April 2017

Volume 13, Number 2

ISSN 1811-5209

Sulfides
EKATERINA S. KISEEVA and MARIE EDMONDS, Guest Editors

Mineralogy, Chemistry, and Paragenesis

Magmatic Ore Deposits
Hydrothermal Ore Deposits
Volcanic Sulfides and Outgassing
Chalcophiles and Upper Mantle
Organisms and Sedimentary Sulfides
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Elements is published jointly by the Mineralogical Volume 13, Number 2 April 2017 Cover Image : Pyrite (FeS2) in
Society of America, the Mineralogical Society a black shale. The sample
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Mineralogical is ~30 cm wide and was
Association of Canada, the Geochemical Society, excavated from a coal mine

Sulfides
the Clay Minerals Society, the European in Sparta, Illinois (USA).
Association of Geochemistry, the International
Association of GeoChemistry, the Socit
Franaise de Minralogie et de Cristallographie, Guest Editors: Ekaterina S. Kiseeva and Marie Edmonds
the Association of Applied Geochemists,
theDeutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft,
theSociet Italiana di Mineralogia e Petrologia,
the International Association of Geoanalysts,
the Polskie Towarzystwo Mineralogiczne
(Mineralogical Society of Poland), the Sociedad 81 Mineralogy of Sulfides
David J. Vaughan and Claire L. Corkhill
Espaola de Mineraloga, the Swiss Society of
Mineralogy and Petrology, the Meteoritical
Society, and the Japan Association of Mineralogical
Sciences. It is provided as a benefit to members
ofthese societies.
Elements is published six times a year. Individuals
are encouraged to join any one of the partici
pating societies to receive Elements. Institutional
89 Magmatic Sulfide Ore Deposits
Stephen J. Barnes, David A. Holwell, and Margaux Le Vaillant
subscribers to any of the following journals
American Mineralogist, Clay Minerals, Clays and
Clay Minerals, Mineralogical Magazine, and The
Canadian Mineralogistalso receive one copy
of Elements as part of their 2017 subscription.
97 Sulfide Minerals in Hydrothermal Deposits
Llus Fontbot, Kalin Kouzmanov, Massimo Chiaradia,
Institutional subscriptions are available for and Gleb S. Pokrovski
US$165 (US$180 non-US addresses) a year
in 2017. Contact the executive editor (jrosso.
Volcanic Sulfides and Outgassing
elements@gmail.com) for information.
Copyright 2017 by the Mineralogical Society
105 Marie Edmonds and Tamsin A. Mather
ofAmerica
All rights reserved. Reproduction in any form,
including translation to other languages, or by
any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanical,
including photocopying or information storage
111 Chalcophile Elements and Sulfides in the Upper Mantle
Ekaterina S. Kiseeva, Ral O. C. Fonseca, and Duane J. Smythe
and retrieval systemswithout written permission
from the copyright holder isstrictly prohibited.
Publications mail agreement no. 40037944
Printed in USA 117 Sedimentary Sulfides
David Rickard, Marc Mussmann, and Jeffrey A. Steadman
ISSN 1811-5209 (print)
ISSN 1811-5217 (online)
elementsmagazine.org
www.elements.
geoscienceworld.org
D E PA R T M E N T S
Editorial Little Black Blobs in the Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
From the Editors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Meet the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Society News
Association of Applied Geochemists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland . . . . . . . . 124
Meteoritical Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Mineralogical Society of America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
European Association of Geochemistry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Clay Minerals Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Geochemical Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
European Mineralogical Union. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
International Association of GeoChemistry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Mineralogical Association of Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
IMA Sponsored Society News Austrian Mineralogical
Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Life in Science On Implementing a Workplace
Cultural Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Book Review Marine Geochemistry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
People in the News Dominique Weis, Graham Pearson,
Rodney Ewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Advertisers in this Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

73

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tion founded in 1970 that
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74
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Gesellschaft (German
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wasfounded in 1908 to
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A pr il 2017
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founded in 1975 to promote
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1924 by professionals from
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amateurs to promote
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and Economic Geologists, established in
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PRINCIPAL EDITORS
BERNARD J. WOOD, University of Oxford, UK
(Bernie.Wood@earth.ox.ac.uk)
FRIEDHELM VON BLANCKENBURG, GFZ
Potsdam, Germany (fvb@gfz-potsdam.de)
NANCY L. ROSS, Virginia Tech, USA
(nross@vt.edu)
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
COSTANZA BONADIMAN, Societ Italiana
diMineralogia e Petrologia
THOMAS D. BULLEN, International
Association of GeoChemistry
CATHERINE CORRIGAN, Meteoritical Society
KATERINA M. DONTSOVA, The Clay Minerals
Society
BARBARA L. DUTROW, Mineralogical
Society ofAmerica
ANTON EISENHAUER, Geochemical Society
DANIEL J. FROST, European Association
ofGeochemistry, Chair
BERNARD GROBTY, Swiss Society of
Mineralogy and Petrology
MARK E. HODSON, Mineralogical Society
ofGreatBritain and Ireland
HEATHER JAMIESON, Mineralogical
Association ofCanada
MATTHEW I. LEYBOURNE, Association
of Applied Geochemists
GUY LIBOUREL, Socit Franaise
deMinralogie et de Cristallographie
KLAUS MEZGER, Deutsche Mineralogische
Gesellschaft
MAREK MICHALIK, Mineralogical Society
ofPoland
JUAN J. MILLAN, Sociedad Espaola
diMineraloga
AKIRA TSUCHIYAMA, Japan Association
ofMineralogicalSciences
MICHAEL WIEDENBECK, International
Association of Geoanalysts
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
JODI J. ROSSO (jrosso.elements@gmail.com)
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E lements
EDITORIAL
LITTLE BLACK BLOBS IN THE BACKGROUND
1811-5209/17/0075-$0.00 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.75
I am sure that many
of us remember min
eralogy from our stu
dent days as beginning
with the orthosilicate
group, passing quickly
through sorosilicates
to beryl, then through
pyroxenes and amphi
Bernard J. Wood boles, and on to micas,
feldspars, and the silica
minerals. Amphiboles were studied to exhaus
tion, their nomenclature (now mostly discarded)
being then regarded as of prime importance.
Sulfides, on the other hand, were almost com
pletely ignored, despite their economic impor
tance and significance, as we now know, as
agents of climate cooling. In petrography classes,
sulfides were classified together with oxides as
opaques and dismissed from further consider
ation. In this issue, therefore, the balance will
be redressed as we review the complexity and
beauty of sulfide mineralogy, geochemistry, and
petrology. Elements has considered sulfur before
(Sulfur, v6n2, 2010), but principally from envi
ronmental and biogeochemical standpoints. The
current issue focusses more on sulfide behaviour
in high-temperature environments, with just a
single article devoted to sedimentary sulfides and
environmental conditions in terrestrial oceans
over geologic time (Rickard et al. 2017 this issue).
Despite being present at a total concentration of
only 0.025% in the mantle and crust, sulfur forms
a large number of stable minerals with d- and
p-block elements (Vaughan and Corkhill 2017
this issue). Sulfur is insoluble in silicate minerals,
and there are only small amounts of ironnickel-
rich sulfides present in the mantle source regions
of magmas. However, S2 does have a low solu
bility in silicate melts, so the small amounts of
sulfur inherited from the source result in most
magmas becoming saturated in (Fe,Ni,Cu)S sul
fide liquid or monosulfide solid solution (mss)
as they approach the surface. This sulfide pre
cipitation completely controls the behaviour
of many chalcophile elements during igneous
differentiation (Kiseeva et al. 2017 this issue),
most notably those which are relatively incom
patible in silicates [e.g. Cu, Ag, Au, Pb, As, Sb,
Bi, Tl, Re, Hg, and the platinum group elements
(PGEs)]. Oxidation of the sulfur in the later stages
of igneous differentiation frequently leads to
degassing of large quantities of SO2 (Edmonds
and Mather 2017 this issue). The dramatic erup
tions in 1783 of Laki (Iceland), for example, are
estimated to have released 122 megatons of SO2
which the southeasterly winds carried over much
of Europe as a summer-long dry sulfurous fog.
The latter was largely responsible for unusually
high death rates in France (5% of the population)
and England (double the normal rate), particu
larly among agricultural workers. In cases where,
instead of being oxidised, sulfur is retained in
the silicate liquid or external crustal sulfur is
incorporated into the melt, precipitation of such
melt sulfide occasionally leads to large magmatic
sulfide deposits, the major economic resources for
75
Ni and the PGEs (Barnes et al. 2017 this issue).
If the melt becomes saturated in aqueous fluid
prior to sulfide saturation then many of the chal
cophile elements can become concentrated into
the evolved fluid phase, a situation that occurs in
some volcanic arcs (Fontbot et al. 2017 this issue)
and that leads to lower temperature hydrothermal
sulfide deposits. Sulfide minerals in hydrothermal
deposits are the primary sources of Cu, Zn, Pb,
and a large number of other, lower concentration,
metals. Although these minor and trace elements
are normally quite dilute in major element sul
fides and sulfosalts they occasionally form the
many separate sulfides that we find in the best
museum collections. I hope this brief excursion
through our issue has whetted and stimulated
your interest! If you are dedicated to silicates,
however, I can, among others, recommend the
Elements issues on Garnet (v9n6), Tourmaline
(v7n5) and Zircon (v3n1).
It is particularly gratifying to note that, unusu
ally, both our guest editors are women: Marie
Edmonds (University of Cambridge, UK) and
Ekaterina (Kate) Kiseeva (University of Oxford,
UK). And both certainly qualify as young, or
junior, academics. The editors are occasionally
asked about gender imbalance in the guest edi
tors and authors of Elements articles. One reason
for an imbalance is that, in order to establish an
issue of the magazine, we first need a viable pro
posal. Senior colleagues, principally male, are the
people most likely to make such a proposal. And
there is a natural tendency for the guest editors
to ask people they have known for a long time
to write the articles. When Elements principal
editors review proposals, they almost invariably
ask the proposers for more female authors and
greater geographic diversity. Frequently the guest
editors accept our suggestions, but sometimes, for
various reasons, they are unable to do so. A com
promise may then be reached and the end result
is the mixture of authors and guest editors that
you find in a typical issue. In this case, however,
we specifically asked Kate and Marie to propose
the sulfide issue. And we are actively looking for
female and younger male colleagues to propose
issues which we think will be of general interest.
If you have an interesting idea, please contact us
because we can help you turn your idea into a
viable proposal. Now, which of you is going to
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Bernard J. Wood
Principal Editor
REFERENCES
Barnes SJ, Holwell DA, Le Vaillant M (2017) Magmatic
sulfide ore deposits. Elements 13: 89-95
Edmonds M, Mather TA (2017) Volcanic sulfides and
outgassing. Elements 13: 105-110
Fontbot L, Kouzmanov K, Chiaradia M, Pokrovski GS
(2017) Sulfide minerals in hydrothermal deposits.
Elements 13: 97-103
Kiseeva ES, Fonseca ROC, Smythe DJ (2017)
Chalcophile elements and sulfides in the upper
mantle. Elements 13: 111-116
Rickard D, Mussman M, Steadman JA (2017)
Sedimentary sulfides. Elements 13: 117-122
Vaughan DJ, Corkhill CL (2017) Mineralogy of sul
fides. Elements 13: 81-87
A pr il 2017
 FROM THE EDITORS

