Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 997–1004

www.elsevier.com/locate/pce

Isocon analysis: A brief review of the method and applications

James A. Grant *

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812, USA

Received 12 November 2003; received in revised form 3 June 2004; accepted 20 November 2004
Available online 10 August 2005

Abstract

Isocon analysis [Grant, J.A., 1986. The isocon diagram—a simple solution to GresensÕ equation for metasomatic alteration. Eco-
nomic Geology 81, 1976–1982.] is a simple and effective means of quantitatively estimating changes in mass or volume or concen-
trations in mass transfer. It may be accomplished graphically by plotting an altered composition against an original composition
with no significant manipulation of the data. Species that have remained immobile in the process define the isocon, which is a
straight line through the origin. The paper reviews suggested means of identifying immobile species, graphical, statistical or by com-
putation, and suggests that whatever the means, the geochemical characteristics of the species and of the process should be consid-
ered. It is shown that scaling of data need not affect the choice of immobile species or the slope of the isocon. Applications of the
method to hydrothermal alteration, replacement, migmatites, shear zones, paleosols, silcretes, sedimentary exhalative deposits and
fumarolic deposits are briefly reviewed.

2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Mass transfer; Alteration; Metasomatism; Concentration; Geochemistry

1. Introduction CA O A O
i ¼ M =M ðC i þ DC i Þ

where Ci is the concentration of species ‘‘i’’, ‘‘O’’ refers

Isocon analysis (Grant, 1986) provides a simple and
effective means of quantitatively evaluating chemical
gains and losses in mass transfer. This method has been
applied to a wide range of geological processes, from
hydrothermal alteration to formation of silcretes. This
paper presents a review of the isocon method and of
geologic problems to which it has been applied.
2. Isocon analysis: method
Summarizing from Grant (1986), GresensÕ (1967)
equation for composition–volume relations in metaso-
matic alteration was rewritten as
*
Tel.: +1 218 726 7237; fax: +1 218 726 8275.
E-mail address: jgrant@d.umn.edu
to the original rock and ‘‘A’’ to the altered rock, MO and
MA are equivalent masses before and after alteration.
DCi is the change in concentration of species ‘‘i’’. For
each species there is an equation of this form in which
MO/MA is constant. If one can identify immobile spe-
cies, for which DCi=0, MO/MA can be obtained by solv-
ing the set of simultaneous equations of the form
CA O A O
i ¼ ðM =M ÞC i
This may be done graphically by plotting the analytical
data C A O
i against C i , in which case the immobile species
define a straight line through the origin.
This is the isocon, whose equation is
C A ¼ ðM O =M A ÞC O
The slope of the isocon yields the overall change in
mass relative to MO. This slope may be determined
from: (a) the clustering of C A O
i =C i data (as in Table 1),

1474-7065/$ - see front matter
2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.pce.2004.11.003
998 J.A. Grant / Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 997–1004

Table 1
Isocon analysis of alteration from Mori et al. (2003, p. 618, Traverse A)
Components Least altered Most altered Slope to Gain/loss Gain/loss in Gain/loss from
composition composition data point relative to C O
i wt.% or ppm Mori et al. (2003)
CO
i (UA) CA
i ð604–401Þ CA O
i =C i DC i =C O
i DCi DCi
Panel A
SiO2 46.45 45.62 0.982 0.02 0.78 0.91
TiO2 1.29 1.30 1.010 0.01 0.01 Nd
Al2O3 14.30 14.74 1.031 0.03 0.45 Nd
Fe2O3(t) 11.05 8.20 0.742 0.26 2.84 2.86
MnO 0.17 0.15 0.900 0.10 0.02 0.02
MgO 5.28 3.89 0.736 0.26 1.39 1.39
CaO 12.14 8.29 0.683 0.32 3.84 3.86
Na2O 2.93 2.09 0.713 0.29 0.84 0.84
K2O 0.49 3.12 6.324 5.33 2.63 2.62
H2O 3.00 2.18 0.726 0.27 0.82 0.83
CO2 3.29 10.96 3.335 2.34 7.68 7.65
Sc 42 39 0.929 0.07 3 Nd
V 327 305 0.934 0.07 21 Nd
Cr 313 282 0.900 0.10 31 Nd
Ni 67 42 0.627 0.37 25 25
Cu 77 75 0.974 0.02 2 2
Zn 100 72 0.722 0.28 28 28
Sr 170 214 1.256 0.26 44 44
Y 29 17 0.593 0.41 12 12
Ba 80 140 1.750 0.75 60 60
Panel B
K2O 6.324
CO2 3.335
Ba 1.750
Sr 1.256
Al2O3 1.031
TiO2 1.010
SiO2 0.982
Cu 0.974
V 0.934
Sc 0.929
MnO 0.900
Cr 0.900
Fe2O3(t) 0.742
MgO 0.736
H2O 0.726
Zn 0.722
Na2O 0.713
CaO 0.683
Ni 0.627
Y 0.593

