The Grenvillian granulite-facies complex on Holsnøy island, Bergen Arcs, W. Norway, has been metamorphosed at eclogite-facies conditions during the Caledonian orogeny (ca. 425 Ma). The granulite-eclogite facies transition takes place along shear zones and fluid pathways. Mineral thermobarometry indicates PT conditions of 800–900°C and 8–10 kbar for the Proterozoic granulite facies metamorphism and 700–800°C and 16–19 kbar for the eclogite-forming event. Quartz in the granulite facies complex contains CO2 fluid inclusions with less than 2.5 mole percent N2; the molar volumes are compatible with the PT conditions of the Proterozoic granulite metamorphism. Quartz in pegmatitic quartz + omphacite and quartz + phengite/paragonite veins coeval with shear-zone eclogites contain N2 ± CO2 fluid inclusions. Combined laser Raman microanalysis and microthermometry show that the least disturbed inclusions have XCO2 = 0.1–0.3, and molar volumes less than 40 cm3/mole, which may agree with the PT conditions during Caledonian high-pressure metamorphism. Younger, low-density N2 and N2-H2O fluid inclusions are the results of decrepitation and redistribution of early inclusions during the retrograde PT evolution of the eclogites.

Preliminary fluid inclusion measurements have been made on quartz (whole rocks and segregations) and garnet from a blueschist terrain. Although further measurements are required, the fluids apparently associated with the blueschist event are aqueous with no thermometrically detectable CO2, a feature which is consistent with mineral-fluid equilibria studies. The salinity of the fluid inclusions is highly variable, from almost pure H2O to halite saturation, and a mechanism involving hydration reactions, such as proposed by Crawford et al. (1979), is suggested. Fluid inclusions associated with the greenschist overprint, which has affected the terrain, are also aqueous in nature.

Microthermometric characteristics of metamorphic to hydrothermal fluids and microfracturing were studied in a contact zone between metamorphic series and peraluminous granites, located in the southern part of the Mont Lozère pluton (Massif Central, France). Four major stages of fluid production or migration have been recognized: (1) N2-CH4 (±CO2)-rich fluids related to the metamorphism of the C-bearing shales, occurring as fluid inclusion along the quartz grain boundaries; (2) CO2-CH4-H2O vapours or liquids, with homogenization temperatures of 400 ± 20 and 350 ± 50°C respectively, related to the first hydrothermal stage produced by the late peraluminuous intrusions; (3) aqueous fluids having low salinities and Th in the range 150–330°C; (4) low-temperature aqueous fluids.

It is shown that the percolation of hydrothermal fluids occurs through a dense set of microfissures on a microscopic scale. The different stages of fluid percolation have been investigated by relating the deformational events to the observed fracturing. The nature of the hydrothermal fluid has been deduced by studying the trails of fluid inclusions. Analysis of the relationships of the fluid inclusion trails (F.I.T.) with structures associated with plastic deformation show that their propagation is independent of the intracrystalline anisotropies. Combined studies of their orientation in space and their microthermometric characteristics show that: (1) according to the direction, several generations of fluids are distinguished within each sample on the basis of their physical-chemical characteristics; they correspond to different stages of the hydrothermal activity and to different directions of micro-crack opening; (2) in bulk isotropic media (granite), fluid inclusion trails are essentially mode I cracks which can be used as excellent markers of paleostress fields; however, in bulk anisotropic media (quartz lenses in mica schists) the migration directions of the fluids are mostly dependent on the local reorientations of the stress fields.

The study of the contact zone between granites and a metamorphic series submitted to local abnormal heat flows shows that fluid characteristics are significantly different in the two environments. Migration of carbonic fluids from mica schists towards granites occurred but is relatively limited, whilst aqueous fluids mixed in variable amounts with carbonic fluids in the metamorphic zone.

The Iblean Plateau (Southeastern Sicily, Italy) consists of a thick Meso-Cenozoic carbonate sequence with interbedded volcanic horizons (alkaline and tholeiitic basalts). The alkaline basalts contain ultramafic (peridotites and pyroxenites) and mafic xenoliths. The peridotites are spinel-bearing lherzolites and lherzolitic harzburgites, with porphyroblastic to protogranular texture. Pyroxenites consist of Cr-diopside-bearing and Al-augite-bearing websterites. The mineral chemistry of the nodules indicates temperatures between 700 and 1050°C.

