A Review on Mineralogical and Geochemical Characteristics of Seafloor Massive Sulfide Deposits in Mid-Ocean Ridge and Volcanic Arc Settings: Water-Rock Interaction and Magmatic Contribution

Abstract

The seafloor massive sulfide deposits are important mineral resources for base and precious metals, and their ore genesis and metal contents are mainly controlled by wall-rock leaching process and/or magmatic volatile input from the underlying magma chamber. However, the contribution of two different metal sources to the seafloor hydrothermal mineralization significantly varies in diverse geological settings and thus still remains controversial. In this review, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of SMS deposits from mid-ocean ridges (MORs) and volcanic arcs were investigated to understand the contribution from different metal sources and to suggest future challenges that need to be addressed. As a result, the genetic occurrences of enargite and cubanite, galena and barite indicate the effects of magmatic input and water-rock interaction, respectively. Also, the distributional behaviors of Co, As, and Hg in pyrite and FeS content of sphalerite could be useful empirical indicators to discriminate the significant roles of different metal sources between MOR and Arc settings. To date, as most studies have focused on sulfide samples recovered from the seabed, further studies on magmatic sulfides and sulfate minerals are required to fully understand the genetic history of SMS deposits.

Mineralogical and Geochemical Studies on the Daum Vent Field, Central Indian Ridge

“…특히, 중앙해령에 배태되는 해저열수광상의 경우 확장 속도에 따른 지구조적 특성 차이로 순환 유체와 반응하 는 주요 기질의 조성, 마그마 챔버의 정치 심도, 열수 진 화의 지속성 등열수계 발달과 관련된 주요 인자들의 다 양한 기여로 각각 현무암 시스템과 초염기성암 시스템으 로 대분된다 (Hannington et al, 2005;Choi, 2022). 후자 의 경우 비대칭성 느린 확장의 영향으로 해양지각 심부 (~13 km)로 연장되는 대규모 정단층(분리단층, detachment fault)이 형성되어 현무암 시스템과는 확연히 구분되는 열 수계를 구축한다 (Escartín et al, 2008;Fouquet et al, 2010;Tao et al, 2020).…”