Most of the gold deposits associated with volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire region originate from the Earth’s mantle. But until now, the mechanism that brings gold to the surface has been controversial among scientists. Using numerical modeling, researchers found that a unique complex of gold and sulfur is formed under precisely defined pressure and temperature conditions at a depth of up to 80 km under active volcanoes.
According to study co-author Professor Adam Simon, it is this complex that explains the high gold concentrations in some mineral systems in subduction zones, where one tectonic plate sinks beneath another. The study results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Subduction zones, such as the areas around the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand and Indonesia to Alaska and Chile, are home to many active volcanoes. The same processes that lead to volcanic eruptions also create gold-rich deposits. Scientists have discovered that when a liquid containing sulfur ions is added, gold begins to actively bind to them, forming a mobile gold complex.
Source: Ferra
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