Lead and sulfur isotope composition of trace occurrences of Mississippi Valley-type mineralization in the US midcontinent

摘要

Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) Zn-Pb mineralization in the U.S. mid-continent has formed in numerous widely dispersed trace occurrences and in a few large ore deposits that have been mined. Based on similarly high fluid inclusion salinities and high homogenization temperatures relative to inferred burial depth, the trace MVT occurrences and MVT ore deposits may be genetically related by having precipitated from the same regional groundwater flow system mobilized by Pennsylvanian-Permian tectonism. The purpose of the present study was to test the robustness of this inferred genetic relationship by characterizing the Pb and S isotope composition of trace MVT occurrences in light of the much more thoroughly studied MVT ore deposits.