A metasomatized lithospheric mantle control on the metallogenic signature of post-subduction magmatism

David A. Holwell (), Marco Fiorentini, Iain McDonald, Yongjun Lu, Andrea Giuliani, Daniel J. Smith, Manuel Keith and Marek Locmelis
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David A. Holwell: University of Leicester
Marco Fiorentini: University of Western Australia
Iain McDonald: Cardiff University
Yongjun Lu: University of Western Australia
Andrea Giuliani: University of Melbourne
Daniel J. Smith: University of Leicester
Manuel Keith: University of Leicester
Marek Locmelis: Missouri University of Science and Technology

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Ore deposits are loci on Earth where energy and mass flux are greatly enhanced and focussed, acting as magnifying lenses into metal transport, fractionation and concentration mechanisms through the lithosphere. Here we show that the metallogenic architecture of the lithosphere is illuminated by the geochemical signatures of metasomatised mantle rocks and post-subduction magmatic-hydrothermal mineral systems. Our data reveal that anomalously gold and tellurium rich magmatic sulfides in mantle-derived magmas emplaced in the lower crust share a common metallogenic signature with upper crustal porphyry-epithermal ore systems. We propose that a trans-lithospheric continuum exists whereby post-subduction magmas transporting metal-rich sulfide cargoes play a fundamental role in fluxing metals into the crust from metasomatised lithospheric mantle. Therefore, ore deposits are not merely associated with isolated zones where serendipitous happenstance has produced mineralisation. Rather, they are depositional points along the mantle-to-upper crust pathway of magmas and hydrothermal fluids, synthesising the concentrated metallogenic budget available.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11065-4

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