Implications of Plate Tectonics

By: Mumtaz Ali Khan

Schematic cross-sections
through plate boundary-
related tectonic settings of
mineralization
Mineralization in the Troodos Ophiolite
Schematic block diagram showing the potential distribution of mineral deposits in the oceanic
lithosphere
Development and emplacement of mineral deposits in a subduction-related setting
 Plate Tectonic Implications
• The application of plate tectonic theory to the
exploration of economically viable mineral
and hydrocarbon deposits is a common
approach in the field of economic geology
• Plate tectonics has provided exploration
geologists with a framework to which they can
relate the specific environments and spatial
relationships of economic deposits
 Classification of Economic Deposits
according to Plate Tectonic Processes
1. Autochthonous deposits directly related to
magmatism at Plate Margins and interiors
2. Allochthonous deposits related to Plate
Margin magmatism
3. Deposits related to Sedimentary Basins
formed by Plate Motions
4. Deposits related to climate and to changes in
paleolatitude resulting from Plate Motions
 Autochthonous and allochthonous
mineral deposits
• The initial rifting of a continent includes the
emplacement of alkaline and pera-alkaline
igneous rocks and the establishment of high
geothermal gradients
• Ore minerals are generated from this
magmatism and from the large-scale
circulation of hydrothermal fluids that are
energized by it
 Cont…
• One group of igneous rocks frequently
associated with extensive mineralization
includes carbonatites
• The important elements found in this
environment are phosphorus (as apatite),
niobium (pyrochlore), rare earths (monazite,
bastnaesite), copper, uranium, thorium, and
zircon
 Cont…
• Several forms of mineralization are present in
subduction zone environments, their types
depending upon whether the overriding
lithosphere is continental or oceanic
• Large-scale magmatic and tectonic processes
lead to the formation of porphyry deposits at
convergent margins
 Cont…
• Another important class of deposits found
associated with oceanic subduction zones is
stratiform massive sulfides of zinc, lead and
copper known, after their type area of
occurrence in Japan, as Kuroko type ores
• These ores also are known as volcanic-hosted or
volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits
• Kuroko-type ores may be incorporated into
continents during continent–island arc collisions
 Cont…
• There are several types of deposit that are
specific to Andean-type subduction
• These include strata bound copper sulfide
deposits, such as are found in Chile, which are
closely related to episodic calcalkaline volcanism
and occur within porphyritic andesite lavas
• The principal minerals are chalcosite, bornite,
and chalcopyrite, and they contain significant
amounts of silver
 Cont…
• The intercalation of these deposits with
shallow marine and terrestrial deposits
suggests their formation in small lagoons
• It appears to be derived from the same Benioff
zone region as the magmas, and may owe its
existence to the anomalously shallow dip of
the subduction zone in this region
 Cont…
• Zones of continental collision and terrane
accretion also host a wide range of
metalliferous deposits
• These belts may display allochthonous terranes
containing mineral associations that formed
during the early stages of crustal accretion,
such as ophiolites, ferromanganese nodules,
subduction-related deposits, and mineralization
related to the early stages of rifting
 Cont…
• Granite bodies commonly are emplaced during
and after a collisional event
• Associated with these granites are tin-tungsten
deposits of cassiterite and wolframite and, in
some cases, vein-type deposits of uranium
• This mineralization, like the granites, may be
derived from the partial melting of the lower
continental crust
 Cont…
• The Paleozoic Lachlan Orogen of southeast
Australia illustrates the types of base and
precious metals that form and are preserved in
long-lived accretionary orogens
• Major porphyry copper-gold deposits formed
in an oceanic island arc located offshore of the
Pacific margin of Gondwana
 Cont…
• Copper-gold and lead-zinc deposits formed in
short-lived intra-arc basins, while
volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits were
produced in fore-arc regions
• Gold-rich deposits can form during any stage
of orogenic evolution
 Cont…
• Oceanic transform faults are favorable
environments for mineralization because they may
be associated with high heat flow and provide
highly fractured and permeable conduits for both
the downward percolation of seawater and the
upward migration of mineralizing fluids
• The brine pools of the Red Sea appear to be located
where transform faults intersect the central ridge,
and it is possible that the metals ascend along these
faults
 Cont…
• For mineralization in the Archean cratons,
analogies with the plate tectonic settings of some
Phanerozoic deposits are possible
• For example, many Archean greenstone belts host
volcanogenic massive sulfides (Kuroko-type),
copper-zinc-lead sulfides, and gold deposits that
also occur throughout the Phanerozoic record
• However, many aspects of Archean
metallogenesis require further investigation
 Cont…
• Porphyry coppers, which typically have a clear
association with subduction zone
environments, are extremely rare in the
Archean, except for a few controversial
examples
• In addition, nickel-sulfide deposits hosted by
komatiites in Archean greenstone belts have
no modern analogues
 Cont…
• Some studies have suggested that fluid
circulation in the Archean occurred at a larger
scale than during other times in Earth’s history,
which would have influenced the formation of
hydrothermal ore deposits
• These features may reflect fundamentally
different tectonic and/or crustal processes
operating during the Archean compared to
Phanerozoic times
 Cont…
• Banded iron formations (BIFs) are common in
Archean cratons, although they also occur in
rocks as young as Devonian
• These rocks contain magnetite, hematite,
pyrite, siderite, and other iron-rich silicates
• The development of BIFs on a global scale
during Late Archean and Early Proterozoic
times also may reflect a period of enhanced
mantle plume activity
 Cont…
• Proterozoic mineral deposits are widely
interpreted as forming in plate tectonic
