Geologists discovered new places to look for essential minerals like The secret was in cratons: the stable, inner parts of continents.
In a study, the results of which were published last week in Naturegeologists have discovered new (and surprising) places to look for the rare earth elements.
According to the researchers, it is likely that critical metals are found in limits of the ancient cores of the continents.
As detailed by , the investigation focused on the behavior of “cratons”: the stable, interior parts of continents.
“These cores are the thickest, bowl-shaped parts of tectonic plates. The melts that form below their centers flow upwards and outwards towards the edges, so that volcanic activity is common at their edges”, explained, to the same magazine, the main author of the study, Chunfei Chenfrom the China University of Geosciences, in China.
In turn, Stephen Foleyone of the study’s authors, Macquarie University, in Australia, told Cosmos that his previous work had already found links between critical minerals and craton edges: “But there was still no explanation.”
The molten rocks beneath the cratons are poor in silicate minerals, but rich in carbonate mineralsat depths of 200-250 km, mainly, “if carbon and water are present”, explained Foley.
The geologist had already demonstrated that these carbonate melts could transport other minerals, including Sulfide-based metals and minerals.
In the new study, we examine how these melts change composition as they flow up and around cratons.
“By doing several experiments at different temperatures and pressures, the team was able to see that a fusion that started as an intermediate between silicate and carbonate changes to carbonate as it migrates through the mantle“, Foley said.
“Melting is also promoted by a decrease in pressure, which means that melts are most common at the edges of cratons“, they concluded.
Foley says carbonate-rich rocks are generally considered bad places to find critical minerals, so there has been little exploration in this area. However, this new study could change the paradigm.
“The new research not only offers a new training mechanism, but also suggests completely new prospecting areas“, he told Cosmos.
