Oxidized sediment recycling as a driver for post-subduction porphyry copper formation
The mechanisms driving the elevated oxidation state of post-subduction porphyry magmas and porphyry copper mineralization are still not fully understood. Using distinctive Mg and mass-independent Hg isotope fractionation we suggest that oxidation of post-collisional magmas from the eastern Gangdese belt in southern Tibet was driven by the subduction of carbonates and/or sulfates from the Indian plate, enhancing metal enrichment of these magmas. This finding challenges the traditional view that oceanic subduction primarily drives porphyry copper formation, highlighting the significance of continental subduction processes in metallogenic models.
