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Metal provinces and metal finding in the western United States

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Abstract

The metal provinces are believed to outline a primitive or precrustal heterogeneity of metal distribution in the upper mantle, and the well established space and time relationship between ores and intrusive bodies is a structural rather than a genetic control. The distribution of the metal deposits of the western United States in space and time is governed by some as yet unknown deep-seated source of heat; it cannot, however, be related to current theories of ‘the new global tectonics’. Although we lack a full understanding of the processes of ore deposition, we can use the assembled data in an empirical way to guide exploration. This is outlined for the porphyry copper deposits of the southern Arizona Copper Quadrilateral. Most of the deposits are of Laramide age; one is Jurassic. Post-Laramide deformations, mainly Basin and Range orogeny, removed part of the deposits and buried the others; these are now being found where they are emerging at the eroding edges of the basins as the basin fill is being removed by erosion.

Zusammenfassung

Es wird angenommen, daß Metallprovinzen eine primitive oder vor der Bildung der Erdkruste bestehende Ungleichmäßigkeit der Metallverteilung im oberen Mantel abzeichnen und daß die deutliche Zeit- und Raumabhängigkeit zwischen Erzen und Intrusivgesteinskörpern weniger genetisch als vielmehr strukturell bedingt ist. Die Verteilung der Erzlagerstätten der westlichen Vereinigten Staaten auf Zeit und Raum wird durch einige noch ungeklärte, tiefgehende Wärmequellen verursacht. Sie kann jedoch nicht in Beziehung zu den modernen Theorien der „Neuen globalen Tektonik“ gesetzt werden. Obwohl uns noch die volle Kenntnis der Bildungsprozesse von Erzlagerstätten fehlt, können wir die vorliegenden Daten empirisch als Hilfsmittel für die Exploration verwenden. Dies wird am Beispiel der porphyrischen Kupfererze des Kupfervierecks im südlichen Arizona gezeigt. Die meisten der Lagerstätten haben dort laramisches Alter; eine ist jurassisch. Nachlaramische Verstellungen, insbesondere im Zusammenhang mit „Basin and Range“-Bildungen, bewirkten die Abtragung eines Teils der Lagerstätten und die Überdeckung des anderen Teils. Diese wird nun dort gefunden, wo die Erosion an den Becken den Untergrund freigibt.

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  1. Pasadena, California, U.S.A.

    J. A. Noble

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Noble, J.A. Metal provinces and metal finding in the western United States. Mineral. Deposita 9, 1–25 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00203274

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