Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:50:11.495Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cadmium sulfide in a Mesoproterozoic terrestrial environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

J. Parnell ,
J. Still ,
S. Spinks ,
W. Thayalan  and
S. Bowden
J. Parnell*
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
J. Still
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
S. Spinks
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
W. Thayalan
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
S. Bowden
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
*
*E-mail: j.parnell@abdn.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cadmium sulfide mineralization occurs in grey-black shales of the late Mesoproterozoic Stoer Group, Torridonian Supergroup, northwest Scotland. Cadmium is strongly redox-controlled, and normally concentrated in anoxic marine sediments or epigenetic mineralization involving organic matter. However the Stoer Group was deposited in a terrestrial environment, including lacustrine deposits of shale. At the limited levels of atmospheric oxygenation in the Mesoproterozoic (∼10% of present), the near-surface environment could have fluctuated between oxic and anoxic, allowing fractionation of Cd from Zn, and the formation of Cd sulfide rather than Cd-bearing sphalerite. This occurrence emphasizes the importance of the Stoer Group as a record of the Mesoproterozoic terrestrial environment.

Keywords

cadmiumgreenockiteMesoproterozoicTorridonianoxygenationScotland
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 47 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anbar, A.D. and Knoll, A.H. (2002) Proterozoic ocean chemistry and evolution: A bioinorganic bridge? Science, 297, 1137–1142.Google Scholar
Andrews, S.D., Trewin, N.H., Hartley, A.J. and Weedon, G.P. (2010) Solar variance recorded in lacustrine deposits from the Devonian and Proterozoic of Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, 167, 847–856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A.C. (1971) Zoning in the White Pine copper deposit, Ontonagon County, Michigan. Economic Geology, 66, 543–573.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A.C. (1974) An epigenetic origin for stratiform Cd-Pb-Zn sulfides in the Lower Nonesuch Shale, White Pine, Michigan. Economic Geology, 69, 271–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canfield, D.E. (2005) The early history of atmospheric oxygen: Homage to Robert M. Garrels. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 33, 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canfield, D.E. and Farquhar, J. (2009) Animal evolution, bioturbation, and the sulfate concentration of the oceans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 8123–8127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chaillou, G., Anschutz, P., Lavaux, G., Schäfer, J. and Blanc, G. (2002) The distribution of Mo, U and Cd in relation to major redox species in muddy sediments of the Bay of Biscay. Marine Chemistry, 80, 41–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornford, C. (1998) Source rocks and hydrocarbons of the North Sea. Pp. 376–462 in: Petroleum Geology of the North Sea – 4th edition, (K.W. Glennie, editor). Blackwell, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Darabi, M.H. and Piper, J.D.A. (2004) Palaeomagnetism of the (Late Mesoproterozoic) Stoer Group, Northwest Scotland: implications for diagenesis, age and relationship to the Grenville Orogeny. Geological Magazine, 141, 15–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyrssen, D. (1988) Sulfide complexation in surface seawater. Marine Chemistry, 24, 143–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falk, H., Lavergren, U. and Bergbäck, B. (2006) Metal mobility in alum shales from Öland, Sweden. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 90, 157–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fergusson, J.E. (1990) The Heavy Elements: Chemistry, Environmental Impact and Health Effects. Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Fleurance, S., Cuney, M., Malartre, F. and Reyx, J. (2013) Origin of the extreme polymetallic enrichment (Cd, Cr, Mo, Ni, U, V, Zn) of the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary Belqa Group, central Jordan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 369, 201–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Framson, P.E. and Leckle, J.O. (1978) Limits of coprecipitation of cadmium and ferrous sulfides. Environmental Science and Technology, 12, 465–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gammons, C.H. and Frandsen, A.K. (2001) Fate and transport of metals in H2S-rich waters at a treatment wetland. Geochemical Transactions, 2, 1–15.doi:10.1186/1467-4866-2-1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerringa, L.J.A., de Baar, H.J.W., Nolting, R.F. and Paucot, H. (2001) The influence of salinity on the solubility of Zn and Cd sulphides in the Scheldt estuary. Journal of Sea Research, 46, 201–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartnett, H.E., Keil, R.G., Hedges, J.I. and Devol, A.H. (1998) Influence of oxygen exposure time on organic carbon preservation in continental margin sediments. Nature, 391, 572–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, C.W., Slade, E.A. and McLerran, C.J. (1974) Migration and redistribution of zinc and cadmium in marine estuarine system. Environmental Science and Technology, 8, 255–259.Google Scholar
Institute of Geological Sciences (1982) Regional Geochemical Atlas: Sutherland. Institute of Geological Sciences, London.Google Scholar
Intwala, A., Patey, T.D., Polet, D.M. and Twiss, M.R. (2008) Nutritive substitution of zinc by cadmium and cobalt in phytoplankton isolated from the Lower Great Lakes. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 34, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, E.M., Rice, C.M. and Tweedie, J.R. (1987) Lower Proterozoic stratiform sulphide deposits in Loch Maree Group, Gairloch, northwest Scotland. Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, 96, B128–B140.Google Scholar
Kurek, E. and Bollag, J.-M. (2004) Microbial immobilization of cadmium released from CdO in the soil. Biogeochemistry, 69, 227–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lesven, L., Lourino-Cabana, B., Billon, G., Recourt, P., Ouddane, B., Mikkelsen, O. and Boughriet, A. (2010) On metal diagenesis in contaminated sediments of the Deûle river (northern France). Applied Geochemistry, 25, 1361–1373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcoux, E., Milesi, J., Sohearto, S. and Rinawan, R. (1993) Noteworthy mineralogy of the Au-Ag-Sn-W(Bi) epithermal ore deposit of Cirotan, West Java, Indonesia, The Canadian Mineralogist, 31, 727–744.Google Scholar
