Joints and mineral veins during structural evolution: case study from the Outer Carpathians (Poland)

Abstract

This paper focuses on mineral weins hosted in small-scale fractures within the Tertiary sandstones of the Magura nappe (Outer Carpathians). Joints, faults and tension gashes record three successive stags of the nappe structural evolution: (1) synsedimentary folding and thrusting, (2) regional rotation and (3) law-orogenic collapse. The flow of mineral-bearing fluids was channelized by small-scale fractures resulting in calcite and quartz-calcite veins. Folding: columnar calcite formed the most common filling of early joints and the joints-related tension gashes and strike-slip faults. The mineralisation was restricted to sandstones containing primary carbonates. Rotation: precipitation of columnar and fibrous calcite was largely restricted to joints reactivated as strike-slip faults. Collapse: the collapse-related mineralisation is the most abundant. Wide-spread fluid flow was channelized by normal faults resulting in fibrous calcite and quartz-calcite along these faults whereas several blocky and drusy calcite generation and single high temperature quartz-calcite assemblage precipitated in numerous adjoining joints.