• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.745-764
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• 2023

In the Republic of Congo, Banded iron formations (BIFs) occur in two areas: the Chaillu Massif and the Ivindo Basement Complex, which are segments of the Archean Congo craton outcropping in the northwestern and southwestern parts of the country. They show interesting potential with significant mineral resources reaching 2 Bt and grades up to 60% Fe. BIFs consist mostly of oxide-rich facies (hematite/magnetite), but carbonate-rich facies are also highlighted. They are found across the country within the similar geological sequences composed of amphibolites, gneisses and greenschists. The Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS)-normalized patterns of BIFs show enrichment in elements such as SiO₂, Fe₂O₃, CaO, P₂O₅, Cr, Cu, Zn, Nb, Hf, U and depletion in TiO₂, Al₂O₃, MgO, Na₂O, K₂O, Sc, Th, Ba, Zr, Rb, Ni, V. REE diagrams show slight light REEs (rare earth elements; LREEs) compared to heavy REEs (HREEs), and positive La and Eu anomalies. The lithological associations, as well as the very high (Eu/Eu^*)_SN ratios> 1.8 shown by the BIFs, suggest that they are related to Algoma-type BIFs. The positive correlations between Zr and TiO₂, Al₂O₃, Hf suggest that the contamination comes mainly from felsic rocks, while the absence of correlations between MgO and Cr, Ni argues for negligeable contributions from mafic sources. Pr/Pr^* vs. Ce/Ce^* diagram indicates that the Congolese BIFs were formed in basins with redox heterogeneity, which varies from suboxic to anoxic and from oxic to anoxic conditions. They were formed through hydrothermal vents in the seawater, with relatively low proportions of detrital inputs derived from igneous sources through continental weathering. Some Congolese BIFs show high contents in Cr, Ni and Cu, which suggest that iron (Fe) and silicon (Si) have been leached through hydrothermal processes associated with submarine volcanism. We discussed their tectonic setting and depositional environment and proposed that they were deposited in extensional back-arc basins, which also recorded hydrothermal vent fluids.

• The Journal of the Petrological Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.84-98
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• 2000

Daejeon-sa basalt in the Mt. Juwang area composed of 12 basalt flows alternate with 9 peperites and each basalt and peperite has the variety of thickness. Peperites yielded in Daejeon-sa basalt are mixed of basalt with reddish shale, of which textural type is globular peperite. Basalts yielded in Daejeon-sa basalt are massive basalt without vesicule, although sometimes vesicules are founded in upper within a flow unit. The basalt has mainly pseudomorph of olivine as phenocryst, and also plagioclase and clinopyroxene phenocryst. Matrix is mainly subophitic texture. The plotting result on the TAS diagram shows these basalts belong to the sub-alkaline, and it can be subdivided into calc-alkaline series on the basis of the diagram of Si02 vs. K20 and of alkali index vs. A1203 diagram. According to plots of wt.% oxides vs. wt.% MgO, abundances of A1203 and CaO increase with decreasing MgO while F ~ dOecre~ase . With decreasing MgO compatible elements decrease while incompatible elements increase. In spider diagram of MORB-normalized trace element patterns, HFS elements are nearly similiar with MORB, but LIL elements are enriched. Especially, contents of Ce, F: and Sm are enriched but Nb is depleted. In the chondrite-normalized REE patterns light REEs are enriched than heavy REEs. Tectomagmatic discrimination diagrams shows basalts in the study area are formed in the tectonomagmatic environment of subduction zone under continental margin. This result accord with characters of chemical composition mentioned above. Cr vs. Y diagram and CeM, vs. Ce diagram show that the primary magma of the basalts may formed by the about 15% partial melting of garnet-peridotite in the mantle wedge. After then, Daejeon-sa basalts may formed from evolved magma undergone mainly olivine fractional crystallization and contarnination of crustal materials before eruption.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.245-259
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• 1990

Petrochemical analyses of granitic rocks including trace element, REE and oxygen isotope were carried out to understand petrogenesis of plutonic rocks from the Chungju, Wolaksan and Jecheon granite batholiths, which might be related with tungsten-base metal-fluorite mineralization in the Hwanggangri metallogenic province. Different geochemical characteristics such as major and trace elements were found between Jurassic Daebo granitic rocks (Chungju, Jecheon, Wonju, and Boeun granitic rocks) and Cretaceous Bulgugsa granitic rocks (Wolaksan, Muamsa and Sokrisan granitic rocks). Cretaceous granitoids are characterized by high $SiO_2$and $K_2O$ contents and low $TiO_2$, $Al_2O_3$, MgO and CaO contents. They also have relatively high contents of trace elements(Zn, V, Co, Cr, Sr, and Ba) in comparison with the Jurassic granitoids. (Eu)/($Eu^*$) and $(La/Lu)_{CN}$ ratios of Jurassic plutons vary from 0.78 to 1.13 and from 26.02 to 30.5, respectively, while the ratios of Cretaceous ones range from 0.22 to 0.28 and from 4.42 to 14.2, respectively. The REE patterns of the Cretaceous and Jurassic granitic rocks have quite different Eu anomalies: large negative Eu anomaly in the former, and mild or absent Eu anomaly in the latter. The large Eu negative of Cretaceous granitic rocks are interpreted as a differentiated product of fractional crystallization of granitic magma deduced by Rayleigh fractionation model(Tsusue et al., 1987). Oxygen isotopic compositions of quartz for Daebo and Bulgugsa granitic rocks range from 9.98 to 10.51‰ and from 8.26 to 9.56‰, respectively. The Daebo granitic rocks enriched in $^{18}0$ suggest that the magma be undergone different partial melting processes from the Bulgugsa ones. Of the Bulgugsa granitoids, Wolaksan and Sokrisan mass have different contents of trace elements and ${\delta}\;^{18}0$ values of the silicate minerals, which indicate that they are not from the identical source of magma. Many mineral deposits are distributed in and/or near the Wolaksan and Muamsa granitic rocks, but a few mineral deposits are found in and near the Chungju and Jecheon granite batholiths. It might be depend on geochemisty of the related igneous rocks which have low contents of Ba, Sr, Co, V, Cr, Ni, Zn and high contents of Nb and Y, and on lithology of country rocks such as cabonate and noncarbonate rocks.