Master's Thesis
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MASTER'S THESIS Geochemical and kinematic study of shear zones within the "gold line", Lycksele- Storuman province, northern Sweden Per Samskog Master of Science Exploration and Environmental Geosciences Luleå University of Technology Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering Geochemical and kinematic study of shear zones within the “gold line”, Lycksele-Storuman province, northern Sweden. Per Samskog Division of applied geochemistry and geoscience, Luleå University of Technology 2011 Abstract A kinematic and geochemical study was carried out in shear zones within the “gold line” in the Lycksele-Storuman province, northern Sweden, with the aid of, field mapping, thin sections and whole rock geochemical data. The shear zones were hosted by metabasalt, metasediments, felsic metavolcanics and metagranodiorite. The area has undergone major deformation during the Svecofennian orogeny and the shear zones in this study are interpreted as being formed during this event. The geochemical study was carried out in three localities, the Grundfors road-cut, Sjöliden and the Svartliden gold mine. The data from Grundfors and Sjöliden indicates two different magmatic arc sources, volcanic-arc affinity for Sjöliden and MORB or Island-arc affinity for Grundfors. The bedrock at Grundfors displayed silicified zones but the protolith for these was not possible to determine. Sjöliden showed no major elemental exchange between the samples. Svartliden showed two different sources for the metasediments present, acid-arc source and an oceanic island-arc source. The metasediments formed from an acid-arc source displayed a clear relationship based on immobile elements to the highly silicified rocks at Svartliden. This study used one of the acid-arc source metasediments as a precursor with a resulting mass gain of 1800%. The validity of the protolith can be argued. The tectonic study was carried out in 5 localities, Grundfors, Sjöliden, Svartliden gold mine, “the mylonite” and “the granodiorite”. Both Grundfors and Sjöliden indicate two kinematic events, one with steep reverse movements and a later one with both extensional and strike-slip components of deformation, of which the latter had a dextral sense in “the mylonite” and sinistral in the Grundfors outcrops. The kinematic data from Svartliden showed only reverse movements whereas “the mylonite” showed two movements, one dextral strike-slip movement and one south-side-up reverse movement. Svartliden with its ENE striking shear zone and “the mylonite” with its NW trending shear zone are interpreted to have formed during N-S compression. The movements in Grundfors, Sjöliden and “the granodiorite” are interpreted to have formed during an E-W compression, with either a transpressive regime or a later orogenic collapse alternatively. The shear zones in this study displayed both ductile and brittle movements indicating a temperature gradient through the zone. 2 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 5 Geological setting................................................................................................................ 8 Regional geology............................................................................................................. 8 Tectonic setting and structural evolution ........................................................................9 Regional alterations....................................................................................................... 10 Studied localities ........................................................................................................... 12 Methods............................................................................................................................. 12 Mapping ........................................................................................................................ 12 Thin Section studies ...................................................................................................... 13 Kinematics................................................................................................................. 13 Alterations ................................................................................................................. 14 Whole-rock geochemistry ............................................................................................. 14 Svartliden gold mine ......................................................................................................... 15 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 15 Kinematic study............................................................................................................. 16 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 19 Geochemistry ................................................................................................................ 20 Classification............................................................................................................. 20 Mass balance calculations .........................................................................................24 Raw data.................................................................................................................... 30 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 37 Sjöliden.............................................................................................................................. 39 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 39 Structures....................................................................................................................... 40 Thin sections ................................................................................................................. 41 PS049 ........................................................................................................................ 41 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 43 Geochemistry ................................................................................................................ 43 Classification............................................................................................................. 43 Mass balance ............................................................................................................. 46 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 51 Grundfors .......................................................................................................................... 52 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 52 Veins.............................................................................................................................. 54 Population 1 veins..................................................................................................... 54 Population 2 veins..................................................................................................... 54 Population 3 veins..................................................................................................... 55 3 Structures....................................................................................................................... 55 Thin sections ................................................................................................................. 57 PS013A...................................................................................................................... 57 PS014A...................................................................................................................... 58 PS018B...................................................................................................................... 59 PS019A...................................................................................................................... 60 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 61 Geochemistry ................................................................................................................ 63 Classification............................................................................................................. 63 Mass Balance............................................................................................................. 66 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 68 The mylonite ..................................................................................................................... 70 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 70 Structures....................................................................................................................... 71 Discussion ................................................................................................................