CO
i (UA) CA
i (604–401) Scale CO
i CA
i

Panel C
SiO2 46.45 45.62 0.86 40.00 39.29
Al2O3 14.30 14.74 2.66 38.00 39.16
CaO 12.14 8.29 2.97 36.00 24.58
Fe2O3(t) 11.05 8.20 3.08 34.00 25.24
MgO 5.28 3.89 6.06 32.00 23.56
CO2 3.29 10.96 1.22 4.00 13.34
H2O 3.00 2.18 9.99 30.00 21.78
Na2O 2.93 2.09 9.55 28.00 19.95
TiO2 1.29 1.30 20.21 26.00 26.27
K2O 0.49 3.12 4.05 2.00 12.65
MnO 0.17 0.15 144.00 24.00 21.60
V 327 305 0.07 22.00 20.54
Cr 313 282 0.06 20.00 18.00
Sr 170 214 0.11 18.00 22.61
Zn 100 72 0.16 16.00 11.56
 J.A. Grant / Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 997–1004 999

Table 1 (continued)
CO
i (UA) CA
i (604–401) Scale CO
i CA
i

Ba 80 140 0.18 14.00 24.50

Cu 77 75 0.16 12.00 11.69
Ni 67 42 0.15 10.00 6.27
Sc 42 39 0.19 8.00 7.43
Y 29 17 0.21 6.00 3.56
UA is the average of least altered samples 604–409, 604–410 and 604–411 farthest from the vein. Sample 604–401 is the most altered, closest to the
vein. Concentrations of oxides are in weight percent, of trace elements in parts per million. Panel 1A: Calculation of C A O
i =C i and of gains and losses,
panel 1B: data sorted on C Ai =C O
i , panel 1C: data scaled for portrayal as Fig. 1.

(b) a best fit of data forming a linear array through the H2O, Na2O, Zn, Ni, and Y (and possibly MnO, V and
origin on an isocon diagram (the graphical equivalent of Cr) lost.
the first method), (c) the a priori assumption that certain To refine the isocon method, Baumgartner and Olsen
components were immobile, (d) the assumption of con- (1995) present a thought-provoking, statistical approach
stant mass during alteration, or (e) the assumption of to it. Their approach may be considered in four parts.
constant volume during alteration. Species plotting First, they observe that choice of an isocon by simple
above the isocon were gained in the process, whereas inspection of an arbitrarily scaled isocon diagram can
those plotting below were lost, and the gain or loss is lead to error. This is particularly the case for data plot-
given by ted close to the origin, which thus may appear errone-
ously to lie on an isocon. They consider that analytical
DC i =C O A O A O
i ¼ ðM =M ÞðC i =C i Þ  1
uncertainties are likely to be much less than those due
where C A O
i =C i is the slope of the line from the origin to to heterogeneity, and hence suggest that scaling be done
the data point. on the basis of the uncertainties due to compositional
For example, Fig. 1 shows a plot based on the data of heterogeneities in the samples being compared. ‘‘Data
Mori et al. (2003). They describe and interpret two tra- points associated with large uncertainties are scaled to-
verses across progressive alteration from carbonate wards the origin of the diagram, whereas those with
veins into the host rock of mafic schists. Their work will smaller uncertainties plot farther away, giving each
be used for illustrative purposes because they provide a point its appropriate torque’’ (Baumgartner and Olsen,
useful set of data on progressive alteration but do not 1995, p. 1264). This seems reasonable. However a judi-
use actual isocon diagrams to portray the chemical cious sampling program can alleviate problems of heter-
changes. In Fig. 1 an isocon could reasonably be chosen ogeneity and yield a close approximation to the actual
based on Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, Cu and Sc, or a sub-set of composition of the body of rock being sampled. A ma-
these, based in part on the common immobility of Al jor source of uncertainty, although less quantifiable, is
and Ti. Relative to such an isocon, K2O, CO2, Ba and likely to be in the choice of the ‘‘least altered’’ composi-
Sr would have been added, and CaO, Fe2O3(t), MgO, tion, because the actual protolith no longer exists. The
most favorable situation in this regard is exemplified
by Cail and Cline (2001), who deal with alteration of
Al2O3 individual, homogeneous beds.
40
SiO2
Cail and Cline (2001) determined which elements
were immobile by plotting pairs of species, one against
30 the other, looking for linear arrays passing through
TiO2
Ba
Fe2O3(t)
CaO
the origin, following Finlow-Bates and Stumpfl (1981).
MgO
CA(401)