Fluid inclusions containing CO2 and (sometimes) various proportions of silicate glass have been studied in olivine, orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene. The secondary inclusions occur as trails of CO2-rich inclusions, often cross-cutting deformation lamellae. The few primary inclusions, generally empty, show clear evidence of decrepitation. Of the 390 inclusions examined, 97% homogenized to the liquid phase (Th → L = −43.9 to +30.9°C); 3% homogenized to the vapour phase (Th → V = + 20.5 to +30.3°C, yelding CO2 densities in the range 0.20–1.13 g/cm3. Assuming a trapping temperature of 1100°C, the corresponding trapping pressure for a pure CO2 system lies in the range 0.6–11.0 kbar, i.e. a depth of ∼2.2 to 42 km.

The majority of CO2 trapping events in the xenoliths occurred from 2.2 to 11.0 kbar, with no major trapping events at pressures less than 2.3 kbar, indicating the absence of a shallow magma reservoir below the Iblean Plateau.

The mildy peralkaline Eikeren-Skrim granite belongs to the Permian magmatic province of the Oslo rift, south-east Norway. Euhedral quartz crystals from the abundant miarolitic cavities contain primary inclusions of partly crytallized silicate melts and coexisting primary, aqueous fluid inclusions. Micro-thermometric measurements give maximum estimates for the granite solidus of 685–705°C. Quenched silicate melt inclusions are not peralkaline, have normative Or/Ab weight ratios of 1.15–1.44 (compared to 0.49–0.80 in whole-rock samples) and F and Cl contents of 0.1 and 0.21–0.65 wt. %, respectively. Coexisting magmatic fluid inclusions are highly enriched in Na, Cl, S and to some extent K. These chemical characteristics are the results of late-magmatic melt-mineral-fluid interaction in the miarolitic cavities.

Fluid inclusions in the progressively metamorphosed rocks of the Joroinen-Sulkava area, located in the south-eastern end of the Raahe-Ladoga zone near the Archaean-Proterozoic boundary, southeastern Finland, fall into four main categories: (1) H2O-rich, (2) CO2-rich, (3) mixed H2O-CO2 and (4) CH4-N2 inclusions. The samples were collected from quartz veins associated with different deformation phases (D2-D4) and from metapelites. The progressive stage of metamorphism took place mainly during the D2 deformation. The age of metamorphism and D2 deformation becomes younger with increase in metamorphic grade from amphibolite to granulite facies.

Regional distribution of the different fluid types indicates a change in fluid regime from H2O to CO2-dominant during the progressive stage of the metamorphism. H2O entered preferentially into the anatectic melt. The possibility of CO2 infiltration from deeper crust can not be excluded, because granulite facies rocks occur most probably below the lower grade zones. A zone enriched in CH4-N2 fluids is located near the lineament zones caused by the D3 deformation. This fluid type dominates the Au-bearing D2–D3 quartz lenses in the K-feldspar-sillimanite zone. Density data of early CO2 inclusions in combination with estimates of metamorphic temperatures (645–750°C) in the different metamorphic zones indicate a pressure range of 3.0–4.5 kbar, which is consistent with data derived from mineral geobarometry. The diversity of fluid types encountered in the D2–D4 quartz veins are a result of the passage of different fluids through veins at different times without re-equilibrating with the wall rocks. However, it is supposed that the CH4-N2 fluid is derived from a CO2-rich fluid with XCH4 ⩽ 0.4 by re-equilibration during its passage through the rocks.

