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Geochemical migration of impurity trace elements and resultant fractal distribution patterns in source rocks

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Abstract

The migration of trace elements from the inner part of solid cells to the weaknesses is the bottleneck in the migration of these elements from their initial positions in the source rock to the final deposition site in ore bodies. Diffusion may play a key role in the reactivation of trace elements. The overall migration pattern of trace elements in source rocks is a fractal structure. There are two general tendencies for trace elements to migrate. One is from within solid cells toward sinks, and the other is from high temperature fields toward low temperature ones. High temperature enhances these two tendencies. Conjugate geochemical anomalies are the inevitable result of a closed geochemical system.

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Zhou, Y., Chown, E.H., Tu, G. et al. Geochemical migration of impurity trace elements and resultant fractal distribution patterns in source rocks. Math Geol 26, 419–435 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02083487

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