LEAD MOBILIZATION DURING FORELAND METAMORPHISM IN OROGENIC BELTS - EXAMPLES FROM NORTHERN SWEDEN

The imbrication of the Proterozoic basement during the Caledonian orogeny was associated with fluid flow, which caused locally low-grade retrograde metamorphism of the basement, and which introduced externally derived radiogenic lead (Pb-206/Pb-204 > 20.0) into permeable zones. This radiogenic lead was leached from the Proterozoic basement. To the east of the present-day Caledonian front, radiogenic lead is a pertinent geochemical tracer of the Caledonian imbrication of the Proterozoic basement, since lithostratigraphic marker beds are absent and the distribution of the retrograde metamorphism also could reflect a Proterozoic event. The distribution of radiogenic sulfide lead compositions suggests a zone of chemical and mechanical reactivation of the proterozoic basement related to the Caledonian orogeny, that extends ca. 100 km to the east of the present border of the Caledonian nappes. Such radiogenic lead mainly occurs in conjunction with N-S to 20-degrees-E striking mylonite zones which often are bound to supracrustal rocks, e.g. such as pelitic schists and mafic volcanites, while non-radiogenic lead compositions have been observed in mineralizations associated with acid supracrustal rocks and to the east of the imbricated and chemically active zone of the Proterozoic basement, which approximately coincides with the geographic distribution of Bouguer anomaly lows, metamorphic grade, and fault pattern.