Sr
MnO
H2O Baumgartner and Olsen (1995) suggest selecting as
Na2O
20 Cr V immobile elements those that are within 1r of an isocon
K2O CO2
defined by the largest number of species which conform
Cu Zn to this criterion, their ‘‘overlapping cone method’’
10 Sc
Ni
(Baumgartner and Olsen, 1995, pp. 1264–1265). While
Y this provides an unbiased choice of isocon, the writer
0
prefers to be biased by the geochemical characteristics
0 10 20 30 40 of both the species involved and the process being stud-
C°(UA) ied. For example, Al, Ti and Zr are commonly inter-
Fig. 1. Isocon diagram based on data from Mori et al. (2003). CO is an
preted to be immobile (Baumgartner and Olsen, 1995,
average of three analyses (UA). CA is the single analysis of sample 604– p. 1264), yet in partial melting and separation of a leu-
401, the closest to the vein. cosome, Al is one of the major species lost in the process
1000 J.A. Grant / Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 997–1004
(e.g. Grant, 1986, p. 1981). Indeed Baumgartner and Ol-
sen say (Baumgartner and Olsen, 1995, p. 1268) ‘‘This
objective method of immobile component selection is
based on the assumption that the majority of elements
are immobile, so it should be used in conjunction with,
rather than instead of, other geochemical arguments
and petrological observations.’’
In defining the isocon, Baumgartner and Olsen (1995)
propose a fully x–y-weighted least squares procedure for
the best fit for the selected immobile elements (Baum-
gartner and Olsen, 1995, p. 1268). But they say that
few published data sets allow for the estimation of uncer-
tainties associated with the compositional data set in the
manner suggested. Whenever regression analysis is used
to determine the slope of an isocon using scaled data,
the nature of the scaling affects the result. However, it
is important to realize that scaling is irrelevant to the
slope of an isocon if the isocon is based on the slopes
CA O
i =C i , of the rays from the origin to each data point,
because the scale factor cancels in the slope calculations,
as shown below. Then scaling can be used simply to por-
tray the data to the best advantage. Fortunately, the dif-
ferences in arriving at the slope of an isocon through a
given linear array are commonly insignificant.
Finally, Baumgartner and Olsen introduce log–log
diagrams to portray the data used in their example,
and call them ‘‘isocon diagrams’’ (Baumgartner and Ol-
sen, 1995, p. 1267). This is unfortunate, and not recom-
mended because, although the text is correct, the
diagrams can lead to misunderstanding. They state that:
‘‘The line representing the isocon in this log–log concen-
tration diagram is a straight line:
log C A O A O
i ¼ log M =M þ log C i
It always has a slope of one. Note that this isocon does
not have a zero-intercept value, unless the overall mass
change is equal to zero’’ (italics by the writer). Use of
the word ‘‘isocon’’ in this context is incompatible with
much of the discussion about slopes of isocons. These
diagrams are indeed log–log diagrams despite their axes
being labeled in weight percent, and this short-hand has
led (e.g. Cail and Cline, 2001, p. 1350) to mathematically
incorrect statements that essentially say that two parallel
lines have different slopes! They return to the normal
x–y formulation to effect the calculations for mass gain
and loss. So an excursion into log–log space does no
more than add potential confusion to isocon analysis.
To reinforce these comments, consider further Mori
