Platinum-bearing chromite layers are caused by pressure reduction during magma ascent

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dc.contributor.authorLatypov, Rais
dc.contributor.authorCostin, Gelu
dc.contributor.authorChistyakova, Sofya
dc.contributor.authorHunt, Emma J.
dc.contributor.authorMukherjee, Ria
dc.contributor.authorNaldrett, Tony
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-23T08:56:41Z
dc.date.available2024-09-23T08:56:41Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description.abstractPlatinum-bearing chromitites in mafic-ultramafic intrusions such as the Bushveld Complex are key repositories of strategically important metals for human society. Basaltic melts saturated in chromite alone are crucial to their generation, but the origin of such melts is controversial. One concept holds that they are produced by processes operating within the magma chamber, whereas another argues that melts entering the chamber were already saturated in chromite. Here we address the problem by examining the pressure-related changes in the topology of a Mg2SiO4–CaAl2Si2O8–SiO2–MgCr2O4 quaternary system and by thermodynamic modelling of crystallisation sequences of basaltic melts at 1–10 kbar pressures. We show that basaltic melts located adjacent to a so-called chromite topological trough in deep-seated reservoirs become saturated in chromite alone upon their ascent towards the Earth’s surface and subsequent cooling in shallow-level chambers. Large volumes of these chromite-only-saturated melts replenishing these chambers are responsible for monomineralic layers of massive chromitites with associated platinum-group elements.
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Research Foundation of South Africa.
dc.description.submitterPM2024
dc.facultyFaculty of Science
dc.identifier0000-0002-8158-5949
dc.identifier.issn2041-1723 (online)
dc.identifier.other1038/s41467-017-02773-w
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/41044
dc.journal.titleNature communications
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNature Research
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access, This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
dc.schoolSchool of Geosciences
dc.subjectMagma ascent
dc.subjectPlatinum-bearing chromitites
dc.subjectChromite
dc.subjectMetals
dc.subject.otherSDG-17: Partnerships for the goals
dc.titlePlatinum-bearing chromite layers are caused by pressure reduction during magma ascent
dc.typeArticle
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