The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism
Quantitative electron backscatter diffraction analysis and ion microprobe imaging of gold-rich arsenopyrites provide the first insights into the crystal plasticity and element mobility behaviour of arsenopyrites through metamorphism (340°-460° and 2 kbar). Remarkably, the gold-rich arsenopyrites rem...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18841 |
| _version_ | 1848749862158336000 |
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| author | Fougerouse, Denis Micklethwaite, S. Halfpenny, Angela Reddy, Steven Cliff, J. Martin, L. Kilburn, M. Guagliardo, P. Ulrich, S. |
| author_facet | Fougerouse, Denis Micklethwaite, S. Halfpenny, Angela Reddy, Steven Cliff, J. Martin, L. Kilburn, M. Guagliardo, P. Ulrich, S. |
| author_sort | Fougerouse, Denis |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Quantitative electron backscatter diffraction analysis and ion microprobe imaging of gold-rich arsenopyrites provide the first insights into the crystal plasticity and element mobility behaviour of arsenopyrites through metamorphism (340°-460° and 2 kbar). Remarkably, the gold-rich arsenopyrites remained structurally and chemically robust during high strain deformation. It was only during a superimposed lower strain deformation event, at a high angle to the preferred orientation of the arsenopyrites, that small amounts of crystal plasticity affected the arsenopyrites. During the low strain event, a dissolution-reprecipitation reaction resulted in loss of gold from the crystal lattice, facilitated by localised domains of recrystallisation, most likely due to fluid percolation along sub- and new grain boundaries. We suggest that the abundance and rheologically robust nature of gold-rich arsenopyrite in giant gold deposits, affected by greenschist-amphibolite metamorphism, is actually critical in the preservation of those deposits. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:27:40Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-18841 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:27:40Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-188412019-02-19T05:35:24Z The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism Fougerouse, Denis Micklethwaite, S. Halfpenny, Angela Reddy, Steven Cliff, J. Martin, L. Kilburn, M. Guagliardo, P. Ulrich, S. Quantitative electron backscatter diffraction analysis and ion microprobe imaging of gold-rich arsenopyrites provide the first insights into the crystal plasticity and element mobility behaviour of arsenopyrites through metamorphism (340°-460° and 2 kbar). Remarkably, the gold-rich arsenopyrites remained structurally and chemically robust during high strain deformation. It was only during a superimposed lower strain deformation event, at a high angle to the preferred orientation of the arsenopyrites, that small amounts of crystal plasticity affected the arsenopyrites. During the low strain event, a dissolution-reprecipitation reaction resulted in loss of gold from the crystal lattice, facilitated by localised domains of recrystallisation, most likely due to fluid percolation along sub- and new grain boundaries. We suggest that the abundance and rheologically robust nature of gold-rich arsenopyrite in giant gold deposits, affected by greenschist-amphibolite metamorphism, is actually critical in the preservation of those deposits. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18841 10.1111/ter.12206 Blackwell Publishing Ltd fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Fougerouse, Denis Micklethwaite, S. Halfpenny, Angela Reddy, Steven Cliff, J. Martin, L. Kilburn, M. Guagliardo, P. Ulrich, S. The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism |
| title | The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism |
| title_full | The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism |
| title_fullStr | The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism |
| title_full_unstemmed | The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism |
| title_short | The golden ark: Arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism |
| title_sort | golden ark: arsenopyrite crystal plasticity and the retention of gold through high strain and metamorphism |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18841 |