Veins developed during contact metamorphism associated with the emplacement of the Cornubian granite batholith contain both H2O-rich and CO2-rich fluid inclusions. Microthermometric data indicate that unmixing of a low-CO2, low-salinity fluid occurred at 400–200°C and 1000–500 bars to produce low-density CO2-rich vapour and saline aqueous fluids (8–42 wt. % NaCl equivalent). Decrepitation-linked ICP analyses show that the cation composition of the brines is dominated by Na, K and Ca, but that significant amounts of Li, Sr, Ba, Fe, Mn, Zn and B are also present. Bulk volatile analyses confirm the dominance of CO2 over N2 and CH4 in the vapour phase, with CO2/N2 molar ratios of 15.3–28.7 and CO2/CH4 molar ratios of 66.9–292. The relative abundance of nitrogen suggests an aureole-derived ‘organic’ component is present.

The source of the fluids is ambiguous as they are intermediate in composition between ideal ‘magmatic’ and ‘metamorphic’ end-members. It is proposed that this is due to mixing of the two types of fluid in the contact aureole during granite intrusion. A model is suggested in which magmatic-metamorphic circulation occurred synchronously with granite emplacement and subsequently evolved to a meteoric-dominated system with the bulk of the ore deposits forming in response to the influx of meteoric fluids.

Fluids, together with alteration and ore mineral assemblages, were studied in representative hydrothermal gold-bearing quartz veins from the western part of the Variscan belt in France (La Bellière, Montagne Noire district, Villeranges-Le Châtelet district, and Limousin province). Petrographic studies of the relationships between ores, fluid inclusions, microfracturing and quartz textures show that chronological and genetic relationships between gold deposition and fluid trapping may be very complex and difficult to establish for veins which show multi-stage fracturing and shearing. Systematic studies of secondary fluid inclusions in microcracks and recrystallized zones of the early quartz veins indicate two contrasting physical-chemical conditions: 1 relatively high temperature (250–400°C) and pressure (>1 kbar) event with CO2-CH4-H2S-N2 (±H2O-NaCl)-rich fluids related to the early sulphide deposition; 2 lower temperature (150–250°C) and pressure with aqueous fluids related to the late native-gold-sulphide (or sulphosalt) assemblage, which constitutes the economic ores in some deposits.

In deposits where gold occurs predominantly in a combined state within arsenopyrite and pyrite (Châtelet and Villeranges), primary fluid inclusions in authigenic quartz combs cogenetic with arsenopyrite are almost purely aqueous (H2O-NaCl) and have a low salinity (1–4 wt. % NaCl). P-T conditions (150–250°C), nearly hydrostatic pressures) are similar to those of the second stage in the multi-stage quartz veins.

Consideration of chemical equilibria in the C-O-H-N-S system using microthermometric and Raman spectrometric analysis for the fluids, together with data obtained from mineralogical studies, show that during gold deposition, fO2 was below hematite-magnetite buffer at Villeranges and around the Ni-NiO buffer at La Bellière and Montagne Noire. fS2 calculations based on H2S analyses are in good agreement with mineral assemblage estimates and close to that fixed by the pyrite-pyrrhotite boundary at high temperature. Ore fluid pH was significantly lower than in the host rocks as shown by the complete alteration of the host rocks into a quartz-K-mica assemblage. The data illustrate that during the late Hercynian, fluid circulation evolved from high P-T conditions, in some cases linked to late magma intrusions, towards conditions typical of later hydrothermal systems of the geothermal type.

The upper Proterozoic Cuiabá group of Mato Grosso, Brazil, is composed of low-grade clastic meta-sediments which have been folded by several successive tectonic events. Three generations of quartz veins are associated with the structural evolution of this area. The first veins are deformed by the main tectonic phases and show a complex deformational patterns. The second set is parallel to the cleavage and was formed syntectonically during the main folding phase, whilst the last quartz veins are related to a later stage of deformation. A systematic study of fluid inclusions in relation with a statistical study of microstructural markers (fluid inclusion trails, opened microcracks) was carried out on quartz veins from three localities. On the basis of microthermometric studies and Raman spectrometry analysis, four differents types of fluids have been distinguished, each trapped in specific fluid inclusion trails: (i) CO2-rich liquids and vapours (Lc, Vc) at Casa de Pedra, (ii) Lc and Vc inclusions with variable amounts of CO2, CH4, N2 in the vapour phase at BR-70, (iii) CH2-N2-rich vapours (Vn-m), and (iv) aqueous inclusions (L) with variable salinities representing the last fluid generations at all localities.

