Structural evolution of the VMS-hosting Kristineberg area, Sweden – constraints from structural analysis and 3-D-modelling

Structural mapping and 3-D-modelling with constraints from magnetotelluric (MT) and reflection seismic investigations have been used to provide a geological synthesis of the geometrically complex Kristineberg area in the western part of the Palaeoproterozoic Skellefte district. The results indicate that, like the south-eastern parts of the Skellefte district, the area was subjected to SSE-NNW transpressional deformation at around 1.87 Ga. The contrasting structural geometries between the Kristineberg and the central Skellefte district areas may be attributed to the termination and splaying of a major ESE-WNW-striking high-strain zone into several branches in the northern part of the Kristineberg area. The transpressional structural signature was preferentially developed within the southern of the two antiformal structures of the area, "the Southern antiform", which exposes the deepest cut through the crust and hosts all the economic volcanogenic massive sulphides (VMS) deposits of the area. Partitioning of the SSE-NNW transpression into N–S and E–W components led to formation of a characteristic "flat-steep-flat" geometry defining a highly non-cylindrical hinge of for the Southern antiform. Recognition of the transpressional structural signatures including the "flat-steep-flat" geometry and the distinct pattern of sub-horizontal E–W trending to moderately SW-plunging mineral lineations in the deeper crustal parts of the Kristineberg area is of significance for VMS exploration in both near mine and regional scales. The 3-D-model illustrating the outcomes of this study is available as a 3-D-PDF document through the publication website.