Graphite from Palaeoproterozoic enhanced carbon burial, and its metallogenic legacy

The episode of widespread organic carbon deposition marked by peak black shale sedimentation during the Palaeoproterozoic is also reflected in exceptionally abundant graphite deposits of this age. Worldwide anoxic/euxinic sediments were preserved as a deep crustal reservoir of both organic carbon, a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geological magazine 2021-09, Vol.158 (9), p.1711-1718
Main Authors: Parnell, John, Brolly, Connor, Boyce, Adrian J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anaerobic environment
Anoxia
black shale
burial
C-13/C-12
Carbon
Carbon dioxide
clastic rocks
cobalt ores
Copper
copper ores
crust
Datasets
Deposition
Deposits
Economic geology
Graphite
graphite deposits
graphitization
isotope ratios
Isotopes
Lava
mafic composition
Mafic magma
Magma
Mesoproterozoic
metal ores
Metallogenesis
metallogeny
metals
Metamorphism
mineral deposits, genesis
mineral exploration
Mineralization
nickel ores
Organic carbon
organic compounds
paleoenvironment
Paleoproterozoic
platinum group
platinum ores
Precambrian
Proterozoic
Pyrite
Sedimentary rocks
Sediments
Shale
stable isotopes
sulfides
Sulfur
Sulphur
total organic carbon
upper Precambrian
Uranium
uranium ores
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Description
Summary:The episode of widespread organic carbon deposition marked by peak black shale sedimentation during the Palaeoproterozoic is also reflected in exceptionally abundant graphite deposits of this age. Worldwide anoxic/euxinic sediments were preserved as a deep crustal reservoir of both organic carbon, and sulphur in accompanying pyrite, both commonly >1 wt %. The carbon- and sulphur-rich Palaeoproterozoic crust interacted with mafic magma to cause Ni–Co–Cu–PGE mineralization over the next billion years, and much uranium currently produced is from Mesoproterozoic deposits nucleated upon older Palaeoproterozoic graphite. Palaeoproterozoic carbon deposition has thus left a unique legacy of both graphite deposits and long-term ore deposition.
ISSN:0016-7568
1469-5081
DOI:10.1017/S0016756821000583