Skip to main content

Geodynamic controls on giant metallogenic provinces: Insights from gold provinces in southeast Australia

  • Conference paper
Mineral Deposit Research: Meeting the Global Challenge

Abstract

The geodynamic processes that control large-scale accumulations of ore are poorly understood. It has commonly been suggested that massive ore deposits are generated through a combination of factors in the Earth’s system. In the Lachlan Fold Belt of southeastern Australia, world-class orogenic gold and porphyry gold-copper deposits formed simultaneously at_~440 Ma in distinct tectonic settings. The driving mechanism that controlled the extraordinary temporal coincidence of these deposits remains largely unexplained. We propose that the interplay of a mega-subduction system and mantle processes could explain the generation of the giant_~440 Ma gold deposits and related metallogenic, tectonic, magmatic and sedimentary events elsewhere in Australia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 259.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 329.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Barley ME, Krapez B, Groves DI, Kerrich R (1998) The late Archaean bonanza; metallogenic and environmental consequences of the interaction between mantle plumes, lithospheric tectonics and global cyclicity. In: Percival JA, Ludden JN (eds), Earth’s evolution through the precambrian, Montreal, Canada: 65–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Basden H (1998) Geology of New South Wales; Synthesis 2, Geological evolution, 666

    Google Scholar 

  • Bierlein FP, Arne DC, Foster DA, Reynolds P (2001) A geochronological framework for orogenic gold mineralisation in central Victoria, Australia. Mineralium Deposita 36: 741–767

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bierlein FP, Gray DR, Foster DA (2002) Metallogenic relationships to tectonic evolution; the Lachlan Orogen, Australia. Earth Planet Sci Lett 202: 1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins WJ (2003) Slab pull, mantle convection, and Pangaean assembly and dispersal. Earth Planet Sci Lett 205: 225–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Boorder H, Spakman W, White SH, Wortel MIR (1998) Late Cenozoic mineralization, orogenic collapse and slab detachment in the European Alpine Belt. Earth Planet Sci Lett 164: 569–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elburg MA, Bons PD, Foden J, Brugger J (2003) A newly defined Late Ordovician magmatic-thermal event in the Mt. Painter Province, northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Aust Jour Earth Sci 50: 611–631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewers G, Evans N, Hazell M, Kilgour B (2002) OZMIN mineral deposits database. Geoscience Australia (web)

    Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson CL, Phillips D (2001) 40 Ar/39 Ar and K-Ar age constraints on the timing of regional deformation, south coast of New South Wales, Lachlan Fold Belt: problems and implications. Aust Jour Earth Science 48: 395–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster DA, Gray DR (2000) Evolution and structure of the Lachlan Fold Belt (Orogen) of Eastern Australia. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci 28: 47–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster DA, Gray DR, Kwak TAP, Bucher M (1998) Chronology and tectonic framework of turbidite-hosted gold deposits in the Western Lachlan fold Belt, Victoria: 40Ar-39Ar results. One Geol Rev 13: 229–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glen RA, Walshe JL, Barron LM, Watkins JJ (1998) Ordovician convergent-margin volcanism and tectonism in the Lachlan sector of east Gondwana. Geology 26: 751–754

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Vos, I.M.A., Bierlein, F.P., Heithersay, P.S., Lister, G.S. (2005). Geodynamic controls on giant metallogenic provinces: Insights from gold provinces in southeast Australia. In: Mao, J., Bierlein, F.P. (eds) Mineral Deposit Research: Meeting the Global Challenge. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27946-6_16

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics