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Zonation in Skarns – Complexities and Controlling Factors

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Z Chang and L D Meinert

ABSTRACT
Skarns typically are zoned and the deposit- or district-scale zonation pattern is an
important tool in exploration for skarn deposits. Zonation in individual deposits has
been described in many publications, and the general zoning patterns have been
summarised by Einaudi, Meinert and Newberry (1981), Meinert (1997), and Meinert,
Dipple and Nicolescu (2005). Although zonation is present in most skarns as the result
of a basic process of transferring heat and fluids from magmas to wall rocks, the
specific zoning pattern in each skarn may vary greatly. For example some zones may be
missing entirely or multiple zones may be telescoped. Such variations can be caused by
several factors including depth of formation, magma composition, timing of the
exsolution of magmatic aqueous fluids, redox state of the magma and redox state of the
wall rocks. To use zonation as a predictive tool in skarn exploration, all the controlling
factors have to be considered. In this study, we discuss some of the factors that may
affect the zoning patterns in Ca skarns. Magnesium skarn has dramatically different
mineralogy and is not discussed here.

TYPICAL ZONING PATTERNS

Typical zoning patterns have been described by Meinert (1997), with examples of Cu, Au, Pb-Zn and
W skarns. Generally, the garnet:pyroxene ratio is high close to intrusive sources and/or fluid conduits,
and becomes lower towards distal locations. At the marble front, there is typically a zone of
vesuvianite and/or a pyroxenoid such as wollastonite, bustamite or rhodonite. The amount of
exoskarn is typically much greater than endoskarn. Garnet colour is typically lighter away from fluid
conduits, whereas pyroxene colour becomes darker. On a district-scale, Cu skarns are typically
proximal and Pb-Zn skarns distal. Garnet and pyroxene in distal skarns are richer in Mn.

EFFECT OF REDOX GRADIENT BETWEEN MAGMA AND WALL ROCK

The supply of elements for the formation of garnet and pyroxene is one of the major controls on
garnet/pyroxene ratios. In a simple case of Cu skarn where the garnet is mostly of the grandite series
(Ca-Al-garnet to Ca-Fe3+-garnet), abundant Al and Fe3+ is needed to form garnet. Aluminium is
normally limited to close to the intrusion because Al solubility is normally low in hydrothermal fluids
(eg Tagirov et al, 2002). In contrast, the supply of Fe is less limited, as Fe can be, and probably in most
cases is abundant in magmatic hydrothermal fluids. For example, even fluids exsolved from the
highly fractionated Mole Sn granite, Australia, where much Fe had already been fixed in early mafic
minerals, contain up to ~17 wt per cent Fe (Audetat, Günther and Heinrich, 2000). Therefore the
formation of garnet on a deposit scale is mostly affected by the supply of Fe3+. To form pyroxene, Fe

1. Senior Research Fellow, CODES, The Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits, University of
Tasmania, Private Bag 126, Hobart Tas 7001. Email: Zhaoshan.chang@utas.edu.au
2. Professor, Department of Geology, Clark Science Center, Smith College, Northampton MA 01063, USA.
Email: Lmeinert@email.smith.edu

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Z CHANG and L D MEINERT

also is important as it is a major component of the hedenbergite end-member, but as Fe2+. The
garnet/pyroxene ratio is thus largely controlled by the ferric/ferrous Fe ratio, ie the redox state.
The typical pattern of proximal garnet>pyroxene zone and distal pyroxene>garnet zone occurs
where the magma is oxidising and the wall rock reducing. The relative width of the two zones may
vary according to the relative degree of oxidation versus reduction of the magma and wall rocks. In
extreme cases such as when both the magma and the wall rocks are reducing, the skarn may be
dominated by the pyroxene>garnet zone, eg in some reduced Au skarns such as Hedley, British
Columbia, Canada (Ettlinger, Meinert and Ray, 1992; Meinert, 1998). Where both the magma and the
wall rocks are oxidising, the skarn may be dominated by the garnet>pyroxene zone, eg at the Mexico
Prospect, Philippines.

EFFECT OF MAGMA COMPOSITION

The major element composition of intrusive rocks has been demonstrated by Meinert (1995) to be
associated with the metal content of a skarn. Trace elements, especially the volatile elements, can also
affect the formation of skarns and the zoning patterns, especially F. Fluorine can dramatically increase
the solubility of Al in hydrothermal fluids by forming strong Al-F complexes (Tagirov, Schott and
Harrichoury, 2002; Tagirov et al, 2002), which makes it possible to form abundant garnet
(grossularitic and subcalcic) even under reduced conditions at distal locations, such as in many Sn and
W skarns (Newberry, 1998).
Fluorite can also promote the formation of endoskarns by facilitating the dissolution of magmatic
silicate minerals, which provides the space and the supply of Al for skarn formation. For example, at the
Empire Cu-Zn skarn, Idaho, USA, there is more endoskarn than exoskarn (Chang and Meinert, 2004,
2008). The endoskarn occurs mostly as veins in the causative granite porphyry, one of the intrusive
phases in the Mackay Stock. The main-stage endoskarn veins are typically composed of a central zone
of dominantly garnet with minor pyroxene and locally vesuvianite, an envelope of wollastonite and/or
green pyroxene ± Ca-rich plagioclase, and a halo containing disseminated, fine- grained alteration
minerals of the same assemblage as the envelope. Where many veins intersect, endoskarn is massive.
Endoskarn veins are present up to ~250 m from the contact into the intrusion, whereas exoskarn is less
than 50 m wide. The high fluorine content in the magma and the hydrothermal fluids are evidenced by
the high F in magmatic hornblende and biotite, the presence of fluorite as an accessory mineral, the
presence of fluorite as a daughter mineral in hypersaline, high temperature fluid inclusions in quartz
phenocrysts, the presence of fluorite in the skarns, and the high F content in hydrothermal vesuvianite
(Chang and Meinert, 2004, 2008). Chang and Meinert (2004) argued that the extremely vermicular
texture of the quartz phenocrysts in the intrusive rocks is also related to the high F activity in the magma,
therefore such textures can be used as a field indicator of high F activity in exploration.
Fluorine was also believed to be responsible for the telescoping of Zn mineralisation on proximal
Cu mineralisation at the Empire mine because the fluorine lowered the solidus temperature of the
causative magma significantly. The late hydrothermal fluids exsolved from the low temperature
magma were therefore cooler than normal. They only needed to travel a short distance to be cool
enough to deposit sphalerite, therefore much of the Zn mineralisation was deposited in proximal
locations (Chang and Meinert, 2008).

