A Group of Papers on Fluid Inclusion Research Applied to Ore Deposits: An Introduction

Abstract

The group of six papers and one scientific contribution that follow this brief introduction illustrate the application of fluid inclusion research to ore deposits, a field pioneered by Edwin Woods Roedder (July 30, 1919–August 1, 2006) (Fig. 1⇓), who contributed nearly 400 published works during a career that spanned more than three-quarters of a century. His first paper was published in 1935 (Roedder, 1935), on the topic of black sulfur at Hillborn, New York; his final (posthumous) publication in 2008 was as a coauthor on the thermal history of Yucca Mountain, Nevada (Whelan et al., 2008). Many readers of this journal will know that Ed Roedder was the leader in the field of fluid and melt inclusions (Roedder, 1984b), but some may not realize that he also made significant contributions in other areas, including experimental petrology of the K2O-FeO-Al2O3-SiO2 system (Roedder, 1951), the geologic storage of radioactive waste (Roedder, 1957), and lunar petrology (Roedder and Weiblen, 1970). Ed’s most significant contributions were related to the critical role that fluids and related processes play in ore formation; a large number of his publications were related to mineral deposits and ore genesis, with 25 of these published in Economic Geology between 1962 (Roedder, 1962) and 1989 (Anderson et al., 1989). A compilation and summary of much of Ed’s work up until the early 1980s is included in his well-known publication, Fluid Inclusions (Roedder, 1984b). A complete listing of Ed Roedder’s publications is available at the Edwin Woods Roedder Memorial Virtual Library at the following location: . Some lithium salts exhibit high solubilities in aqueous solutions, leading to high concentrations in continental brines, postmagmatic hydrothermal systems, and rare-element pegmatites, despite lithium being a trace element in …