Lithospheric sulfur cycling during Archean orogenesis

我的研究计划侧重于我们对岩石圈中硫循环的理解。硫可以作为地球上许多地质储集层的挥发性成分。因此，复杂的硫循环在调节全球气候、生命细胞和矿床形成等各种基本地球过程中发挥着关键作用。硫是热液中金的络合、输运和富集金的重要配体。同样，镍、钴、铜和锌等贱金属，由于其在含硫岩浆和热液系统中的亲氯性，也集中在硫化物中。金属是加拿大经济的基石，在可再生能源发展中越来越重要。在低碳社会中，全球转向可持续能源的趋势增加了对金属(如镍和钴)的需求，以制造耐用的电池。此外，铜仍然是建筑和电子产品中的重要金属。虽然采矿是加拿大最重要的行业之一，黄金是加拿大第三大最赚钱的出口产品(130亿美元)，但越来越稀有的地表矿藏正在推动勘探工作的进行，并将其转移到更偏远的地方。加拿大偏远的北部蕴藏着丰富的贵金属和贱金属；然而，勘探和采矿行业越来越依赖技术来预测金属的本地化位置。我的研究计划侧重于在集中金属和硫方面发挥作用的构造机制的演变，以便更好地了解金属如何和在哪里沉淀，以及硫在返回地表之前在地球深层岩石圈中储存的时间和地点。这一认识差距是通过考察硫的质量无关分馏(MIF-S)的性质来解决的，这种分馏在24亿年前被赋予含硫油藏。这种分馏过程导致了太古宙沉积岩记录中这种异常同位素特征的独特保存，并使人们能够了解大气和水圈的化学演化。由于最近的分析发展，我们现在处于特权地位，可以使用MIF-S作为各种岩石圈规模过程的不可磨灭的示踪剂。这项研究将使用最先进的分析工具来表征昂加瓦造山带的Slave和Superior克拉通和岩浆中金属热液的多种硫同位素组成的时间演化。这些成果将：1)加强MIF-S作为一种强大且永不磨灭的示踪剂的应用，以了解含金属流体和岩浆在岩石圈中的来源和侵位途径；2)提高我们对不同储集层之间硫在岩石圈尺度上的迁移机制的理解；3)更好地使矿床研究与全球转向可再生能源的目标关键金属保持一致。

My research program focuses on our understanding of sulfur cycling through the lithosphere. Sulfur can act as a volatile component of many geological reservoirs on Earth. Consequently, the complex sulfur cycle plays a critical role in a variety of fundamental Earth processes such as regulating the global climate, the living cell, and ore deposit formation. Sulfur is a critical ligand that complexes, transports and concentrates gold in hydrothermal fluids. Similarly, base metals such as nickel, cobalt, copper and zinc, due to their chalcophile nature in sulfur-bearing magmatic and hydrothermal systems, are concentrated in sulfides. Metals are a cornerstone of the Canadian economy and are increasingly important in the development of renewable energies. The global move toward sustainable energies in a low-carbon society has increased the demand for metals (such as nickel and cobalt) to manufacture long lasting batteries. Further, copper remains an important metal in building construction and electronics. While mining is one of Canada's most important sectors and gold being Canada's third most profitable (13 billion$) export, increasingly rare surficial deposits are pushing exploration under cover and to more remote locations. Canada's remote north holds a wealth of these precious and base metals; however, the exploration and mining industries increasingly rely on technologies to predict where metals are localised. My research program focuses on the evolution of tectonic mechanisms that play a role in focusing metals and sulfur in order to better understand how and where metals precipitate and where and on what time-scale sulfur is stored in the Earth's deep lithosphere before being returned to the surface. This knowledge gap is addressed by examining the nature of the mass-independent fractionation of sulfur (MIF-S), which was imparted to sulfur-bearing reservoirs prior to 2.4 billion years ago. This fractionation process led to the unique preservation of this anomalous isotope signature in the Archean sedimentary rock record and has enabled the understanding of the chemical evolution of the atmosphere and hydrosphere. Thanks to recent analytical developments we are now in the privileged position to use MIF-S as an indelible tracer of various lithospheric-scale processes. The research will employ state-of-the-art analytical tools to characterise the temporal evolution of the multiple sulfur isotope composition of metalliferous hydrothermal fluids in the Slave and Superior cratons and magmas in the Ungava Orogen. The outcomes will: 1) enhance the application of MIF-S as a powerful and indelible tracer to understand the source and emplacement pathways of metal-bearing fluids and magmas through the lithosphere, and 2) improve our understanding of the lithospheric-scale transport mechanism of sulfur among different reservoirs, and 3) better align ore deposit research to the targeting critical metals for the global move to renewable energies.