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Lead in diagenetic pyrite: evidence for Pb-tolerant bacteria in a red-bed Cu deposit, Quebec Appalachians, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

A. R. Cabral ,
G. Beaudoin  and
F. Munnik
A. R. Cabral*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology: Exploration Geology, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
G. Beaudoin
Affiliation:
Département de géologie et de génie géologique, Université Laval, Québec, QC, G1K 7P4, Canada
F. Munnik
Affiliation:
Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, P.O. Box 510119, 01314 Dresden, Germany
*
*E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Diagenetic pyrite from the Silurian continental red bed-hosted Transfiguration cupriferous deposit in the Quebec Appalachians, Gaspe Belt, Canada, contains up to ∼2% (m/m) Pb. This large Pb content in pyrite contrasts with experimental determinations that indicate solubility of <0.1% (m/m) PbS in pyrite at high temperature. The distribution of Pb in pyrite is heterogeneous, with plumbiferous domains occurring as patches and concentric growth layers alternating with Mn- and Mo-bearing zones. The plumbiferous pyrite is surrounded by As- and Cu-rich rims. This compositional heterogeneity, however, is elusive under normal backscattered-electron (BSE) imaging, but it can be recognized under high-gain BSE. Proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) confirms the presence of Pb. Plumbiferous pyrite with >0.1% (m/m) Pb has rarely been described; it is thus possible that plumbiferous pyrite may have been overlooked in metalliferous deposits worldwide. The plumbiferous pyrite from Transfiguration has a light S-isotope composition that is characteristic of bacterial sulphate reduction. We suggest that Pb in diagenetic pyrite indicates Pb-tolerant bacterial activity and, perhaps, constitutes a biosignature of bacterial tolerance to Pb in ancient sedimentary systems.

Keywords

plumbiferous pyritePb-tolerant bacteriahigh-gain BSEPIXECanada
Type
CNMNC Newsletter 8
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 75 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 295 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2011

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Footnotes

†

Present address: Mineral Deposits, Technische Universität Clausthal, Adolph-Roemer-Str. 2a, D-38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

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