Towards an understanding of mineral systems – Contributions from magnetotelluric data from the Fennoscandian Shield in northern Sweden

Abstract

Magnetotelluric data from 104 new stations in northern Sweden together with previously available MaSca project data are analysed with respect to a hypothesised genetic relation between mineral occurrences and commonly reported deep crustal electrically conductive structures in Precambrian Shield areas. A total of 165 stations from the north-eastern part of the Norrbotten ore province are modelled from an area characterised as having an Archaean basement with later reworking during the Paleoproterozoic. The data cover an area of 200 × 250 km2 and provide a significant improvement of spatial resolution compared to previously available data. The derived 3D model reveals the presence of strong crustal conductors with conductance of more than 3000 S at depth of tens of kilometres within a generally resistive crust. A subdivision into a central more conductive domain bounded towards north and south by resistive domains is revealed. The boundaries between these three domains are oriented NW-SE. The southern boundary coincides roughly with the boundary between Archaean and Paleoproterozoic crust defined by εNd data. The northern boundary coincides with an interpreted 2.4–2.3 Ga coastline of a marine rift basin, which is spatially defined by the occurrence of the Kovo group rocks. The location of major conductors within the central domain correlates with the presence of mapped Paleoproterozoic metasupracrustal belts. A significant part of the middle crust conductors is elongated in directions that coincide with major deformation zones that have been mapped from airborne magnetic data and geological fieldwork. Some of these conductors have near-surface expression where they spatially correlate with the location of known mineralisation. In these cases, the conductive structures may mark the pathways for metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids. Interpretations involving enhanced quantities of magnetite or graphite in the middle crust are discussed but the magnetotelluric data alone are not conclusive with respect to cause of observed high conductivities.