environments, particularly those related to
divergent plate margins and subduction zones
• Possible exceptions to this approach may
include massif-type anorthosite complexes,
which are associated with iron-titanium
deposits of magnetite and ilmenite
 Cont…
• These magma-hosted ore deposits may have
originated during episodes of lower crustal
melting
• Such magmatism have been related to the
break-up of supercontinents, to zones of
continental rifting, and to mantle plumes
 Cont…
• Magma-hosted deposit includes diamonds that
occur in kimberlite pipes
• Kimberlites consist of small potassic,
ultramafic intrusions that originate from the
mantle
• There is good evidence that the majority of
kimberlites were generated during times of
enhanced hot spot or mantle plume activity
 Deposits of sedimentary basins
• The majority of fossil fuels are found within
sedimentary basins whose formation can be
related directly or indirectly to plate motions
• The preservation of kerogens requires
conditions which are not oxidizing
• These are achieved along continental slopes
where the production of organic matter exceeds
the availability of free oxygen to convert them
to carbon dioxide, and in closed anoxic basins
 Cont…
• The temperature experienced by the kerogens
after burial is critical, and depends on the local
geothermal gradient
• Temperatures of 70–85°C are required to
develop liquids and 150–175°C for dry gas
• It is also important that a critical exposure time
to these temperatures is exceeded, so the basin
must be free from tectonism and uplift during
this period
 Cont…
• Plate tectonics controls the locations of
reservoirs in that it is responsible for the
formation and preservation of the sedimentary
basins in which hydrocarbons are generated
and trapped
 Cont…
1. Intracratonic basins formed by hotspot
activity, Paris and Michigan basins;
2. Basins associated with continental rifting, e.g.
the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea;
3. Aulacogens, e.g. the North Sea;
4. Passive continental margin basins, e.g. the
Gabon Basin;
 Cont…
5. Ensialic back-arc basins, e.g. the Oriente
Basin of Ecuador and Peru;
6. Marginal seas, e.g. the Andaman Sea;
7. Accretionary prisms, e.g. the coastal oil fields
of Ecuador and Peru;
8. Fore-arc basins, e.g. the Cook Inlet of
southern Alaska;
 Cont…
9. Pull-apart basins associated with strike-slip
faults, e.g. the Los Angeles Basin, western
USA;
10. Foreland basins of orogens, e.g. the
Aquitaine Basin, southwest France,
11. Tensional basins associated with indentation
tectonics, e.g. southern Asia and Tibet.
 Cont…
• The process of coalification refers to the
physical and chemical changes experienced by
the organic matter after burial in response to
rising temperature and pressure
• Plate tectonics affects coal formation in that it
controls the latitude of a region
• Creates the environments necessary for the
preservation of organic matter e.g. passive
continental margins
 Cont…
• Deltas formed on such margins produce the most
favorable conditions for coal formation, and
swamps can develop on a regional scale
• The tectonism associated with collisional orogens
provides an environment whereby coals increase
in grade by high-pressure metamorphism
• The prime conditions for coal formation are those
of fl at, low-lying ground invaded by swamps
with stagnant water
 Deposits related to Climate
• Since climate is largely dependent upon latitude,
north–south plate motion can be considered as
controlling the formation of such deposits
• The most important lateritic deposit is nickel
laterite, which results from the extreme weathering
of the ultramafic parts of ophiolite bodies under
tropical conditions
• Bauxite, a residual deposit enriched in aluminum
hydroxide, which provides the vast majority of the
world’s aluminum
 Cont…
• This forms by the in situ weathering of
aluminosilicate minerals on stable peneplaned
topography in a wet tropical climate by the
intense leaching of alkalis and silica
• Bauxite only forms within 30° of the equator
and requires high rainfall and high ambient
temperatures
 Cont…
• Evaporites form in an arid climate by the
evaporation of seawater in semi-isolated
basins which receive periodic marine influxes
• The sequence of minerals precipitated is
calcium carbonate and sulfate, sodium
chloride, and finally magnesium or potassium
minerals
 Geothermal power
• Geothermal energy can be effectively utilized
for power generation when the vertical thermal
gradient is several times its mean value of
about 25°C km, producing near-surface
temperatures above 180°C.
• This condition is achieved at constructive and
destructive plate margins, as exemplified by
the geothermal power plants in Iceland and the
North Island of New Zealand, respectively.
 Cont…
• Anomalously high geothermal gradients are also present
in intra-plate areas where they are frequently associated
with granitic plutons.
• The normal geothermal gradient can be utilized for lower
energy power generation, such as for space heating,
wherever a thick pile of permeable sediments allows the
circulation of fluids to depths of several kilometers.
• An example of this type is the Paris Basin, where space
heating for over 20,000 dwellings is provided by deep
fluid circulation.
 Natural Hazards
• The most obvious natural hazards resulting from
tectonic activity are earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions
• triggering major slides or slumps from steep slopes
at the continental shelf edge or on volcanic islands
• The largest tidal waves, or tsunamis, are caused by
earthquakes on faults that displace the ocean floor,
typically in the vicinity of ocean trenches and
associated with subduction of ocean floor
 Cont…
• Earthquakes are most common on or in the
vicinity of plate boundaries and in the other
zones of deformation
• Earthquakes also occur in plate interiors, away
from the main earthquake areas, as a result of
the stresses and strains set up within plates by
plate driving forces
 Cont…
• Without such processes the Earth would not be
such a distinctive planet, not only in terms of
its surface features and the concentration of
energy and mineral resources at and near its
surface, but also, in all probability, in terms of
the origin and evolution of life
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