CWEDG Technical Session July 2024

Australian Institute of Geoscientists > Events > CWEDG Technical Session July 2024

CWEDG Technical Session July 2024


CWEDG Technical Meeting

THURSDAY 25 July 2024
6:00pm for 6:30pm
Hart Bar, upstairs at the Railway Hotel
3 Caledonia Street, Parkes. 6pm for 6.30pm

Slab Tearing as a Driver of Anomalous Volcanism and Porphyry Ore Deposit Formation in Island Arcs

The discovery of porphyry ore deposits, which host ~69% of discovered Cu, is vital to address the rapidly rising demand for
Cu. On a global scale, porphyry ore deposits are largest and most abundant in mature continental arcs, where intra-
crustal garnet fractionation may produce oxidised melts suitable for metal enrichment during fluid saturation in the upper
crust. Despite the apparent concentration of porphyry systems in continental arcs, porphyry ore deposits have been
discovered in island arcs, where the crust is too thin to fractionate garnet. In many cases, these deposits reach ‘giant’
sizes and are associated with volcanoes that display geochemical or spatial characteristics inconsistent with formation
via ‘typical’metasomatic melting of the mantle wedge. Here, I use geophysical and geochemical data to explore the role of
slab tearing in generatingPliocene–Holocene porphyry ore deposits and ‘anomalous’ Holocene volcanoes in Indonesia. I
also discuss preliminary work that investigates the possible contribution of slab tearing to porphyry metallogenesis
in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

See you at Parkes for a fascinating investigation of how and where porphyry mineralisation forms.

Join us for the meeting, drinks, nibbles and dinner. For more information: cwedg@aig.org.au


Speaker:

Jack Ward
PhD Student, University of Queensland

Jack is a PhD student at The University of Queensland. In his PhD research, he integrates geophysical and geochemical
data to investigate the role of complex subduction processes (such as slab tearing and the interaction of slabs with
the mantle transition zone) in generating porphyry Cu deposits and ‘anomalous’ volcanoes. Jack has published his
research in high-impact journals, and he is especially interested in continuing to explore how slab tearing may
contribute to the formation of island arc porphyry systems in his future work.


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Supported by:

  • Date

    Thursday
    25 July 2024

  • Time

    6:00PM for 6:30PM

  • Venue

    Hart Bar, upstairs at the Railway Hotel
    3 Caledonia Street, Parkes. 6pm for 6.30pm