EFFECT OF FORMATION DEPTH

The depth of skarn formation may affect the overall width of skarn zones. At depths >~8 km, the
ambient pressure and temperature are high and the permeability of carbonate wall rocks may be

304 24 - 26 November 2008 PACRIM Congress 2008

 ZONATION IN SKARNS – COMPLEXITIES AND CONTROLLING FACTORS

greatly reduced. The rock may also become more ductile, which makes it difficult to fracture to
produce as many fluid conduits as at shallow depth where rocks are brittle. Therefore the skarn is
typically narrow (<10 m) and the zonation less conspicuous, eg in some W skarns (Meinert, 1997 and
references therein).

EFFECT OF WALL ROCK ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT

The content of organic carbon in wall rocks also affects the width of skarn zones. The reactions
producing skarn minerals typically involve the release of CO2. When organic C is present in the host
rocks, it will be oxidised to CO2 during thermal metamorphism at shallow depths and/or by oxidising
hydrothermal fluids at an early stage. The consequent build-up of CO2 suppresses skarn-forming
reactions and limits skarnification. Carbonaceous wall rocks are less favourable for skarn development
and will have different skarn mineralogy than oxidised wall rocks.

THE COMBINED EFFECT OF MULTIPLE CONTROLLING FACTORS

During skarn forming processes, all the factors are likely to play a role. The final zoning pattern is the
result of multiple controlling factors, which can be illustrated by an example at a gold skarn project,
Guerrero, Mexico. The Au skarn is related to a granodiorite-quartz granodiorite intrusion emplaced in
a limestone-shale-sandstone package. The granodiorite contains only ilmenite, without any
magnetite, indicating a reduced state. Some of the quartz phenocrysts are vermicular but fluorite is
only locally present, indicating a moderate F activity in the system. The wall rocks are all dark in
colour, including the limestone, which is probably caused by organic carbon. Endoskarns are present,
mostly as garnet-dominant veins with pyroxene-wollastonite halos in the intrusive rocks, locally
massive. Exoskarns include massive garnet-pyroxene-wollastonite skarns replacing limestone and
minor hornfels, and garnet-pyroxene veins replacing hornfels. Individual skarn bodies are mostly
narrower than 20 m, though massive skarns are present in zones up to ~100 m wide.
In this case the skarns are narrow at least partly due to the organic carbon in the wall rocks. In this
reduced magma, reduced wall rock environment, the skarns should have been dominated by
hedenbergitic pyroxene. However, the fluorine increased the supply of Al in the hydrothermal fluids,
which explains the abundance of garnet in the skarn. Microprobe analysis has revealed that most of
the garnet is grossularitic, consistent with this hypothesis. The F activity also coincides with the
abundance of endoskarn veins replacing silicates in the intrusive rocks and exoskarn veins replacing
silicates in the hornfels.

SUMMARY
Zonation in skarns is affected by many factors including the redox gradient between the causative
magma and the wall rocks, the composition of the magma and the derived magmatic hydrothermal
fluids (especially F), the formation depth and temperature, the compositions of the wall rocks, and the
organic carbon content of the wall rocks. To use zonation as a predictive tool in exploration, all these
factors need to be considered. Further research in quantifying these factors may greatly improve the
accuracy and reliability of the predictions.

REFERENCES
Audetat, A, Günther, D and Heinrich, C A, 2000. Causes for large-scale metal zonation around mineralised
plutons: Fluid inclusion LA-ICP-MS evidence from the Mole Granite, Australia, Economic Geology,
95:1563-1581.

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Chang, Z and Meinert, L D, 2004. The magmatic-hydrothermal transition evidence from quartz phenocryst
textures and endoskarn abundance in Cu-Zn skarns at the Empire mine, Idaho, USA, Chemical Geology,
210:149-171.
Chang, Z and Meinert, L D, 2008. The Empire Cu-Zn Mine, Idaho, USA: Exploration implications of unusual
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Newberry, R J, 1998. W- and Sn-Skarn deposits: A 1998 status report, in Mineralised Intrusion-Related Skarn
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Tagirov, B, Schott, J and Harrichoury, J C, 2002. Experimental study of aluminum-fluorite complexation in
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306 24 - 26 November 2008 PACRIM Congress 2008