Porphyry Cu systems host some of the most widely distributed mineralization types at convergent plate boundaries, including porphyry deposits centered on intrusions; skarn, carbonate-replacement, and sediment-hosted Au deposits in increasingly peripheral locations; and superjacent high- and intermediate-sulfidation epithermal deposits. The systems commonly define linear belts, some many hundreds of kilometers long, as well as occurring less commonly in apparent isolation. The systems are closely related to underlying composite plutons, at paleodepths of 5 to 15 km, which represent the supply chambers for the magmas and fluids that formed the vertically elongate (>3 km) stocks or dike swarms and associated mineralization. The plutons may erupt volcanic rocks, but generally prior to initiation of the systems. Commonly, several discrete stocks are emplaced in and above the pluton roof zones, resulting in either clusters or structurally controlled alignments of porphyry Cu systems. The rheology and composition of the host rocks may strongly influence the size, grade, and type of mineralization generated in porphyry Cu systems. Individual systems have life spans of ~100,000 to several million years, whereas deposit clusters or alignments as well as entire belts may remain active for 10 m.y. or longer.

The alteration and mineralization in porphyry Cu systems, occupying many cubic kilometers of rock, are zoned outward from the stocks or dike swarms, which typically comprise several generations of intermediate to felsic porphyry intrusions. Porphyry Cu ± Au ± Mo deposits are centered on the intrusions, whereas carbonate wall rocks commonly host proximal Cu-Au skarns, less common distal Zn-Pb and/or Au skarns, and, beyond the skarn front, carbonate-replacement Cu and/or Zn-Pb-Ag ± Au deposits, and/or sediment-hosted (distal-disseminated) Au deposits. Peripheral mineralization is less conspicuous in noncarbonate wall rocks but may include base metal- or Au-bearing veins and mantos. High-sulfidation epithermal deposits may occur in lithocaps above porphyry Cu deposits, where massive sulfide lodes tend to develop in deeper feeder structures and Au ± Ag-rich, disseminated deposits within the uppermost 500 m or so. Less commonly, intermediate-sulfidation epithermal mineralization, chiefly veins, may develop on the peripheries of the lithocaps. The alteration-mineralization in the porphyry Cu deposits is zoned upward from barren, early sodic-calcic through potentially ore-grade potassic, chlorite-sericite, and sericitic, to advanced argillic, the last of these constituting the lithocaps, which may attain >1 km in thickness if unaffected by significant erosion. Low sulfidation-state chalcopyrite ± bornite assemblages are characteristic of potassic zones, whereas higher sulfidation-state sulfides are generated progressively upward in concert with temperature decline and the concomitant greater degrees of hydrolytic alteration, culminating in pyrite ± enargite ± covellite in the shallow parts of the litho-caps. The porphyry Cu mineralization occurs in a distinctive sequence of quartz-bearing veinlets as well as in disseminated form in the altered rock between them. Magmatic-hydrothermal breccias may form during porphyry intrusion, with some of them containing high-grade mineralization because of their intrinsic permeability. In contrast, most phreatomagmatic breccias, constituting maar-diatreme systems, are poorly mineralized at both the porphyry Cu and lithocap levels, mainly because many of them formed late in the evolution of systems.

Porphyry Cu systems are initiated by injection of oxidized magma saturated with S- and metal-rich, aqueous fluids from cupolas on the tops of the subjacent parental plutons. The sequence of alteration-mineralization events charted above is principally a consequence of progressive rock and fluid cooling, from >700° to <250°C, caused by solidification of the underlying parental plutons and downward propagation of the lithostatic-hydrostatic transition. Once the plutonic magmas stagnate, the high-temperature, generally two-phase hyper-saline liquid and vapor responsible for the potassic alteration and contained mineralization at depth and early overlying advanced argillic alteration, respectively, gives way, at <350°C, to a single-phase, low- to moderate-salinity liquid that causes the sericite-chlorite and sericitic alteration and associated mineralization. This same liquid also causes mineralization of the peripheral parts of systems, including the overlying lithocaps. The progressive thermal decline of the systems combined with synmineral paleosurface degradation results in the characteristic overprinting (telescoping) and partial to total reconstitution of older by younger alteration-mineralization types. Meteoric water is not required for formation of this alteration-mineralization sequence although its late ingress is commonplace.