At Casa de Pedra and BR-70, most fluids are observed within the three generations of quartz veins, indicating an important fluid circulation associated with the last phase of brittle deformation. Fluid inclusions of type (iii) and (iv) are oriented along several well defined directions. The study shows the importance of integrated microstructural and fluid-inclusion studies for understanding the geometry and chronology of fluid circulation.

In the Pontal auriferous lode, dominant saccharoidal quartz is associated with oligoclase, biotite, hornblende, tremolite-actinolite, sulphides (less than 2%), and disseminated native gold. Four main types of fluid inclusion have been distinguished based on their habit, distribution and spatial relation-ship with gold particles. Type S are primary multiphase large sized (100 to 200 µm) inclusions with homogenization temperatures (V + L → L) between 350 and 450°C. They contain siderite and/or calcite and graphite-like microcrystals as daughter phases. Commonly associated with these inclusions are tiny (50 to 100 µm) solid inclusions of biotite or actinolite. In most of these inclusions, only CH4 has been detected in the vapour phase. However some noticeable exceptions were observed (CO2/CH4 ratio near 0.85). Type C inclusions are later than gold and occur disseminated in quartz or along trails that crosscut quartz grain boundaries. They may contain nahcolite daughter crystals. CO2/CH4 ratios range from 0.0 to 0.5. Homogenization temperatures vary from 150 to 300°C. Type V are mainly gaseous CH4-H2O inclusions. They may occur as small-sized inclusions directly associated with gold particles. Type L are aqueous two-phase inclusions of late secondary origin.

The scattering of the CO2/CH4 ratios could be related to fluctuations of the oxygen fugacity that triggered gold precipitation at the time of trapping. These variations of fO2 with time could reflect unbuffered fluid-rock interaction with respect to redox conditions during quartz deposition.

Finally, gold deposition is interpreted to have occurred at elevated temperature (500°C) and pressure, compatible with boundary conditions between greenschist and amphibolites facies.

Wolframite-bearing quartz veins from Garganta de los Montes, Madrid province, are hosted by banded gneisses that have undergone intense migmatization processes. The ore deposit is closely related to the La Cabrera granitic batholith. The veins strike 075° and dip 75°S. The mineral association includes wolframite, quartz and minor amounts of scheelite and sulphides (sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, stannite and marcasite). The fluid phases associated with quartz from the vein margin (early barren quartz) and from the vein centre (late wolframite-bearing quartz) have been studied using microthermometry, scanning electron microscopy and crushing test analyses. Four hydrothermal stages have been distinguished.

The earliest fluids, only recognized in the barren quartz, contain brine, daughter phase (halite) and trapped minerals. The second hydrothermal stage is characterized by complex carbonic-aqueous inclusions of low salinity (3 to 7 wt.% eq. NaC1) and low density (0.4 to 0.7 g.cm−3). They mainly homogenize into liquid between 300 and 420°C. The third stage is represented by low to moderate salinity inclusions (<9 wt. % eq. NaCl) of moderate density (0.8 to 0.96 g.cm−3), homogenizing between 120° and 330°C. The latest fluids correspond to aqueous solutions of higher salinities (H2O-NaCl, with Ca2+ and Mg2+) and densities (>1 g.cm−3), with TH ranging between 50 and 130°C. The role of the complex-carbonic aqueous fluids in the transport and precipitation of tungsten is highlighted.

New microthermometric data are presented for fluid inclusions in epidote, garnet, hedenbergite, armenite, quartz, fluorite, calcite and baryte associated with skarn-related base metal mineralization in the Iglesiente and Sulcis mining districts of SW Sardinia. Based on a comparison of these data with published results for vein and palaeokarst mineralization a ‘two fluid’ model is proposed for the mineralization in the area. An early fluid, responsible for skarn-associated sulphide mineralization, developed above 350–400°C with a salinity generally less than about 10 eq. wt.% NaCl, and on cooling was also responsible for some of the vein and palaeokarst mineralization. The origin of this fluid is, at this stage, speculative (meteoric/magmatic?). A separate fluid regime, characterized by lower temperatures and much higher salinities (Th < 140°C and >20 eq. wt. % NaCl) was mainly responsible for the bulk of the Permo-Triassic vein and palaeokarst mineralization, and some late-stage skarn mineralization. This low-temperature, saline (basinal or evaporitic?) brine appears to have mixed with more dilute groundwaters during this stage of mineralization. The existence of two (or more) mineralizing fluids with different characteristics at the end of Hercynian tectonic/magmatic events appears to be widespread throughout the whole of Europe.

