Description:
In two sub-projects we investigate the roles of felsic magmas and related hydrothermal fluids in metals transport and ore formation in different depth levels of the crust in NW Argentina.
Subproject G-4.1 is concerned with rare metal-bearing pegmatites and hydrothermal veins in granite plutons (mid-crustal level) of the Sierra de San Luis. Case studies of two contrasting ore associations (Nb-REE vs. Ta-Li) are being studied to understand what controls the different element specialization.
In Subproject G-4.2 we study the role of magmas vs. hydrothermal fluids in metal transport and metallogenesis in the Cenozoic arc and back-arc volcanic province of the Central Andes, (upper crustal level). We hypothesize that the different metal associations are controlled by different magma compositions, which depend on source characteristics in addition to the conditions of magma genesis and differentiation, especially oxygen fugacity and volatile contents.