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E lements 76 A pr il 2017
 Stephen J. Barnes is an igneous petrologist and
economic geologist with 40 years experience across
the spectrum of magmatic sulfide ore deposits. He
completed his PhD under Anthony (Tony) J.
Naldrett at the University of Toronto (Canada) in
1983, and since 1985 he has been with the CSIRO
(Perth, Australia) with an interval in industry
exploring for platinum deposits. He currently holds the position of
Science Leader within CSIRO Mineral Resources.
Massimo Chiaradia is a senior lecturer at the
Department of Earth Sciences of the University of
Geneva (Switzerland). He obtained his MSc at the
University of Padova (Italy) and his PhD from the
University of Fribourg (Switzerland). His research
focuses on the petrogenesis of arc magmas, with
implications for continental crust formation and
the relationship between magma chemistry, dynamics of subduction
zones, and the formation of porphyry-type deposits. To carry out his
research, Massimo combines fieldwork with analytical techniques that
include petrography and ore microscopy, mineral and rock geochem
istry, light and heavy stable isotopes, radiogenic isotopes, and high-
precision radiometric dating.
Claire L. Corkhill is a research fellow in mineralogy
and materials science at the University of Sheffield
(UK). Following a PhD in sulfide mineral surface
dissolution (University of Manchester, UK), she has
been researching the structure of material surfaces
and their relationship to the mechanisms and
kinetics of surface dissolution. Her current focus is
on nuclear waste materials, including oxide ceramics (UO2 ), alumino
borosilicate glasses, and cement materials. Recent work includes devel
oping synchrotron-based diffraction and spectroscopy methodologies
to observe slow dissolution processes over long timescales.
Marie Edmonds is a reader in the Earth Sciences
Department at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Prior to her current appointment, she was volca
nologist with the British Geological Survey, then a
Mendenhall Fellow with the US Geological Survey.
She received her PhD in volcanology at the
University of Cambridge in 2002. Edmonds
research concerns the role that volatiles play in magmatic differentia
tion and on eruption processes and styles. She has worked extensively
on the Soufrire Hills Volcano (Montserrat) and is interested in the role
that volcanoes play in geochemical cycling and climate.
Ral O.C. Fonseca is an experimental petrologist
with over a decade of experience in high-tempera
ture magmatic sulfide systems, specializing in the
chalcophile nature of the platinum group elements
(PGEs). His research is currently focused on the
redox-dependent behavior of PGEs and other sid
erophile elements during planetary formation and
differentiation. Ral completed his PhD under Ian H. Campbell and
Hugh St. C. ONeill at the Australian National University in 2007 and
is currently an associate professor at the University of Bonn (Germany).
Llus Fontbot obtained his MSc from the
University of Granada (Spain) and his PhD from
Heidelberg University (Germany). He is currently
a full professor at the University of Geneva
(Switzerland) where he leads an ore deposits
research group. His main areas of expertise are epi
thermal polymetallic deposits linked to porphyry
systems, iron oxidecoppergold deposits, and Mississippi Valley Type
E lements
deposits. In collaboration with his students and coworkers, Llus has
also published on volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits, on orogenic
gold deposits, and on acid mining drainage. He has also worked in ore
exploration mainly in the Andes.
David A. Holwell is a senior lecturer at the
University of Leicester (UK). He is an economic
geologist with over 10 years experience in the
exploration and study of magmatic NiCuPGE
sulfide deposits. His MSc was on the Merensky Reef
and his PhD was on the Platreef, Bushveld Igneous
Complex (both in South Africa). David has worked
extensively in east Greenland, Canada, the UK, and south-central
Africa. He specialises in applying fieldwork, mineralogy, and geochem
istry to developing geological models for exploration projects. He has
published more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and, in 2009, was awarded
the Barrick Young Scientist Award by the Society for Geology Applied
to Mineral Deposits.
Ekaterina (Kate) S. Kiseeva is a NERC research
fellow at the University of Oxford (UK). In 2012,
she received her PhD in experimental petrology
from the Australian National University and, for
the following three years, worked as a postdoctoral
researcher in the University of Oxford (UK). Her
research focuses on the behaviour of chalcophile
elements in mantle processes and during Earths accretion and dif
ferentiation. Her broader scientific interests include high-pressure
mantle geochemistry, metasomatism in the cratonic mantle, and upper-
and lower-mantle inclusions in diamonds.
Kalin Kouzmanov is a lecturer and senior research
scientist in the Department of Earth Sciences at the
University of Geneva (Switzerland). He received an
MSc in geology and geochemistry from Sofia
University (Bulgaria) and a PhD in earth sciences
from the University of Orlans (France). His
research interests include the architecture of mag
matichydrothermal systems, hydrothermal geochemistry, and ore
mineralogy; his key field areas are in South America and Eastern Europe.
His current work focuses on fluid processes in porphyry-related systems,
including the development of analytical tools for studying ore-forming
fluids in opaque sulfide, sulfosalt, and oxide minerals.
Margaux Le Vaillant is originally from France,
where she completed her undergraduate in Paris
(prpa BCPST Lyce Saint Louis) and Nancy (National
Engineer School of Geology, ENSG). She completed
her MSc in collaboration with Lulea University of
Technology (Sweden). In 2011, she moved to Perth
to start her PhD at the University of Western
Australia, within the Centre for Exploration Targeting (CET). During her
time with CET, Margaux worked on hydrothermal footprints around
magmatic nickel-sulfide deposits. Since July 2014, Margaux has been
working at CSIRO (Australia) as a postdoctoral fellow examining the
physical emplacement processes of magmatic nickel-sulfide deposits.
Tamsin A. Mather is a volcanologist and a professor
of earth sciences at the University of Oxford (UK).
She has MSc degrees in chemistry and in the history
and philosophy of science. Her PhD (2004,
Cambridge, UK) was on the atmospheric chemistry
of volcanic plumes and their environmental effects,
including on biogeochemical cycles. Her research
has broadened into exploring the many and diverse ways that volcanoes
interact/have interacted with Earths environment and she is trying to
78 A pr il 2017
understand volcanic behaviour from a hazard perspective. Before Jeffrey A. Steadman completed his BS in geology
joining Oxford in 2006 she was a fellow at the Parliamentary Office of at the University of Central Missouri (USA), his MS
Science and Technology and was a Royal Society research fellow. in geology at Iowa State University (USA), and his
PhD at the Centre for Ore Deposits and Exploration
Marc Mussmann did his PhD and postdoc at the
Science (CODES) at the University of Tasmania
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in
(New Zealand). He is currently a postdoctoral
Bremen (Germany). He is currently a staff scientist
research fellow at CODES. His research interests
in the Division of Microbial Ecology at the University
involve the use of pyrite geochemistry as a pathfinder to volcanic-hosted
of Vienna (Austria). His research interests are micro
massive sulfides, orogenic Au, sediment-hosted Cu, and iron oxide
bial sulfur and carbon cycles. By combining genomics
coppergold deposits. Jeffrey also researches the geochemical composi
and isotope tracer experiments, he identifies the key
tion of Archean oceans and atmosphere, using sedimentary pyrite as
microbial players in marine sediments.
a proxy.
Gleb S. Pokrovski is a research director at the
David J. Vaughan is a professor of mineralogy and
Gosciences Environnement Toulouse laboratory
the founding director of the Williamson Research
(France). He earned an MSc from Moscow State
Centre for Molecular Environmental Science at the
University (Russia) and a PhD in geochemistry from
University of Manchester (UK). He has DPhil and
the University of Toulouse, after which he obtained
DSc degrees from the University of Oxford (UK)
a CNRS research position in Orlans, followed by
and has worked in Canada (at CANMET) and the
one in Toulouse. Gleb specializes in experimental
USA (at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
and analytical geochemistry, including in situ spectroscopy and phys
before returning to Britain. His research centres on mineral chemistry,
icalchemical modeling of waterrock interactions and the speciation
particularly that of sulfides and oxides, mineral surface science, and
and transport of metals and volatiles (sulfur and carbon) in geological
ore and environmental mineralogy, areas in which he has written or
fluids and vapors through the lithosphere. His work has applications
edited textbooks as well as original papers. He has served as president
to ore deposits, environmental science, and isotope geochemistry.
of the Mineralogical Societies of the UK and of America, and of the
David Rickard trained in geology, chemistry, and European Mineralogical Union.
microbiology at Imperial College, London (UK)
where he was an early pioneer in the field of geo
microbiology. He is an emeritus professor of geo
chemistry at Cardiff University (Wales) and adjunct
professor of marine geochemistry at the University
of Delaware (USA). His current research interests
are in sulfide biogeochemistry. Nobody likes cleaning the dishes
Duane J. Smythe is a postdoctoral research asso
ciate in the experimental petrology group in the EASYTRACECLEANER
Department of Earth Sciences at the University of
Oxford (UK). He obtained his PhD in experimental Cleans it for you!
petrology in 2013 from the University of Toronto
(Canada). His research interests include the applica
tion of high-pressure/temperature experiments to
understanding mineralmelt trace element parti
tioning and the behavior of redox-sensitive elements during magma
evolution. He is currently investigating the mobility of sulfur and the
partitioning of chalcophile elements during mantle and crustal
processes.

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E lements 79 A pr il 2017
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 Mineralogy of Sulfides
David J. Vaughan1 and Claire L. Corkhill2

1811-5209/17/0013-0081$2.50DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.81

