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USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library

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2 to 20 m thick. A related dolomite-hosted Fe deposit in the<br />

Gorbunov Formation is interpreted as forming during chemical<br />

deposition of Fe from seawater.<br />

Oroek Sediment-Hosted Cu Deposit<br />

The sediment-hosted Cu Oroek deposit (fig. 5) (I.G.<br />

Volkodav and Korobitsyn, A.V. written commun., 1979,<br />

Shpikerman and Shpikerman, 1996) occurs in the Oroek<br />

Formation that consists of an Late Proterozoic volcaniclastic<br />

rock sequence that varies between 150 to180 m in thickness.<br />

The sequence consists mainly of quartzite, quartz-chlorite and<br />

graphite-chlorite schist, and phyllite and thin conformable<br />

beds of basalt and tuffaceous rocks. The major ore minerals<br />

are chalcocite, bornite, and chalcopyrite, which occur in metamorphosed<br />

sandstone, siltstone, and shale. Local abundant<br />

quartz bodies also contain chalcopyrite, bornite, and hematite.<br />

Later cross-cutting quartz veins also contain minor malachite,<br />

chalcocite, azurite, chrysocolla,bornite, and native copper.<br />

Mineralized rocks are deformed and form an overturned, isoclinal<br />

fold whose limbs dip southeast at 40° to 90°.<br />

Origin of and Tectonic Controls for Oroek Metallogenic Belt<br />

The sediment-hosted Cu deposits of the Oroek metallogenic<br />

belt are hosted mainly in the Middle Riphean Oroek Formation,<br />

which consists of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks<br />

with a thickness of 1,300 to 1,500 m (Shpikerman, 1998). The<br />

Cu deposits occur only in two lithologies—quartz-chloritoid<br />

and quartz-chlorite schist. The quartz-chloritoid schist locally<br />

contains polimictic siltstone and sandstone with parallel and<br />

oa<br />

Overlap assemblages<br />

(Cretaceous and Cenozoic)<br />

NSC NSC North Asian Craton<br />

NSS NSS North Asian Craton - Stanovoy block<br />

NSV<br />

CRATON<br />

North Asian Craton Margin<br />

(Verkhoyansk fold and thrust belt)<br />

CRATONAL TERRANES<br />

AK Avekova; AU Argun; BL Baladek;<br />

GZ Gonzha; OK Okhotsk; OM Omolon<br />

PASSIVE CONTINENTAL-MARGIN TERRANES<br />

AA Arctic <strong>Alaska</strong>; AY Ayansk; CH Chukotka;<br />

KN Kula-Nera; OD Oldoi; OV Omulevka;<br />

PL Prikolyma; VL Viliga<br />

METAMORPHOSED CONTINENTAL-MARGIN TERRANES<br />

SD Seward; SR Sredinny-Kamchatka;<br />

ZL Zolotogorskiy<br />

ACCRETED TERRANES<br />

Continental-margin arc terranes<br />

BU Bureya; KE Kema; KA Khanka;<br />

MM Mamyn<br />

Island-arc terranes<br />

Figure 2.—Continued.<br />

AL Alazeya; IR Iruneiskiy; KM Kony-Murgal;<br />

KRO Kronotskiy; KH Khetachan; KY Koyukuk;<br />

LD Laoelin-Grodekorsk; MAI Mainitskiy;<br />

NE Nemura; NU Nutesyn; OKA Olyutorka-<br />

Kamchatka; OL Oloy; SB Stolbovskoy;<br />

SH Shmidt; TR Terpeniya; WP West Pekulney;<br />

YA Yarakvaam<br />

Proterozoic Metallogenic Belts (2500 to 570 Ma; figures 2, 3) 11<br />

EXPLANATION<br />

oblique laminations. The chlorite schists contain dark green<br />

chloritoid porphyryblasts, dark green chlorite, quartz, epidote,<br />

mica, and rutile, and have a dark color, fine-grain composition,<br />

and a laminated shaley and lenticular texture. The ore-bearing<br />

rocks of the Oroek Formation are derived from subaqueous,<br />

polymictic sandstone, siltstone and shale (pelite) that contain<br />

considerable volcanic rock fragments (L.A. Shpikerman,<br />

written commun., 1999). Metamorphism occurred at quartzalbite-<br />

epidote-biotite subfacies, and the age of metamorphism<br />

is probably Pre-Vendian (Shpikerman, 1998). The sedimenthosted<br />

Cu deposits and host rocks are interpreted as forming<br />

in rift-related troughs in a sublittoral and shelf area during the<br />

early history of the Prikolyma passive continental margin terrane,<br />

during Middle or Late Proterozoic incipient rifting of the<br />

North Asian Craton Margin (Shpikerman, 1998).<br />

The ironstone deposits of the Oroek metallogenic belt<br />

(Pobeda deposit and others) occur in the Vendian Syapyakane<br />

suite that ranges from 300 to 800 m thick and is composed<br />

of mainly feldspathic-quartz sandstones with thin interbeds<br />

and lenses consisting of hematite (martite), magnetite, titanic<br />

magnetite, ilmenite, rutile, and zircon (Shpikerman, 1998).<br />

The sandstones are typical occurrences of Vendian beach<br />

placers and are similar to sandstones in the Middle Riphean<br />

Spiridonova Formation that occurs to the west, also in the<br />

Prikolyma terrane. However, these formations are underlain by<br />

the Gorbunova Formation that contains beds of dolomite and<br />

stratiform hematite-carbonate iron deposits. The Prikolyma<br />

terrane is interpreted as a rifted fragment of the North Asian<br />

Craton Margin (Verkhoyansk fold belt, unit NSV; Nokleberg<br />

and others, 1994c, 1997c; Shpikerman, 1998).<br />

Accretionary-wedge, subduction-zone,<br />

or ophiolite terranes<br />

Dominantly oceanic rocks:<br />

AG Angayucham; AC Aluchin; ANV Aniva;<br />

ARG Argatas; BD Badzhal; DB Debin; EK Ekonay;<br />

GB Garbynya; GL Galam; HI Hidaka; IN Indigirka;<br />

KK Kamuikotan; KYB Kybytygas; MU Munilkan;<br />

NAB Nabilsky; NS Nora-Sukhotin;<br />

PA Penzhina-Anadyr; PK Pekulney;<br />

SA South Anyui; SMA Samarka;<br />

TD Tukuringra-Dzhagdi;<br />

TO Tokoro; TU Taukha; UY Uyandina;<br />

VE Velmay; VT Vetlovskiy<br />

Dominantly turbidites:<br />

AM Amur River; AV Alkatvaam;<br />

KUK Kuril-Kamchatka;<br />

PW Prince William; RA Rassokha;<br />

SY Sorachi-Yezo;<br />

TL Talovskiy; UL Ulban;<br />

WK West Kamchatka<br />

Turbidite-basin terranes:<br />

BE Beryozovka; LN Lan; SY Sorachi-Yezo;<br />

UB Uniya-Bom; WSA West Sakhalin;<br />

ZT Zhuravlesk-Tumnin<br />

PAC Pacific oceanic plate<br />

SK<br />

Contact<br />

Active subduction zone<br />

Metallogenic belt

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