The Pb–Zn deposit at Sant'Antonio di Val d'Aspra in the Farma Valley (Southern Tuscany) is hosted by Lower Moscovian carbonate rocks and shows many characters commonly found in Mississippi Valley type (MVT) deposits. Ore minerals (essentially sphalerite and galena) are closely confined to dolomitized portions of an only partly preserved black limestone. Mineralized carbonate rocks appear to have been eroded before the deposition of the overlying Upper Moscovian (Late Podolskian) shales. The diffuse presence of structures frequently found in internal sediments of karstic cavities indicates that supergene mechanisms have played an important role in the history of the deposit. A fluid inclusion study carried out on ore and gangue minerals revealed the presence of two different types of inclusions. The homogenization temperatures ranged from 120°C to 225°C but the most frequently found values were around 170°C. Salinity ranged from moderately low values up to 20 eq. wt. % NaCl. Lead isotopic composition rules out any relationship between the Sant'Antonio mineralization and Tertiary hydrothermal base metal occurrences in the same area. When all the data are taken together, a contrast is evident between geo-petrographic and isotopic data on the one hand, and fluid-inclusion microthermometry on the other.

The Miocene Monterey Formation constitutes a fracture-controlled petroleum reservoir, with intercalated calcareous and fine-grained siliceous rocks serving as both the source and reservoir for oil accumulations. Petroleum is produced from macroscopic fractures, and numerous tar and asphalt seeps at the surface attest to the present-day movement of hydrocarbons through fractures in the Monterey Formation. Many fractures are filled with carbonate (mostly calcite and dolomite), quartz, baryte and anhydrite. These same fractures often contain tar or oil filling openings, and occasionally a thin layer of oil can be seen coating growth surfaces between two generations of vein-filling minerals.

Evidence for migration of fluids through these fractures in the geological past is provided by aqueous and petroleum fluid inclusions contained within vein-filling minerals. Vein-filling dolomite from Jalama Beach contains three different types of primary petroleum inclusions (based on fluorescence characteristics)—indicating that oils with significantly different API gravities flowed through the fractures. Petrographic and microthermometric analyses of oil and coexisting aqueous inclusions indicate that the fracture-filling minerals precipitated from aqueous solutions of seawater salinity at ∼75–100°C, and that oil was introduced into the fracture system episodically during mineral growth. A sample from the Lion's Head area consists of early calcite and late quartz, both of which contain aqueous inclusions with seawater salinity. Inclusions in quartz homogenize at slightly higher temperatures than those in calcite. These data are consistent with calcite deposition during an early heating event, followed by quartz deposition during cooling. No petroleum inclusions were observed in the Lion's Head sample.

Large thenardite crystals have been sampled at New Agorgott, in the Taoudenni area of northern Mali. They are still in equilibrium with a pressurized NaCl saturated brine capped by a halite layer. Clays located about 1 m above the thenardite occurrence have been dated at 6760 y.BP. The crystals contain numerous, large, brine and solid inclusions. Microcryscopic studies show that the fluids can be explained by the addition of MgCl2 to the Na2SO4-NaCl-H2O system (eutectic temperature: −31 to −35°C; possible bloedite Na2Mg(SO4)2.4H2O formed after freezing). The homogenization temperatures of primary fluid inclusions are in the range 28 to 50°C. In order to understand the significance of the highest Th values, overheating experiments under 1 bar pressure were performed at different heating rates up to 170°C. The results are as follows:

• (i) When the temperature of stretching (TOh) is higher than about 10°C, overheating is recorded and fossilized (identical Th after some hours, several days or 8 months storage at 5°C).

• (ii) The lowest Th values (28°C) are probably near the formation temperature of thenardite; the highest ones reflect stretching under present desert conditions.

• (iii) With TOh lower than about 60°C, a fair correlation is observed between Th and TOh.

Finally, taking into account recent natural overheating, the fluid inclusion data are compatible with the formation of thenardite from underground brines later than the beginning of desert conditions in the Taoudenni area (i.e. about 3000 y.BP).

Liquid-hydrocarbon-bearing fluid inclusions have often been described associated with petroleum occurrences and diagenetic sediments. Infra-red microspectrometry allows characterization of fluid inclusions greater than 20 µm by establishing the presence of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons as well as associated H2O, CO2 and CH4. Semi-quantitative analyses have been made by focussing on gaseous and liquid phases separately. Some CH2/CH3 and CO2/CH4 ratios have been determined by this method.

Fluorescence microspectrometry permits precise measurements of the fluorescence emission spectrum of chromophore-bearing organic phases (essentially aromatic hydrocarbons) in fluid inclusions greater than 10 µm. Such a spectrum is a function of both the gross composition of the trapped oil and its thermal history.

Both of these methods lead to the in situ characterization of hydrocarbon fluid inclusions. They are useful in providing a quantifiable distinction between different oil generations trapped during mineral growth in diagenetic and epigenetic minerals.

The fluorite vein deposits of the Southern Alps (Northern Italy) exhibit similar geotectonic, paragenetic, and textural characteristics permitting useful comparison between their fluid inclusions and REE systematics. Due to differing post-crystallization deformation, primary fluid inclusions can only be observed in the northernmost deposit (Rabenstein/Corvara). Here, fluorite precipitated from highly saline H2O-NaCl-CaCl2 solutions containing appreciable H2S. During vein formation the fluids changed from low salinity (≈7 wt. % NaCl equiv.) and medium temperature (Th ≈ 230°C), corresponding to the precipitation of early quartz, towards high salinity (≈20 wt.% NaCl equiv.) and lower temperatures (Th ≈170°C during the deposition of late-stage fluorite. This was accompanied by an increase in Ca in solution.

REE distribution patterns for the northern deposits are very uniform suggesting a similar source, a large-scale homogeneous fluid system, and fluorite precipitation under reducing conditions. By comparison the southern deposits exhibit contrasting patterns documenting a more complex history, probably due to their remobilization from an earlier mineralization. None of the fluorites shows a ‘primary’ magmatic REE distribution pattern, thereby favouring a genetic model for fluorite mineralization involving the leaching of suitable rock units by formation waters.

Phenomenally large (up to 2 mm) oil-bearing and associated brine inclusions in fluorite from carbonate-hosted, epigenetic, fluorite-calcite-(baryte) deposits of the Koh-e-Maran area are investigated using a combination of microthermometry, UV-microscopy and FTIR microspectroscopy. The liquid hydrocarbon phase in primary ‘oil’ inclusions is brown in colour and is dominated by saturated, low molecular weight, aliphatic hydrocarbons.

Two types of mixed aqueous and ‘oil’ inclusions occur. Aqueous/oil types represent co-eval trapping of immiscible drops of oil and brine during primary growth. In oil/aqueous inclusions the oil appears to ‘wet’ the aqueous phase resulting in an odd ‘dish-shaped’ meniscus. The oil or liquid hydrocarbon part of the inclusion is primary but the aqueous part is thought to represent a secondary infill. The fluid inclusion evidence suggests that fluorite precipitated from a dilute (3.5 wt.% NaCl) brine at temperatures around 110–140°C in the presence of an immiscible liquid hydrocarbon phase dominated by saturated, light hydrocarbons. This ‘oil’ was present as an emulsion in the aqueous fluid and the phenomenal size of the inclusions is thought to reflect the large droplet size in the emulsion. Infiltration of a more saline, calcium-enriched brine into pre-existing oil inclusions resulted in complex oil-water inclusions showing a reversal in the nature and shape of the oil-water interface due to the presence of unspecifed surfactants in the brine which affected the wetting characteristics of the oil.

The homogenization temperatures and the presence of liquid petroleum inclusions are characteristic of Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) and manto-type fluorite deposits in many other parts of the world.