Many features of porphyry Cu systems at all scales need to be taken into account during planning and execution of base and precious metal exploration programs in magmatic arc settings. At the regional and district scales, the occurrence of many deposits in belts, within which clusters and alignments are prominent, is a powerful exploration concept once one or more systems are known. At the deposit scale, particularly in the porphyry Cu environment, early-formed features commonly, but by no means always, give rise to the best ore-bodies. Late-stage alteration overprints may cause partial depletion or complete removal of Cu and Au, but metal concentration may also result. Recognition of single ore deposit types, whether economic or not, in porphyry Cu systems may be directly employed in combination with alteration and metal zoning concepts to search for other related deposit types, although not all those permitted by the model are likely to be present in most systems. Erosion level is a cogent control on the deposit types that may be preserved and, by the same token, on those that may be anticipated at depth. The most distal deposit types at all levels of the systems tend to be visually the most subtle, which may result in their being missed due to overshadowing by more prominent alteration-mineralization.

Porphyry Copper Systems

This work focuses on a rigorous analysis of the physical–chemical, compositional and textural relationships of amphibole stability and the development of new thermobarometric formulations for amphibole-bearing calc-alkaline products of subduction-related systems Literature experimental results (550–1,120°C, 021) and are inferred to represent xenocrysts of crustal or mantle materials Most experimental results on calc-alkaline suites have been found to be unsuitable for using in thermobarometric calibrations due to the high Al# (>021) of amphiboles and high Al2O3/SiO2 ratios of the coexisting melts The pre-eruptive crystallization of consistent amphiboles is confined to relatively narrow physical–chemical ranges, next to their dehydration curves The widespread occurrence of amphiboles with dehydration (breakdown) rims made of anhydrous phases and/or glass, related to sub-volcanic processes such as magma mixing and/or slow ascent during extrusion, confirms that crystal destabilization occurs with relatively low T–P shifts At the stability curves, the variance of the system decreases so that amphibole composition and physical–chemical conditions are strictly linked to each other This allowed us to retrieve some empirical thermobarometric formulations which work independently with different compositional components (ie Si*, AlT, Mg*, [6]Al*) of a single phase (amphibole), and are therefore easily applicable to all types of calc-alkaline volcanic products (including hybrid andesites) The Si*-sensitive thermometer and the fO2–Mg* equation account for accuracies of ±22°C (σest) and 04 log units (maximum error), respectively The uncertainties of the AlT-sensitive barometer increase with pressure and decrease with temperature Near the P–T stability curve, the error is 35%) and lower-T magmas, the uncertainty increases up to 24%, consistent with depth uncertainties of 04 km, at 90 MPa (~34 km), and 79 km, at 800 MPa (~30 km), respectively For magnesiohornblendes, the [6]Al*-sensitive hygrometer has an accuracy of 04 wt% (σest) whereas for magnesiohastingsite and tschermakitic pargasite species, H2Omelt uncertainties can be as high as 15% relative The thermobarometric results obtained with the application of these equations to calc-alkaline amphibole-bearing products were finally, and successfully, crosschecked on several subduction-related volcanoes, through complementary methodologies such as pre-eruptive seismicity (volcano-tectonic earthquake locations and frequency), seismic tomography, Fe–Ti oxides, amphibole–plagioclase, plagioclase–liquid equilibria thermobarometry and melt inclusion studies A user-friendly spreadsheet (ie AMP-TBxls) to calculate the physical–chemical conditions of amphibole crystallization is also provided

Stability and chemical equilibrium of amphibole in calc-alkaline magmas: an overview, new thermobarometric formulations and application to subduction-related volcanoes

Volcanic and structural evolution of Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand: a review

