Redistribution of REE, Pb and U by supergene weathering studied from in-situ isotopic analyses of the Bangombé natural reactor, Gabon

Zircon crystals in the clays heterogeneously contain high-U regions (up to 28.3 wt%) with normal 235U/238U ratios (=0.00725) and significant amounts of fissiogenic REE, which suggest the occurrence of significant chemical fractionation between REE and U during the dissolution of reactor uraninite and the recrystallization of secondary U minerals. The Pb data suggest that galena grains in the clays were also formed by the mixing of the two components during a recent alteration event, and that a significant amount of Pb was derived from 2.05-Ga-old original uraninite rather than reactor uraninite. The U-Pb systematics of zircon provide chronological information on the old igneous activity associated with the basement rock formation at 2.8 Ga and geochemical evidence of the incomplete mixing of independent Pb and U sources. This result is consistent with previous chronological results in this area.