et al. (2003) , whose calculations follow Baumgartner
and OlsenÕs recommendations. In Table 1Panel A, the
least and most altered compositions from their traverse
A are compared. The slopes to each data point ðC A O
i =C i Þ
are given in the fourth column, and for convenience
these are shown sorted in Table 1Panel B. The values
for SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2 and Cu are closely clustered,
and Al2O3 and TiO2 are commonly immobile, so these
data are chosen by the writer to define an isocon (see
the comments on Fig. 1, above). The average slope for
these four species (bold in Table 1) is 0.999. A linear
regression for these data points with all four in weight
percent yields an isocon of slope 0.986. A linear regres-
sion for all four, with Cu still in parts per million (thus
scaled by a factor of 104), yields a slope of 0.978. Using
0.999 for the slope of the isocon, relative mass gains and
losses are calculated (Table 1Panel A, column 5). In col-
umn 6, these are converted to weight percent or parts
per million for oxides and trace elements respectively.
These are compared with the values from Mori et al.
(2003) in column 7. The two sets of results are virtually
identical. To graph this comparison, the data are sorted
on C O i in two groups, oxides and trace elements, as
shown in Table 1Panel C. These data are scaled to even
values, in decreasing concentrations, except for CO2 and
K2O, which are scaled to low values because of the dras-
tic changes in each, which would make the graph appear
distorted. The corresponding graph is shown in Fig. 1,
which is much easier to read and more useful than the
equivalent log–log plot (Mori et al., 2003, Fig. 7A). In
this example, a larger number of species might have been
used to define a possible isocon passing through the
points Na and Ca. This would be hard to justify
geochemically.
Finally, consider the effectiveness of isocon diagrams
in portraying changes in progressive alteration (e.g.
Grant, 1986, Fig. 5). Returning to Mori et al. (2003,
Traverse A) the average of the least-altered samples
(UA) is compared with the averages of four pairs of
samples taken in sequence towards the vein. The pecu-
liarities of an individual analysis are subdued by averag-
ing, whether these are accidental or potentially
significant deviations from the average. (The writer tried
averaging different groups of analyses in the progressive
alteration, and found pairs to be the most satisfactory
choice.) The data are shown in Fig. 2, in which the spe-
cies are designated only by the cation, and the data are
scaled as in Fig. 1. SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, V, Cr and Sc are
relatively immobile throughout, and an isocon would be
chosen within the bounds shown. K2O and CO2 clearly
increase throughout, and CaO and Na2O decrease.
Fe2O3(t) and MgO, Zn and Ni remain relatively immo-
bile far from the vein, but decrease towards the vein in
the last two pairs of samples. MnO, Sr and Ba, show
scatter. H2O shows progressive decrease from a high
next to the least altered rock to a low near the vein: pos-
sibly this represents a front of hydration progressing
outwards from the vein, with increasing H2O/CO2 to-
wards the front. These conclusions are very similar to
those reached by Mori et al., but their enrichment in
Fe2O3(t) is not seen and a loss in SiO2 depends on the
exact choice of immobile species. In this progression,
the same isocon could be used for all comparisons be-
tween the least altered rock and the alteration zone,

