Concentration of Platinum Group Elements during the Early Earth Evolution: A Review*

Arkady Pilchin,Lev Eppelbaum

doi:10.4236/nr.2017.83012

Abstract

Numerous unique geological processes [1] took place during the early Earth evolution; several of them, especially those occurring in the Hadean—Early Archean and later, are reflected in the modern geological (geophysical, geochemical, etc.) pattern. One such significant enigmatic feature is the preservation of extremely dense and heavy platinum group elements (PGEs): Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os. Concentration of PGEs during this period could have taken place in two ways: 1) presence of particular matter capable of preserving PGEs near the earth's surface, 2) transportation of PGEs by magma flows from deep lithospheric (asthenospheric) layers (slabs) to the subsurface. Clearly, much of the dense and heavy PGEs did not sink through to the Earth’s mantle (core) at the time of the magma-ocean, and occur near Earth’s surface in abundances for formation of ore deposits with PGE concentrations found to be 2 - 3 orders of magnitude greater than those in their host media. Their enrichments are associated in numerous cases with such enigmatic phenomena as formation of anorthosites and anorthosite-bearing layered magmatic intrusions. PGE deposits and mineralization zones are also found in associations with chromitites, dunites and serpentinites. In this review, problems related to the initial concentration and preservation of PGEs, their association with anorthosites, and formation of layered intrusions are discussed in detail. The main aim of this article is analysis of the requirements—initial concentration and preservation of PGE and PGM (Platinum Group Minerals) during the early Earth evolution, as well as examination of the distribution behavior of some PGEs in different ore deposits and meteorites. It is supposed that meteoritic bombardment of Earth has played a significant role in formation of PGEs deposits. Some conclusions made in this article may be useful for developing and enhancing strategies of prospecting for PGEs deposits.

Highlights

A significant enigmatic feature of early Earth evolution is the preservation of extremely dense and heavy platinum group elements (PGE): Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os, which somehow managed not to sink to the Earth’s core throughout the duration of the magma-ocean, and instead were accumulated at relatively small depths in quantities yielding formation of economic ore deposits
One of main problems related by numerous researchers to obvious preservation of PGEs in subsurface is the fact that siderophile (“iron-loving”) elements heavier than Fe and Ni, and especially such heavy elements as PGEs and gold, during the accretion and evolution of magma-ocean must have sank to the Earth core (e.g., [79]) and should not be present in the uppermost layers of the Earth
Maier et al [37] compared the concentrations of the PGEs and gold in mantle xenoliths from more than 20 kimberlite pipes in the South Africa and Karelian craton (Fennoscandian Shield) and led to the following conclusions: the noble metal content of the primitive mantle cannot be accurately determined using cratonic mantle samples; the data indicate considerable heterogeneity within individual pipes, structural blocks within the individual cratons, and between the cratons; relatively low PGEs contents result from heterogeneous equilibration of the Early- to Mid-Archean mantle with the late veneer; the shallow mantle rocks postdate the onset of crust formation, which is inconsistent with the definition of primitive mantle reservoirs

Summary

Introduction

A significant enigmatic feature of early Earth evolution is the preservation of extremely dense and heavy platinum group elements (PGE): Pt, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ir, Os, which somehow managed not to sink to the Earth’s core throughout the duration of the magma-ocean, and instead were accumulated at relatively small depths in quantities yielding formation of economic ore deposits. USGS [20] states that ~88.7% of the global PGE reserves are concentrated in the South Africa and most of them belong to the Bushveld Igneous Complex These facts contradict any standard model of ore deposit formation, because it is very difficult to explain why these vast amounts of PGEs and Cr should be collected in a single area of the Earth. It is clear that all matter on Earth came from within the solar nebula by the in-falling of nebular material onto the evolving planet during its accretion, at the end of which Earth was covered with a magma-ocean about 1000 km deep [1] This means that in order to accumulate significant amounts of PGEs and PGMs near Earth's surface, there must have been certain mechanisms of their concentration in near-surface layers, their trapping, and preservation for the future formation of PGE ore deposits

On the Formation of PGEs and PGMs and Their Content in Rocks and Meteorites

The “Late Veneer” Hypothesis of PGEs Enrichment

Initial Concentration of PGEs and PGMs during the Early Earth Evolution

Findings

Conclusion