Origin of a barite-sulfide ore deposit in the Mykonos intrusion, cyclades: Trace element, isotopic, fluid inclusion and raman spectroscopy evidence

The polymetallic Mykonos vein system in the Cyclades, Greece, consists of 15 tension-gashes filled with barite, quartz, pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and galena in ca. 13.5 Ma, I-type, Mykonos monzogranite. Zones of silica and chlorite–muscovite alteration are associated with the veins and overprint pervasive silicification, phyllic and argillic alteration that affected large parts of the monzogranite. The mineralization cements breccias and consists of an early barite–silica–pyrite–sphalerite–chalcopyrite assemblage followed by later argentiferous galena. A combination of fluid inclusion and stable isotope data suggests that the barite and associated mineralization were deposited from fluids containing 2 to 17 wt.% NaCl equivalent, at temperatures of ~ 225° to 370 °C, under a hydrostatic pressure of ≤ 100 bars. The mineralizing fluids boiled and were saturated in H2S and SO2. ated δ18OH2O and δDH2O, initial 87Sr/86Sr isotope compositions and the trace and REEs elements contents are consistent with a model in which the mineralizing fluids were derived during alteration of the Mykonos intrusion and subsequently mixed with Miocene seawater. Heterogeneities in the calculated δ34SSO4− 2 and δ34SH2S compositions of the ore fluids indicate two distinct sources for sulfur, namely of magmatic and seawater origin, and precipitation due to reduction of the SO4− 2 during fluid mixing. The physicochemical conditions of the fluids were pH = 5.0 to 6.2, logfS2 = − 13.8 to − 12.5, logfO2 = − 31.9 to − 30.9, logfH2S(g) = − 1.9 to − 1.7, logfTe2 = − 7.9 and logα(SO4− 2(aq)/H2S(aq)) = + 2.6 to + 5.5. We propose that retrograde mesothermal hydrothermal alteration of the Mykonos monzogranite released barium and silica from the alkali feldspars. Barite was precipitated due to mixing of SO4− 2-rich Miocene seawater with the ascending Ba-rich magmatic fluid venting upwards in the pluton.