ALBERT

Notes: Abstract Several F, Pb, Zn and Ba deposits are located in the province of Zaghouan in north-eastern Tunisia. They are hosted in Lower Liassic or Upper Jurassic reef limestones, and the overlying condensed Carixian phosphatic limestones and Campanian marls, respectively. The mineralization occurs in three types of orebodies: stratiform replacement heaps and lenses (Jebel Stah and Hammam Zriba), breccia fillings and dissolution void fillings (Sidi Taya) and lodes (Jebel Oust). More than one generation of fluorite is observed in the stratiform deposits. Microthermometric analyses of the inclusion fluids observed in fluorite and quartz show that the economic concentrations of fluorite have deposited from moderate to highly saline (12–22.5 wt% NaCl equivalents) hydrothermal (110–160 °C) mineralizing fluids at the center (Jebel Stah, Sidi Taya) and to the east of the province (Hammam Zriba). Late remobilizations, observed in the stratiform deposits, are related to the circulation of a warmer (up to 185 °C) but less saline (10 wt% NaCl equivalents) fluid (Jebel Stah) and more saline (12–22 wt% NaCl equivalents) fluid (Hammam Zriba). The highest temperature (up to 250 °C) and salinity (32–34 wt% NaCl equivalents) are observed to the west of the province of Zaghouan (Jebel Oust). Less saline (3–6 wt% NaCl equivalents) and moderately hot to hot fluids (up to 220 ± 20 °C) and rich in gaseous CO2 invade most of the ore deposits in later stages and give rise to the massive quartz within fractures at Jebel Stah. Chemical analyses of the fluids extracted from the inclusions occuring in fluorite show compositions dominated by the presence of Na+, Ca2+ and Cl− ionic species and allow the mean temperature of the fluids in the source reservoir to be estimated as 275 ± 25 °C. The circulation of the ore-forming fluids is triggered by a regional tectonic extensional phase which occurs within the post-Jurassic to ante-Miocene time interval. The deposition of the economic concentrations of fluorite resulted from the decrease in pressure and temperature of the hydrothermal brines (Jebel Oust), along with the increase in the dissolved calcium activity (Jebel Stah and Sidi Taya), or a decrease in salinity due to the mixing with a hot, less saline and Na-poor, Ca-rich fluid (Hammam Zriba). The mineralogical associations (CaF2, PbS, ZnS, BaSO4) hosted within carbonate rocks, the temperatures and the salinities of the fluids that gave rise to the more important ore deposits (110–160 °C and 12–22.5 wt% NaCl equivalents), their composition (Na, Ca, Cl) and the molar ratios between the major ionic species, as well as the presence of liquid hydrocarbons in the mineralizing fluids, show that the ore deposits of the province of Zaghouan belong to the carbonate-hosted F, Pb, Zn, Ba Mississippi Valley-type deposits.

Notes: Abstract The authors demonstrate that precise facts arising from experimental mineralogy enable an important role to be ascribed to the mechanical actions and thermal gradients in the study of the migrations and concentrations of the chemical elements to be found within the lithosphere. The mechanical actions associated with tectonic are, in the production of a micro-porosity, capable of transforming mechanically non-uniform rocks into immense reservoirs for fluids. The tectonic deformations can bring about reduction of the porosity if moderate or, on the contrary, can lead to a considerable opening-up by intragranular microfissuration commencing at different stress levels depending on the nature and tectonic history of the rocks. In this way, under the influence of comparable mechanical action, certain rocks may consolidate, whilst adjacent rocks may open up. Finally, micro-fissuration is capable of facilitating the release of essential fluids and gasses (H2O, CO2) and of increasing the solubility of many minerals. The fluid-impregnated porous rocks are subjected to the geothermal gradient. The effect of thermal diffusion and gravity provides concentrations, even in the case of diluted solutions, sufficient to induce crystallisation without displacement of the liquid. Calculations based on an elementary theory show that, with entirely plausible geothermal gradients, the times and the thicknesses of porous rock necessary to produce crystallisation are low when compared to the overall geological scale. This process is as permanent as is the geothermal gradient. The mode of concentration takes full account of the layered aspect of the venous deposits without the necessity to envisage large displacements of liquid. It also takes account of the preferential concentration of the metalbearing deposits on the domes of the batholiths.