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Earth Resources. Geology Today Chapter 16 Barbara W. Murck and Brian J. Skinner. Petroleum, solar energy, and biomass - California. N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999. Mineral Deposits. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Earth ResourcesEarth Resources
Geology TodayChapter 16
Barbara W. Murck
and
Brian J. Skinner
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Petroleum, solar energy, and biomass - California
Reserve - known resource that can be extracted profitably at current market conditions and levels of technology
Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Mineral deposit - a naturally occurring accumulation of mineral material of potential economic value
Ore - the naturally occurring material from which a mineral can be profitably extracted
Banded Iron Deposit, Lake Superior
N. Lindsley-Griffin, Dolgoff, 1998
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
The plate tectonic setting controls which mineral deposits form
j
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Fig. 16.21, p. 493
Mineral deposits form by natural Earth processes:
At depth, from internal heat and pressure
Near the surface,
from rock interactions with atmosphere and
hydrosphereN. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Deep mineralizing processes at:
Divergent marginsConvergent margins
Hot spots
Types of deposits:
Magmatic
Hydrothermal
Metamorphic
Mt. Hood, Oregon
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Migmatite, Wyoming
Magmatic Deposits
Form as molten magmas crystallize
Metallic minerals settle to form layers
in the magma chamber
Chromium Platinum
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits Layered gabbro, Smartville ophiolite, CA
Model for magmatic deposit formation
Fig. 16.24, p.497Chromite and plagioclase layers, Bushveld complex,South Africa
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Hydrothermal Deposits
Hot water and gases circulate through fractures in crust
Metal ions leached from rock at depth are concentrated and
redeposited
Gold, zinc, lead, copper
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Hot water and sulfide particles issuing from a black smoker, East Pacific Rise
Sulfide minerals deposited here
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Hydrothermal deposits in ophiolites (on-land fragments of ocean lithosphere)
Veins are deposited along fractures in basalts of oceanic crust -
Divergent margins,
oceanic rift valleys
Ores are transported by subduction and plate movement, emplaced on land by terrane accretion in ophiolites -
Convergent margins,
active continental margins
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Houghton Mifflin, Dolgoff, 1998; N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Hydrothermal deposits associated with convergent margins form beneath stratovolcanoes.
Hydrothermal solutions deposit copper-iron sulfides in porphyritic andesites - porphyry copper deposits
Metallogenic province of rich porphyry-copper deposits along the western edge of the Americas
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Skinner et al., 1999; N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Hydrothermal veins may form at depth
beneath any volcano
Geologist inspects a hydrothermal gold vein being mined at Cripple Creek, Colorado (Fig. 16.22, p. 496)
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Hydrothermal ore deposits are forming today in the Imperial Valley of California - a graben formed by rifting along the northern end of the East Pacific Rise which runs up Gulf of CA.
Metallic ions are leached from the sediments under the graben by hot fluids resulting from volcanism.
Hot brines deposit siliceous scale containing 20% copper and 8% silver on the insides of pipes in drilled wells.
Fig. B16.1, p. 494
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Hydrothermal deposits forming today in the Red Sea:
Hot, dense brines rise up along normal faults that bound the graben.
Heated by deep magmas along the oceanic rift, they precipitate chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite as they cool.
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Fig. B16.2, p. 495
Hydrothermal deposits forming today in the Red Sea:
Brines remain pooled in the deep graben because they are denser than sea water.
This hydrothermal deposit is called a stratabound deposit, because the minerals are precipitated as layers interbedded with sediments.
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Fig. B16.2, p. 495
Stratabound ore of lead and zinc; Kimberley, British Columbia.
Layers of pyrite (yellow), sphalerite (brown), and galena (gray) are parallel to the layering of the sedimentary host rock.
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Skinner et al., 1999; N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Metamorphic deposits form by the heat, pressure, liquids associated with metamorphism
Iron ores, marble, serpentineN. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Metamorphic deposits form by two main processes:
1) recrystallization during regional metamorphism along convergent margins
2) contact metamorphism by hot solutions (hydrothermal solutions) near magma
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Houghton-Mifflin, Dolgoff, 1998; N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Metamorphism - ores of tungsten, zinc and iron
Ore, Tem-Piute Mine, NV (Fig. 16.23, p. 496)
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Scheelite (CaWO4)
Calcite (CaCO3)
Pyrite (FeS)
Fluorite (CaF)
Shallow mineral deposits form by:Surface water Mechanical concentration
Evaporation
Groundwater Leaching
Secondary enrichment
Biochemical reactions in seawater
Types of deposits:
Sedimentary
Placer
Residual N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Sedimentary deposits form by evaporation and precipitation
Anhydrite, gypsum, halite
Evaporite Deposits at Bonneville Salt Flats, UtahN. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Sedimentary deposits form by biochemical reactions in seawater
Banded iron formations were precipitated by biochemical reactions in a low-oxygen atmosphere during the Precambrian
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Banded Iron Deposit, Lake Superior
Manganese Nodules form by direct precipitation from seawater
Metallic ions from mid-ocean
ridge hydrothermal vents
Cold water lowers solubility
Found in thin marine oozes (young crust or slow sedimentation)
Best commercial potential: central Pacific Ocean
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998; Dolgoff, 1998
Concentric rings enriched in:
Copper, Cobalt,
Nickel, Manganese
Mechanical ConcentrationPlacer deposits:
Heavy grains sorted
by currents
Deposited in rivers
or beaches
Previously weathered
from bedrock source
Gold, platinum, diamonds, chromite, Zirconium and Titanium minerals
Olivine beach placers, South Point, Hawaii
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1998
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
Placers are deposited:Behind rock bars
In rock holes
Below waterfalls
In point bars inside meander loops
Downstream from a tributary
Along beaches and behind undulations on the ocean floor.
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Residual mineral deposits form by chemical weathering
Soluble minerals are leached - dissolved by rain water and carried downward by infiltration, leaving behind less soluble minerals.
Laterites are mined for iron and sometimes nickel.
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Iron ore, Australia
Residual mineral deposits
Bauxite is the main source of aluminum ore
- found in laterites formed in tropical
climates.
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Bauxite (aluminum ore)
Weipa, Australia
Fig. 16.26, p. 499
Secondary Enrichment - metals leached from the surface are precipitated below the water table
Phelps-Dodge-Morenci open pit copper mine, Clifton, Arizona
Upper zone: insoluble iron oxides left behind
N. Lindsley-Griffin; Dolgoff, 1998
Enriched zone: soluble metal sulfides of Zn, Pb, Cu, Au, Ag, Hg, Fe
Leaching
Precipitation
Sound miningpractices include:
Reclamationof mined areas
Proper disposalof tailings and waste water
Mining can harm the environment if not done properly - that’s one reason
why recycling is beneficial
Houghton Mifflin, Dolgoff, 1998; N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
MiningMining
Surface mine
Spoil Banks
Subsurfacemine shaft
Acid sp
ill in
stre
am
REVIEW: plate tectonic setting controls which mineral deposits form
j
Mineral DepositsMineral Deposits
N. Lindsley-Griffin, 1999
Fig. 16.21, p. 493