Holger Paulick

• PhD
• Head of Department at GeoSphere Austria

The sedimentary exhalative (=SEDEX) deposits of the Graz Paleozoic (Austroalpine Unit, Eastern Alps) carry raw materials that have been important for basic supply for a long time (Ag, Pb and Zn). Some of the raw materials that are potentially available in these ores (barite, Co, In, Sb and Ge) have been put on the list of critical raw materials by...

Arc lavas and the continental crust exhibit a selective enrichment of W relative to similarly incompatible elements, indicating that subduction zone environments are a tectonic setting where W is mobilized from the subducting slab. Here we present evidence that ultramafic portions of altered oceanic lithosphere are a major sink for W and evaluate h...

Based on economic importance and potential supply risk tungsten is considered as a critical raw material by the EU as about 80 % of the global tungsten supply comes from China. Within the EU the Felbertal scheelite deposit in Austria is one of the few producing tungsten mines. Vein-stockwork scheelite mineralization in this area was formed at ~340...

This guidebook on the gold and magmatic Cu-Ni-PGE deposits of Lapland highlights deposit characteristics, their diversity, and temporal and spatial relationships. The tectonic setting and relationship to the general geodynamic evolution of the Fennoscandian Shield are examined as well. In addition, deposit-scale controls and structural features are...

This paper investigates the link between global economic development and increasing mineral raw material demand. Clearly, the improvement in living standards is associated with substantial raw material consumption increase. More than half of the global production of steel, copper, coal, nickel and cement is currently consumed by China. Examination...

This paper analyzes the mineral resource definitions from the exploration boom that followed the rare earth element (REE) price peak of 2011, and finds that 1. the delineated REE mineral resources outside of China reached a total of 98 Mt contained total rare earth oxides in 2015 with the majority located in Canada (38 Mt), Greenland (39 Mt) and Af...

We present geological observations and geochemical data for the youngest volcanic features on the slow-spreading Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 8°48'S that shows seismic evidence for a thickened crust and excess magma formation. Young lava flows with high sonar reflectivity cover about 14 km2 in the axial rift and were probably erupted from two axial volcan...

In connection with fi eld work in South-East Greenland in 2014, we took the opportunity to examine the geology associated with potentially valuable mineral occurrences found by local rock collectors. Th e initial fi nds were made by local collectors as part of Ujarassiorit, which is an annual mineral hunt competition where anyone in Greenland can s...

A substantial increase in global exploration for Rare Earth Element (REE) deposits has taken place in recent years and resulted in considerable advances in defining new resources globally. A large portion of these are located in Greenland, where reported total rare earth oxides resources hosted by advanced projects reached 38.5 Mt in 2015. This is...

Volcanic eruptions along the mid-oceanic ridge system are the most abundant signs of volcanic activity on Earth but little is known about the timescales and nature of these processes. The main parameter determining eruption frequency as well as magma composition appears to be the spreading rate of the mid-oceanic ridge. However, few observations on...

Magmatism in the Cenozoic Central European Volcanic Province (CEVP) has been related to two geodynamic scenarios, either extensional tectonics in the north Alpine realm or upwelling of deep mantle material. The Oligocene (~30-19 Ma) Siebengebirge Volcanic Field (SVF) is a major part of the German portion of the CEVP and consists of erosional remnan...

Serpentinized peridotite and gabbronorite represent the host rocks to the active, ultramafic-hosted Logatchev hydrothermal field at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. We use trace element, d18O and 87Sr/86Sr data from bulk rock samples and mineral separates in order to constrain the controls on the geochemical budget within the Logatchev hydrothermal system....

Carbonate veins hosted in ultramafic basement drilled at two sites in the Mid Atlantic Ridge 15 degrees N area record two different stages of fluid-basement interaction. A first generation of carbonate veins consists of calcite and dolomite that formed syn- to postkinematically in tremolite-chlorite schists and serpentine schists that represent gen...

