Tin-bearing chalcopyrite and platinum-bearing bismuthinite in the active Tiger sulfide chimney, Yonaguni Knoll IV seafloor hydrothermal system, Okinawa Trough, Japan

The active submarine hydrothermal field at the Yonaguni Knoll IV is located in the southern Okinawa Trough, behind the Ryukyu trench-arc system, Japan. This field consists of seven active hydrothermal venting sites (Mosquito chimney, Carp Chimney, Abyss vent, Shallow Chimney, Tiger Chimney, Lion Chimney, Crystal Chimney) which are hosted by thick sediments and an underlying felsic volcanic rock of rhyolitic composition. The sulfides from the flank of the Tiger chimney consist of chalcopyrite, bismuthinite, pyrite, galena, sphalerite and gangue mineral of anhydrite which is slightly different to the mineral assemblage of sphalerite, pyrite, wurtzite, chalcopyrite, galena, tennanite-tetrahedrite series, stibnite, As-Sb-Tl-Hg-S bearing phase, bornite, covellite, nukundamite, alabandite and gangue minerals of barite, anhydrite, calcite, and rhodocrosite seen in the other chimneys in this field. Electron microprobe analysis of the chalcopyrite and bismuthinite from the flank of the Tiger chimney, indicates that the chalcopyrite and bismuthinite contain significantly high tin (0.51 to 2.40wt.% Sn, n = 16 ) and platinum (1.30 to 1.69 wt.% Pt, n = 9)respectively and are quite different to the sulfide chemistry of the other chimneys in this field The high Sn and Pt content in chalcopyrite and bismuthinite respectively, are significantly high and has never been reported previously for the submarine hydrothermal systems. The high Sn content in chalcopyrite confirms that the Sn enters the chalcopyrite as a solid solution towards stannite by the coupled substitution of Sn4+Fe2+ for Fe3+Fe3+ while the high Pt content in bismuthinite might indicate that Pt probably enters the bismuthinite by interstitial substitution of Pt2+Cu1+ for Bi3+ although very limited published data is available to verify this observation. Fluid inclusion data of anhydrite (297-313°C) and measured end-member temperature of the vent fluid (325°C) does not exceed 400°C. Previous experimental studies suggest that high Sn content in chalcopyrite and Pt content in bismuthinite precipitated metastably in the Tiger chimney. The present mineralogical observation strongly suggests that the Yonaguni Knoll IV site in the southern Okinawa Trough is slightly different to the middle Okinawa trough and other known submarine hydrothermal systems of the back-arc basins in terms of mineralogy and sulfide chemistry.