Constraining processes and sources of fluid-moderated metals in mid-crustal ore deposits
Ina Alt
Host University: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Earth Sciences
Primary Supervisor: Fraukje Brouwer
Country of Origin: Germany
Languages: German, English
Contact email: i.alt@vu.nl
About Me
In 2012 I started studying Geosciences at the Ruprecht-Karls Universität in Heidelberg, where I finalized my Bachelors degree. As I am also interested in georesources I went to RWTH Aachen University to study Georesource Management. In 2018, after this excursion to the periphery of classical geosciences, I came back to Heidelberg to finish my Master’s degree with a focus on metamorphic petrology. I am interested in mountain building processes that go along with the influence of fluids, temperature and pressure on rocks.
About the project
Mountain building processes happen at all times on this planet, today as well as millions of years ago. An interesting orogeny is the Variscan Orogeny that took place 400 – 300 million years ago which formed a huge mountain range with similar extents the Himalaya has today.
In the process of subduction and continental collision rocks undergo many stages of pressure and temperature which lead to new minerals assemblages in rocks and dehydration and melt reactions within earth’s crust. These reactions lead to the wash out and accumulation of certain metals, such as REE, Niobium, Tantalum, Strontium etc. that eventually become ore deposits, which can be extracted by mankind. As technology evolves further and further and the need for high-technological elements increases as well, it is critical to get a better understanding of the formation of these deposits in different geological settings, such as an orogenic setting.
In my PhD project I will study the interactions of late-stage plutonic intrusions into the middle crust with the already metamorphosed country rocks. During the intrusion and crystallization of said plutons, metasomatic reactions take place and alter the pluton as well as the surrounding rocks which can lead to ore formation. On the example of rocks from the Bohemian Massif, i.e. Erzgebirge, Saxony, Germany and from the Moldanubian Domain in the Central Czech Republic, I will develop a geochemical budget in which the alterations and ore formation takes place.
Contact details
Institution: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Earth Science, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Contact email: i.alt@vu.nl