Geochemistry of manganese deposits of paleovolcanic belt of the Southern Urals

Abstract

Research subject. This article is devoted to the geochemistry of manganese deposits referred to the Devonian paleovolcanic complexes of the Magnitogorsk belt in the Southern Urals.Materials and methods. A series of studies was conducted using materials collected from the Kyzyl-Tash, Kazgan-Tash, Kozhayevskoye, Bikkulovskoye and Southern Fayzuinskoye deposits. The content of main elements and rare-earth elements was determined using the X-ray spectral fluorescent and ICP-MS methods, respectively.Results. It is shown that the values of indicator lithochemical modules in the manganese rocks under study are comparable to those in the modern metal- and ore-bearing sediments. The manganese rocks are characterized by low concentrations of rare-earth elements, as well as by a negative Ce anomaly (Ce/Ce* = 0.20-0.85) in their spectrum and an insignificant prevalence of heavy lanthanides over light ones. In terms of the REE spectrum configuration, the rocks under study are close to modern ferromanganese deposits of a hydrothermal genesis.Conclusion. The most probable source of Li, Be, Sc, Cr, Rb, Zr, Nb, Hf and Th in the manganese deposits was the detrital material of background sediments. Co, Ni, Ge, As, Mo and Sb, which concentration in the studied rocks is higher compared to that in the detrital component, are most likely to have been produced by hydrothermal solutions. Other rare elements could have been brought into the sediments through different routes. In general, according to the distribution of main, rare and rare-earth elements, the manganese rocks in the Southern Urals are comparable to the deposits of low-temperature hydrothermal sources, which developed within the arc system of the modern ocean. Our findings agree well with the concept of the hydrothermal-sedimentary origin of manganese deposits in the Southern Urals, thus supplementing this hypothesis by the data obtained using independent sources.

Keywords

• manganese deposits
• metal-bearing sediments
• geochemical indicators
• magnitogorsk paleovolcanic belt acknowledgements