Fig. 1: Contrasting models for the formation of PCDs along convergent plate boundaries. | Nature Geoscience

Fig. 1: Contrasting models for the formation of PCDs along convergent plate boundaries.

From: Porphyry copper formation driven by water-fluxed crustal melting during flat-slab subduction

Fig. 1

a, ‘Standard’ steep-slab subduction with magmatic arc and PCDs sourced from mantle-wedge-derived melts14. b, Flat-slab subduction analogous to subduction of the Farallon plate during the Laramide orogeny. Here forced flow into the mantle wedge is cut off, and volatiles derived from the slab (H2O, CO2, Cl and S) pass straight into the base of the crust, triggering water-fluxed crustal anatexis, granitic magmatism and, potentially, PCD formation. Bt, biotite; Hb, hornblende; Ms, muscovite; Grt, garnet. Data from ref. 14.

Back to article page