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News & Views
Economic geology: Copper conundrums -
Cin-Ty A. Lee
doi:10.1038/ngeo2039
The metal content of magmas erupted at subduction zone arcs is thought to be derived from the mantle. A correlation between crustal thickness and copper content in arc magmas worldwide, however, reveals an important role for the crust in the upper plate.
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Economic geology: Gilded by earthquakes -
Dave Craw
doi:10.1038/ngeo1775
Gold is often deposited in Earth's crust by fluids that percolate through rock fractures. Earthquakes cause rock fractures to expand rapidly and could cause the fluids to evaporate, triggering almost instantaneous gold deposition.
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Perspective
Continental-root control on the genesis of magmatic ore deposits -
W. L. Griffin, G. C. Begg & Suzanne Y. O'Reilly
doi:10.1038/ngeo1954
Some giant ore deposits are formed from magma, but the precise controls on their formation are unclear. A Perspective article analyses the distribution of some diamond, platinum-group element and gold deposits worldwide, and suggests that the structure and composition of sub-continental lithospheric mantle could play a role in ore genesis.
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Letter
High gold concentrations in sulphide-bearing magma under oxidizing conditions -
Roman E. Botcharnikov, Robert L. Linnen, Max Wilke, Francois Holtz, Pedro J. Jugo & Jasper Berndt
doi:10.1038/ngeo1042
Magma transports metals to the Earth's surface to form ore deposits, but only sulphide-undersaturated magmas were thought to be capable of generating large amounts of ore. Laboratory experiments indicate that large volumes of gold ore can also be generated by sulphide-saturated magma, if the redox conditions of the magma are suitable.
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Articles
Magmatic—hydrothermal origin of Nevada's Carlin-type gold deposits -
John L. Muntean, Jean S. Cline, Adam C. Simon & Anthony A. Longo
doi:10.1038/ngeo1064
During the Eocene, profuse magmatism and hydrothermal activity in the Great Basin of western North America produced Earth's second largest concentration of gold in Nevada. An integration of mineral analyses, experimental data and age and isotope data suggests a magmatic source for these deposits.
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Sulphide magma as a source of metals in arc-related magmatic hydrothermal ore fluids -
Olivier Nadeau, Anthony E. Williams-Jones & John Stix
doi:10.1038/ngeo899
The metal content of ore deposits formed during subduction-zone volcanism was thought to be established when the ore fluid separates from the parent magma. Analyses of metal concentrations in erupted melts and the volcanic gases emitted after an eruption in Indonesia reveal that metals can be added to the ore fluid later, during mixing with separated melts.
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