Origin of Hydrothermal Barite in Polymetallic Veins and Carbonate-Hosted Deposits of the Cyclades Continental Back Arc

Abstract

Abstract Polymetallic veins and breccias and carbonate-replacement ore deposits in the Cyclades continental back arc, Greece, formed from a range of fluid and metal sources strongly influenced by the dynamics of the late Mesozoic-Cenozoic Hellenic subduction system. These complexities are recorded in the isotopic signatures of hydrothermal barite. We investigated 17 mineral occurrences on four Cycladic islands and from Lavrion on the mainland. Here, barite occurs in almost all deposit types of Miocene to Quaternary age. We used a multiple isotope and geochemical approach to characterize the barite in each deposit, including mineral separate analysis of δ34S and δ18O and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry of 87Sr/86Sr and δ34S. Barite from carbonate-hosted vein and breccia Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization on Lavrion has a wide range of δ34S (2–20‰) and δ18O (10–15‰) values, reflecting a mix of magmatic and surface-derived fluids that have exchanged with isotopically heavy oxygen in the carbonate host rock. Sulfur (δ34S = 10–13‰) and oxygen (δ18O = 9–13‰) values of barite from the carbonate-hosted vein iron and barite mineralization on Serifos are permissive of a magmatic sulfate component. Barite from epithermal base and/or precious metal deposits on Milos has δ34S (17–28‰) and δ18O (9–11‰) values that are similar to modern seawater. In contrast, barite from vein-type deposits on Antiparos and Mykonos has a wide range of δ34S (16–37‰) and δ18O (4–12‰) values, indicating a seawater sulfate source modified by mixing or equilibration of the hydrothermal fluids with the host rocks. Strontium isotope ratios of barite vary regionally, with 87Sr/86Sr ≥ 0.711 in the central Cyclades and 87Sr/86Sr ≤ 0.711 in the west Cyclades, confirming the strong influence of upper crustal rocks on the sources of fluids, Sr, and Ba in the formation of ore.