M
etal sulfides are the most important group of ore minerals. Here, we The literature on sulfide minerals
review what is known about their compositions, crystal structures, is extensive, with a number
of over v iew textbooks and
phase relations and parageneses. Much less is known about their monographs. Comprehensive
surface chemistry, their biogeochemistry, or the formation and behaviour of reviews can be found in Ribbe
nanoparticle sulfides, whether formed abiotically or biogenically. (1974), Vaughan and Craig (1978),
and, most recently, in Vaughan
Keywords : metal sulfides, crystal structures, paragenesis, surface chemistry, (20 06). The present article
biogeochemistry provides a brief overview of the
compositions and crystal struc-
INTRODUCTION tures of the major sulfide minerals,
aspects of their chemistries (bulk and surface) and their
Sulfide minerals are compounds in which sulfur is combined occurrence. In addition to the sulfides mentioned above,
as an anion with a metal (or semi-metal) cation or cations. pentlandite [(Fe,Ni) S ] and its alteration product, violarite
9 8
The definition is commonly widened to include minerals (FeNi S ), are important as the major ore minerals of nickel;
2 4
in which the anion is As or Sb, sometimes together with bornite (Cu FeS ) and chalcocite (Cu S) as major copper
5 4 2
S, and to include Se and Te minerals. The sulfosalts are a minerals; and molybdenite (MoS ) is the primary source of
2
special group of the sulfide minerals that have a general molybdenum. Tetrahedrite (Cu Sb S ) is notable because
12 4 13
formula A mTn Xp and in which the common elements are A of the large range of metals, silver in particular, which can
= Ag, Cu, Pb; T = As, Sb, Bi; X = S. They generally contain substitute at percent levels for copper or antimony in its
pyramidal TS3 groups in their structures. Several hundred structure. In contrast, arsenopyrite (FeAsS) is the major
sulfide minerals are known, but only five are sufficiently natural source of arsenic, an extremely toxic pollutant.
abundant accessory minerals to have been categorized as
rock forming (Bowles et al. 2011). These five are pyrite, CRYSTAL STRUCTURES AND
pyrrhotite, galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite, and it is the THECLASSIFICATION OF SULFIDES
iron sulfides (pyrite and pyrrhotite) which are dominant.
The most important sulfides are categorized into groups
The very fine particulate iron sulfides found in reducing
based on major structure types or having key structural
environments beneath the surfaces of some sediments and
features in common (Table 1) (see Makovicky 2006 for
soils are also important. Formerly known as amorphous
detailed classification). Commonly, these are the structures
iron sulfides, they are now known to be mackinawite
exhibited by a much larger group of crystalline solids, such
(tetragonal FeS) and, to a lesser extent, greigite (Fe 3S 4 ).
as the rocksalt structure of the galena group (Fig. 1A), the
Both mackinawite and greigite are metastable compared
sphalerite and wurtzite forms of ZnS (Figs. 1B, 1C), or the
to pyrite and pyrrhotite.
nickel arsenide structure (Fig. 1D).
Above all, the sulfides are the most important group of
The disulfide group of minerals (Fig. 1E) contain dianion
ore minerals because they are responsible for the concen-
units (SS, SAs, AsAs, etc.). In the pyrite structure, FeS6
tration of a wide range of metals as mineable deposits.
octahedra share corners along the c-axis direction, whereas
They are also potential sources of pollution, be it of the
in the marcasite form of FeS2, the octahedra share edges
air, surface waters, or soils. Air pollution may arise both
to form chains of octahedra along the c-axis. Loellingite
from the smelting of sulfide ores and from the burning of
(FeAs2 ) and arsenopyrite (FeAsS) are variants of the marca-
coal, which contains sulfur mainly as sulfide impurities.
site structure with, respectively, shorter or alternately long
The breakdown of sulfides exposed by weathering at the
and short metalmetal distances across the shared octahe-
Earths surface generates sulfuric acid, as well as releasing
dral edge.
potentially toxic metals into waters and soils. This form of
pollution may arise from mine wastes (acid mine drainage) Sulfides such as covellite (CuS) (Fig. 1F) and molybdenite
or sulfide-containing natural rocks (acid rock drainage). (MoS2 ) have layer structures; other sufides have structures
that are best described by rings or chains of linked atoms
[such as realgar (AsS)]. A diverse group, defined as the
1 School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, and metal-excess group by Vaughan and Craig (1978), have
Williamson Research Centre for Molecular Environmental Science
University of Manchester metal:sulfur ratios greater than 1:1 and structures of the
Manchester M13 9PL, UK type illustrated by pentlandite, the major ore mineral of
E-mail: david.vaughan@manchester.ac.uk nickel (Fig. 1G).
2 NucleUS Immobilisation Science Laboratory
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Sheffield
Sheffield S1 3JD, UK
E-mail: c.corkhill@sheffield.ac.uk

E lements , V ol . 13, pp. 8187 81 A pr il 2017


A B
Galena Sphalerite
C D
Wurtzite Niccolite
E and laboratory investigations of phase equilibria (Table1
Pyrite Marcasite Loellingite Arsenopyrite
F to varying concentrations of vacancies in iron atom sites.
G sitions. Although Fe7S8 has a (monoclinic) superstructure
Covellite Pentlandite
Crystal structures of the major sulfides. (A) Galena
Figure 1
(PbS). (B) Sphalerite (ZnS). (C) Wurtzite (ZnS). (D)
Niccolite (NiAs). (E) Linkage of metalsulfur octahedra along the
c-axis direction in pyrite (FeS2), marcasite (FeS2), loellingite (FeAs2)
and arsenopyrite (FeAsS). (F) Covellite (CuS). (G) Cube cluster of
tetrahedrally coordinated metals in the pentlandite structure. Atom
colours as follows: light blue Pb; purple Zn; yellow S; red Fe;
orange As; dark red Ni; dark blue Cu; for 1E arsenopyrite,
yellow/grey spheres are either S or As. Adapted from Craig and
Vaughan (1990).
In many of these groups, both the actual structure type
(Table 1) and the other minerals derived from these
parent structures are known. The relationship between
derivatives and parents can involve:
1. Distortion, e.g. the troilite form of FeS, which is a
distortion of the parent NiAs structure (Fig. 2A);
E lements
2. Ordered omission, e.g. monoclinic pyrrhotite
(Fe7S8 ), which is derived from the NiAs structure of
FeS by the removal of Fe atoms, so leaving vacancies
that are ordered (Fig. 2A);
3. Ordered substitution, e.g. chalcopyrite (CuFeS2 )
which is derived from sphalerite (ZnS) by the alternate
replacement of Zn atoms by Cu and Fe, resulting in
an enlarged (tetragonal) unit cell (Fig. 2B). Stannite
(Cu 2FeSnS4) results from further ordered substitution
of half of the Fe atoms in chalcopyrite by Sn (Fig. 2B);
4. Stuffed derivative, e.g. talnakhite (Cu9Fe 8 S16 ),
mooihoekite (Cu9Fe9S16) and haycockite (Cu4Fe5S 8 ),
which are derived from chalcopyrite by the occupa-
tion of additional, normally empty, cavities in the
structure (Fig. 2C).
CHEMISTRY OF SULFIDES
Bulk Composition
The chemical compositions of sulfide minerals have been
well characterized by numerous analyses of natural samples
gives names and formulae of all common, and many less
common, sulfides). Although most sulfide minerals are
simple binary or ternary compounds, natural sulfides
contain impurities ranging from trace (ppm) to minor (<5
wt%) amounts. Such impurities may include toxic elements
such as arsenic, cadmium and mercury. The more extensive
substitutions associated with solid solution are also found
in the sulfides: for example, the complete solid solution
between pyrite (FeS2 ) and vaesite (NiS2 ) to give the inter-
mediate composition mineral bravoite [(Fe,Ni)S2 ].
Certain sulfides also exhibit non-stoichiometry (devia-
tion of the formula from an integral ratio). For example,
pyrrhotite is commonly given the general formula Fe1x S
where 0 < x < 0.125. The varying compositions correspond
However, in systems such as these, ordering of the vacan-
cies occurs at low temperatures, and the result may be a
series of stoichiometric phases of slightly different compo-
that results from vacancy ordering (Fig. 2A), the situation
in the so-called intermediate or hexagonal pyrrhotites
is more complex. Some of these pyrrhotites may represent
ordered phases with clearly defined compositions (Fe9S10,
Fe11S12 and so on), but more complex and partial ordering
in these systems may occur.
Experimental studies of the phase relations in sulfide
systems have done much to inform our understanding
of the crystallization of sulfides from melts and high-
temperature fluids. Key binary systems that have been
studied include FeS, CuS, NiS; ternary systems include
FeCuS, FeNiS, FeZnS, and FeAsS. A few quaternary
systems are particularly important, notably the FeZnAsS
system. Details of the work done in these areas can be
found in Vaughan and Craig (1978, 1997) and Fleet (2006).
Phase diagrams derived using experimental data for the
FeCuS system at 700C and 300C (after Vaughan and
Craig 1997) are shown in Figure 3. At 700C, melts are
entirely crystallized, though two extensive solid solution
fields are noteworthy: first, the intermediate solid solution
(ISS) that includes chalcopyrite and other phases close to
CuFeS2 in composition; second, the field around bornite
(bn). Further cooling to 300C sees the shrinking of these
fields and the associated separation by solid-state diffu-
sion that produces the exsolution textures observed using
reflected light microscopy (Fig. 3). In the example illus-
trated in Figure 3, exsolved chalcopyrite (yellow) occurs as
82 A pr il 2017
 A Niccolite Pyrrhotite

Sphalerite Chalcopyrite Stannite

Figure 2 Parent and derivative crystal structures in the

C
sulfide minerals. (A) The parent structure of niccolite (NiAs) and
its derivatives troilite (FeS) and monoclinic pyrrhotite (Fe7S8).
Also shown are atoms in the basal plane of troilite with arrows
indicating atom movements when distortion occurs; the
ordered omission of iron atoms in monoclinic pyrrhotite is also
5.30A shown, with vacancies represented by squares (only the iron-
atom layers are shown). (B) The parent sphalerite (ZnS) and
derived chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and stannite (Cu2FeSnS 4) struc-
tures. (C) The sphalerite and chalcopyrite unit cells with an
octahedral site outlined, which is empty in chalcopyrite, but
within which are located the additional metal atoms in the
stuffed derivatives talnakhite (Cu9Fe8S16), mooihoekite
(Cu9Fe9S16), and haycockite (Cu4Fe 5S8). The ordered arrange-
ment of additional metals in these octahedral sites, and the
dimensions in terms of the parent sphalerite cell are also shown.
Atom colours as follows: purple Zn; yellow S; red Fe;
5.29A orange As; dark red Ni; dark blue Cu; blue/grey Sn.
Mooihoekite Adapted from Craig and Vaughan (1990).
Chalcopyrite Haycockite

Table 1 SULFIDE MINERAL STRUCTURAL GROUPS. After Craig and Vaughan (1978)
Disulfide group
Pyrite structure Marcasite structure Arsenopyrite structure Loellingite structure
FeS2 pyrite FeS2 marcasite FeAsS arsenopyrite CoAs2 safflorite
CoS2 cattierite FeSbS gudmundite FeAs2 loellingite
NiAs2 rammelsbergite
Galena group
PbS galena
-MnS alabandite
Sphalerite group
Sphalerite structure Derived by ordered Stuffed derivatives
-ZnS sphalerite substitution Cu9Fe8S16 talnakhite
CdS hawleyite CuFeS2 chalcopyrite Cu9Fe9S16 mooihoekite
Hg(S,Se) metacinnabar Cu2FeSnS 4 stannite Cu4Fe 5S8 haycockite
Cu2ZnSnS 4 kesterite
Wurtzite group
Wurtzite structure Composite structure Derived by ordered
-ZnS wurtzite derivatives substitution
CdS greenockite CuFe2S3 cubanite Cu3AsS 4 enargite
AgFe2S3 argentopyrite
Nickel arsenide group
NiAs structure Distorted derivatives Ordered omission derivatives
NiAs niccolite FeS troilite Fe7S8 monoclinic pyrrhotite
NiSb breithauptite CoAs modderite Fe9S10, Fe11S12 hexagonal
pyrrhotites
Thiospinel group
Thiospinel structure
Co3S 4 linnaeite
FeNi2S 4 violarite
CuCo2S 4 carrollite
Fe3S 4 greigite
Layer sulfides group
Molybdenite structure Tetragonal PbO structure Covellite structure
MoS2 molybdenite FeS mackinawite CuS covellite
WS2 tungstenite ~Cu3FeS 4 idaite
Metal excess group
Pentlandite structure Argentite structure Chalcocite structure Digenite structure Nickel sulfide structures
(Ni,Fe) 9S8 pentlandite Ag2S argentite Cu2S chalcocite Cu9S5digenite NiS millerite
Ag2S acanthite Cu5FeS 4 bornite Ni3S2 heazlewoodite
Ring or chain structure group
Stibnite structure Realgar structure Cinnabar structure
Sb2S3 stibnite As 4S 4 realgar HgS cinnabar

