The chemical and isotopic characterization of the pyrite to pyrrhotite desulfidation reaction across the metamorphic gradient of a metasedimentary basin
Bibliographic record
Abstract
During prograde metamorphism, sulfur is released through the pyrite to pyrrhotite desulfidation reaction. This process is believed to supply sulfur and metals to metamorphic fluids, potentially contributing to the formation of orogenic gold deposits. A deeper understanding of this reaction can therefore help unravel the mobility of sulfur, gold and other metals in metamorphic fluids during prograde metamorphism. We present a novel in situ study of multiple sulfur isotopes combined with trace elements, focused on the texturally-constrained pyrite to pyrrhotite desulfidation reaction. This reaction is documented in detail along a prograde, Barrovian metamorphic field gradient − increasing from the biotite through the garnet, staurolite, and sillimanite zones − recorded in the Pontiac Group metasedimentary sequence, which is fault-bound to the southern Abitibi Subprovince and its orogenic gold deposits. The prograde pyrite to pyrrhotite reaction texture, where pyrrhotite (Po) replaces corroded pyrite (Py1), is identified in rocks from the biotite and garnet metamorphic zones. Py1 and Po coexist in the staurolite zone without a clear textural relationship, and past the sillimanite isograd, Py1 is completely absent with Po in abundance. Py1 and/or Po are replaced by euhedral to subhedral, inclusion-free, late/retrograde pyrite (Py2) in all metamorphic zones. In situ trace element analysis of the sulfide assemblage reveals a decrease, with increasing metamorphic grade, in metal contents such as Au, Ag, Te, Bi, and Se, associated with the prograde replacement of Py1 by Po. Arsenic and Co are preserved and enriched in Py2, while Ni is concentrated in Po, and Cu is redistributed to chalcopyrite. In situ, multiple sulfur isotope analyses show no analytically distinguishable fractionation (δ34S shift of −0.1‰ ± 0.9 and a Δ33S shift of +0.06‰ ± 0.17) between Py1 and Po. These results indicate that the H2S produced by the desulfidation reaction retains the δ34S-Δ33S signature of Py1 across the biotite, garnet, and staurolite zones. This detailed examination of the textural and chemical evolution of sulfides highlights the role of desulfidation in metal mobility. The pyrite to pyrrhotite reaction can be an efficient mechanism for supplying sulfur, Au, Ag, Te, Bi and Se, and if synchronous with the release of fluids and deformation, mobilizing Au through the Earth's crust.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".