UK
P. L. Clay
Affiliation:
School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9IL, UK
R. G. Cawthorn
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, 2050 South Africa
D. Lenaz
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Geoscienze, Trieste University, Via Weiss 8, 34127-Trieste, Italy
J. Adetunji
Affiliation:
Geographical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Science, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
A. Kronz
Affiliation:
Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum der Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, D-37077, Germany
*
*E-mail: b.o’[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The 3.5 Ga Bon Accord Ni deposit occurs within the lowest serpentinized mafic–ultramafic lavas of the Barberton Greenstone Belt (South Africa). Though now completely mined out, it comprised a suite of rare Ni-rich minerals that led to its interpretation as either an extraterrestrial body or as an oxidized fragment of Fe-Ni alloy originating from the terrestrial core. In this study, we draw on detailed petrographic observation and mineral chemical data, as well as previous work, to re-evaluate these ideas. The balance of evidence, from thin section (<1 mm) to regional (∼10s of km) scales, appears to support an alternative origin for Bon Accord, possibly as an oxidized Ni-sulfide deposit formed in association with ocean floor komatiite eruptions.

Keywords

trevoritespinelmetasomatismdesulfurizationBon AccordSouth Africa
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 145 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anhaeusser, C.R. (2001) The anatomy of an extrusiveintrusive Archaean mafic-ultramafic sequence: the Nelshoogte Schist Belt and Stolzburg Layered Ultramafic Complex, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. South African Journal of Geology, 104, 167–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ballhaus, C., Berry, R.F. and Green, D.H. (1991) High pressure experimental calibration of the olivineorthopyroxene- spinel oxygen geobarometer: implications for the oxidation state of the upper mantle. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 107, 27–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, S.J. (1998) Chromites in komatiites, 1. Magmatic controls on crystallization and composition. Journal of Petrology, 39, 1689–1720.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, H., Horan, M.F., Walker, R.J., Gao, S., Lorand, J.-P. and Rudnick, R.L. (2006) Highly siderophile element composition of the Earth’s primitive upper mantle: Constraints from new data on peridotite massifs and xenoliths. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 70, 4528–4550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boorman, S., Boudreau, A. and Kruger, F.J. (2004) The Lower Zone–Critical Zone transition of the Bushveld Complex: a quantitative textural study. Journal of Petrology, 45, 1209–1235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bousquet-Berthelin, C., Chaumont, D. and Stuerga, D. (2008) Flash microwave synthesis of trevorite nanoparticles. Journal of Solid State Chemistry, 181, 616–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Büchl, A., Brügmann, G. and Batanova, V.G. (2004) Formation of podiform chromitite deposits: implications from PGE abundances and Os isotropic compositions of chromites from the Troodos complex, Cyprus. Chemical Geology, 208, 217–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlson, R.W. (2005) Application of the Pt-Re-Os isotopic systems to mantle geochemistry and geochronology. Lithos, 82, 249–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cashman, K.V. and Ferry, J.M. (1988) Crystal size distribution (CSD) in rocks and the kinetics and dynamics of crystallization III. Metamorphic crystallization. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 99, 401–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Ronde, C.E.J., De Wit, M.J. and Spooner, E.T.C. (1994) Early Archean (>3.2 Ga) Fe-oxide-rich, hydrothermal discharge vents in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 106, 86–104.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Waal, S.A. (1969) Nickel minerals from Barberton, South Africa, I. Ferroan trevorite. American Mineralogist, 54, 1204–1208.Google Scholar
De Waal, S.A. (1972) Nickel minerals from Barberton, South Africa: V. Trevorite, redescribed. American Mineralogist, 57, 1524–1527.Google Scholar
De Waal, S.A. (1978) The nickel deposit at Bon Accord, Barberton, South Africa – A proposed paleometeorite. Pp. 87–98 in: Mineralisation in Metamorphic Terranes, (W.J. Verwoerd, editor). Special Publication, Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.Google Scholar
De Waal, S.A. (1979) The metamorphism of the Bon Accord nickel deposit by the Nelspruit granite. Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa, 82, 335–342.Google Scholar
De Wit, M.J., Hart, R.A. and Hart, R.J. (1987) The Jamestown ophiolite complex, Barberton Mountain Belt: A composite section through 3.5 Ga simatic lithosphere. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 6, 681–730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Wit, M.J., Furnes, H. and Robins, B. (2011) Geology and tectonostratigraphy of the Onverwacht Suite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Precambrian Research, 186, 1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Droop, G.T.R. (1987) A general equation for estimating Fe3+ concentrations in ferromagnesian silicates and oxides from microprobe analyses, using stoichiometric criteria. Mineralogical Magazine, 51, 431–435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyar, M.D., McGuire, A.V. and Ziegler, R.D. (1989) Redox equilibria and crystal chemistry of coexisting minerals from spinel lherzolite mantle xenoliths. American Mineralogist, 74, 969–980.Google Scholar
Eckstrand, O.R. (1975) The Dumont serpentinite: a model for control of nickeliferous opaque mineral assemblages by alteration reactions in ultramafic rocks. Economic Geology 70, 183–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furnes, H., de Wit, M.J., Robins, B. and Sandstå, N.R. (2011) Volcanic evolution of the upper Onverwacht Suite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Precambrian Research, 186, 28–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furnes, H., de Wit, M.J. and Robins, B. (2013) A review of new interpretations of the tectonostratigraphy, geochemistry and evolution of the Onverwacht Suite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Gondwana Research, 23, 403–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghiorso, M.S. and Sack, R.O. (1995) Chemical mass transfer in magmatic processes. IV. A revised and internally consistent thermodynamic model for the interpolation and extrapolation of liquid–solid equilibria in magmatic systems at elevated temperatures and pressures. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 119, 197–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, A.L. (1924) Note on oval lumps of nickel sulphide in asbestos from Kaapsche Hoop, in the Barberton District. Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa, 27, 168–181.Google Scholar
Hamilton, W.B. (1998) Archean magmatism and deformation were not products of plate tectonics. Precambrian Research, 91, 143–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, R.J., Cloete, M., McDonald, I., Carlson, R.W. and Andreoli, M.A.G. (2002) Siderophile-rich inclusions from the Morokweng impact melt sheet, South Africa: possible fragments of a chondritic meteorite. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 198(1-2), 49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higgins, M.D. (2000) Measurement of crystal size distributions. American Mineralogist, 85, 1105–1116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higgins, M.D. (2006) Quantitative Textural Measurements in Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, R.J., Craig, J.R. and Gibbs, G.V. (1979) Systematics of the spinel structure type. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 4, 317–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, S.E., Wilson, M. and Stakes, D.S. (1986) An inferred oxygen isotope profile of Archaean oceanic crust, Onverwacht Group, South Africa. Nature, 321, 55–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horan, M.F., Walker, R.J., Morgan, J.W., Grossman, J.N. and Rubin, A.E. (2003) Highly siderophile elements in chondrites. Chemical Geology, 196, 27–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, D.R. and Travis, G.A. (1981) A native nickelheazlewoodite- ferroan trevorite assemblage from Mount Clifford, Western Australia. Economic Geology, 76, 1686–1697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jerram, D.A., Cheadle, M.J. and Philpotts, A.R. (2003) Quantifying the building blocks of igneous rocks: are clustered crystal frameworks the foundation? Journal of Petrology, 44, 2033–2051.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keenan, J. (1986) The Bon Accord nickel sulphide deposit, Barberton Greenstone Belt. Pp. 281–286 in: Mineral Deposits of Southern Africa, vol. 1 (C.R. Anhaeusser and S. Maske, editors). Geological Society of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.Google Scholar
Lagarec, K. and Rancourt, D.G. (1998) Recoil- Mössbauer Spectral Analysis Software for Windows, Mössbauer Group, Physics Department, University of Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
Lavina, B., Salviulo, G. and Della Giusta, A. (2002) Cation distribution and structure modelling of spinel solid solutions. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 29, 10–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liebermann, R.C. (1972) Pressure and temperature dependence of the elastic properties of polycrystalline trevorite (NiFe2O4). Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 6, 360–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, W., Borg, S.J., Testemale, D., Etschmann, B., Hazemann, J.-L. and Brugger, J. (2011) Speciation and thermodynamic properties for chloride complexes in hydrothermal fluids at 35–440°C and 600 bar: An in-situ XAS study. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75, 1227–1248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, D.R. (1999) Geologic evolution of the Barberton Greenstone Belt and vicinity. Pp 287–312 in: Geologic Evolution of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa (D.R. Lowe and G.R. Byerly, editors). Geological Society of America Special Paper, 329, 319 pp.Google Scholar
Lowe, D.R. and Byerly, G.R. (1999) Stratigraphy of the west-central part of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Pp. 1–36 in: Geologic Evolution of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. (D.R. Lowe and G.R. Byerly, editors). Geological Society of America Special Paper, 329, 319 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, B.D. (1998) On the interpretation of crystal size distributions in magmatic systems. Journal of Petrology, 39, 553–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCall, G.J.H. (2003) A critique of the analogy between Archaean and Phanerozoic tectonics based on regional mapping of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic plate convergent zone in the Makran, Iran. Precambrian Research, 127, 5–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, D.J. and Jerram, D.A. (2006) On estimating crystal shape for crystal size distribution analysis. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 154, 1–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naldrett, A.J. (2004) Magmatic Sulfide Deposits: Geology, Geochemistry and Exploration. Springer, Berlin, 727 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Driscoll, B., Emeleus, C.H., Donaldson, C.H. and Daly, J.S. (2010) Cr-spinel seam petrogenesis in the Rum Layered Suite, NW Scotland: cumulate assimilation and in situ crystallization in a deforming crystal mush. Journal of Petrology, 51, 1171–1201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Driscoll, B., Day, J.M.D., Walker, R.J., Daly, J.S., McDonough, W.F. and Piccoli, P.M. (2012) Chemical heterogeneity in the upper mantle recorded by peridotites and chromitites from the Shetland Ophiolite Complex, Scotland. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 333-334, 226–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pandey, S.K., Shrivastava, J.P. and Roonwal, G.S. (2008) Occurrence of ferroan trevorite within olivine megacrysts of the MORB from the Southern East Pacific Rise. Current Science, 95, 1468–1473.Google Scholar
Pierrard, O., Robin, E., Rocchia, R. and Montanari, A. (1998) Extraterrestrial Ni-rich spinel in upper Eocene sediments from Massignano, Italy. Geology, 26, 307–310.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pointon, A.J., Robertson, J.M. and Wetton, G.A. (1971) Anisotropy of Ni2+ and Ni3+ ions in cubic sites. Journal de Physique, 32, C1.850–852.Google Scholar
Quintiliani, M. (2005) 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy analysis of spinels: Fe3+/Fetot quantification accuracy and consequences on fO2 estimate. Periodico di Mineralogia, 74, 139–146.Google Scholar
Quintiliani, M., Andreozzi, G.B. and Graziani, G. (2006) Fe2+ and Fe3+ quantification by different approaches and fO2 estimation for Albanian Cr-spinels. American Mineralogist, 91, 907–916.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinhard, C.T., Lalonde, S.V. and Lyons, T.W. (2013) Oxidative sulfide dissolution on the early Earth. Chemical Geology, 362, 44–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Righter, K., Leeman, W.P. and Hervig, R.L. (2006a) Partitioning of Ni, Co and V between spinelstructured oxides and silicate melts: importance of spinel compositions. Chemical Geology, 227, 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Righter, K., Sutton, S.R., Newville, M., Le, L., Schwandt, C.S., Uchida, H., Lavina, B. and Downs, R.T. (2006b) An experimental study of the oxidation state of vanadium in spinel and basaltic melt with implications for the origin of planetary basalt. American Mineralogist, 91, 1643–1656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robin, E., Bonté, Ph. Froget, L., Jéhanno, C. and Rocchia, R. (1992) Formation of spinels in cosmic objects during atmospheric entry: a clue to the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary event. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 108, 181–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rollinson, H. and Adetunji, J. (2013) The geochemistry and oxidation state of podiform chromitites from the mantle section of the Oman ophiolite: A review. Gondwana Research, (in press), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2013.07.013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seyfried, W.E., Jr., Foustoukos, D.I. and Allen, D.E. (2004) Ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems at mid-ocean ridges: Chemical and physical controls on pH, redox, and carbon reduction reactions. Pp. 267–284 in: Mid-Ocean Ridges: Hydrothermal Interactions between the Lithosphere and Oceans. (C.R. German, J. Lin, and L.M. Parson, editors) Geophysical Monograph Series 148, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheldrick, G.M. (2008) A short history of SHELX. Acta Crystallographica, A64, 112–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tegtmeyer, A.R., and Kroner, A. (1987) U-Pb zircon ages bearing on the nature of early Archaen greenstone belt evolution, Barberton Mountainland, southern Africa. Precambrian Research, 36, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tredoux, M., de Wit, M.J., Hart, R.J., Armstrong, R.A., Lindsay, N.M. and Sellschop, J.P.F. (1989) Platinum group elements in a 3.5 Ga nickel-iron occurrence: Possible evidence of a deep mantle origin. Journal of Geophysical Research, 94(B1), 795–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trevor, T.G. (1920) Nickel: Notes on the occurrence in the Barberton district. South African Journal of Industries, 3, 532–533.Google Scholar
Vukmanovic, Z., Barnes, S.J., Reddy, S.M., Godel, B. and Fiorentini, M.L. (2013) Morphology and microstructure of chromite crystals in chromitites from the Merensky Reef (Bushveld Complex, South Africa). Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 165, 1031–1050.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, R.J. (2009) Highly siderophile elements in the Earth, Moon and Mars: Update and implications for planetary accretion and differentiation. Chemie der Erde, 69, 101–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, C. and Boudreau, A.E. (1996) A reevaluation of crystal-size distributions in chrome-spinel cumulates. American Mineralogist, 81, 1452–1459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, A. (1984) Structural Inorganic Chemistry (5th edition). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 538 pp.Google Scholar
Zhu, H., Chen, J., Deng, J., Yu, R. and Xing, X. (2012) Oxidation behaviour and mechanism of pentlandite at 973 K (700°C) in air. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions, 43B, 494–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

O’Driscoll et al. supplementary material

Crystal-size distributon data 1

Download O’Driscoll et al. supplementary material(File)
File 37.9 KB
Supplementary material: File

O’Driscoll et al. supplementary material

Crystal-size distribution data 2

Download O’Driscoll et al. supplementary material(File)
File 155.6 KB