McArthur River Pb/Zn/Ag Deposit: Organic Geochemistry and Ore Genesis Data

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) distributions in the McArthur River deposit suggest a hydrothermal petroleum origin, differing from conventional oil. The data indicates ore-forming fluid temperatures of 250-400°C, revising previous models and implying a deeper metal source. This dataset, hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network, provides evidence for ore formation in a marine diagenetic environment.

Use Cases

• Modeling temperature gradients of ore-forming fluids based on PAH isomer distributions.
• Investigating hydrothermal petroleum generation in ancient marine systems based on PAH compound similarities.
• Revising exploration models for base metal deposits based on implications for sulfur source and fluid volumes.
• Studying the paleobiology of ancient hydrothermal systems based on the deposit's repository of paleobiological information.

Strengths

• Data provides strong evidence for ore formation in a marine diagenetic environment, as stated in the description.
• Findings revise previous temperature estimates for ore-forming brines to 250-400°C, with significant implications for exploration.
• The McArthur River orebody is described as an exquisitely preserved example of a sediment-hosted base metal deposit.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Likely contains geochemical analysis of rock samples from the McArthur River deposit.

Time Range

Paleoproterozoic era

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-04 23:17:21.863202; freshness should be verified.

Geography

McArthur River deposit, northern Australia