Researchers at the University of Michigan propose a new mechanism for the formation of gold deposits on Earth.
University of Michigan researchers may have found a new geological mechanism for creating gold deposits on Earth. This new theory combines numerical modeling with field observations and could be used to aid in future gold exploration efforts. Gold is one of the rarest metals on Earth, but it turns out it is not as rare as you may have been led to believe. Other elements, such as lead, are rarer on a pound-for-pound basis when considering the planet.
But the catch is that most of Earth’s gold is locked away in the mantle. Gold tends to be concentrated in volcanic or magmatic rocks on the surface (where we can get to it). However, this new study may have finally found at least one mechanism to explain how gold is transported en masse from the mantle to the Earth’s surface to form seams. This unique breed of sulfur, it appears, entices gold to leave the mantle and enter magma that can then be transported to the surface of the Earth. This idea builds on past knowledge that gold loves to form bonds with two or three sulfur atoms if given a chance. It is this so-called gold-tri sulfurcomplex that forms the foundation for the newly proposed thermodynamic model for gold ore formation. This is especially critical as, being very inert, gold will stay in the mantle if not “forced” to leave. The idea goes that if a sulfur-rich fluid is introduced, gold forms this gold-sulfur complex, and when it turns out, it is highly mobile (especially in most sections of the mantle). Once entrained in the magma, it is only a matter of time before the gold makes its way upwards to form gold-rich seams for us humans to later mine and refine. For this new mechanism, one particular hotspot, to borrow a phrase, is tectonic subduction zones. These are areas of the planet’s crust where one plate “sinks” underneath anothe
GOLD GEOLOGICAL MECHANISM ORE FORMATION SULFUR MANTLE
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