E lements 83 A pr il 2017
laths in host bornite (brown); the orientation of the laths
is crystallographically controlled by the bornite host. The
blue-grey phase is chalcocite, which was formed by later
alteration of the bornite.
In another example, work on the FeAsS system has
shown that the As content of arsenopyrite, when formed in
equilibrium with pyrite and pyrrhotite, varies as a function
of temperature and can be used as a geothermometer. On
the other hand, work on the FeZnS system has demon-
strated that increasing pressure reduces the iron content of
sphalerite, and this can be used, under favourable circum-
stances, as a geobarometer.
Phase relations in the CuFeS system at 700C and
Figure 3
300C. (Upper) Apart from the pure Cu, Fe, and S
end-members, at 700C, pyrite (py) is a stable phase and pyrrhotite
(po) has a small area of solid solution coloured blue. There are two
large fields of solid solution (also coloured blue), one centred
around bornite (bn) and the other at the so-called intermediate
solid solution (iss), which centres around chalcopyrite and related
minerals. (Middle) On cooling to 300C, all three solid solution
fields decrease in area. New phases now stable are covellite (cv),
chalcocite (cc) and idaite (id). Chalcopyrite (ccp) exsolves from the
iss as it shrinks on cooling. (Lower) A reflected light microscopy
image (width of field = 900 m) showing crystallographically
oriented chalcopyrite laths (yellow) now hosted by bornite (brown).
The blue-grey areas are chalcocite alteration of the bornite. The
sulfides are in a silicate mineral host and the sample is typical of a
porphyry copper deposit (see Table 2).
E lements
Surface Chemistry
Sulfide surface chemistry is particularly important because
of its relevance to the oxidation and breakdown of sulfide
minerals and to the processing of mined ores using froth
flotation or leaching. Investigations using spectroscopic
and imaging studies of pristine surfaces in ultra-high
vacuum (UHV) conditions have provided information on
structure and reactivity at an atomic resolution. Micron-
scale studies have investigated reacted surfaces and reaction
products. Comprehensive reviews are provided by Rosso
and Vaughan (2006a, b).
The most studied sulfide with respect to surface chemistry
is pyrite. Pyrites major surface crystallographic planes
are (100), (111), (110) and (210), with the (100) surface
considered the most stable. At the (100) surface, a complex
microtopography has been observed in UHV, defined by
flat, stepped terraces, commonly with a high step density
(Rosso et al. 1999) (Fig. 4A, B). Spectroscopic studies of this
surface in vacuum indicate that, upon cleavage, disulfide
bonds break to form monosulfide species (Nesbitt et al.
1998; Schaufu et al. 1998). The redox chemistry of pyrite
in aqueous solution involves further complexities. Rimstidt
and Vaughan (2003) note that oxidation of a disulfide,
such as pyrite, to release sulfate requires transfer of seven
electrons and, hence, up to seven elementary reaction steps.
Furthermore, pyrite is a semiconductor, so the reactions are
electrochemical in nature. This electrochemical reaction
may involve three distinct steps: (1) cathodic reaction, (2)
electron transport, and (3) anodic reaction. The cathodic
reaction is probably the rate-determining step. The rate of
pyrite oxidation may, thus, depend on the concentration
of O2 or an oxidant such as Fe3+.
Sulfides such as monoclinic pyrrhotite (Fe7S 8 ) also have
complex surfaces. Superstructures within the pyrrhotite
family arise from vacancy ordering in layers parallel to the
basal plane (Fig. 2A). In the most Fe-deficient end-member,
Fe vacancies occur in every other Fe atom layer and in
alternate rows within that layer; in every S atom layer,
one in four S atoms relaxes into an Fe vacancy. The (001)
surface of monoclinic pyrrhotite was observed by scanning
tunneling microscopy to comprise flat terraces separated by
steps ~2.8 in height (Fig. 4C), which is one quarter of the
unit cell in the c direction, or the separation between two
consecutive Fe or S layers (Becker et al. 1997). Such complex
surfaces then give rise to different oxidation mechanisms.
Due to the deficiency in Fe atoms at the pyrrhotite surface,
oxidation proceeds via the formation of a sulfur-rich layer
(Chirita and Rimstidt 2014), whereas for the Fe-rich surface
layers of pyrite, ferric oxyhydroxide forms during the initial
oxidation.
There is significant environmental relevance in under-
standing the reactions at the surface of arsenopyrite during
aqueous oxidation (see Corkhill and Vaughan 2009). Like
pyrite oxidation, these are complex, multistage electro-
chemical reactions. Spectroscopic studies (Schaufuss et al.
2000; Corkhill et al. 2008) have shown that oxidation
of As proceeds via a series of one-electron transfer steps,
from As1 to As5+, with S oxidation considered as a 7-step
reaction, transforming disulfide (S2) to sulfate sulfur (S6+).
Oxidation products, including ferric-(oxy)hydroxides, form
an oxidized surface layer that is controlled by diffusion
of species from the bulk mineral (Schaufuss et al. 2000;
Costa et al. 2002). Oxidative leaching of arsenopyrite in
the presence of common acid mine drainage bacteria (e.g.
Leptospirillum ferrooxidans) greatly enhances the release of
As from the surface when compared to abiotic dissolution.
The mechanisms were a combination of direct leaching, as
84 A pr il 2017
 Images of sulfide
A C Figure 4
surface structures.
(A) Scanning tunneling micro-
scope (STM) observation of
large stepped (100) pyrite
(FeS2) terraces in the <10>
direction. (B) Step terraces on
pyrite commonly present at a
high step density. After Rosso
et al. (1999). (C) STM images
of monoclinic pyrrhotite
(Fe7S8), showing ~2.8 step
height and triangles of groups
of three S atoms in alterate
directions of orientation on
neighbouring layers across the
2.8 step. After Becker et al.
(1997). (D) Bacterial leach pits
on the surface of arsenopyrite
(FeAsS) reacted in the presence
B of the acid mine drainage
bacterium Leptospirillum ferro-
oxidans, which were found
below a layer of (E) extracel-
lular polymeric substance,
hypothesised to act as a dual
direct and indirect oxidation
mechanism for enhanced
arsenic release. Figures 4D and
4E after Corkhill et al. (2008).

D E

evidenced from cell-shaped etch pits (Fig. 4D), and indirect
dissolution, through cycling of Fe2+ within a thick layer of
extra-cellular polymeric substances (Fig. 4E).
The uptake of metal ions by sulfide surfaces is an impor-
tant process in the transport and mobility of metals in
the subsurface, in ore formation, and on the mobility of
contaminants and other pollutants. Again, pyrite is the
most studied phase, along with the readily studied galena
cleavage surface and the environmentally important
mackinawite (Rosso and Vaughan 2006b). Investigation
of the sorption of heavy metals (e.g. As, Mo, Hg) and radio-
nuclides (U, Tc) by pyrite surfaces has identified a number
of complex reactions that lead to sorption. For example,
in the sorption of Cd 2+, surface reconstruction and dispro-
portionation occurs, leaving a mixture of sulfide and oxide
products (Bostick et al. 2000). The problematic radionu-
clide 99 Tc was found sorbed to framboidal pyrite that was
present in a clay formation that itself was used as host rock
for the geological disposal of nuclear waste. The mecha-
nism in this case was via oxidationreduction, whereby
Tc(IV)sulfur-type phases were formed (Bruggeman et al.
2007).
PARAGENESIS OF SULFIDES
Sulfides in Ore Deposits
Table 2 shows the main types of ore deposits that contain
significant amounts of sulfide minerals, their major ore
minerals, the metals extracted from them, and some
specific examples (see Cox and Singer 1987; Craig and
Vaughan 1990, 1994). Pyrite is abundant in nearly all of
these deposits. Notable exceptions are those ores found
in association with intrusive ultramafic and mafic rocks,
particularly the so-called sulfide nickel deposits, where the
dominant sulfide mineral is pyrrhotite and it is associated
with pentlandite and chalcopyrite. These latter minerals
are regarded as having formed via crystallization from
an immiscible sulfide melt that separated from the main
silicate melt following injection into the country rock.
In the Bushveld Igneous Complex (South Africa), the
dominant sulfides are pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalco-
pyrite. Crucially, from an economic perspective, some
horizons, notably the Merensky Reef, are also enriched
in platinum group minerals.
Pyrite is the dominant sulfide in porphyry copper deposits,
though it is chalcopyrite that is the most important ore
mineral, along with bornite and various binary copper
sulfides. In the related porphyry molybdenum deposits, it is
molybdenite that dominates. The sulfides in such deposits
occur as veinlets or disseminated grains in host intrusions.

E lements 85 A pr il 2017
 Table 2 THE MAJOR TYPES OF SULFIDE ORE DEPOSITS (modified after Cox and Singer 1987; Craig and Vaughan 1990)
Type Major Ore Minerals* Metals Extracted Examples
Ores related to mafic and ultramafic intrusions
Sulfide nickel deposits po, pn, py, cpy, viol Ni, Cu, Co, PGM Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Merensky reef platinum po, pn, cpy Ni, Cu, PGM Merensky Reef, RSA
Ores related to felsic intrusive rocks
Tin and tungsten skarns py, cass, sph, cpy, wf Sn, W Pine Creek, CA, USA
Zinclead skarns py, sph, gn Zn, Pb Ban Ban, Australia
Copper skarns py, cpy Cu, Au Carr Fork, Utah, USA
Porphyry copper/molybdenum py, cpy, bn, mbd Cu, Mo, Au Bingham Canyon, Utah; USA
Climax, CO, USA
Polymetallic veins py, cpy, gn, sph, ttd Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag Camsell River, NWT, Canada
High sulfidation ores py, enar, cov, ten, Au Cu, Au, Ag Summitville, CO, USA
Ores related to marine mafic extrusive rocks
Cyprus-type massive sulfides py, cpy Cu Cyprus
Besshi-type massive sulfides py, cpy, sph, gn Cu, Pb, Zn Japan
Ores related to subaerial felsic to mafic extrusive rocks
Creede-type epithermal veins py, sph, gn, cpy, ttd, asp Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Au Creede, CO, USA
Ores related to marine felsic to mafic extrusive rocks
Kuroko-type py, cpy, gn, sph, ttd, asp Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, Au Japan
Ores in clastic sedimentary rocks
Quartz pebble Ugold py, uran, gold Au, U Witwatersrand, RSA
Sandstone-hosted leadzinc py, sph, gn Pb, Zn, Cd Laisvall, Sweden
Sedimentary py, sph, gn, cpy, asp, ttd, po Cu, Pb, Zn, Au, Ag Sullivan, BC, Canada
exhalative leadzinc Tynagh, Ireland
Ores in carbonate rocks
Mississippi Valley type py, gn, sph Zn, Pb, Cd, Ga, Ge Missouri, USA

*A bbreviations used are as follows: asparsenopyrite, Augold, bnbornite, casscassiterite, covcovellite, cpychalcopyrite, enar
enargite, gngalena, mbdmolybdenite, PGMplatinum group minerals, pnpentlandite, popyrrhotite, pypyrite, sphsphalerite, ten
tennantite, ttdtetrahedrite, uranuraninite, violviolarite, wfwolframite

Pyrite, along with sphalerite, galena or chalcopyrite, also to a lesser extent, other sulfides, such as marcasite (FeS2 ),
occurs in large masses in the skarn deposits formed by are minor components in coals and accessory minerals in
contact metamorphism, as a major phase in many hydro- black shales.
thermal vein deposits, and in those deposits that can be
broadly described as volcanogenic. Included in this latter Biogenic Formation of Sulfides
group are ores that occur in thick volcanic sequences, such Sulfide minerals can also form through the activities of a
as the Kuroko-type deposits of Japan in which the black group of bacteria known as dissimilatory sulfate-reducing
ore contains irregular masses of galena intergrown with prokaryotes (SRP) (see Rickard et al. 2017 this issue). The
sphalerite, chalcopyrite and pyrite.
In the Besshi-type deposits, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphal-
erite and galena are found in predominantly sedimentary SO42- Organic matter
sequences. Sulfide ores in volcano-sedimentary sequences, Bacterial ial Iron-bearing
such as those associated with ophiolite complexes (e.g. the ter minerals
sulphate b ac
Troodos Complex in Cyprus) are dominated by pyrite and l & on
reduction ca cti
chalcopyrite. Our understanding of the formation of such e mi edu
Ch on r
deposits has been revolutionized by the study of present- ir
day volcanic and hydrothermal activity on the seafloor.
H2S Fe2+
Disseminated to massive stratiform sulfide ores are often
conformable within sedimentary sequences, grading into polysulphides
volcanic deposits of the kind discussed above. Pyrite again +
dominates the sulfide mineralogy in deposits such as Sx- FeHS (FeS)x
complexes clusters
those of the Copperbelt of Zambia, which have a range of
copperiron sulfides (chalcopyrite, bornite), copper sulfides +Fe2
+

(chalcocite, covellite) and significant amounts of cobalt in ?