Mogessie, A., Gallien, F., Bernhard, F., Bauer, C., Castro De Machuca, B., Meissl, E., Bjerg, E. and Delpino, S. (2009) Greenockite and associated sulfide mineralization from the Caledonia Group Mines, Blanca Creek, LA Huerta Range, San Juan Province, Argentina, The Canadian Mineralogist, 47, 129–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morel, F.M.M. (2008) The co-evolution of phytoplankton and trace element cycles in the oceans. Geobiology, 6, 318–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nolting, R.F., de Baar, H.J.W., Timmermans, K.R. and Bakker, K. (1999) Chemical fractionation of zinc versus cadmium among other metals nickel, copper and lead in the northern North Sea. Marine Chemistry, 67, 267–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pailler, D., Bard, E., Rostek, F., Mortlock, R. and van Geen, A. (2002) Burial of redox-sensitive metals and organic matter in the equatorial Indian Ocean linked to precession. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 66, 849–865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parnell, J., Boyce, A.J., Mark, D., Bowden, S. and Spinks, S. (2010) Early oxygenation of the terrestrial environment during the Mesoproterozoic. Nature, 468, 290–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parnell, J., Hole, M., Boyce, A.J., Spinks, S. and Bowden, S. (2012) Heavy metal, sex and granites: Crustal differentiation and bioavailability in the mid- Proterozoic. Geology, 40, 751–754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parnell, J., Mark, D., Fallick, A.E., Boyce, A. and Thackrey, S. (2011) The age of the Mesoproterozoic Stoer Group sedimentary and impact deposits, NW Scotland. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 168, 349–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, D.J. (1985) Zincian greenockite in stratiform lead-zinc-silver mineralization at Lady Loretta, Northwest Quee n s land. The Canadian Mineralogist, 23, 89–94.Google Scholar
Perkins, R.B. and Foster, A.L. (2004) Mineral affinities and distribution of selenium and other trace elements in black shale and phosphorite of the Phosphoria Formation. Handbook of Exploration and Environmental Geochemistry, 8, 251–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pufahl, P.K. and Hiatt, E.E. (2012) Oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere-ocean system: A review of physical and chemical sedimentologic responses. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 32, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinhard, C.T., Raiswell, R., Scott, C., Anbar, A.D. and Lyons, T.W. (2009) A late Archean sulfidic sea stimulated by early oxidative weathering of the continents. Science, 326, 713–716.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ripley, E.M., Shaffer, N.R. and Gilstrap, M.S. (1990) Distribution and geochemical characteristics of metal enrichment in the New Albany Shale (Devonian-Mississippian), Indiana. Economic Geology, 85, 1790–1807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ripperger, S., Rehkämper, M., Porcelli, D. and Halliday, A.N. (2007) Cadmium isotope fractionation in seawater – A signature of biological activity. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 261, 670–684.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthal, Y., Lam, P., Boyle, E.A. and Thomson, J. (1995) Authigenic cadmium enrichments in suboxic sediments: Precipitation and postdepositional mobility. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 132, 99–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saito, M.A., Sigman, D.M. and Morel, F.M.M. (2003) The bioinorganic chemistry of the ancient ocean: the co-evolution of cyanobacterial metal requirements and biogeochemical cycles at the Archean Proterozoic boundary? Inorganica Chimica Acta, 356, 308–318.Google Scholar
Schwartz, M.O. (2000) Cadmium in zinc deposits: economic geology of a polluting element. International Geology Review, 42, 445–469.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, M.A. (1990) Lacustrine oil shale in the Geologic Record. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 50, 43–60.Google Scholar
Spinks, S.C., Parnell, J. and Bowden, S.A. (2010) Reduction spots in the Mesoproterozoic age: implications for life in the early terrestrial record. International Journal of Astrobiology, 9, 209–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stewart, A.D. (2002) The later Proterozoic Torridonian Rocks of Scotland: their Sedimentology, Geochemistry and Origin. Memoir 24, Geological Society, London.Google Scholar
Strother, P.K. (2012) Paleobiology of earliest Neoproterozoic lakes. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol. 44, no. 7, 315.Google Scholar
Thomson, J., Nixon, S., Croudace, I.W., Pedersen, T.F., Brown, L., Cook, G.T. and MacKenzie, A.B. (2001) Redox-sensitive element uptake in north-east Atlantic Ocean sediments (Benthic Boundary Layer Experiment sites). Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 184, 535–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Traill, R.J. and Boyle, R.W. (1955) Hawleyite, isometric cadmium sulphide, a new mineral. American Mineralogist, 40, 555–559.Google Scholar
Turner, E.C. and Kamber, B.S. (2012) Arctic Bay Formation, Borden Basin, Nunavut (Canada): Basin evolution, black shale, and dissolved metal systematics in the Mesoproterozoic ocean. Precambrian Research, 208-211, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Geen, A., McCorkle, D.C. and Klinkhammer, G.P. (1995) Sensitivity of the phosphate-cadmium-carbon isotope relation in the ocean to cadmium removal by suboxic sediments. Paleoceanography, 10, 159–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Knorring, O. and Dearnley, R. (1960) The Lewisian pegmatites of south Harris, Outer Hebrides. Mineralogical Magazine, 32, 366–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ye, L., Cook, N.J., Liu, T., Ciobanu, C.L., Gao, W. and Yang, Y. (2012) The Niujiaotang Cd-rich zinc deposit, Duyun, Guizhou province, southwest China: ore genesis and mechanisms of cadmium concentration. Mineralium Deposita, 47, 683–700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, B., Bridges, T.F. and Ineson, P.R. (1987) Supergene cadmium mineralization in the Northern Pennine Orefield. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 46, 275–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar