scholarly journals Elevated magma fluxes deliver high-Cu magmas to the upper crust

Geology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (10) ◽  
pp. 957-960
Author(s):  
Daniel Cox ◽  
Sebastian F.L. Watt ◽  
Frances E. Jenner ◽  
Alan R. Hastie ◽  
Samantha J. Hammond ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Proportion ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Crustal Evolution ◽  
Upper Crust ◽  
Convergent Margins ◽  
Ore Genesis ◽  
Porphyry Cu ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Lower Crustal ◽  
Garnet Fractionation

Abstract Porphyry Cu-Au ore deposits are globally associated with convergent margins. However, controls on the processing and distribution of the chalcophile elements (e.g., Cu) during convergent margin magmatism remain disputed. Here, we show that magmas feeding many Chilean stratovolcanoes fractionate sulfides with a high-Cu/Ag ratio early in their crustal evolution. These magmas show evidence of lower-crustal garnet and amphibole crystallization, and their degree of sulfide fractionation and Cu depletion increase with both crustal thickness and the extent of garnet fractionation. However, samples from a small proportion of volcanoes with elevated eruptive fluxes depart from this Cu-depleting trend, instead erupting Cu-rich magmas. This implies that at these atypical sites, elevated magma productivity and crustal throughput, potentially facilitated by “pathways” exploiting major crustal fault systems, enable rapid magma transit, avoiding lower-crustal Cu-depleting sulfide fractionation and potentially playing an important role in porphyry ore genesis.

Crustal structure of the Valhalla complex, British Columbia, from Lithoprobe seismic-reflection and potential-field data

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1048-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. S. Eaton ◽  
Frederick A. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
North American ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Surface Heat Flux ◽  
Field Data ◽  
High Surface ◽  
Surface Heat ◽  
Upper Crust ◽  
Potential Field Data ◽  
Lower Crustal

The Valhalla complex, situated in the Omineca crystalline belt in southeastern British Columbia, is a Cordilleran metamorphic core complex bordering the suture zone between Quesnellia and North American rocks. The region is tectonically interposed between a convergent plate margin along Canada's west coast and the stable North American craton, and is characterized by a crustal thickness of ~ 35 km, high surface heat flux, and elevated lower crustal electrical conductivity. In this study, Lithoprobe deep-crustal seismic-reflection data, potential-field data, and geological constraints have been used to gain a better understanding of crustal structure in the vicinity of the Valhalla complex. Analysis of Bouguer gravity and total-field aeromagnetic data indicates that mafic oceanic rocks and various syn- and post-accretionary granitoid plutonic rocks are not major constituents of the upper crust underlying the complex. The seismic data reveal a moderately reflective upper crust and image several fault zones, including a very high amplitude, west-dipping reflection that is interpreted as a significant Late Cretaceous or Paleocene thrust fault. The fault-zone reflectivity may be related to compositional heterogeneity and (or) seismic anisotropy associated with mylonites. The lower crust appears to be nonreflective, in contrast with other areas of high surface heat flux and elevated lower crustal conductivity. Taken together, the various data show that the Valhalla complex is likely cored by North American metasedimentary rocks and reveal features related to the Jurassic to Paleocene compressional fabric, which has been largely overprinted at the surface by subsequent Eocene extension.

Thermodynamic constraints on assimilation of silicic crust by primitive magmas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jussi S Heinonen ◽  
Frank J Spera ◽  
Wendy A Bohrson
Keyword(s):  
Phase Equilibria ◽  
Lower Crust ◽  
Primitive Mantle ◽  
Upper Crust ◽  
Basaltic Composition ◽  
Primitive Magma ◽  
Partial Melts ◽  
Thermodynamic Limits ◽  
Melt Composition ◽  
Lower Crustal

<p>Some studies on basaltic and more primitive rocks suggest that their parental magmas have assimilated more than 50 wt.% (relative to the initial uncontaminated magma) of crustal silicate wallrock. But what are the thermodynamic limits for assimilation by primitive magmas? This question has been considered for over a century, first by N.L. Bowen and many others since then. Here we pursue this question quantitatively using a freely available thermodynamic tool for phase equilibria modeling of open magmatic systems — the Magma Chamber Simulator (MCS; https://mcs.geol.ucsb.edu).</p><p>In the models, komatiitic, picritic, and basaltic magmas of various ages and from different tectonic settings assimilate progressive partial melts of average lower, middle, and upper crust. In order to pursue the maximum limits of assimilation constrained by phase equilibria and energetics, the mass of wallrock in the simulations was set at twice that of the initially pristine primitive magmas. In addition, the initial temperature of wallrock was set close to its solidus at a given pressure. Such conditions would approximate a rift setting with tabular chambers and high magma input causing concomitant crustal heating and steep geotherms.</p><p>Our results indicate that it is difficult for any primitive magma to assimilate more than 20−30 wt.% of upper crust before evolving to intermediate/felsic compositions. However, if assimilant is lower crust, typical komatiitic magmas can assimilate more than their own weight (range of 59−102 wt.%) and retain a basaltic composition. Even picritic magmas, more relevant to modern intraplate settings, have a thermodynamic potential to assimilate 28−49 wt.% of lower crust before evolving into intermediate/felsic compositions.</p><p>These findings have important implications for petrogenesis of magmas. The parental melt composition and the assimilant heavily influence both how much assimilation is energetically possible in primitive magmas and the final magma composition. The fact that primitive mantle melts have potential to partially melt and assimilate significant fractions of (lower) crust may have fundamental importance for how trans-Moho magmatic systems evolve and how crustal growth is accomplished. Examples include generation of siliceous high-magnesium basalts in the Precambrian and anorogenic anorthosite-mangerite-charnockite-granite complexes with geochemical evidence of considerable geochemical overprint from (lower) crustal sources.</p>

