Abstract
Numerous modern sedimentary basins contain geological features similar to those associated with the giant (150 Mt) Sullivan Pb-Zn-Ag deposit (British Columbia) in the Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell Basin. Important features at Sullivan include a large synsedimentary mud volcano that hosts the stratabound and partly stratiform sulfide ores, an underlying vent complex of altered and mineralized rocks, and mafic sills in the shallow to deep footwall. High-resolution 3D seismic profiles of the North Sea region and the South China Sea, as well as other late Mesozoic to Cenozoic basins such as the Irish Rockall Basin, suggest the presence of mafic sill complexes with overlying fluid-escape pipes, mud volcanoes, and hydrothermal vent complexes of diverse size and shape. Although fluid-escape pipes and related discordant features in modern sedimentary basins are widely accepted as being linked to hydrocarbon generation and resources, potential for metal concentrations in these basins should also be tested. Evaluating this possibility can be done using high-resolution seismic surveys followed by deep drilling.
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