Nucleation on
cobaltian pyrite and carrollite (CuCo2 S 4). biological surfaces
In ores associated with sedimentary rocks, sulfides (galena, FeS2 amorphous FeS
+O2
(poorly ordered mackinawite) Fe3S4
sphalerite, pyrite) are major phases in the leadzincbarite pyrite
FeS mackinawite greigite
fluorite ores which occur mainly in limestones, most
famously in the Mississippi Valley region (USA). Pyrite and
various copper sulfides occur in the vanadiumcopper ores
that are associated with sandstones in the Colorado Plateau
(USA), and in the golduranium deposits associated with Figure 5 The pathways leading directly to the formation of
conglomerates in Witwatersrand (South Africa). Pyrite and, pyrite or other iron sulfides (mackinawite and greigite)
in the sedimentary environment. Information from Berner (1984),
Lennie and Vaughan (1996) and Rickard and Morse (2005).

E lements 86 A pr il 2017
SRP occur in anaerobic environments that include lakes,
swamps, soils and marine sediments. As part of their
metabolic processes, these organisms reduce sulfate ions to
sulfide which can react with any available dissolved metal
ions to form highly insoluble sulfides. Other organisms
may contribute to these processes through the microbial
reduction of metals, particularly iron. Iron sulfide minerals
generated in this way are ubiquitous in modern anoxic
(particularly marine) sediments, and the pathways leading
to their formation are illustrated in Figure 5. When the
sulfide produced by SRP reacts with Fe2+, a very fine particle
black precipitate of poorly crystalline mackinawite (FeS) or
a mixture of mackinawite and greigite (Fe3S 4) is formed.
These iron minerals are metastable and, with time, trans-
form to pyrite. Three possible pathways for this transfor-
mation have been suggested (Fig. 5):
(1) FeS oxidation by a polysulfide form chains which can align with the Earths magnetic
FeS + S n2 FeS2 + S n12
(2) FeS oxidation by H2 S
FeS + H2 S FeS2 + H2
(3) Conversion via a greigite phase
4FeS + O2 + 2H + Fe3S 4 + Fe2+ + H2O
Fe3S 4 + 2H + 2FeS2 + Fe2+ + H2
Iron sulfide (FeS) nanoparticles produced using SRP have
a primary size of 12 nm; however, they are not stable
and transform into highly crystalline nanorods with the
structure of mackinawite within 48 hours (Hochella, pers
comm). Xu et al. (2016) have shown that ZnS nanocrystals
formed by SRP are distinctive from their abiogenic counter-
parts in morphology, crystal size, structural defects, disso-
lution behaviour and presence of the wurtzite form of ZnS.
Some organisms have evolved so as to synthesize sulfides
for a particular biological function. One example is a
deep-sea snail found around ocean floor hydrothermal
vents, where parts of this animals foot are covered by
sulfide (pyrite and greigite) scales for structural support and
protection against predators. Because of its magnetic (ferro-
magnetic) properties, greigite is also synthesized by certain
magnetotactic bacteria. Here, intracellular greigite crystals
field to enable the organism to find its optimal position
in its environment. The subject of sulfides in biosystems
has been reviewed by Psfai and Dunin-Borkowski (2006).
A great deal is now known about the compositions, crystal
structures, phase relations and parageneses of sulfide
minerals. But there is still much work to be done on their
surface chemistry, surface reactivity, biogeochemistry and,
in particular, in the study of sulfide nanoparticles.

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E lements 87 A pr il 2017
 Magmatic Sulfide Ore Deposits
Stephen J. Barnes1, David A. Holwell2, and Margaux Le Vaillant1
1811-5209/17/0013-0089$2.50DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.89
M
agmatic sulfide ore deposits are products of natural smelting:
concentration of immiscible sulfide liquid (matte), enriched in
chalcophile elements, derived from silicate magmas (slags). Sulfide
ore deposits occupy a spectrum from accumulated pools of matte within small
igneous intrusions or lava flows, mined primarily for Ni and Cu, to stratiform
layers of weakly disseminated sulfides within large maficultramafic intru-
sions, mined for platinum-group elements. One of the worlds most valuable
deposits, the Platreef in the Bushveld Complex (South Africa) has aspects of
both of these end members. Natural matte compositions vary widely between
and within deposits, and these compositions are controlled largely by the
relative volumes of matte and slag that interact with one another.
Keywords : nickel, sulfide, platinum, layered intrusions, large igneous provinces,
magma, igneous petrology
INTRODUCTION
Magmatic sulfide deposits are natures smelters. By the
same process that has been used since prehistoric times
to extract metals from ores, magmatic sulfide ores form
by the interaction between immiscible sulfideoxide
liquids (mattes) with silicate magmas (slags). Scavenging
of chalcophile elements Ni, Cu, Au and the platinum-
group elements (PGEs) and the accumulation of the matte
component (Fig. 1) has produced some of the worlds most
valuable economic metal concentrations (Naldrett 2004).
These currently account for ~56% of the worlds Ni produc-
tion and over 96% of Pt, Pd and the other PGE production
(Mudd and Jowitt 2014).
Magmatic Sulfide Deposit Settings
On a deposit scale, magmatic sulfide accumulations are
found in a variety of host igneous rock bodies. Broadly,
they fall into two major categories: sulfide-rich, exploited
primarily for Ni and Cu; and sulfide-poor (typically less
than 5% sulfide), dominated by the platinum-group
elements (PGEs) and Au.
Sulfide-rich deposits dominated by NiCu can be catego-
rized into three types:
1. Sulfide-rich accumulations in small mafic or mafic
ultramafic intrusions, (Figs. 1A, B), usually identifiable
as magma conduits (Lightfoot and Evans-Lamswood
2015) and exploited mostly for Ni, Cu and Co.
1 CSIRO Mineral Resources
26 Dick Perry Avenue
Kensington WA 6151, Australia
E-mail Steve.Barnes@csiro.au Margaux.Levaillant@csiro.au
2 Department of Geology
University of Leicester
Leicester, LE1 7RH, United Kingdom
E-mail: dah29@le.ac.uk
E lements , V ol . 13, pp. 8995 89
Important examples include
Voiseys Bay (Canada), Jinchuan
(China) and the Norilsk-Talnakh
deposits of Siberia (Russia). The
PGEs are minor by-products,
with the notable exception of the
Norilsk-Talnakh ores where PGEs
are unusually abundant.
2. Accumulations of sulfide in
komatiites, such as the Kambalda
and Perseverance deposits in
Australia (Barnes 2006), or in
ferropicrites, such as the Pechenga
deposits in Russia (Hanski et al.
2011). Deposits are hosted in
lava flows (F ig. 2A) or shallow
subvolcanic intrusions. Exploited
dominantly for Ni only.
3. Sulfide accumulation beneath an impact-generated
crustal melt sheet: the unique example of the Sudbury
NiCuPGE ores (Keays and Lightfoot 2004).
Sulfide-poor deposits dominated by PGEs can be catego-
rized into two types:
1. Stratiform accumulations with a few percent dissemi-
nated sulfide in cumulates within large layered mafic
ultramafic intrusions, including PGE-enriched reefs
(Naldrett et al. 2008). Such deposits are typically
exploited for PGEs with by-product Ni, Cu and Co.
They generally occur as remarkably thin and persistent
layers. The best-known example is the Merensky Reef
of the Bushveld Complex (Fig. 1C). This exceptional
layer is commonly only a few tens of centimetres thick
but extends continuously for over 400 km.
2. Stratabound sulfide disseminations, commonly
PGE-rich, in the marginal rocks of large layered
intrusions. An example is the Platreef of the Bushveld
Complex (McDonald and Holwell 2011).
The Form of Ore-Hosting Magma Bodies
Stratiform reef-style PGE deposits are exclusively hosted
within large sill-like or boat-shaped layered maficultra-
mafic intrusions, usually several kilometres thick. But there
is a much greater diversity of form in the magma bodies that
host NiCu-dominant, sulfide-rich orebodies (Fig. 2). These
latter types all represent the products of magma flowing
through restricted conduits or channels, leaving behind an
accumulated residue of sulfide liquid and cumulus silicate
minerals. These conduits can be feeder tubes or channels
within extensive komatiite lava-flow fields (Lesher 1989;
Barnes 2006) (Fig. 2A), or feeders to large igneous province
volcanism in the form of silldike combinations (Fig. 2C) or
tube-like conduits (Figs. 2D, E) (Barnes et al. 2016; Lightfoot
A pr il 2017
 AA. Kambalda Type -
A
A komatiite lava flows
Flow top
M$ Olivine-rich channel fill
Komatiite
Sediment
Sulfide orebody -
matrix/disseminated
Sulfide orebody -
massive ore
Xen Basalt

Pyritic layer Shale 0 100 m

5 cm
BB. Mirabela Type
- funnel/boat
B
B Hnf
Gabbro, gabbronorite
Mineralization (disseminated)
Pyroxenite
Dunite
0 ~1 km

CC. Eagle/Kalatongke Type -

Troc Sul elongated funnel,
flared dyke
DD. Nebo-Babel (Limoeiro) Type -
Plg
tubular chonolith Gabbro(norite), Troctolite
Mineralization

0 ~1 km

Hnf

0 ~200 m
2 cm
Disseminated ore

C
C Matrix ore
(Semi-) Massive ore
MelN
Olivine gabbro, troctolite, peridotite
Gabbro, dolerite
Chr

EE. Norilsk (Nkomati) Type -

chonolith/elongate sill
D
MelN
Olivine gabbro, troctolite, peridotite
~ 100-200 m
Gabbro, dolerite

Massive ore
Disseminated ore
Cu-PGE breccia ore ~200-400 m
10 cm Chr
Chr 0
Anth SJBdbt008

Field characteristics of magmatic NiCuplatinum Characteristic geometries of magmatic bodies that

Figure 1
group element (PGE) sulfide ores. (A) Massive sulfide
(M$) from the Eagle deposit (Michigan, USA) showing assimilation
of sulfidic black shale. Note narrow zone of partially molten shale
xenoliths (Xen) just above contact, and presence of a band of
sedimentary pyrite within the black shale providing a source of
sulfur for the orebody. (B) Sulfide-matrix ore breccia from the
Voiseys Bay deposit (Labrador, Canada). Irregular-shaped xenoliths
of country rock hornfels (Hnf) and troctolite (Troc) fragments of
host intrusion within sulfide (Sul) also containing laths of plagio-
clase (Plg). (C) Underground exposure of the Merensky Reef,
Bushveld Igneous Complex (South Africa). Layer of coarse
melanorite (MelN) with disseminated sulfides between two thin
chromite seams (Chr), with anorthosite (Anth) below and
melanorite above. Photo : R ais L atypov. Inset (D), closeup of cut slab
showing disseminated interstitial sulfides (arrowed).
Figure 2
host NiCu-platinum group element (PGE) mineraliza-
tion, showing relationship of ore distribution to shape of intrusion
or lava flow, as appropriate. (A) Komatiite flow-hosted style, named
after Kambalda (Western Australia). (B) Stratiform disseminated
sulfide layer within funnel- or boat-shaped layered intrusion, as at
Fazenda Mirabela (Brazil) disseminated layer up to 100 m thick,
mined for Ni and Cuand Munni Munni (Australia) 5m layer,
sub-ore grade PGE. (C) Silldike transition or elongate funnel style,
named after the Eagle deposit (Michigan, USA) and the Kalatongke
mine (Inner Mongolia, China). (D) Subhorizontal tube chonolith,
named after Nebo-Babel (Canada) and Limoeiro (Brazil).
(E)Subhorizontal fat ski chonolith, named after Norilsk (Russia)
and Nkomati (South Africa). Modified from Barnes et al. (2015).

