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The PGE-Cu-Ni Norilsk Deposits and Siberian Traps: Genetic Relationships

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Advances in Geochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, and Planetary Sciences

Abstract

The origin of the Norilsk deposits has been discussed for several decades. Modern hypotheses of ore origin suggest their formation within either closed or open magmatic systems. In both models, a composition of the parental magmas, relationships between ore-bearing intrusions and volcanic rocks, and the assimilation of host rocks are crucial. Our study demonstrates that parental magmas of the Norilsk deposits were close to typical intraplate tholeiitic basalts with elevated concentrations of MgO (9 wt.%), reduced TiO2 (0.9 wt.%), and low concentrations of volatile components (0.4–1.0 wt.% H2O, up to 0.2 wt.% Cl, 300–320 ppm F). Intrusions of the Norilsk complex were not directly connected with lavas. On the basis of the rock compositions for several massifs of the Norilsk complex, located within different host rocks (terrigenous, carbonate, volcanic) and containing varying volumes of ores (from unique to small deposits), the absence of assimilation of the surrounding rock was fixed. Consequently, the previously proposed mechanisms of metal concentration are not confirmed by the geological data. It was shown that the tectonic position of the Norilsk deposits within the Norilsk-Igarka paleorift zone in the Siberian traps province is critical for their origin: sulfides accumulated in this block of the crust during several magmatic events and were transported by trap magmas to the modern intrusive chambers.

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Acknowledgements

Author thanks geologists of the Ltd. Norilskgeology V. V. Kurgin, V. N. Mikhailov, I. A. Matveev, K. V. Shishaev, V. A. Teteryuk, Yu. B. Burmistrov, V. Yu.  Van-Chan, L. I. Trofimova, I. N. Tushentsova, V. A. Rad’ko, G. I. Legezin, T. A. Taraskina, E. V. Kovaleva and many other people for their assistance in the field trips. This work was largely realized due to the help of Ya. V. Bychkova, B. V. Belyatsky, A. A. Ariskin, I. V. Kubrakova, O. A. Tutunnik, D. V. Kuzmin, V. A. Turkov, A. A. Konyshev, S. P. Krasheninnikov. My special thanks to B. I. Gongalsky and N. M. Svirskaya who helped in this work for all the years. Invaluable assistance was provided by A. V. Sobolev, who supported these studies for many years and provided an opportunity to conduct analytical research in the laboratories of Max-Plank Institute of Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) as part of the Wolfgang Paul Project. This work was financially supported by Russian Science Foundation (Project 22-27-00387).

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Krivolutskaya, N.A. (2023). The PGE-Cu-Ni Norilsk Deposits and Siberian Traps: Genetic Relationships. In: Kolotov, V.P., Bezaeva, N.S. (eds) Advances in Geochemistry, Analytical Chemistry, and Planetary Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09883-3_2

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