Authors / CoAuthors
Huston, D.L. | Pehrsson, S. | Eglington, B.M.
Abstract
Formation and preservation of many mineral deposits, including volcanic-hosted massive sulphide(VHMS) and lode gold deposits, is tied to supercontinent/supercraton assembly. Rodinia assembly differed from other supercontinents in that it lacks deposits typically associated with assembly, and did not produce large quantities of juvenile crust. In other ways Rodinia assembly was similar to other supercontinents: it included significant crustal thickening, as indicated by peaks in metamorphic zircon growth and pegmatite emplacement, and involved a significant pulse of felsic magmatism as indicated by the distribution of detrital zircons in river sands. Importantly, this pulse of detrital zircon is not matched by a peak in preserved felsic magmatism, indicating these rocks were lost to erosion. These patterns reflect geological processes and are not an artefact of inadequate data or exploration. We propose that the paucity of mineralisation associated with Rodinia assembly could result from the dominance of advancing accretionary orogenesis (e.g., East Pacific (Andean)-type margins), in contrast to other periods of supercontinent assembly that were dominated by retreating accretion (e.g., West Pacific-type margins). Although porphyry-epithermal deposits form in both margin types, VHMS and lode gold deposits are enhanced by development of back-arc basins along retreating margins which provide a setting for VHMS mineralisation and the structural framework reactivated during lode gold mineralising events. These settings would be inhibited if supercontinent assembly was dominated by advancing accretionary orogenesis. Our analysis suggests that explorationists should consider the style of accretion during area selection, as it could have a significant effect on potential for mineralisation.
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75463
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- External Publication
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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2013-03-01T00:00:00
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