During silicate melting on Earth, W is one of the most incompatible trace elements, similar to Th, Ba or U. As W is also moderately siderophile during metal segregation, ratios of W and the lithophile Th and U in silicate rocks have therefore been used to constrain the W abundance of the Earth’s mantle and the Hf–W age of core formation. This study...

Carbonate veins hosted in ultramafic basement drilled at two sites in the Mid Atlantic Ridge 15°N area record two different stages of fluid-basement interaction. A first generation of carbonate veins consists of calcite and dolomite that formed syn- to postkinematically in tremolite-chlorite schists and serpentine schists that represent gently dipp...

Volcanism along Mid-Ocean Ridges is known to exhibit significant isotopic and elemental variations, traditionally regarded as reflecting global scale variations in mantle depletion history and refertilization processes. The ∼ 400 km long Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) between the Ascension and Bode Verde Fracture Zones (7°30′S to 11°30′S) has been sample...

Detailed exploration with remotely operated and autonomous deep submergence vehicles has revealed, at 9°33′S, the presence of the southernmost active hydrothermal field known so far on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The size of the hydrothermal field, which we have named “Lilliput”, is about 1000 m × 250 m. It lies in a water depth of 1500 m on a ridge se...

Serpentinized abyssal peridotites sampled by the Ocean Drilling Program Leg 209 along the mid-Atlantic Ridge near the 15°20′N Fracture Zone have been analyzed for oxygen, hydrogen, and chlorine isotope compositions in order to determine isotopic behavior under a wide range of serpentinization conditions and place constraints on fluid history. Oxyge...

Unshaped basalt blocks from archaeological sites along the border of the Roman Empire ( limes ) in the lower Rhine area near Vleuten-De Meern (Utrecht) have been studied petrographically, analysed by XRF for major and trace elements, and dated by the ⁴⁰ Ar/ ³⁹ Ar method. The blocks are from a revetment in the bank of a fossil branch of the Rhine an...

Serpentinized abyssal peridotites sampled by the Ocean Drilling Program Leg 209 along the mid-Atlantic Ridge near the 15°20'N Fracture Zone have been analyzed for oxygen, hydrogen, and chlorine isotope compositions in order to determine isotopic behavior under a wide range of serpentinization conditions and place constraints on fluid history. Oxyge...

The Rodderberg volcanic complex (RVC) is located within the city limits of Bonn (Germany) approximately 20km to the north of the Quaternary East Eifel Volcanic Field (EEVF). It is the product of intense phreatomagmatic volcanism forming a 90m deep maar crater and strombolian eruptions. Deposit features indicate that the location of the vent(s) shif...

During segment-scale studies of the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR), 7–12° S, we found evidence in the water column for high-temperature hydrothermal activity, off-axis, east of Ascension Island. Extensive water column and seafloor work using both standard CTD and deep submergence AUV and ROV deployments led to the discovery and sampling of the “...

We report the microstructures of harzburgites and dunites from ODP Leg 209, Hole 1274A, 15°39′N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. A set of features in these peridotites is so unaffected by plastic flow that it must have formed very late by magmatic processes. We believe that the microstructures record the interaction between a peridotite and a percolating...

For the first time in history of the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), Leg 193 drilled into an active hydrothermal vent field hosted in felsic submarine volcanic rocks using Logging-While-Drilling (LWD) techniques and specifically, the Resistivity-at-the-Bit (RAB) tool. In this manuscript, we present the results obtained from penetrating into the upper...

The effect of volcanic activity on submarine hydrothermal systems has been well documented along fast- and intermediate-spreading centers but not from slow-spreading ridges. Indeed, volcanic eruptions are expected to be rare on slow-spreading axes. Here we report the presence of hydrothermal venting associated with extremely fresh lava flows at an...

Whole rock sulfur and oxygen isotope compositions of altered peridotites and gabbros from near the 15°20'N Fracture Zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were analyzed to investigate hydrothermal alteration processes and test for a subsurface biosphere in oceanic basement. Three processes are identified. (1) High-temperature hydrothermal alteration (~250-...