and Evans-Lamswood 2015). Almost all examples show
much larger proportions of sulfide and cumulus silicate
minerals (typically olivine) within the flow or intrusion
than could have been dissolved in a volume of magma
equal to that of the host body. This suggests that magma
flowed through the conduit leaving crystals and sulfide
liquid behind. Commonly, there is evidence of thermal
or thermomechanical erosion, in the form of transgressive
footwall troughs beneath komatiite flows (Fig. 2A), or in
tube-like or ski-like intrusions (chonoliths) that truncate
layering within the country rock and often contain
partially digested wall-rock fragments (Figs. 2D, E). Such
host bodies are usually very small compared to the total
volume of magmatism in the province: in the case of the
ore-hosting intrusions of the Norilsk-Talnakh camp, it is
about 1 millionth the total volume of the Siberian Trap
lavas.
Tectonic Setting
Magmatic sulfide ore deposits generally occur in intracra-
tonic settings, commonly associated with mantle plume
activity. Sulfide-rich Ni Cu-dominant deposits are
commonly located close to the margins of ancient Archean

E lements 90 A pr il 2017
 cratonic blocks. This is thought to be the result of plume
impingement at the base of the craton, with consequent
channeling of the magmas into major crustal fault systems
around the margins (Begg et al. 2010). A number of NiCu
deposits, including those of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt
in China, appear to be associated with convergent tectonics
and subduction processes rather than with plumes (Li et
al. 2012). PGE-dominant deposits in layered intrusions are
more commonly located in the interiors of stable cratons.
THE NATURE OF MAGMATIC SULFIDE ORES
Mineralogy
Magmatic sulfide ores range in sulfide contents from less
than a tenth of a percent in some stratiform PGE ores to
100% sulfide in some NiCu deposits (Fig. 1). Almost all
unaltered magmatic sulfide ores, regardless of sulfide mode,
have a characteristic assemblage of pyrrhotitepentlandite
chalcopyriteplatinum-group minerals (PGM). This assem-
blage formed from the cooling and crystallization of a
magma-derived sulfide matte. Natural mattes, consisting
predominantly of Fe, Ni, Cu and S, fractionate to form a
sequence of phases on cooling. Below ~1,100C, (Ni,Fe)S
monosulfide solid solution crystallizes to leave a Cu-rich
sulfide liquid enriched in Pt, Pd and semi-metals (e.g. Te,
Bi, As). At ~900C, the Cu-rich liquid crystallizes to inter-
mediate solid solution (approximately CuFeS2 ) to leave a
residual melt progressively enriched in Pt, Pd and semi-
metals (Li et al. 1996). This fractionation process takes
place on scales from that of individual centimetre-size
globules (Fig. 3) to entire orebodies, e.g. the supergiant
CuPGE rich Oktyabrysky orebody at Talnakh in Siberia
(Naldrett 2004). On further cooling to below ~700C,
monosulfide solid solution breaks down to pyrrhotite and
pentlandite (Fig. 3, Fig. 4E), intermediate solid solution
to chalcopyrite, and the low-T residual liquid crystallizes
Pt- and Pd tellurides, bismuthotellurides and arsenides.
The common co-occurrence of magnetite arises from the
ability of mattes to also dissolve substantial amounts of
FeO (Naldrett 2004).
1.5 mm
Pyrrhotite Chalcopyrite Pentlandite Olivine
A differentiated sulfide liquid globule from the Bear
Figure 3
Creek open pit of the Norilsk-1 intrusion (Russia). The
Cu-rich upper zone (orange) is the crystallization product of a
residual liquid; the lower part of the globule is composed of
multiple stages of pentlandite (blue) exsolution from pyrrhotite
(green) that was originally formed as a monosulfide solid solution
(Fe,Ni)S cumulus phase.
E lements
Sulfide Ore Textures and Evidence for
Magmatic Origins
Textural relationships between sulfides and their host
silicates are key evidence for their origin (Fig. 4). One of
the critical textures, from an historical point of view, is
that interpreted by Hawley (1962) as a frozen emulsion of
immiscible silicate and sulfide liquids (Fig. 4A). Hawleys
was one of the first papers to argue persuasively for the
primary magmatic origin of the Sudbury ores. Other
diagnostic magmatic features are (1) net- or matrix
textures (Fig. 4B), where sulfides form a continuous 3-D
matrix enclosing cumulus silicates; (2) interspinifex ores
in komatiites (Fig.4C), where sulfide occupies the original
spaces between dendritic olivine plates (Barnes et al. 2017);
(3) sub-spherical globular ores, sometime associated with
infilled vesicles (Le Vaillant et al. 2017) (Fig. 4D); (4) breccia
textures, where sulfide liquid has percolated through the
pore space between wall rock clasts in an intrusion breccia
(Fig. 1B).
The other strong line of evidence for magmatic, as opposed
to hydrothermal, origins is in the ore chemistry, discussed
further below. The suite of elements concentrated in these
ores (Ni, Cu, Fe, Se, PGEs) are exactly those that are known
from experimental evidence to partition strongly into
immiscible sulfide liquids. Other chalcophile elements,
such as Zn, Pb and Sn, are present only in trace propor-
tions in magmatic sulfide ores, consistent again with their
known low partition coefficients (Naldrett 2004).
ORE-FORMING PROCESSES
The great majority of magmatic sulfide deposits form from
much the same sequence of three processes: 1) Generation
of a sulfidesilicate liquid emulsion; 2) Physical separation
of a mixture of sulfide liquid droplets and cumulus silicate
minerals from this emulsion; 3) Deposition and coales-
cence of sulfide liquid in specific sites. In some cases, the
final disposition of the ores is influenced by post-deposi-
tion migration of coalesced sulfide liquid pools, driven
by the balance between surface tension and gravitational
forces (Barnes et al. 2017). Tectonic deformation can lead
to further modifications due to the differential rheology
of solid sulfides and silicates during strain.
Generation of Sulfide Liquids
This fundamental process can happen by a variety of
mechanisms.
Partial Melting of Sulfide-Bearing Mantle
Sulfide liquid can be generated at source where the degree
of partial melting is low enough to produce melting of the
sulfide component of the source but the sulfide liquid does
not completely dissolve in the silicate partial melt. The S
content of silicate magmas in equilibrium with matte (S
content at sulfide liquid saturation, or SCSS) increases with
decreasing pressure such that sulfide-saturated magmas
generated in the mantle are likely to be undersaturated
on arrival in the upper crust (Edmonds and Mather 2017
this issue).
Fractional Crystallization of Silicate Magma
Sulfur behaves as an incompatible element under sulfide-
undersaturated conditions. Thus, fractional crystallization
causes S content to increase. Sulfide liquation (i.e. nucle-
ation and growth of immiscible sulfide liquid droplets)
occurs once the S content of the magma exceeds the
SCSS, which itself decreases with decreasing tempera-
ture and Fe content. Within cumulate sequences, the first
91 A pr il 2017
 A S Fe Ca B C
Sil
Sil
Ol
Po Pn Po+Pn
2 mm
2 cm
Opx
D E
Ol
Ol+Plg+Cpx
Cpy
Po+Pn
1 cm
Five diagnostic textures of magmatic sulfidesilicate
Figure 4
intergrowths, (A) Emulsion textures showing mixtures
of sulfide and silicate (Sil) quenched liquids. From the Frood
deposit, Sudbury (Canada). (B)Net-textured or matrix ore,
showing chains and clusters of olivine grains in a continuous matrix
of pyrrhotite (Po) and pentlandite (Pn). From the Kattiniq deposit
(Canada). (C)Interspinifex oresulfide liquid (Sul) penetrating
between original spinifex olivine plates (blue/green) at the top of
apartially eroded komatiite flow. From Kambalda (Australia).
(D)Globular ores showing flattened, differentiated sulfide globules
onset of sulfide liquid saturation can generate extremely
PGE-enriched mattes, as in the Platinova Reef of the
Skaergaard intrusion (Greenland) (Nielsen et al. 2015).
Mixing of Two Magmas Both of which are
at or close to Sulfide-Liquid Saturation
This mechanism of mixing two magmas both of which
are at or close to sulfide-liquid saturation can give rise to
a hybrid magma with transient sulfide supersaturation.
This process has been invoked to explain the origin of
PGE reefs associated with major magma influxes in large
chambers, such as the Merensky Reef of the Bushveld
Complex (Campbell et al. 1983).
Incorporation of External Crustal S,
Giving Rise to Sulfide Xenomelts
Addition of external S is regarded as the dominant process
in the formation of all komatiite-hosted ores (Lesher 1989)
and in the great majority of intrusion-hosted deposits
(Ripley and Li 2013). Crustal rocks can have S isotope and
S/Se ratio signatures that are very distinct from mantle S.
Therefore, any sulfide in an orebody that has a contribution
from crustal sources can be traced using their S isotope
and S/Se compositions. Examples do exist of deposits
with mantle-like S isotope signatures: most notably, the
E lements
Po+Pn Po+Pn
Ol+Plg+Cpx
Sil
2 cm S Fe Si
Pn
Cpy
Po
Xen
Pn
1 cm
Ni Cu S
in a matrix of fine grained olivine (Ol) orthocumulate with intersti-
tial plagioclase (Plg) and clinopyroxene (Cpx). Globules are capped
by former vapour bubbles (arrowed) now infilled by fine-grained
silicate phases (Le Vaillant et al., 2017). From the Norilsk-1 intru-
sion (Russia). (E) Coarse grained loop texture formed by grain
boundary exsolution of pentlandite (Pn) from pyrrhotite (Po), in
semi-massive ore with silicate xenoliths (Xen) and minor chalcopy-
rite (Cpy). From the Nova deposit, Western Australia. Note that (A),
(C) and (E) are multi-element microbeam XRF maps.
giant Jinchuan deposit (China) (Ripley et al. 2005). But
it is likely that, in such cases, extensive equilibration of
sulfide with much larger volumes of silicate melt (see
below) has caused the final signature to be dominated by
the mantle S component. A variety of mechanisms exist for
incorporating external S, but direct melting of physically
incorporated sulfidic country-rock fragments (xenoliths) to
form sulfide xenomelts is the fastest and most effective
(Robertson et al. 2015).
COMPOSITION OF MAGMATIC
SULFIDEORES
Variability in Ni and Cu Content
The first-order variability in Ni and Cu tenors (tenor =
concentration of the metal in 100% sulfide) is related to the
composition of the host rocks (Fig. 5A). There is a decrease
in the Ni:Cu ratio from values around 20:1 in komatiites,
4:1 in ores associated with komatiitic basalts, and between
0.5:1 to 5:1 in most deposits (both NiCu sulfide-rich
type, and reef-style low sulfide PGE type) associated with
mafic magmas. Lower Ni:Cu ratios are found in ores where
there has been extensive sulfide liquid fractionation, as at
Norilsk-Talnakh, the Sudbury footwall veins (Naldrett et al.
1997) and in disseminated ores associated with advanced
fractionation of tholeiitic mafic magmas.
92 A pr il 2017
 PN 1 Controls on Metal Tenors
u=
A
A Ni/
C
Magma Composition
R=100,000
.25
0 The variability in Ni/Cu shown in Figure 5A arises largely
10 C u=
Ni/ PR 5 from parent magma compositions. Values of Ni/Cu in
Cu in 100% sulfide wt %