40
30
C (pairs)
Sr Cr
A
20
Zn
Ba
10 Ni
Cu
C Sc
K Y
0 • Nijland and Touret (2001) discuss replacement of
0 10
Fig. 2. Isocon diagram based on data from Mori et al. (2003). CO is an
average of three analyses (UA). CA data are from four pairs of samples
in order from most distal from the vein (604–408 and 407) to proximal
to the vein (604–402 and 401). Labels for oxides are abbreviated to the
cation elements.
based on some combination of SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, V, Cr,
and Sc, and Fe2O3(t), MgO, Zn and Ni could be in-
cluded for the first two pairs but apparently became mo-
bile closer to the vein. This would imply no discernable
change in mass throughout the alteration. This is not
necessarily the case, as shown in Grant (1986, Fig. 5)
where in progressive alteration, an isocon is well defined
by Al2O3, SiO2, and TiO2, but the slope of the isocon de-
creases corresponding to an increase in mass in the core
of the alteration.
3. Isocon analysis: applications
• Isocon analysis has been applied to a wide variety of
geologic problems. This section will note these and
the papers that the writer has found, particularly
through searches of GEOREF and GEOBASE, with
apologies for the omissions. Applications to hydro-
thermal alteration and migmatites in the original
paper (Grant, 1986) will not be summarized. In addi-
tion to the applications noted, the method has been
used in teaching aqueous geochemistry.
Hydrothermal alteration
• Cail and Cline (2001) ascertain gains and losses in 13
transects across the Getchell gold deposit. Each tran-
sect is along a single homogeneous bed, so the com-
mon problem of choosing a protolith is as minimal
as it can be. The results indicate that Ti, Al, Zr,
and Th behaved as immobile elements, and that sig-
nificant Hg, Sb, Se, Te, Tl and Cs were added with
Au. Ca, Mn, Sr, Sc were the major elements consis-
tently removed in the alteration.
J.A. Grant / Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 997–1004 1001
• Mori et al. (2003) describe mass transfer in alteration
H
Al zones around carbonate veins in mafic schists of the
Si
Fe blueschist facies (see Section 2).
Mg • Harper (1997) describes metasomatic formation of
Ti
Ca epidosite zones in ophiolite complexes. He finds lin-
ear arrays of Ti, Zr, Y, REE except Eu, P and Sc,
Na
V Mn and uses these to define isocons. On that basis, the
process involved strong enrichment in Ca and Sr,
strong depletion in Mg, Na, Zn and Cu, and oxida-
408+407 tion of Fe. Harper emphasizes the separation of Al
406+405
404+403 from the high field strength elements, Al (and Si)
402+401
being gained in the process of epidotization.
20 30 40
graphic texture. They use constant volume isocon,
C°(UA)
on which basis the gain of Al2O3 is 14% and loss of
SiO2 is 4%—small compared to +4480% for FeO,
+1482% for Na2O and 99% for K2O. They say that
this shows that the commonly held assumption of Al
immobility is untenable. But an isocon might reason-
ably be chosen assuming immobile Al2O3 with very
similar results.
Migmatites
• Olsen and Grant (1991) deal with five sets of analyses
from migmatites in the Front Range, Colorado. The
data are scaled with traces and majors at x = 20 and
30 respectively following a suggestion by Baumgart-
ner (pers. comm.). To test a closed system model for
the formation of the migmatites, they compared pro-
tolith and mafic selvage. Isocons are based on Mg, Fe,
Mn and Ti, with the principal losses being in Si, Al, Ca
and Na, as befits separation of a granitic leucosome.
From comparison of the material so lost with the
observed leucosome, they show that formation of
the leucosomes does not fit a closed system model.
• Chavagnac et al. (2001) deal with migmatites from
the Limpopo belt. Their choice of immobile species
is Mn, P, Al or Ca(?), but at least for their Fig. 5A,
one could well choose Mn, Ti, Mg, Ca and Fe. This
would drastically alter the conclusions to imply that
SiO2, Al2O3, K2O and Na2O were added in forming
the leucosome from the paleosome.
Shear zones
• Demény et al. (1997) study Mg-metasomatism in
shear zones. They show that phyllites could be
formed from metagranite through successive alter-
ation. Al2O3 is the basis for their isocons, but TiO2
remains relatively immobile on this basis throughout,
as is commonly the case. From metagranite to gneiss
to transition zone to phyllite, there is progressive
increase in MgO and H2O, and loss of Na2O, CaO
and Fe2O3. K2O and P2O5 remain relatively immobile
in this transition.
1002 J.A. Grant / Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 997–1004

