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Cherdantseva M, Anenburg M, Fiorentini M, Mavrogenes J. Carbonated magmatic sulfide systems: Still or sparkling? SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadl3127. [PMID: 38905350 PMCID: PMC11192084 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adl3127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
For decades, there has been debate surrounding the transport of dense metal-rich sulfide liquid in mafic magmas. This topic is crucial to understanding the genesis of valuable resources of nickel, copper, and platinum-group elements, which are essential for a sustainable, emission-free energy future. Recent studies of mineralized mafic magmas suggested that gas bubbles adhere to sulfide globules, reducing their density and favoring upward transport. While this hypothesis may explain sulfide mobility in near-surface magmatic environments, it is at odds with key mineralogic and textural observations and does not explain how long-distance sulfide transport operates. Here, we suggest an alternative hypothesis that builds on previous observations, focusing on the interaction between carbonate melt and sulfide liquid. We demonstrate experimentally that carbonate melt wraps sulfide globules forming a relatively mobile pair that may mediate metal-rich sulfide transport from mantle to crust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Cherdantseva
- Centre for Exploration Targeting, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, 6009 Crawley, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Michael Anenburg
- Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
| | - Marco Fiorentini
- Centre for Exploration Targeting, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, 6009 Crawley, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - John Mavrogenes
- Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia
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2
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Patten CGC, Hector S, Kilias S, Ulrich M, Peillod A, Beranoaguirre A, Nomikou P, Eiche E, Kolb J. Transfer of sulfur and chalcophile metals via sulfide-volatile compound drops in the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic field. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4968. [PMID: 38862488 PMCID: PMC11167051 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48656-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Efficient transfer of S and chalcophile metals through the Earth's crust in arc systems is paramount for the formation of large magmatic-hydrothermal ore deposits. The formation of sulfide-volatile compound drops has been recognized as a potential key mechanism for such transfer but their fate during dynamic arc magmatism remains cryptic. Combining elemental mapping and in-situ mineral analyzes we reconstruct the evolution of compound drops in the active Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo volcanic field. The observed compound drops are micrometric sulfide blebs associated with vesicles trapped within silicate phenocrysts. The compound drops accumulate and coalesce at mafic-felsic melt interfaces where larger sulfide ovoids form. These ovoids are subsequently oxidized to magnetite during sulfide-volatile interaction. Comparison of metal concentrations between the sulfide phases and magnetite allows for determination of element mobility during oxidation. The formation and evolution of compound drops may be an efficient mechanism for transferring S and chalcophile metals into shallow magmatic-hydrothermal arc systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clifford Georges Charles Patten
- Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
- Chair for Geochemistry and Economic Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.
| | - Simon Hector
- Chair for Geochemistry and Economic Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Stephanos Kilias
- Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Marc Ulrich
- Institut Terre et Environnement de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, Strasbourg, France
| | - Alexandre Peillod
- Chair for Geochemistry and Economic Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Aratz Beranoaguirre
- Chair for Geochemistry and Economic Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Institut für Geowissenschaften, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Paraskevi Nomikou
- Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Elisabeth Eiche
- Chair for Geochemistry and Economic Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Laboratory of Environment and Raw Materials Analysis, AGW, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Jochen Kolb
- Chair for Geochemistry and Economic Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
