Quick
Search: 		  
advanced search
 GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help 
Economic Geology Signup for GSW Email News
JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Economic Geology; January 2000; v. 95; no. 1; p. 131-142
© 2000 Society of Economic Geologists
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Criss, R. E.
Right arrow Articles by Champion, D. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation

Three-Dimensional Oxygen Isotope Imaging of Convective Fluid Flow around the Big Bonanza, Comstock Lode Mining District, Nevada

R. E. Criss{dagger} and M. J. Singleton

Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130

D. E. Champion

U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 937, 345 Middlefield Rd., Menlo Park, California 94025

{dagger} criss{at}levee.wustl.edu

Oxygen isotope analyses of propylitized andesites from the Con Virginia and California mines allow construction of a detailed, three-dimensional image of the isotopic surfaces produced by the convective fluid flows that deposited the famous Big Bonanza orebody. On a set of intersecting maps and sections, the {delta}18O isopleths clearly show the intricate and conformable relationship of the orebody to a deep, ~500 m gyre of meteoric-hydrothermal fluid that circulated along and above the Comstock fault, near the contact of the Davidson Granodiorite. The core of this gyre ({delta}18O = 0 to 3.8{per thousand}) encompasses the bonanza and is almost totally surrounded by rocks having much lower {delta}18O values (–1.0 to –4.4{per thousand}). This deep gyre may represent a convective longitudinal roll superimposed on a large unicellular meteoric-hydrothermal system, producing a complex flow field with both radial and longitudinal components that is consistent with experimentally observed patterns of fluid convection in permeable media.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Economic GeologyHome page
J. L. Mauk and M. P. Simpson
Geochemistry and Stable Isotope Composition of Altered Rocks at the Golden Cross Epithermal Au-Ag Deposit, New Zealand
Economic Geology, August 1, 2007; 102(5): 841 - 871.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Economic GeologyHome page
D. L. Kelley, K. D. Kelley, W. B. Coker, B. Caughlin, and M. E. Doherty
Beyond the Obvious Limits of Ore Deposits: The Use of Mineralogical, Geochemical, and Biological Features for the Remote Detection of Mineralization
Economic Geology, June 1, 2006; 101(4): 729 - 752.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Economic GeologyHome page
D. M. Hudson
Epithermal Alteration and Mineralization in the Comstock District, Nevada
Economic Geology, April 1, 2003; 98(2): 367 - 385.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Economic GeologyHome page
B. R. Berger, J. V. Tingley, and L. J. Drew
Structural Localization and Origin of Compartmentalized Fluid Flow, Comstock Lode, Virginia City, Nevada
Economic Geology, April 1, 2003; 98(2): 387 - 408.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


JOURNAL HOME HELP CONTACT PUBLISHER SUBSCRIBE ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2008 by Society of Economic Geologists