Michael T. Lewchuk
Kazuo Kawasaki
Francisco Velasco
David L. Leach
David T. A. Symons
2009
<p><span>The Reocín mine in northern Spain’s Basque–Cantabrian basin exploited a world-class Mississippi Valley-type Zn–Pb deposit. Its epigenetic mineralization is in Urgonian 116 ± 1 Ma dolomitized limestones of the Santillana syncline, which was formed by Oligocene and mid Miocene pulses of the Pyrenean orogeny. Paleomagnetic results (22 sites, 274 specimens) in mineralization isolated a stable remanence (ChRM) in pyrrhotite and minor magnetite inclusions in ore specimens, Zn concentrate, and tailings. A fold test shows that the ChRM is substantially post-folding. The mineralization’s paleopole lies on the European apparent polar wander path and indicates that the mineralization was formed at 15 ± 10 Ma. We postulate that brines originated in underlying Triassic and Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks and were driven upward into the host rocks by the hydraulic gradient created by the nearby Asturian massif.</span></p>
application/pdf
10.1007/s00126-009-0253-3
en
Springer
The Reocín zinc-lead deposit, Spain: paleomagnetic dating of a late Tertiary ore body
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