Specific mineral associations of hydrothermal shale (South Kamchatka)

Abstract

The sequence of hydrothermal shale from the East Pauzhet thermal field within the Pauzhet hydrothermal system (South Kamchatka) was studied in detail. It was established that the formation of shale resulted from argillization of an andesitic lava flow under the influence of an acidic sulfate vapor condensate. The horizons with radically different compositions and physical properties compared to those of the overlying homogeneous plastic shale were distinguished at the base of the sequence. These horizons are characterized by high (up to two orders of magnitude in comparison with average values in hydrothermal shale) concentrations of F, P, Na, Mg, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Cu, and Zn. We suggested a geological–geochemical model, according to which a deep metal-bearing chloride–hydrocarbonate solution infiltrated into the permeable zone formed at the root of the andesitic lava flow beneath plastic shale at a certain stage of evolution of the hydrothermal system.