Vol 59, No 3 (2017)

Information on designing a 3D integrated model of the deflected mode (DM) of rock massif near the Strel’tsovka uranium ore field (SUOF) in the southeastern Transbaikal region is presented in the paper. This information is based on the contemporary stresses estimated by geostructural and tectonophysical techniques and by studying the seismotectonic deformation of the Earth’s surface using the data on earthquake source mechanisms and GPS geodesy focused on the recognition of active faults. A combination of the results of geostructural, geophysical, geotectonic, and petrophysical research, as well as original maps of faulting and the arrangement of seismic dislocations and seismotectonic regimes (stress tensors), allowed us to design models of the structure, properties, and rheological links of the medium and to determine the boundary conditions for numerical tectonophysical simulation using the method of terminal elements. The computed 2D and 3D models of the state of the rock massif have been integrated into 3D GIS created on the basis of the ArcGIS 10 platform with an ArcGIS 3D-Analyst module. The simulation results have been corroborated by in situ observations on a regional scale (the Klichka seismodislocation, active from the middle Pliocene to date) and on a local scale (heterogeneously strained rock massif at the Antei uranium deposit). The development of a regional geodynamic model of geological structural units makes it possible to carry out procedures to ensure the safety of mining operations under complex geomechanical conditions that can expose the operating mines and mines under construction, by the Argun Mining and Chemical Production Association (PAO PPGKhO) on a common methodical and geoinformational platform, to the hazards of explosions, as well as to use the simulation results aimed at finding new orebodies to assess the flanks and deep levels of the ore field.

The zoned composition changes of the massive sulfide deposits in the major massive sulfide zone of the Southern Urals such as the Magnitogorsk Megasynclinorium are considered. The zoning is expressed as the trend of Ni–Co–Cu → Zn–Cu → Cu–Zn → Au–Ba–Pb–Cu–Zn. This trend is related to two basic factors: (1) the subduction process with the slab’s eastward subsidence preconditioned the formation (from the west to the east) of the following massive sulfide zones: accretionary prism, frontal island arc, developed island arc, inter-arc spreading zone, split back arc, and back-arc spreading; (2) the longitudinal zoning of the massive sulfide paleovolcanic belts related to changes in the thickness of the crust’s basaltic layer and an inclination of the subducting plate in transverse blocks of the belt. The first factor affects the general paleovolcanic and metallogenic latitudinal zoning of the studied region, while the second factor defines the local meridional zoning. The composition of ore-bearing solutions is dependent on the formation depth of the subduction fluids, magma differentiation type, and the ratio of deep fluids to solutions of near-surface convective cells. The combination of the geodynamic factors expressed in the composition of ore-bearing volcanic complexes and the specific geological settings defines the massive sulfide mineralization composition and productivity criteria. The most productive structures include the frontal island-arc and inter-arc spreading zones and within them, the central-type volcanic edifices whose basalts are referred to as the island-arc tholeiite series and are characterized by the minimum TiO₂ and Zr content and low La/Yb ratios.

The results of a study using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy comprising the micromorphology of the ditrigonal and trigonal layers on surfaces near the edges of octahedral diamond crystals from the Udachnaya-Eastern kimberlite pipe in Yakutia are presented. The studied surface sculptures are elongated parallel to the direction 〈111〉 and have similar morphological features, characterized by a wavy profile across the lamination, the absence of flat areas at the micro- and nanolevel. It is proposed that both sculpture types were formed as a result of dissolution under natural conditions. This suggestion is corroborated by the revelation of negative trigons on the octahedral facets of the studied diamonds.