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Black shales and massive sulfide deposits: causal or casual relationships? Insights from Rammelsberg, Tharsis, and Draa Sfar

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Abstract

Black shales and massive sulfides represent reduced lithofacies that require isolation from oxic environments to be preserved. This, together with the sedimentary affinity of both lithofacies, can explain their common concurrence in the geologic record. The present study is based on the comparison of Rammelsberg in Germany, Tharsis in Spain, and Draa Sfar in Morocco, three massive sulfide deposits closely associated with black shales that are distributed along the European and North African Variscan orogen. The study entails geochemical, biostratigraphic, and stratigraphic analyses of the black shale sequences hosting the three deposits and mineralogical and textural analyses of the sulfides. All three deposits were formed in immature, tectonically unstable basins within an active continental margin or continental magmatic arc. Their stratigraphic records consist of a sequence of black shales enclosing massive sulfides and variable proportions of bimodal volcanic and subvolcanic rocks. The major differences among the three deposits concern the size, composition, and mineralogy. Regarding age, they are diachronous and younger southward: Rammelsberg is middle Eifelian, Tharsis latest Famennian, and Draa Sfar late Viséan. The study of redox conditions of the paleoenvironment using organic and inorganic proxies highlights similarities and significant differences among the three ore-hosting basins during massive sulfide and black shale deposition. The black shales generally display low Corg and high Stot contents. At Rammelsberg, the Stot/Ctot ratios provide values typical for normal Middle Devonian marine environments, which suggests that the original reactive organic C is now fixed in carbonates. At Tharsis, most of the samples have Corg >1 and Stot/Corg values equivalent to those of Devonian–Carboniferous normal marine sediments. However, some pyritic hanging-wall samples have Corg <1 and Stot up to 5 wt.%, suggesting the epigenetic addition of HS−. The Stot/Corg ratio for the Draa Sfar samples resembles that of Middle Carboniferous normal marine environments. Geochemical inorganic proxies used to define the environmental conditions include the enrichment factors of U (UEF) and Mo (MoEF) together with V/Cr and V/(V + Ni) ratios. Footwall shales at Filón Norte (Tharsis) show positive and eventually elevated UEF and MoEF values, which suggests anoxic conditions, whereas at Rammelsberg and Draa Sfar oxic bottom water is indicated. The relations V/Cr and V/(V + Ni) in all three cases point to a redox boundary near the sediment–water interface, although at Tharsis some samples indicate anoxic/euxinic conditions (i.e., V/(V + Ni) >0.9). Regarding the environmental conditions of the source areas, feldspar illitization and selective depletion in Na and Ca occurred at the three studies sites. Available sulfur isotopic data from the Rammelsberg and Tharsis sulfide ore indicate that biogenic reduction of marine sulfate was a major sulfur source during massive sulfide generation. Nevertheless, a hydrothermal sulfur source has also been detected. At Rammelsberg, this is indicated from the polymetallic sulfides that replace sedimentary and diagenetic pyrite. At Tharsis, the bacteriogenic sulfur signature is also restricted to sulfide with less evolved textures, whereas a hydrothermal source is more evident in sulfides showing evidence of recrystallization. Both geochemical and isotopic data suggest that the bacteriogenic reduction process was inhibited by rapid burial. The sedimentation rates calculated for Rammelsberg, Tharsis, and Draa Sfar were in the range 7–13, 8–14, and 19–27 cm/ka, respectively. Continuous sedimentation of black shale favored the isolation of the massive sulfides and organic material from bottom waters and hence favored their preservation. Accordingly, the relationships between black shales and massive sulfides are considered to be casual. Nevertheless, the tectono-sedimentary evolution of each basin controlled the deposition of both black shales and massive sulfides and the parameters that favored their coeval deposition.

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Acknowledgements

We are in debt to Dr. Walcher for his field guidance in the Rammelsberg district and to Marc Joubert (SEIEMSA) for core samples from Tharsis. Thanks also to Hans Sgier for his German language assistance. Permission to sample the Rammelsberg, Tharsis, and Draa Sfar mining districts was given by Preussag, Nueva Tharsis S.A.L., and Managem. We thank reviewers Dr. T. Ireland and Dr. J. Slack for providing helpful suggestions which improved the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Dr. R. Allen for his collaboration and infinite patience. This research was financed by the CICYT (Spain) Research Project CGL2006-08517, the Research Group THARSIS RNM 198-PAI (Junta de Andalucía), and the IGCP 502 project supported by UNESCO and IUGG.

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  1. Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain

    Reinaldo Sáez, Carmen Moreno, Felipe González & Gabriel R. Almodóvar

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  1. Reinaldo Sáez
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  3. Felipe González
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  4. Gabriel R. Almodóvar
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Correspondence to Reinaldo Sáez.

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Appendix 1

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Table 2 Principal characteristics of the Rammelsberg, Tharsis, and Draa Sfar ore deposits
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Sáez, R., Moreno, C., González, F. et al. Black shales and massive sulfide deposits: causal or casual relationships? Insights from Rammelsberg, Tharsis, and Draa Sfar. Miner Deposita 46, 585–614 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-010-0311-x

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