Devolatilization equilibria in graphite-pyrite-pyrrhotite bearing pelites with application to magma-pelite interaction

Abstract

The proportions of species in a C-O-H-S fluid in equilibrium with graphite, pyrite and pyrrhotite were calculated for a range of pressure, temperature and \(f_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} } \) conditions, using the equilibrium constants and mass balance method, for ideal and non-ideal mixing in the fluid. Under typical metamorphic conditions, H2O, CO2, CH4 and H2S are the principal fluid species with H2S favored by higher temperatures, lower pressures and lower \(f_{{\text{O}}_{\text{2}} } \) conditions. The dominance of H2S in the fluid at high temperatures leads to values of \(X_{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}}} \) becoming significantly less than 1, and causes hydrous minerals to dehydrate at lower temperatures than the case when \(X_{{\text{H}}_{\text{2}} {\text{O}}} = 1\). The production of H2S-bearing fluids provides a mechanism for the selective transfer of sulfur from a graphite-pyrite-pyrrhotite bearing pelite into a pluton via a fluid phase, without requiring wholesale melting and assimilation of rocks. Such a process is feasible if a magma is intruded by stoping, which allows a significant volume of pelite country rock to be raised rapidly to temperatures approaching that of the magma. H2S-bearing fluids produced from graphite-pyrite-pyrrhotite pelites (due either to magmatic intrusion or regional metamorphism) may also mobilize ore-forming metals as sulfide complexes.