The Giant Chalukou Porphyry Mo Deposit, Northeast China: The Product of a Short-Lived, High Flux Mineralizing Event

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingqing Zhao ◽  
Degao Zhai ◽  
Ryan Mathur ◽  
Jiajun Liu ◽  
David Selby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Precision ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Hydrothermal Activity ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Ionization Mass ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Porphyry Cu ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Porphyry Mo Deposit

Abstract Whether giant porphyry ore deposits are the products of single, short-lived magmatic-hydrothermal events or multiple events over a prolonged interval is a topic of considerable debate. Previous studies, however, have all been devoted to porphyry Cu and Cu-Mo deposits. In this paper, we report high-precision isotope dilution-negative-thermal ionization mass spectrometric (ID-N-TIMS) molybdenite Re-Os ages for the newly discovered, world-class Chalukou porphyry Mo deposit (reserves of 2.46 Mt @ 0.087 wt % Mo) in NE China. Samples were selected based on a careful evaluation of the relative timing of the different vein types (i.e., A, B, and D veins), thereby ensuring that the suite of samples analyzed could be used to reliably determine the age and duration of mineralization. The molybdenite Re-Os geochronology reveals that hydrothermal activity at Chalukou involved two magmatic-hydrothermal events spanning an interval of 6.92 ± 0.16 m.y. The first event (153.96 ± 0.08/0.63/0.79 Ma, molybdenite ID-N-TIMS Re-Os age) was associated with the emplacement of a granite porphyry dated at 152.1 ± 2.2 Ma (zircon laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-microscopic [LA-ICP-MS] U-Pb ages), and led to only minor Mo mineralization, accounting for <10% of the overall Mo budget. The bulk of the Mo (>90%) was deposited in less than 650 kyr, between 147.67 ± 0.10/0.60/0.76 and 147.04 ± 0.12/0.72/0.86 Ma (molybdenite ID-N-TIMS Re-Os ages), coincident with the emplacement of a fine-grained porphyry at 148.1 ± 2.6 Ma (zircon LA-ICP-MS U-Pb ages). The high-precision Re-Os age determinations presented here show, contrary to the finding of a number of studies of porphyry Cu and Cu-Mo systems, that the giant Chalukou porphyry Mo deposit primarily formed in a single, short-lived (<650 kyr) hydrothermal event, suggesting that this may also have been the case for other giant porphyry Mo deposits.

scholarly journals No evidence for high-pressure melting of Earth’s crust in the Archean

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Smithies ◽  
Yongjun Lu ◽  
Tim E. Johnson ◽  
Christopher L. Kirkland ◽  
Kevin F. Cassidy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Continental Crust ◽  
Small Proportion ◽  
Lithospheric Mantle ◽  
Plate Tectonics ◽  
Crustal Evolution ◽  
Average Thickness ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
Chemical Signatures ◽  
Pressure Melting

AbstractMuch of the present-day volume of Earth’s continental crust had formed by the end of the Archean Eon, 2.5 billion years ago, through the conversion of basaltic (mafic) crust into sodic granite of tonalite, trondhjemite and granodiorite (TTG) composition. Distinctive chemical signatures in a small proportion of these rocks, the so-called high-pressure TTG, are interpreted to indicate partial melting of hydrated crust at pressures above 1.5 GPa (>50 km depth), pressures typically not reached in post-Archean continental crust. These interpretations significantly influence views on early crustal evolution and the onset of plate tectonics. Here we show that high-pressure TTG did not form through melting of crust, but through fractionation of melts derived from metasomatically enriched lithospheric mantle. Although the remaining, and dominant, group of Archean TTG did form through melting of hydrated mafic crust, there is no evidence that this occurred at depths significantly greater than the ~40 km average thickness of modern continental crust.

Modelling the thermal perturbation of the continental crust after intraplating of thick granitoid sheets: a comparison with the crustal sections in Calabria (Italy)

2002 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
pp. 699-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. CAGGIANELLI ◽  
G. PROSSER
Keyword(s):  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Thermal Gradients ◽  
Upper Crust ◽  
Mantle Lithosphere ◽  
Thermal Perturbation ◽  
Magma Intrusion ◽  
Lithosphere Thinning ◽  
Peak Metamorphism ◽  
Granitoid Emplacement ◽  
Lower Crustal

Thick granitoid sheets represent a considerable percentage of Palaeozoic crustal sections exposed in Calabria. High thermal gradients are recorded in upper and lower crustal regional metamorphic rocks lying at the roof and base of the granitoids. Ages of peak metamorphism and emplacement of granitoids are mostly overlapping, suggesting a connection between magma intrusion and low-pressure metamorphism. To analyse this relationship, thermal perturbation following granitoid emplacement has been modelled. The simulation indicates that, in the upper crust, the thermal perturbation is short-lived. In contrast, in the lower crust temperatures greater than 700°C are maintained for 12 Ma, explaining granulite formation, anatexis and the following nearly isobaric cooling. An even longer perturbation can be achieved introducing the effect of mantle lithosphere thinning into the model.

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