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Global distribution of sediment-hosted metals controlled by craton edge stability

Hoggard, M J; Czarnor, Karol; Richards, Fred D.; Huston, D L; Jaques, Alan; Ghelichkhan, Siavash

Description

Sustainable development and the transition to a clean-energy economy drives ever-increasing demand for base metals, substantially outstripping the discovery rate of new deposits and necessitating dramatic improvements in exploration success. Rifting of the continents has formed widespread sedimentary basins, some of which contain large quantities of copper, lead and zinc. Despite over a century of research, the geological structure responsible for the spatial distribution of such fertile...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorHoggard, M J
dc.contributor.authorCzarnor, Karol
dc.contributor.authorRichards, Fred D.
dc.contributor.authorHuston, D L
dc.contributor.authorJaques, Alan
dc.contributor.authorGhelichkhan, Siavash
dc.date.accessioned2022-06-07T01:48:08Z
dc.identifier.issn1752-0894
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/267170
dc.description.abstractSustainable development and the transition to a clean-energy economy drives ever-increasing demand for base metals, substantially outstripping the discovery rate of new deposits and necessitating dramatic improvements in exploration success. Rifting of the continents has formed widespread sedimentary basins, some of which contain large quantities of copper, lead and zinc. Despite over a century of research, the geological structure responsible for the spatial distribution of such fertile regions remains enigmatic. Here, we use statistical tests to compare deposit locations with new maps of lithospheric thickness, which outline the base of tectonic plates. We find that 85% of sediment-hosted base metals, including all giant deposits (>10 megatonnes of metal), occur within 200 kilometres of the transition between thick and thin lithosphere. Rifting in this setting produces greater subsidence and lower basal heat flow, enlarging the depth extent of hydrothermal circulation available for forming giant deposits. Given that mineralization ages span the past two billion years, this observation implies long-term lithospheric edge stability and a genetic link between deep Earth processes and near-surface hydrothermal mineral systems. This discovery provides an unprecedented global framework for identifying fertile regions for targeted mineral exploration, reducing the search space for new deposits by two-thirds on this lithospheric thickness criterion alone.
dc.description.sponsorshipM.J.H. acknowledges support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant NNX17AE17G) and the Donors of the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (59062-DNI8). F.D.R. acknowledges support from the Schmidt Science Fellows program, in partnership with the Rhodes Trust. K.C. and D.L.H. publish with permission of the CEO of Geoscience Australia. Geoscience Australia eCat ID 132624.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoen_AU
dc.publisherNature Publishing Group
dc.rights© 2020 Nature Publishing Group
dc.sourceNature Geoscience
dc.titleGlobal distribution of sediment-hosted metals controlled by craton edge stability
dc.typeJournal article
local.description.notesImported from ARIES
local.identifier.citationvolume13
dc.date.issued2020
local.identifier.absfor040307 - Ore Deposit Petrology
local.identifier.absfor040301 - Basin Analysis
local.identifier.absfor040407 - Seismology and Seismic Exploration
local.identifier.ariespublicationa383154xPUB14127
local.publisher.urlhttp://www.nature.com/ngeo/
local.type.statusPublished Version
local.contributor.affiliationHoggard, M J, Harvard University
local.contributor.affiliationCzarnota, Karol, College of Science, ANU
local.contributor.affiliationRichards, Fred D., Harvard University
local.contributor.affiliationHuston, D L, Geoscience Australia
local.contributor.affiliationJaques, Alan, College of Science, ANU
local.contributor.affiliationGhelichkhan, Siavash, College of Science, ANU
local.description.embargo2099-12-31
local.bibliographicCitation.issue7
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage504
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage510
local.identifier.doi10.1038/s41561-020-0593-2
local.identifier.absseo970104 - Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences
local.identifier.absseo840100 - MINERAL EXPLORATION
dc.date.updated2022-08-07T08:16:36Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-85087373783
local.identifier.thomsonIDWOS:000544997400012
CollectionsANU Research Publications

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