This paper provides a summary of postcruise scientific results from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 209 available to date, building upon shipboard observations and syntheses summarized in the Leg 209 Initial Results volume. During Leg 209, 19 holes were drilled at 8 sites along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from 14°43´ to 15°44´N, mainly in residual mant...

Leg 193 was the fourth Ocean Drilling Program expedition focusing on understanding subseafloor hydrothermal systems. This program was the first to combine studies of the volcanology, structure, hydrology, mineralization, and microbiology of a subseafloor hydrothermal system hosted by felsic rocks by coring at the PACMANUS hydrothermal field in the...

Whole rock sulfur and oxygen isotope compositions of altered peridotites and gabbros from near the 15°20'N Fracture Zone on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were analyzed to investigate hydrothermal alteration processes and test for a subsurface biosphere in oceanic basement. Three processes are identified. (1) High-temperature hydrothermal alteration (~250-...

Abyssal peridotite from the 15°20′N area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge show complex geochemical variations among the different sites drilled during ODP Leg 209. Major element compositions indicate variable degrees of melt depletion and refertilization as well as local hydrothermal metasomatism. Strongest evidence for melt-rock interactions are correlat...

Postcruise X-ray diffraction (XRD) data for 95 whole-rock samples from Holes 1188A, 1188F, 1189A, and 1189B are presented. The samples represent alteration types recovered during Leg 193. The data set is incorporated into the shipboard XRD data set. Based on the newly obtained XRD data, distribution of alteration phases were redrawn for Ocean Drill...

The results of detailed textural, mineral chemical, and petrophysical studies shed new light on the poorly constrained fluid-rock reaction pathways during retrograde serpentinization at mid-ocean ridges. Uniformly depleted harzburgites and dunites from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 15°N show variable extents of static serpentinization. They reveal a si...

Pacmanus is an active submarine hydrothermal system in the Mantis back-arc basin, Papua New Guinea, located at 1,600 to 1,700 in below sea level on the crest of a dacitic volcano. It is inferred to represent a modern analogue of ancient mineralizing sea-floor hydrothermal systems that produced volcanogenic polymetallic massive sulfide deposits. Oce...

Abyssal peridotite from the 15°20'N area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge show complex geochemical variations among the different sites drilled during ODP Leg 209. Major element compositions indicate variable degrees of melt depletion and refertilization as well as local hydrothermal metasomatism. Strongest evidence for melt-rock interactions are correlat...

Leg 193 was the fourth Ocean Drilling Program expedition focusing on understanding subseafloor hydrothermal systems. This program was the first to combine studies of the volcanology, structure, hydrology, mineralization, and microbiology of a subseafloor hydrothermal system hosted by felsic rocks by coring at the PACMANUS hydrothermal field in the...

In the deep subsurface of the northeast German basin products of extensive volcanism are present that formed during the waning phase of the Variscan orogeny (Permian–Carboniferous boundary). Large volumes (≥48,000km3) of dominantly felsic magma were emplaced in the northern foreland of the Variscan mountains in a terrestrial semi-arid environment....

The present contribution proposes a method that allows the calculation of the stable isotope signatures of minerals contained in fine-grained altered volcanic rocks by combining isotope measurements and quantitative XRD analysis on whole-rock samples and grain size separates. Application of this method to samples from the Waterloo VHMS deposit, Aus...

ODP Leg 209, Site 1274, has penetrated 156 m of upper mantle rocks plus minor gabbro intrusives north of 15\deg20' N Fracture Zone at the Mid Atlantic Ridge. The core has an unusually high amount of dunite (21%) and contains an unusual suite of opx-depleted harzburgites and dunites between 70 and 90 m depth. Between 0 and 70 m depth, harzburgites a...

Ocean Drilling Program Leg 209 recovered drill cores of serpentinized peridotite and hydrothermally altered troctolitic and gabbroic rocks from various locations on rift valley walls along magma-starved ridge segments adjacent to the 15o20N Fracture Zone. We have examined carbonate veins to gain insights into chemical evolution paths of seawater ci...

