| Titre | Geometric and hydrodynamic modelling and fluid-structural relationships in the southeastern Athabasca Basin and significance for uranium mineralization |
| Télécharger | Téléchargement (publication entière) |
| Auteur | Li, Z; Chi, G; Bethune, K M; Bosman, S A; Card, C D |
| Source | Targeted Geoscience Initiative 4: unconformity-related uranium systems; par Potter, E G (éd.); Wright, D M (éd.); Commission géologique du Canada, Dossier public 7791, 2015 p. 103-114, https://doi.org/10.4095/295788 |
| Année | 2015 |
| Éditeur | Ressources naturelles Canada |
| Document | dossier public |
| Lang. | anglais |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.4095/295788 |
| Media | en ligne; numérique |
| Référence reliée | Cette publication est contenue dans Potter, E G;
Wright, D M; (2015). Targeted Geoscience Initiative 4: unconformity-related uranium systems, Commission géologique du Canada, Dossier public 7791 |
| Province | Saskatchewan |
| SNRC | 74A/13; 74G/01; 74G/08; 74H/03; 74H/04; 74H/05; 74H/06; 74H/07; 74H/10; 74H/11; 74H/12; 74H/13; 74H/14; 74H/15; 74I/03; 74I/04 |
| Lat/Long OENS | -106.5000 -104.5000 58.2500 56.7500 |
| Sujets | gîte de type discordance; discordances; gisements d'uranium; uranium; gisements minéraux; gîtes minéralogiques; minéralisation; modèles; établissement de modèles; fluides de formation; dynamique des
fluides; fluage; Bassin d'Athabasca ; géologie économique; minéraux radioactifs |
| Illustrations | location maps; models; cross-sections |
| Consultation | |
| Bibliothèque de Ressources naturelles Canada - Ottawa (Sciences de la Terre) |
| |
| Programme | Étude des gîtes d'uranium, Initiative géoscientifique ciblée (IGC-4) |
| Diffusé | 2015 03 02 (08:30) |
| Résumé | (disponible en anglais seulement)
Unconformity-type uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin are spatially associated with reactivated basement faults intersecting the unconformity surface.
However, questions such as what special factors focused fluid flow along and within fault zones, and why some faults are more fertile than others, are still unclear. This study aims to tackle these questions through examination of the southeastern
Athabasca Basin. First, a basement structural map was compiled based on basement geophysical signatures, which shows three dominant sets of faults trending NE, NW, and NNW. A 3D model of the sub-Athabasca unconformity was constructed with GoCADR
using publicly available geological and drill-hole data, revealing a number of dominantly NE-trending ridges and valleys. These unconformity topographic features are interpreted to be the products of the combined action of three main factors: 1)
pre-Athabasca group ductile faulting and alteration; 2) differential weathering and erosion; and 3) post-Athabasca reactivation of pre-existing, graphite-rich ductile shear zones. The basin-scale numerical modelling of hydrodynamics indicates that
fluid pressures in the Athabasca Basin were close to hydrostatic throughout its sedimentary history, and that thermal convection cells may have been well developed in the lower part of the basin, particularly below the Wolverine Point Formation
aquitard. The modeling results also show that individual convection cells are less than 2 km, implying that individual mineralization centres, if controlled by thermal convection, may be spaced at just a few kilometers. Local-scale numerical
modelling of fluid flow indicates that the location and spacing of basement faults influence thermally-driven fluid convection. In a model with an isolated fault, the fault coincides with an upwelling plume. In the case of two faults, the faults may
coincide with upwelling flow or alternatively be centrally located below convection cells, depending on fault spacing. In the latter case, fluid may flow into and out of individual fault zones. Modelling of fluid-flow in response to mechanical
compression suggests that fluid migrates up the fault during compression, and that the models with the most shallowly dipping fault and those with offset on the fault have slightly greater flow rates than the other models. The various relationships
between fluid-flow and faults can explain why some faults are more favourable for fluid flow than others, which may be potentially used to evaluate whether a given structure has the potential to host mineralization. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 295788 |
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