A major lineament in the Arabian Shield and its relationship to mineralization

✍ Scribed by J. McMahon Moore

• Book ID: 104662045
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1976
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 694 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0026-4598
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00203082

✦ Synopsis

The A1 Amar Fault lies in a belt of Proterozoic, metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks, bounded by granitic batholiths. A string of metalliferous and industrial mineral deposits form a "mineral belt" which coincides with the volcanosedimentary belt. Orebodies of basic and ultra-basic association are directly related to the fault through its influence on intrusive activity. Cu-Zn-Au bearing veins of meta-volcanic affiliation are spatially related to the fault. A group of Pb-Ag bearing veins is associated with the granitic batholith which forms the western boundary of the volcano-sedimentary belt. Associations between ore minerals and particular igneous rocks indicate that granitic, basic and metamorphosed volcanic rocks were sources of Pb-Ag-W-Mo, Fe-Cr-Cu-Ni and Fe-Cu-Zn-Au-Ba, respectively. Hydrothermal activity in the fault zone promoted ore formation, and faulting provided sites for deposition. A1 Amar Fauliis a "copper-lead line" dividing a Pb-Ag subprovince (of sialic derivation? ) from a Cu-Zn-Au sub-province (of plate margin/ island arc derivation? ). The fault is a useful empirical guide in exploration for ores of basic or ultra-basic plutonic and meta-volcanic affiliation and can be identified and traced, as a lineament, using ERTS satellite images and aeromagnetic maps.