Journal article
Noble metals potential of sulfide-saturated melts from the subcontinental lithosphere
VS Kamenetsky, R Maas, ROC Fonseca, C Ballhaus, A Heuser, M Brauns, MD Norman, JD Woodhead, T Rodemann, DV Kuzmin, E Bonatti
Geology | Published : 2013
DOI: 10.1130/G34066.1
Abstract
The origin of vast accumulations of nickel and platinum in some continental magmatic rocks is still enigmatic, but ultimately linked to silicate-sulfide liquid immiscibility. The exact composition of pristine sulfide melts has proved extremely difficult to document and understand, largely because of the ephemeral, reactive qualities and small quantities of such melts. Here we report the discovery of Fe-Ni sulfide melt globules highly enriched in noble metals (Pt, Pd, Au; 120 ppm total platinum group elements [PGE]) within an unusual high-Mg andesitic glass (8.2 wt% MgO, 57.3 wt% SiO2) dredged from the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, near the Bouvet triple junction. The composition of this glass..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the laboratory support of M. Kamenetsky, S. Feig, and K. Gomann at the University of Tasmania. We thank A. Naldrett and R. Latypov for helpful comments. Funding for this research is from the Australian Research Council and the A. von Humboldt Foundation (Germany).