The Skora River: an anthropogenically modified gold-bearing fluvial deposit (North Sudetic Trough, SW Poland)

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Keywords:

gold, Hg-amalgams, inclusions, placer deposits, North Sudetic Basin

Abstract

We describe detrital gold grains obtained from sediments from the Skora River bed in the North Sudetic Trough, focussing on identification of microinclusions of ore minerals, combined with analyses of grain morphology and their chemical composition, to constrain the origin of the detrital gold. A population of gold grains of natural origin was identified, represented mostly by phases of native gold. A few microinclusions of Pd selenides and tellurides were identified, suggesting that local outcrops of the Rotliegend-Zechstein boundary zone are the probable source areas for the gold grains. In addition, a large population of amalgams of probable anthropogenic origin was identified. Their identification is of potential importance in the study of environmental mercury contamination, while distinguishing between the two grain populations is crucial to studying the origin of modern placer gold deposits.

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Published

2024-11-22

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Recently accepted paper

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Articles

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