Cl/Br of scapolite as a fluid tracer in the earth's crust: Insights into fluid sources in the Mary Kathleen Fold Belt, Mt. Isa Inlier, Australia

Abstract

A combination of analytical methods, including trace element analysis of Br in scapolite by LA ‐ICP ‐MS , was employed to unravel the fluid–rock interaction history of the Mary Kathleen Fold Belt of northern Australia. Halogen ratios in the metamorphic and hydrothermally derived scapolite from a range of rock‐types record interaction between the host rocks and magmatic‐hydrothermal fluids derived from granite plutons and regional metamorphism. The results show that halite‐dissolution supplied at best only minor chlorine to fluids in the Fold Belt. Chlorine/bromine ratios in metamorphic scapolite indicate that fluids were dominantly derived from basinal brines formed from sub‐aerial evaporation of seawater beyond the point of halite saturation. This bittern fluid infiltrated the underlying sedimentary sequences prior to regional metamorphism. Zoned scapolite in a major late metamorphic mineralized shear‐zone records three discrete pulses of magmatic and metamorphic fluid, and it is suggested that fluid mixing may have assisted mineralization along and around this shear‐zone. As a crucial prerequisite for halogen fluid tracer studies using scapolite, we find in our samples that Cl and Br do not fractionate when incorporated in scapolite. Furthermore, unaltered rims of heavily retrogressed scapolite show indistinguishable Cl/Br signatures compared with fresh grains from the same sample indicating retrograde metamorphism did not significantly affect Cl and Br signatures in scapolite group minerals.