Nature and origin of the Vani manganese deposit, Milos, Greece: an overview

Abstract

The Vani manganese deposit is located in the rugged NW sector of Milos Island. It occurs within the Vani volcano-sedimentary basin, which is underlain by dacitic domes and flows of Upper Pliocene age (3.5–2.0 Ma). The end of the emplacement of the dacites was marked by the collapse of the magma chamber, which resulted in a huge pyroclastic episode and the deposition of a thick layer of pyroclastic material within a shallow submarine basin. This pyroclastic material subsequently compacted to form the volcaniclastic sandstone, which became the host for the manganese ore beds which were about 4 m thick in the two sections studied. Hydrothermal fluids penetrated these sandstone horizons via fractures and fissures to produce the manganese deposit. The permeable nature of the sandstone facilitated the retention of the hydrothermal fluids within these layers. This permitted the fluids to cool slowly and deposit the manganese oxides almost quantitatively. Formation of the hydrothermal manganese deposit took place fairly rapidly over a period of several tens of thousands of years at most. Strong tectonic activity resulted in rapid uplift of the area which elevated the deposit above sea level. Two generations of manganese oxides have been identified within this deposit; the first generation consists of pyrolusite and ramsdellite; the second generation of oxides of the isostructural series cryptomelane–hollandite–coronadite plus hydrohetaerolite characterized by high contents of K, Ba, Pb and Zn, respectively. This sequence is the result of a two-stage process of formation of the manganese-oxide minerals in which a second high-salinity hydrothermal fluid enriched in Ba, Pb and Zn as a result of the dissolution of sulphide minerals remineralized the original manganese-oxide assemblage. It is this two-stage process of formation, which was mainly responsible for the unique characteristics of this deposit. Although formed in a submarine setting, the deposit shows marked differences in mineralogy and composition from known submarine hydrothermal manganese deposits and is most analogous to the epithermal vein deposits of the southwestern United States.