Understanding trace element sourcing in ancient and modern seafloor volcanogenic massive sulfides

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Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits contain some of Canada's most significant sources of copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver, and are thought to have formed within submarine volcanoes similar to those presently forming on the modern seafloor. This proposed research will examine deposits hosted within ancient seafloor volcanic rocks and will investigate mineral and chemical changes associated with the interaction of hot metal-rich fluids with seawater, sedimentary and volcanic rocks.  This research will focus on the origin, formation and setting of these submarine sedimentary and volcanic rocks.  By improving our understanding of VMS deposits and their associated rocks, I will be able to provide predictive methods for the discovery, exploration, and exploitation of these important metal resources.This research would establish one of very few laboratories quantitatively analyzing trace elements in sulfide minerals from VMS deposits. Additionally, this proposed research will help establish the World's only laboratory routinely measuring Se, Cu, and Te isotopic ratios in geological material from ore systems. It is anticipated that through the application of these new laboratories by my students, collaborators and I, coupled with traditional geological methods of fieldwork, petrography and traditional isotope systems, we will provide an immediate growth in our knowledge on the distribution of trace elements in VMS systems on the seafloor and those in the geological record. As in most new method development, it is anticipated that the knowledge gained in this research will be applicable outside ore deposits research and pertinent to Earth System Science as a whole.