Geochemistry and ore deposits

The working group Geochemistry and ore deposits focuses on the fundamentals of element enrichment and depletion upon fluid transport and fluid-rock interaction in the Earth’s crust. Fluids play a critical role in many mineral reactions, deformation processes, heat and mass transfer that contribute to the evolution and modification of the Earth’s crust. Deep-sourced fluids released from magmatic bodies, the mantle or formed upon devolatilization reactions deep in the Earth’s crust are often composed of mixtures of CO₂ and H₂O but may carry significant amounts of other chemical components (e.g., S, Cl). Upon ascent to shallow reservoirs in the crust, these fluids mobilize elements from the host rock causing major elemental mass movement in the fluid-altered crust. Large amounts of fluids may be mobilized in seafloor and continental magmatic hydrothermal systems leading to extensive alteration and (critical) element enrichment of the crust.