Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Article
  • Published:

Sulphide magma as a source of metals in arc-related magmatic hydrothermal ore fluids

Nature Geoscience volume 3, pages 501–505 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

As magma ascends in subduction zones, decreasing pressure and temperature cause it to separate into two or more phases in a process known as exsolution. Hydrothermal ore fluids and metal-rich sulphide melts may be products of this exsolution. Conventionally, the ore fluids are thought to acquire their metal content directly from the parent magma. However, it is probable that the ore fluids and sulphide melts interact after exsolution, and therefore possible that the sulphide melts are an important source of metals for the ore fluids. Here we use petrographic analyses of erupted sulphide melts and compositional analyses of volcanic gases emitted immediately after an eruption at Merapi Volcano, Indonesia, to show that magmatic hydrothermal fluids can derive their metals from dissolution of sulphide melts. We find that the volcanic gases exhibit metal ratios that are comparable to those in the erupted sulphide melts. Furthermore, we show that gases sampled immediately after the eruption have metal concentrations that are orders of magnitude higher than those of gases emitted during periods of quiescence. We propose that the metal content of ores forming in volcanic arc environments is established by exsolution accompanying injections of primitive magma immediately before explosive eruptions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Reflected light photomicrographs of variably dissolved sulphide globules hosted by amphibole megacrysts.
Figure 2: Reflected light photomicrographs of oxidized sulphide-melt inclusions hosted in amphibole from samples of dome lava.
Figure 3: Trace-metal concentrations and ratios in volcanic gas condensates and sulphide-melt inclusions.
Figure 4: Ternary diagram showing relative concentrations of SO4, H2O and Cl in volcanic gas condensates.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. O’Neill, H. S. C. & Mavrogenes, J. A. The sulfide capacity and the sulfur content at sulfide saturation of silicate melts at 1,400 °C and 1 bar. J. Petrol. 43, 1049–1087 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Naldrett, A. J. Sulphide melts; crystallization temperatures, solubilities in silicate melts, and Fe, Ni, and Cu partitioning between basaltic magmas and olivine. Rev. Econ. Geol. 4, 5–20 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Naldrett, A. J. Magmatic Sulphide Deposits; Geology, Geochemistry and Exploration (Springer, 2004).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Barnes, S-J. & Lightfoot, P. C. Formation of Magmatic Nickel Sulphide Deposits and Processes Affecting their Copper and Platinum Group Element Contents 179–213 (Society of Economic Geologists, 2005).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Mungall, J. E. Crystallization of magmatic sulfides; an empirical model and application to Sudbury ores. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 71, 2809–2819 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Johnson, M. C., Anderson, A. T. Jr & Rutherford, M. J. Pre-eruptive volatile contents of magmas. Rev. Mineral. 30, 281–330 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Arculus, R. J. Evolution of arc magmas and their volatiles. Geophys. Monogr. 150, 95–108 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Holloway, J. R. & Blank, J. G. Application of experimental results to C–O–H species in natural melts. Rev. Mineral. 30, 187–230 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Keith, J. D., Dallmeyer, R. D., Kim, C-S. & Kowallis, B. J. The Volcanic History and Magmatic Sulphide Mineralogy of Latites of the Central East Tintic Mountains, Utah 461–483 (Geological Society of Nevada, 1991).

  10. Keith, J. D. et al. The role of magmatic sulfides and mafic alkaline magmas in the Bingham and Tintic mining districts, Utah. J. Petrol. 38, 1679–1690 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Larocque, A. C. L., Stimac, J. A., Keith, J. D. & Huminicki, M. A. E. Evidence for open-system behavior in immiscible Fe–S–O liquids in silicate magmas; implications for contributions of metals and sulfur to ore-forming fields. Can. Mineral. 38, 1233–1250 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Halter, W. E., Pettke, T. & Heinrich, C. A. The origin of Cu/Au ratios in porphyry-type ore deposits. Science 296, 1844–1846 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Halter, W. E. et al. Magma evolution and the formation of porphyry Cu–Au ore fluids; evidence from silicate and sulfide melt inclusions. Mineral. Deposita. 39, 845–863 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Symonds, R. B., Rose, W. I., Reed, M. H. & Lichte, F. E. Volatilization, transport and sublimation of metallic and non-metallic elements in high temperature gases at Merapi Volcano, Indonesia. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 51, 2083–2101 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Crerar, D., Wood, S., Brantley, S. & Bocarsly, A. Chemical controls on solubility of ore-forming minerals in hydrothermal solutions. Can. Mineral. 23, 333–352 (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Zajacz, Z., Halter, W. E., Pettke, T. & Guillong, M. Determination of fluid/melt partition coefficients by LA-ICPMS analysis of co-existing fluid and silicate melt inclusions; controls on element partitioning. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 72, 2169–2197 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Williams, T. J., Candela, P. A. & Piccoli, P. M. The partitioning of copper between silicate melts and two-phase aqueous fluids; an experimental investigation at 1 kbar, 800 °C and 0.5 kbar, 850 °C. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 121, 388–399 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Reviews by J. Mungall, M. J. Rutherford and B. Scaillet contributed significantly to improving the manuscript. This study was funded by scholarships to O.N. by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Fond Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT), and research grants to A.E.W-J. and J.S. from NSERC and FQRNT.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2A7, Canada

    Olivier Nadeau, Anthony E. Williams-Jones & John Stix

Authors
  1. Olivier Nadeau
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anthony E. Williams-Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John Stix
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

This paper is the product of research conducted by O.N. during his Ph.D. O.N. made the petrographic observations and undertook the chemical analyses. A.E.W-J. participated in the field work and all three authors contributed to the interpretation of the data and to the writing of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olivier Nadeau.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 409 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nadeau, O., Williams-Jones, A. & Stix, J. Sulphide magma as a source of metals in arc-related magmatic hydrothermal ore fluids. Nature Geosci 3, 501–505 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo899

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo899

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing