Pyrrhotite mineralization as a search criterion for sulfide deposits at sediment-covered spreading centers

Abstract

Pyrrhotite ores forming the hydrothermal vents of the Hydrothermal Hills in the Southern Trough of the Guaymas depression were studied. A series of features pointing to the occurrence of surface and buried sulfide deposits of pyrrhotite mineralization was revealed: the presence of pyrrhotite associations to hydrocarbons of oil series; low concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Pb; the enrichment of sulfur of pyrrhotite and hydrogen sulfide of hydrothermal solutions in heavy ³⁴S isotope by 5–7%; and the heavy isotope composition of carbon in naphthoid compounds. The results obtained allow one to suggest searching for large sulfide deposits at active rifts of high spreading and sedimentation rates, i.e., at near-continental rifts of the humid zone of avalanche sedimentation.