Geochemical investigations of carbonate veins hosted in serpentinized peridotites drilled from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge 14° -16° N (ODP Leg 209) were conducted to gain insights into temperature and composition of the alteration fluids from which carbonates were precipitated. We have examined carbonate veins that can be grouped into low-T (<20° C) ara...

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2004. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems 5 (2004): Q09F26, doi:10.1029/2004GC000744. We present first results of a petrographic study of hydrothermall...

Pual Ridge is a deep-marine, felsic volcanic edifice in the eastern Manus back-arc basin (Papua New Guinea) with an estimated volume of ∼6 to 9 km3. It is 1–1.5 km wide, 20 km long and rises 500–600 m above the surrounding ocean floor. The active PACMANUS hydrothermal field on the crest of Pual Ridge at 1640–1690 m below sea level was the target of...

http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/209_IR/209TOC.HTM

1] ODP Leg 193 drilled into the PACMANUS hydrothermal field (Papua New Guinea), which is an active hydrothermal vent field associated with felsic magmatism in a convergent geodynamic setting. The PACMANUS hydrothermal field is part of the eastern Manus Basin and is located near the crest of Pual Ridge, a 500 to 700 meters high felsic neo-volcanic r...

The PACMANUS hydrothermal system in the Manus back-arc basin is located at a water depth of 1700 m on the crest of a dacite volcanic ridge. The Ocean Drilling Program Leg 193 focused on two active discharge sites reaching a maximum depth of 380 m below seafloor. Fluid-dacite interaction generated secondary mineral assemblages including argillaceous...

The conditions of two separate greenschist facies metamorphic events have been reconstructed at the syn-genetic Thalanga massive sulfide deposit (northern Queensland, Australia) using scarce garnet–biotite- and garnet–chlorite-bearing samples from the felsic volcano-sedimentary host-rock succession. Regional metamorphism (peak temperature: 440 to 4...

Zonal alteration is a common feature in volcanic rocks surrounding sea-floor massive sulfide deposits. Alteration indexes, such as the Ishikawa alteration index (AI) and the chlorite-carbonate-pyrite index (CCPI), have been developed to measure the intensity of sericite, chlorite, carbonate, and pyrite replacement of sodic feldspars and glass assoc...

Thalanga is an Early Ordovician, stratiform Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-rich massive sulfide deposit in northern Queensland (Australia) with a total resource of 6.6 Mt of ore. The host-rack succession consists of variably altered rhyolite in the footwall and a dacite-dominated volcano-sedimentary sequence in the hanging wall. The sulfide deposit and the enclosing...

During Ocean Drilling Program Leg 193, several holes (as deep as 386 meters below sea floor) intersected variably altered and veined dacites on Pual Ridge in the eastern Manus back-arc basin. The hydothermal alteration is complex and multi-stage, and includes pervasive alteration and alteration halos along anhydrite±pyrite±quartz veins. Our prelimi...

The Thalanga volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposit occurs in the Cambro-Ordovician Mt Windsor Subprovince in northern Queensland. The orebody comprises steeply dipping, stratiform, sheet-like, polymetallic massive sulfide lenses. Overall, the volcanic facies architecture at Thalanga is dominated by quartz- and/or feldspar-phyric lavas and synvolc...

The Meidob volcanic field (MVF) forms part of the Darfur Volcanic Province and developed from 7 Ma to 5 ka as indicated by K/Ar, thermoluminescence and 14C ages. It is situated in an uplifted high of the Pan-African basement, which consists of greenstones, high-grade gneisses and granites, and which is covered by Cretaceous sandstone. The MVF basal...

 This paper examines the cause of color variations of trachytic pumices which are essentially uniform in chemical composition and proposes a geological model for their formation. A pyroclastic sequence of distinct subunits with brown, buff, and black pumices was deposited during the 5000-B.P. eruption of a tuff ring in the central Meidob volcanic f...

Felsic volcanic centers are increasingly recognized as an important geological component of the sea floor, particularly in back-arc basins. Here, active hydrothermal fields located on differentiated volcanic rocks are generating polymetallic massive sulfides inferred to represent modern analogues to stratiform massive sulfide deposits within ancien...