• OÕHara (1988) analyzed chemical changes in the 35

development of phyllonite in a thrust sheet. The com- Qtz-Ser schist

30 Ctd-Ky-Qtz schist
parison of protolith with phyllonite yielded two pos- Ky-Qtz schist
SiO2

sible choices for isocon: (a) one with constant volume Fe2O3
25 Al2O3
and (b) one with volume loss of about 60%. The latter
was chosen because the species involved include Ti,

Paleosols
20
Y, V and Zr, which are commonly regarded as insol- K2O
Fe2O3T
uble. This would imply that SiO2, K2O, Na2O, CaO, 15
TiO2 FeO
Al2O3, Rb and Sr were lost in the process. The con-
10
clusions depend critically on consideration of the geo-
chemical characteristics of the species involved.
5 MnO
• Steyrer and Strum (2002) use an isocon diagram to MgO
P2O5 CaO
illustrate that a variety of mylonites developed iso- 0
Na2O

chemically from a granitic protolith. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

• Hippertt (1998) uses isocons based on Zr and Ti in a
study of mylonitization of granitoid rocks in Brazil.
He considers that elements that show erratic behavior
may have migrated laterally rather than being
removed from or added to the shear zone. To test
this, the writer averaged the oxide data in all the myl-
onites and compared this to the protomylonite, Hip-
perttÕs least altered composition. This showed that
Hippertt is probably correct in his opinion, because
the variations in many of the oxides average out. In
fact one can draw an isocon based on TiO2 (slope
0.89) or all the oxides except three (slope 1.04) In
both cases it is clear that the major changes were loss
of CaO (40% or 47%), Na2O (70% or 73%) and H2O
(54% or 59%).
• Selverstone et al. (1991) discuss a ductile shear zone
in granodiorite producing an aluminous schist. They
use immobile Zr and Al for their isocons, and show
major losses of Ca, Sr and Si, and major gains of
Fe, Mg and Ti, with volume loss up to 60%.
Archean Granitoid
Fig. 3. Isocon diagram based on data from Marmo (1992) on the
Hokkalampi paleosol, Finland. CO is the composition of the parent
Archean granitoid. CA data are average compositions from the three
overlying zones of the paleosol, in upward order: quartz–sericite schist,
chloritoid–kyanite–quartz schist and kyanite–quartz schist.
(Of course, isocon analysis can be used effectively to
study modern soils, such as those described by Brim-
hall and Dietrich, 1987.)
Silcrete formation
• Bustillo and Bustillo (2000) discuss silcrete formation
with isocons well defined by major and trace element
data. In the transition from silty mudstone to argilla-
ceous opals, as they show, SiO2, CaO and H2O are
clearly gained in the process, and there are no major
losses. This provides stringent constraints on the
mode of formation of the opals.

