Formation of magmatic oxide deposits

岩浆氧化物矿床是从氧化物矿物（分别为钛铁矿和磁铁矿）中提取的钛（Ti）和钒（V）以及从磷灰石中提取的磷（P）的重要来源。这些矿物的结晶和积累发生在地壳中的古老岩浆房中，称为火成岩侵入体。然而，此类矿物存款及其寄主侵入体形成所涉及的许多基本过程仍未得到解决，并且存在高度争议。我的研究目标是通过一种创新的方法来提高我们对这些过程的理解：分析矿石矿物本身中的微量元素。在接下来的5年里，我的目标是（1）开发新的理论来描述铁氧化物和磷灰石的微量元素含量，使用激光消融ICP-MS的新技术，（2）确定控制和修改这些矿物的微量元素含量的地质过程，（3）使用矿石矿物的微量元素化学来提高我们对更复杂地质环境中氧化物矿床的理解，例如，氧化物矿化和寄主岩石之间的成因关系不清楚。这笔资金将支持早期职业科学家建立一个新的高素质研究小组，并在分析地球化学，火成岩学和矿床学领域提供高素质人才的优质培训。

Magmatic oxide deposits are important sources of titanium (Ti) and vanadium (V), extracted from oxide minerals (ilmenite and magnetite, respectively), and phosphorous (P), from apatite. The crystallization and accumulation of these minerals occurred in ancient magma chambers, termed igneous intrusions, in the Earth’s crust. Yet many of the fundamental processes involved in the formation of this class of mineral deposit and their host intrusions remain unresolved and are highly debated over. My research aim is to improve our understanding of these processes using an innovative approach: the analysis of trace elements in the ore minerals themselves. Over the next 5 years I aim to (1) develop new theories to describe the trace element content of iron oxides and apatite using the new technique of laser ablation ICP-MS, (2) determine the geological processes that control and modify the trace element content of these minerals and (3) use trace element chemistry of ore minerals to enhance our understanding of oxide deposits from more complex geological settings, for example where genetic relationships between oxide mineralization and host rocks is unclear. This funding will support an early career scientist to build a new high-caliber research group and provide quality training of Highly Qualified Personnel in the fields of analytical geochemistry, igneous petrology and mineral deposits.