ores correspond reasonably well with those in the parent

R=500 s magmas themselves (Barnes and Lightfoot 2005), which
s alt
Ba for mafic host magmas range from high-Mg basalts through
R=100,000
u ry .
db om 20 to fractionated tholeiites. Nickel becomes depleted in more
Su K
evolved magmas due to olivine crystallization, whereas
R=100
1 Cu becomes enriched due to incompatibility in the major
fic R=1000 crystallizing silicate phases. Hence, primitive high-T
Ma es
it komatiites have very high Ni and low Cu compared with
ati more fractionated mafic magmas that attain progressively
K om
R=100 lower Ni/Cu. This contrast is reflected in sulfide composi-
tions (Fig. 5A). The most extreme Cu-rich example is the
R=50 Cu vs Ni Platinova Reef (PN in Fig. 5) of the Skaergaard Intrusion
0.1 (Nielsen et al. 2015). Here, sulfide saturation occurred
1 10 very late in the crystallization history, such that the more
Ni in 100% sulfide wt %
Layered intrusion compatible Ni had already been depleted from the melt,
Mafic R factor model Kom R factor model
Reef sulfides whereas the more incompatible Cu was strongly enriched.
10,000 PN In this case, the magma attained saturation in CuFe sulfide
B
B liquid rather than the typical FeNi-dominated sulfide.

1000 R=100,000 The PGE contents of silicate melts are controlled through
R=100,000 the variable degree of igneous compatibility of the different
100 PGEs: moderately compatible in the case of Ir, Os and Ru,
)=
Pd in 100% sulfide ppm

100 u(
P d/C
10 pm
Pd/
Cu(
1.0
s Su
te
atii
Ko
m Mass Balance
0.1
.01
0.1
Ore compositions and bulk metal tenors (concentra-
Figure 5
tion of Cu, Ni and Pd in 100% sulfide) from the
complete spectrum of magmatic sulfide ore types. (A) Cu vs Ni;
(B)Pd vs. Cu. Coloured fields contain 95% of data for average bulk
compositions of individual ore deposits associated with komatiites,
mafic-parented intrusions, komatiitic basalts and the Sudbury
(Canada) impact melt sheet. Yellow field shows estimates of sulfide
tenors from various sections of the Platreef (PR). Red symbols are
individual deposit data points from PGE-rich reefs in layered mafic
intrusions including the Bushveld Complex; PN indicates approxi-
mate composition of sulfides from the Pd zone of the Platinova
Reef, Skaergaard intrusion. Curves show results of simple partition
coefficient/mass ratio (D/R) calculations (Eq. 1 in text) for model
komatiite and mafic magma starting compositions, assuming D
values of 150 and 400 for Ni in komatiite and basalt respectively;
1,000 for Cu, and 100,000 for Pd. Pd/Cu(pmn) is Pd/Cu normalised
to ratio in primitive upper mantle.
Variability in PGE Content
Platinum group element (PGE) tenors (represented in Fig.
5B by Pd) show a much wider range than those of Ni and
Cu. Platinum group element tenors range over nearly 6
orders of magnitude between the most depleted NiCu
deposits to the most enriched, reef-style ores. Within each
deposit/setting type there is a strong positive correlation
between Pt and Pd, and a weaker correlation between Pd
and Cu (Fig. 5B) and between Pd and Ni contents, particu-
larly if the reef examples are considered along with the
mafic-hosted grouping (Campbell and Naldrett 1979).
pmn
R=1000 and strongly incompatible for Pt and Pd. Superimposed on
R=10000
1
this effect is the very strong tendency of all the PGEs to
PR )=
0 C u(p
mn become strongly depleted during fractional extraction of
n) =
1
alts Pd/
s sulfide liquid, owing to their extreme chalcophile character
Ba
m. (Mungall and Brenan 2014). A further consequence of this
100 Ko R=100
y
attribute of the PGEs is their strong susceptibility to mass
r
dbu 0.1 balance effects.
)=
u(p
mn
Pd/
C
fic A major control on sulfide liquid compositions is the mass
Ma
ratio, R, of silicate to sulfide liquid that react with one
Pd vs Cu another (Campbell and Naldrett 1979). This relationship
is expressed as follows:
1 10
[Xisul Disul (1 + R)] (1)
Cu in 100% sulfide wt % Yisul =
(R + Disul)
where Yisul is the final concentration of element i in the
sulfide liquid; Xisil is the initial concentration in the silicate
liquid; Disul is the partition coefficient between sulfide and
silicate melt. Formation of magmatic sulfides is treated here
as a batch equilibrium process: a batch of sulfide liquid
forms and equilibrates with a given volume of silicate melt.
The effect of variations in R is shown on the model curves
in Figure 5. Where R for element i is very low compared
with Disul, tenors are relatively low; there is relatively little
impact of changing D on the content of i in either melt,
and tenor depends almost linearly on R. If R is large relative
to Disul, then the opposite applies: both silicate and sulfide
melt have high metal contents that increase almost linearly
with D. The effect operates in natural systems through the
wide range in the partition coefficients for the different
chalcophile metals: typically, around the low hundreds
for Ni, ~1,000 for Cu, and of the order of hundreds of
thousands for the PGEs (Kiseeva et al. 2017 this issue).
Hence, the extremely chalcophile PGEs are much more
susceptible to R factor effects than Ni and Cu, as can be
seen in the model curves in Figure 5. Nickel and Cu tenors
approach maximum values where R is greater than about
1,000, while the PGE tenors continue to increase almost
indefinitely with increasing R owing to their extreme D
values. Extremely high silicate:sulfide ratios are necessary
to produce the high PGE tenors of reef-style deposits.

E lements 93 A pr il 2017
Sulfide liquid differentiation can produce significant S, lowering the PGE tenor of the sulfides and modifying
variability in the proportion of Cu to Ni and of Pt and Pd the isotopic and PGM compositions to different degrees
to Ir, Ru and Os, and is progressively more important in depending on the country-rock lithology (McDonald and
orebodies containing initially higher Cu contents where Holwell 2011).
the melting range of the sulfide component extends to
Recent exploration in the northern limb has identified a
much lower temperatures. This effect produces dispersion
much more regularly layered sequence, with traceable strat-
at metre- to decimetre scale within orebodies and at the
iform mineralization down dip from the surface outcrop
centimetre scale in individual droplets, as seen in Figure 3.
of the Platreef, with the addition of thick underlying
But in some very large systems, differentiation is accompa-
ultramafic cumulates. This Flatreef sequence has many
nied by physical migration of residual Cu-rich liquid into
similarities to the Merensky Reef in the rest of the complex
veins and fractures. At Sudbury, this process generates very
and represents a transition from stratabound contact-type
high grade CuPGE orebodies hundreds of metres below
or marginal styles, to stratiform, reef-style mineralization.
the base of the host magma body (Naldrett et al. 1997).

THE ELEPHANT IN THE SHIELD:

CASE STUDY: THE PLATREEF
SUDBURY(CANADA)
OF SOUTH AFRICA
No review of magmatic sulfide ores could ignore the worlds
The giant layered ultramaficmafic Bushveld Igneous
largest known accumulation of magmatic ores: the extraor-
Complex (South Africa) hosts over three-quarters of the
dinary Sudbury impact structure in the southern part of
worlds PGE resources in three main deposits: the UG2
the Canadian Shield, Ontario. In this case, ore formation
chromitite, the Merensky Reef and the Platreef. The former
followed wholesale melting of almost the entire thickness
two are archetypal stratiform reef deposits, with a few
of the crust following a giant bolide impact (Mungall et
percent of PGE-rich sulfides associated with chromite and
al. 2004). Sulfide liquid segregated from the resulting
having thicknesses of a few centimetres to a few metres.
melt sheet on subsequent cooling. While many aspects
The Platreef is in the northern part of the complex and is
of Sudbury ore genesis are unique, one aspect is highly
a much thicker orebody (~10400 m) emplaced as a series
significant to understanding processes in other deposits:
of sills with stratabound sulfides present in a package
the presence of extensively mobilized veins and dikes of
of mostly pyroxenites that rest directly on Archaean
sulfide rich rocks that extend for distances of kilometres
Proterozoic country rocks (Fig. 6). It has been interpreted
below the original base of the melt sheet. These features
as the lateral equivalent of the Merensky Reef and as the
attest to the extreme physical mobility of sulfide magmas,
propagating marginal facies of the Bushveld Complex. The
or possibly sulfide-rich melt emulsions charged with rock
Platreef was probably formed as magma was squeezed out
fragments, driven by gravity into fracture systems. This
at the edges of the expanding magma chamber (Naldrett
is an important clue to the origin of late-stage injections
et al. 2008). The Platreef is likely to be the main future
of sulfide-rich breccia-textured ores, common in many
source of PGEs in the coming decades, making it one of
intrusion-hosted deposits (Barnes et al. 2016).
the most economically significant of all known magmatic
sulfide ore deposits.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The Platreef displays much complexity due to its multi-stage
Research on magmatic sulfides has made substantial
origin (McDonald and Holwell 2011). Mass independent S
advances over the five decades from the pioneering work
isotopes and S/Se ratios give evidence that sulfide satura-
of Naldrett and others, particularly in understanding
tion was initially triggered by a bulk assimilation event,
geochemical processes. But a number of fundamental
most likely of pyritic shales at depth (Penniston-Dorland et
questions remain about physical processes of ore formation.
al. 2008). Contaminated magma with a cargo of dispersed
sulfide liquid droplets was then emplaced higher in the 1. Is the addition of external S through assimilation of
crust, at which point interaction with the diverse range crustal rocks essential, and by what mechanisms does
of country rocks resulted in further addition of external this addition take place?

Block model showing a

Figure 6
schematic long section
through the Platreef and underlying
footwall lithologies of the Bushveld
Igneous Complex (South Africa), and
sections through normal westerly
dipping Platreef at the surface, with
transition to shallow-dipping Flatreef
atdepth.

E lements 94 A pr il 2017
2. How is sulfide liquid transported in magmas, in what
proportions and in what physical form? How far can
sulfide liquids be transported from the original site of
liquation to the point of deposition?
3. What is the physical process of deposition, and to what
extent is it governed by mechanical sedimentation
versus in-situ chemical deposition of sulfide liquid at
the point of nucleation?
Magmatic sulfides continue to be fascinating topics of
research, leading to advances in exploration models as
well as new insights into magmatic, and even climatic,
processes. Applications have been made to meteoritics, in
studies of the origin of planetary cores, and into processes
of metal and S transport with implications for the origin
of porphyry deposits, climate-impacting giant eruptions,
and mass extinctions (Mungall et al. 2015; Le Vaillant et
al. 2017).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Kate Kiseeva and the Elements editorial team
for the kind invitation to contribute to this volume. Anais
Pages and Angus MacFarlane reviewed a preliminary draft.
Reviews by Tony Naldrett, Ed Ripley and Vera Lorenz
greatly improved the clarity of the manuscript. SJB and
MLV acknowledge support from the CSIRO Science Leader
program. We acknowledge the many colleagues who have
contributed data and insights drawn on here.
The image in Figure 3 was collected on the X-ray Fluorescence
Mapping beamline of the Australian Synchrotron, Clayton,
Victoria, Australia. We acknowledge financial support for
this facility from the Science and Industry Endowment
Fund (SIEF).