Paleosols Sedimendary exhalative deposits

• Grant (1993) considered a sequence of schists which
were analysed and interpreted as the Hokkalampi
paleosol (Marmo, 1992), formed by progressive
weathering of an Archean granitoid basement.
Results are shown in Fig. 3, which is a revised version
of Grant (1993) Fig. 4. If the schists were formed
from the granitoid, one could use an isocon approxi-
mating constant SiO2, Al2O3 and TiO2 within the
bounds shown, for all three alteration zones. Forma-
tion of the quartz–sericite schist involves almost com-
plete leaching of CaO and Na2O, some loss of P2O5,
MnO and MgO, gain of Fe2O3, loss of FeO and a les-
ser decrease in total iron suggesting oxidation accom-
panying the loss. In the formation of the next zone,
chloritoid–kyanite–quartz schist, P2O5, MnO, MgO,
CaO, K2O and Fe2O3 are almost completely lost,
and FeO and total iron show continued decreases.
Finally, in the uppermost zone, kyanite–quartz schist,
essentially all that is left are TiO2, Al2O3 and SiO2.
• Jébrak and Gauthier (1991) use the method to quan-
tify sedimentation input versus hydrothermal input
(S/H) in sedimentary exhalative deposits. In this case
they compare predominantly detrital sediment with
predominantly hydrothermal, each with a character-
istic chemistry, and calculate the S/H ratio from the
slope of the ‘‘detrital’’ isocon: if the slope of the latter
is 0.33, the ratio S/H = MA/MO = 3, or the input of
hydrothermal material is three times the detrital
input.
Fumarolic deposits
• Papike et al. (1991a) apply the method to a fossil
fumarole using both major species and a large suite
of trace elements. They compare samples of the
underlying leached dacitic portion of the ash flow tuff
and of the encrusted fall out with the unaltered 1912
dacite. The isocons were defined on the basis of suites
 J.A. Grant / Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 30 (2005) 997–1004
of trace elements, plus various combinations of Al, Ti
and Zr- up to 16 species being involved, and they use
linear regression to determine the best-fit isocon in
each comparison.
• In Papike et al. (1991b) , rhyolitic protoliths are sim-
ilarly investigated, and the point is made that the iso-
con method is well suited to samples like pumice
where densities are hard to ascertain. In both papers,
the results of isocon analysis are shown effectively in
enrichment and depletion diagrams.
Sulfide—sulphosalt parageneses
• Ni Wen et al. (1991) use isocon analysis to investigate
the production of a bournonite–galena symplectite
from meneghinite. They derive the reaction for the
replacement, concluding that Pb/Sb was constant in
a process, which essentially involved addition of
Cu2S. Cu was clearly gained in forming the symplec-
tite from meneghinite, as shown in their Fig. 3A. The
symplectite and the meneghinite have quite similar
Pb:Sb:S ratios and, especially since S is so commonly
immobile (as in their Fig 7b), the gain in S depends
on restricting the isocon to Sb and Pb.
• Wagner and Cook (1997) , similarly deal with sulfide–
sulfosalt vein mineralization in the Apollo mine,
using isocon analysis to characterize successive reac-
tions with evolving fluid chemistry. For the first stage
replacements, only S was assumed to be immobile,
following Birchenall (1974). One of their examples
of second step replacement is again a bournonite–
galena symplectite formed from meneghinite. In this
case again addition of Cu is the major change, but
here Sb and S are used to define an isocon, which
implies loss of Pb. As the authors say, this is in excel-
lent agreement with the behavior of Sb and S in the
other second-step replacements in the Apollo mine.
4. Conclusions
It is critical to obtain as close an approximation to
the actual protolith as possible, since that protolith no
longer exists. Sampling the altered rock is generally less
problematic, even if the alteration is zoned. Given zona-
tion or general heterogeneity of the rocks, judicious
sampling and averaging of samples is necessary. It
should be remembered that averaging not only reduces
variations due to heterogeneity but also variations due
to progressive alteration, so good judgment is needed.
Progressive alteration should be viewed not as a draw-
back but as an asset which may let one decipher system-
atics in the alteration.
The choice of immobile species can be determined
from the clustering of C A O
i =C i data (as in Table 1Panel
B), or a best fit of data forming a linear array through
1003
the origin on an isocon diagram (the graphical equiva-
lent), or by one of the other methods discussed above.
In any case the geochemical characteristics of the species
and of the process involved need to be considered
thoughtfully.
In each figure for this paper, the writer has shown a
range within which reasonable isocons could be chosen.
Data points that lie close to a chosen isocon within such
ranges would correspond to small gains and losses, and
not much significance should be put on them. Data
points far from the range of possible isocons will not
be affected significantly by particular choice within that
range. In Fig. 1, the range of potential isocons is essen-
tially from immobile Al2O3 to immobile SiO2. This cor-
responds to a range in gain or loss of less than 5% of
these species, whereas the range in gain for K2O is from
513% to 544%!
Scaling should be important only in producing an iso-
con diagram that is a clear picture of the data and inter-
pretation. If the slope of the isocon is based on C A O
i =C i
values, scaling cannot affect the results because the scale
factor cancels out. Scaling can affect the perception of
the results especially if points are crowded close to the
origin, which may make the data seem to fit the isocon
better than they really do.
Log–log plots add little to isocon analysis, except the
possibility of confusion, and should be avoided.
Acknowledgements
The writer wishes to thank Cedric Corteel for the
invitation to submit a review of isocon analysis for this
volume. George Hudak, Ron Morton, and S. Rocchi
provided most helpful reviews of the paper, for which
they are cordially thanked. I should also like to thank
Andrea Dini for editorial handling of the paper.
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