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Shen J, Chen J, Yu J, Algeo TJ, Smith RMH, Botha J, Frank TD, Fielding CR, Ward PD, Mather TA. Mercury evidence from southern Pangea terrestrial sections for end-Permian global volcanic effects. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6. [PMID: 36596767 PMCID: PMC9810726 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35272-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The latest Permian mass extinction (LPME) was triggered by magmatism of the Siberian Traps Large Igneous Province (STLIP), which left an extensive record of sedimentary Hg anomalies at Northern Hemisphere and tropical sites. Here, we present Hg records from terrestrial sites in southern Pangea, nearly antipodal to contemporaneous STLIP activity, providing insights into the global distribution of volcanogenic Hg during this event and its environmental processing. These profiles (two from Karoo Basin, South Africa; two from Sydney Basin, Australia) exhibit significant Hg enrichments within the uppermost Permian extinction interval as well as positive Δ199Hg excursions (to ~0.3‰), providing evidence of long-distance atmospheric transfer of volcanogenic Hg. These results demonstrate the far-reaching effects of the Siberian Traps as well as refine stratigraphic placement of the LPME interval in the Karoo Basin at a temporal resolution of ~105 years based on global isochronism of volcanogenic Hg anomalies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jiubin Chen
- Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianxin Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China
| | - Thomas J Algeo
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China.,State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, People's Republic of China.,Department of Geosciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0013, USA
| | - Roger M H Smith
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.,Iziko South African Museum, PO Box 61, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
| | - Jennifer Botha
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.,National Museum, PO Box 266, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa
| | - Tracy D Frank
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA
| | | | - Peter D Ward
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195-1800, USA
| | - Tamsin A Mather
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3AN, UK
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4
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The critical role of magma degassing in sulphide melt mobility and metal enrichment. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2359. [PMID: 35487923 PMCID: PMC9054852 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30107-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Much of the world’s supply of battery metals and platinum group elements (PGE) comes from sulphide ore bodies formed in ancient sub-volcanic magma plumbing systems. Research on magmatic sulphide ore genesis mainly focuses on sulphide melt-silicate melt equilibria. However, over the past few years, increasing evidence of the role of volatiles in magmatic sulphide ore systems has come to light. High temperature-high pressure experiments presented here reveal how the association between sulphide melt and a fluid phase may facilitate the coalescence of sulphide droplets and upgrade the metal content of the sulphide melt. We propose that the occurrence of a fluid phase in the magma can favour both accumulation and metal enrichment of a sulphide melt segregated from this magma, independent of the process producing the fluid phase. Here we show how sulphide-fluid associations preserved in the world-class Noril’sk-Talnakh ore deposits, in Polar Siberia, record the processes demonstrated experimentally. A new study shows the occurrence of a fluid phase in mafic-ultramafic magmas may represent a significant boost for magmatic sulphide ore forming processes, by favouring sulphide melt accumulation and increasing tenors.
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Fluids as primary carriers of sulphur and copper in magmatic assimilation. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6609. [PMID: 34785681 PMCID: PMC8595724 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26969-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Magmas readily react with their wall-rocks forming metamorphic contact aureoles. Sulphur and possibly metal mobilization within these contact aureoles is essential in the formation of economic magmatic sulphide deposits. We performed heating and partial melting experiments on a black shale sample from the Paleoproterozoic Virginia Formation, which is the main source of sulphur for the world-class Cu-Ni sulphide deposits of the 1.1 Ga Duluth Complex, Minnesota. These experiments show that an autochthonous devolatilization fluid effectively mobilizes carbon, sulphur, and copper in the black shale within subsolidus conditions (≤ 700 °C). Further mobilization occurs when the black shale melts and droplets of Cu-rich sulphide melt and pyrrhotite form at ∼1000 °C. The sulphide droplets attach to bubbles of devolatilization fluid, which promotes buoyancy-driven transportation in silicate melt. Our study shows that devolatilization fluids can supply large proportions of sulphur and copper in mafic-ultramafic layered intrusion-hosted Cu-Ni sulphide deposits.
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Li M, Grasby SE, Wang SJ, Zhang X, Wasylenki LE, Xu Y, Sun M, Beauchamp B, Hu D, Shen Y. Nickel isotopes link Siberian Traps aerosol particles to the end-Permian mass extinction. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2024. [PMID: 33795666 PMCID: PMC8016954 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22066-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) was the most severe extinction event in the past 540 million years, and the Siberian Traps large igneous province (STLIP) is widely hypothesized to have been the primary trigger for the environmental catastrophe. The killing mechanisms depend critically on the nature of volatiles ejected during STLIP eruptions, initiating about 300 kyr before the extinction event, because the atmosphere is the primary interface between magmatism and extinction. Here we report Ni isotopes for Permian-Triassic sedimentary rocks from Arctic Canada. The δ60Ni data range from −1.09‰ to 0.35‰, and exhibit the lightest δ60Ni compositions ever reported for sedimentary rocks. Our results provide strong evidence for global dispersion and loading of Ni-rich aerosol particles into the Panthalassic Ocean. Our data demonstrate that environmental degradation had begun well before the extinction event and provide a link between global dispersion of Ni-rich aerosols, ocean chemistry changes, and the EPME. The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe extinction event in the past 540 million years, and the Siberian Traps large igneous province is widely hypothesized to have been the primary trigger for the environmental catastrophe. In this study, Ni isotopes provide the link between Siberian Traps magmatism and early environmental degradation, ultimately leading to the end-Permian extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Menghan Li
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Stephen E Grasby
- Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.,Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Shui-Jiong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaolin Zhang
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Laura E Wasylenki
- School of Earth & Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Yilun Xu
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Mingzhao Sun
- Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Benoit Beauchamp
- Department of Geoscience, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Dongping Hu
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Yanan Shen
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
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7
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Blanks DE, Holwell DA, Fiorentini ML, Moroni M, Giuliani A, Tassara S, González-Jiménez JM, Boyce AJ, Ferrari E. Fluxing of mantle carbon as a physical agent for metallogenic fertilization of the crust. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4342. [PMID: 32859892 PMCID: PMC7455710 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18157-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2019] [Accepted: 08/04/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Magmatic systems play a crucial role in enriching the crust with volatiles and elements that reside primarily within the Earth's mantle, including economically important metals like nickel, copper and platinum-group elements. However, transport of these metals within silicate magmas primarily occurs within dense sulfide liquids, which tend to coalesce, settle and not be efficiently transported in ascending magmas. Here we show textural observations, backed up with carbon and oxygen isotope data, which indicate an intimate association between mantle-derived carbonates and sulfides in some mafic-ultramafic magmatic systems emplaced at the base of the continental crust. We propose that carbon, as a buoyant supercritical CO2 fluid, might be a covert agent aiding and promoting the physical transport of sulfides across the mantle-crust transition. This may be a common but cryptic mechanism that facilitates cycling of volatiles and metals from the mantle to the lower-to-mid continental crust, which leaves little footprint behind by the time magmas reach the Earth's surface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daryl E Blanks
- Centre for Sustainable Resource Extraction, School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
| | - David A Holwell
- Centre for Sustainable Resource Extraction, School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Marco L Fiorentini
- Centre for Exploration Targeting, School of Earth Sciences, ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Marilena Moroni
- Earth Science Department, Milan State University, Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Giuliani
- Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Clausiusstrasse 25, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland
- Kimberlites and Diamonds (KiDs), School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Santiago Tassara
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, PO Box 208109, New Haven, CT, 06520-8109, USA
- Millennium Nucleus for Metal Tracing Along Subduction, FCFM, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile
| | - José M González-Jiménez
- Departmento de Mineralogía y Petrología, Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Ciencias, Fuentenueva s/n, 180002, Granada, Spain
| | - Adrian J Boyce
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, G75 0QF, UK
| | - Elena Ferrari
- Earth Science Department, Milan State University, Milan, Italy
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8
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Ryan CG, Kirkham R, de Jonge MD, Siddons DP, van der Ent A, Pagés A, Boesenberg U, Kuczewski AJ, Dunn P, Jensen M, Liu W, Harris H, Moorhead GF, Paterson DJ, Howard DL, Afshar N, Garrevoet J, Spiers K, Falkenberg G, Woll AR, De Geronimo G, Carini GA, James SA, Jones MWM, Fisher LA, Pearce M. The Maia Detector and Event Mode. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.1080/08940886.2018.1528430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - M. D. de Jonge
- Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - D. P. Siddons
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA
| | - A. van der Ent
- Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - A. Pagés
- CSIRO, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - U. Boesenberg
- European X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility, Schenefeld, Germany
| | | | - P. Dunn
- CSIRO, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - W. Liu
- CSIRO, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - H. Harris
- Department of Chemisty, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
| | | | - D. J. Paterson
- Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - D. L. Howard
- Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - N. Afshar
- Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - J. Garrevoet
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany
| | - K. Spiers
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany
| | - G. Falkenberg
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany
| | - A. R. Woll
- Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | | | - G. A. Carini
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA
| | - S. A. James
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - M. W. M. Jones
- Institute for Future Environments, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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9
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World-Class PGE-Cu-Ni Talnakh Deposit: New Data on the Structure and Unique Mineralization of the South-Western Branch. MINERALS 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/min8040124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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