The ascent and emplacement of basaltic magma on the earth and moon is modeled by the application of geological and physical observations and constraints. Relatively simple mathematical models of the motion of gas/liquid mixtures are shown to be adequate in the treatment of basaltic eruptions, provided that allowance is made for the coalescence of gas bubbles and that realistic geological and petrochemical constraints are applied to the numerical values of variables. Because gas exsolution from magmas on the earth and moon commonly occur at depths of less than 2 km, it is generally convenient to consider separately the rise of bubble-free magmatic liquid at depth in a planetary crust and the more complex motions occurring near the surface with gas exsolution.

http://www.planetary.brown.edu/pdfs/262.pdf

Ascent and eruption of basaltic magma on the earth and moon

https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/4616/Tephrochronology%20and%20its%20application.pdf;sequence=2

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

The Taupo volcanic zone (TVZ) has been active since 2 Ma and has erupted >104 km3 of dominantly rhyolitic magma during the last 1 m.y. Most of the volcanism is concentrated in a 125×60 km area forming the central TVZ and is expressed largely as six major caldera volcanoes, Rotorua, Okataina, Kapenga, Mangakino, Maroa, and Taupo, marked by localized collapse of the underlying basement and clustering of known or inferred vent sites. These centers have activity spans from 150 to 600 ka and have each erupted at least 300 to 1000 km3 of magma. All centers except Rotorua are known or inferred to have had complex histories of multiple caldera collapse, which have occurred alongside general basement collapse within the TVZ accompanying regional extension. Deep-seated NE trending basement lineations and/or faults have influenced vent sites at Okataina, Maroa, and Taupo. Welded ignimbrites are prominent in the pre-140 ka record; their absence since then is attributed to the effects of surface water on eruption styles rather than to a change in eruptive behavior. Volcanism from the centers has been overwhelmingly rhyolitic (>97% SiO2 69–77 wt%) with minor high-A1 basalt and dacite and traces of andesite, mostly as lithic fragments in ignimbrites from Okataina and Mangakino. Although insignificant in volume, the basalt is important as a low-Si end-member in mixing relationships with the rhyolite (at one extreme generating the dacites) and occasionally as a trigger for the rhyolitic eruptions. The current average rhyolite magma eruption rate from the central TVZ is ∼0.27 m3 s−1, equally divided between Okataina and Taupo, a figure close to the long-term average for the last 1.1 Ma. However, geothermal heat flow data imply that a further 1.4–1.8 m3 s−1 of magma may be intruded within the crust. The ratio of inferred intruded material to erupted material is higher at centers where lava extrusions are volumetrically significant (Okataina, Maroa), and this is correlated with lower phenocryst equilibration temperatures in the eruptives. Evidence for resurgent doming and long-term (>105 years) magma cycles documented at similarly sized rhyolitic calderas in the western United States is absent from the TVZ centers; this is attributed to the young faulted crust of the region, preventing the formation of sufficiently large high-level magma chambers. In overall terms, the central TVZ is comparable in size and longevity to the Yellowstone system, but its individual eruptions have very much shorter recurrence intervals and smaller volumes.

Caldera Volcanoes of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Trends in rhyolite geochemistry, mineralogy, and magma storage during the last 50 kyr at Okataina and Taupo volcanic centres, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Application of a newly developed theory to volcanological observations of explosive eruptions shows that previous estimates of pre-explosion gas pressures may be overestimated by an order of magnitude.

/pdf/vulcanian-eruption-mechanisms-3s9hn5yghz.pdf

Ian A. Nairn

Papers

Caldera Volcanoes of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Trends in rhyolite geochemistry, mineralogy, and magma storage during the last 50 kyr at Okataina and Taupo volcanic centres, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand

Vulcanian eruption mechanisms

Basalt triggering of the c. AD 1305 Kaharoa rhyolite eruption, Tarawera Volcanic Complex, New Zealand

Rhyolite magma processes of the ∼AD 1315 Kaharoa eruption episode, Tarawera volcano, New Zealand