Lead isotopes in the Grenville and adjacent Palaeozoic formations
Lead-isotope ratios have been determined for a preliminary set of 16 galenas from the Grenville and some adjacent Palaeozoic formations in southern Ontario and Quebec. The 206Pb/204Pb ratios of the Grenville-hosted deposits range from 16.24 to 20.20. Six of the Grenville-hosted samples have a post-Ordovician age of mineralization, but may represent re-mineralized Grenville lead. With the five 'true' Grenville samples they can be used to define a Grenville 'secondary isochron' on a 207Pb/204Pb–206Pb/204Pb plot. The trend of this isochron appears to be consistent with published feldspar- and marble-lead data for nearby sections of the Grenville. Its slope (.120 ±.015) is compatible with a time of ~1300 Ma ago for inclusion of uranium in the sediments of the Grenville supergroup, followed by lead mineralization at ~1000 Ma. Calculations based on a simple lead-isotope evolution model give a similar age (1280 ± 15 Ma) for the stratabound Tetrault Pb–Zn deposit.The geologically similar New Calumet deposit has a...