Abstract
SPECULATION concerning the origin of ore deposits has been for many years, and is at the present time, dominated by the school of theorists who attribute, a proximate and direct igneous origin not only to igneous segregations, contact deposits, and the metalliferous vein-deposits immediately associated with igneous intrusions, but to metalliferous veins generally. The grip attained by this theory is such that only rarely do authors of papers take a larger and more comprehensive view of either the possibilities or the actual facts of vein-formation. The extent to which the mind of the average worker is obsessed by the igneous theory is shown by the tendency to apply it in cases where it seems almost certainly inapplicable. In bedded iron-ores, sedimentary lead- and zinc-ores, and even petroleum, the igneous enthusiast sees clear evidence of metalliferous solutions and vapours rising through the earth's crust and effecting mineralisation at all levels on their way to the surface.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
C., T. Metal Resources and the Constitution of the Earth. Nature 115, 914–915 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/115914a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/115914a0