MATHEMATICAL MODELING OF HYDROTHERMAL PERI-VEIN ARGILLIZATION

Abstract

There have been many attempts at modeling hydrothermal argillization by various methods, including computer techniques. In this paper we describe the computer modeling of metasomatic clayey columns developing on rocks of both acidic and basic composition. Among the principal ore-forming minerals of the clayey material we include, in addition to quartz and clay minerals, also carbonate, to makes the model resemble closely the metasomatic columns of epithermal deposits that occur in nature. Analyzing the results. We see no sharp boundaries between zones, because under the constraints described above, the independent components could not become completely mobile. The changes in the ratios of the minerals within the zones that we identified were defined by the ratios of the quantities of the independent components in solution and in the corresponding solid phase, which in turn were governed by the changing ratio of water to rock along the column.