This study will involve: 1) Detailed sulfur and reconnaissance O-H isotopic analyses designed to delineate MVT provinces and constrain sources of mineralizing brines and sulfur, 2) evaluation of newly designed 87Sr/86Sr dating method for sphalerite, and application of this method to determine the age of MVT mineralization. These data will be used to determine the relation between MVT mineralization, foreland basin development, and deformation in the southern and central Appalachians, and to test the possibility that significant fluid migration and possible MAT mineralization preceded the Late Paleozoic Alleghenian orogeny. The results should provide insights into the genesis of MAT mineralization, the timing of brine movement in collisional margin basins, and mechanisms of basinal brine expulsion.