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E lements 95 A pr il 2017
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 Sulfide Minerals in
Hydrothermal Deposits
Llus Fontbot1, Kalin Kouzmanov1, Massimo Chiaradia1,
Gleb S. Pokrovski2
1811-5209/17/0013-0097$2.50DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.97

H
ydrothermal ore deposits are large geochemical anomalies of sulfur oxidation of sulfide minerals is a
and metals in the Earths crust that have formed at <1 to ~8 km depth. major environmental concern in
many mines and after the closure
Sulfide minerals in hydrothermal deposits are the primary economic of mine sites.
source of metals used by society, which occur as major, minor and trace
Ta ble 1 and Ta ble 2 summa-
elements. Sulfides also play a key role during magmatic crystallization in rize the key features of selected
concentrating metals that subsequently may (or may not) be supplied to sulfide minerals and their hydro-
hydrothermal fluids. Precipitation of sulfides that themselves may have little thermal ore deposits, and Figure
1 illustrates the variety of sulfide
economic value, like pyrite, may trigger the deposition of more valuable metals textures in them. The amount
(e.g. Au) by destabilizing the metal-bearing sulfur complexes. We review why, (vol%) of sulfide minerals in ores
where and how sulfide minerals in hydrothermal systems precipitate. from the different deposit types
is highly variable from <1%
Keywords : hydrothermal ore deposits, sulfide minerals, fluids, metal solubility, in low-grade ores (e.g. porphyry
precipitation deposits, Fig.1A) to several 10s %
in high-grade ores [e.g. massive
INTRODUCTION sulfide and carbonate-replacement deposits (Figs. 1D, 1E)].
Hydrothermal ore deposits are the major source of metals Crosscutting and other textural relationships of sulfide
that are needed for our modern society. Magmatic crystalli- minerals, such as open-space infill (Fig. 1B) or replace-
zation generates hot aqueous fluids that migrate in the crust ment of other minerals (e.g. Figs. 1C, 1F), help researchers
and that have the potential to form hydrothermal deposits. to recognize the sequence of sulfide precipitation stages
Metals can also be transported via heated basinal brines, and to trace the evolution of ore-forming fluids.
modified meteoric water and seawater, and by metamor-
This article briefly reviews why, where and how sulfide
phic fluids. Precipitation of sulfides from hydrothermal
minerals (hereafter sulfides) precipitate in hydrothermal
fluids at temperatures typically ranging between 500C
systems. These precipitation processes are key to under-
and 100C is the major process of base-metal concentra-
standing the formation of hydrothermal ore deposits
tion that allows the metals to be mined economically.
those fascinating and critically important concentration
Sulfide minerals in hydrothermal deposits are the primary
anomalies of sulfur and metals in the Earths crust.
source of the base metals Cu, Zn, Pb and a large number
of other, lower-concentration metals that include Ag, As,
Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Ga, Ge, In, Hg, Mo, Ni, Re, Sb, Se, Sn, Te, METAL ABUNDANCE IN SULFIDES
and Tl. These metals may form their own sulfides or occur FROMHYDROTHERMAL ORE DEPOSITS
as minor or trace elements in other sulfides and sulfosalts. Sulfides in hydrothermal ore deposits are of economic
Subsequent weathering leading to oxidation of pyrite, the interest not only because of their major components, but
most abundant sulfide in hydrothermal deposits, is the also because they are the main carriers for some minor and
main process that generates acidic supergene (secondary) trace metals. Their trace-element components have gained
fluids that leach copper and other metals from the original importance in recent times because some elements Ge,
sulfide-bearing hypogene (primary) ore bodies. These Ga, In, Sn and Bi are critical for the development of new
supergene-remobilized metals may eventually precipitate technologies, everything from cell phones to renewable
in enrichment zones and increase the value of the deposit, energy. Now, in situ element analyses of sulfide minerals,
particularly copper ore deposits of initially low hypogene using LAICPMS (laser ablation inductively coupled
grade. On the other hand, some minor and trace elements plasma mass spectrometry), provide accurate, rapid and
in sulfides (e.g. As, Cd, Tl and Hg) may decrease the value low-cost multi-element data from common minerals, such
of the ore concentrate because of their deleterious environ- as pyrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena and bornite (e.g.
mental effects. Acid rock drainage caused by weathering Cook et al. 2016).
Trace elements in sulfides occur in different chemical
states, being either incorporated into the crystal structure
of the major minerals or occurring as nanoparticles of other
1 Department of Earth Sciences sulfides or sulfosalts that themselves are either homoge-
University of Geneva neously or selectively distributed in the host mineral. For
rue des Marachers 13, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland example, sphalerite from various hydrothermal deposits
Corresponding author e-mail: lluis.fontbote@unige.ch
may contain from a few ppm up to 1,000 ppm Ge, Ga, Co
2 Gosciences Environnement Toulouse, GET and Se; up to 10,000 ppm Sn, In, Cu, Ag and Sb; and even
Universit de Toulouse III, CNRS-IRD-OMP
higher values for Mn, Cd and Fe (e.g. Cook et al. 2009).
14 Av. Edouard Belin, F-31400 Toulouse, France

E lements , V ol . 13, pp. 97103 97 A pr il 2017

 A B
D E
Characteristic ore textures in some of the main types
Figure 1
of hydrothermal sulfide deposits. (A) Sulfides in stock-
work quartz veins or disseminated in the wallrock. From the
Atlantida porphyry CuAu deposit (Chile). (B) Banded sulfides as
open-space filling with gangue minerals, indicating episodic precip-
itation. From the Laki epithermal polymetallic PbZn vein deposit
(Bulgaria). (C) Sulfides associated with quartz, carbonates, and
retrograde calc-silicate skarn minerals that replace prograde skarn
pyroxene. From the Madan distal PbZn skarn deposit (Bulgaria).
(D) Sulfide minerals in the form of fine grained layers and showing
syn-sedimentary features. From the Navan sedimenthosted ZnPb
Galena can incorporate up to 1,000 ppm Sn, Cu, Cd, Se
and Te and up to 10,000 ppm Bi, Sb and Ag (e.g. George et
al. 2016). In contrast, chalcopyrite commonly has orders
of magnitude lower concentrations of most trace elements,
typically less than several 10s ppm (Sn, Ga, Sb, Te, Bi) or
100s ppm (Zn, Mn, Se, In) (George et al. 2016). Pyrite is
the most common sulfide in hydrothermal ores and large
data sets exist for porphyry, epithermal, orogenic gold,
volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) and sedimentary
rockhosted deposits (e.g. Large et al. 2014; Franchini et
al. 2015). The most abundant elements in pyrite are Co,
Ni, Cu, As and Zn, reaching >10,000 ppm levels, followed
by Se, Mo, Ag, Sb, Pb (up to 1,000 ppm) and most scarce
are Au, Bi, Sn (10s to 100s ppm).
THE ROLE OF MAGMATIC SULFIDES
AS TRAPS OR SOURCE OF METALS IN
MAGMATICHYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS
The magmatic component of the mineralizing fluids in
many high- to moderate-temperature (>500C to ~150C)
hydrothermal deposits is sourced in volcanic arcs (e.g.
porphyry, skarn, epithermal, and SnW vein deposits.
These fluids have metal budgets derived (almost) entirely
from their parental magma (Cline and Bodnar 1991). A
cooling and/or decompressing magma will saturate with
respect to an aqueous phase once it reaches the limit of
water solubility in the silicate melt, resulting in exsolu-
tion of a metal- and volatile (e.g. S, Cl, F, CO2 )-bearing
aqueous fluid phase (F ig. 2). Other physico-chemical
conditions being equal (e.g. pressure, temperature, fluid
composition, fluidmelt partition coefficients), the poten-
tial of a magma to exsolve a more-or-less metal-rich fluid
primarily depends on the initial metal concentration in
E lements
C
F
deposit (Ireland). (E) Fine grained, layered sulfides commonly
associated with barite and anhydrite. The base metal sulfides usually
postdate the Fe-sulfides. From the Rammelsberg sediment-hosted
massive sulfide deposit (Germany). (F) Pyrite and chalcopyrite
replacing the host rocks (preserving their original textures) or
locally occurring as open-space filling in late veins. From the Punta
del Cobre iron oxidecoppergold (IOCG) deposit (Chile).
Abbreviations: bar (barite); bn (bornite); carb (carbonates); cp
(chalcopyrite); gn (galena); px (pyroxene); py (pyrite); sp (sphal-
erite); qtz (quartz).
the silicate melt (Fig.2): the richer in metals the magma
is, the richer in metals will be the fluid exsolved from it.
Chalcophile metals in magmatichydrothermal systems
(e.g. Cu, Au) have a very high affinity not only for fluids
(with aqueous fluid/silicate melt partition coefficients
of ~101 to 102 ) (see Pokrovski et al. 2013), but also for
sulfide melts (sulfide/silicate melt partition coefficients of
103 to 105). If sulfide melts form during the evolution of
a magmatic system, then these tiny sulfide droplets can
nearly control the entire budget of chalcophile metals in
an evolving magma reservoir. Consequently, the timing
of sulfide melt saturation with respect to aqueous fluid
in a magma exerts a critical control on the exsolution of
metal-rich versus metal-poor aqueous fluids (Candela and
Piccoli 2005):
If aqueous fluid saturation occurs before magmatic
sulfide saturation, the exsolved fluid will be metal-rich
because it will strip metals from a metal-rich magma
(Fig. 2A).
If aqueous fluid saturation occurs after magmatic sulfide
saturation (Fig. 2B), the fluid will be generated from
a melt already depleted in chalcophile metals, which
may be unfavourable for the generation of metal-rich
magmatichydrothermal systems.
The magmatic sulfides themselves can melt and be incorpo-
rated into subsequent magmatic pulses, thereby enriching
the pulses in metals that can be later exsolved with aqueous
fluids. Magmatic recycling of sulfide-rich cumulates in the
lower crust (Chiaradia 2014) or upper mantle has been
suggested for magmatic systems associated with porphyry
deposits in collisional to post-collisional settings (e.g.
98 A pr il 2017

A extensive literature now exists on the composition of
B metal crustal abundances. Second-order processes, such as
Effects of magmatic sulfide saturation on trapping or
Figure 2
providing metals in magmatichydrothermal systems.
(A) Aqueous fluid saturation occurs before sulfide saturation in the
magma. Metal content in residual melt increases because metals are
not significantly sequestered by the crystallizing silicate oxide
minerals (a1 a3) and metals are optimally transferred to the
magmatic fluid when saturation occurs. (B) Sulfide saturation
occurs before aqueous fluid saturation in the magma. Metal
concentrations initially increase until sulfide saturation occurs
(b1b2) then sharply decrease (b3). Transfer of metals to fluid is
not optimal because significant proportions of metals have been
sequestered by sulfides. (b4) Magmatic sulfides may be destabilized
by aqueous fluids exsolved from the same magma in which sulfide
saturation previously occurred. (b5) Magmatic sulfides may be
destabilized by aqueous fluids exsolved from an underplated mafic
magma. (b6) A sulfide-undersaturated mafic magma may recycle
the sulfides and release the metals contained therein once the mafic
magma becomes saturated in an aqueous fluid.
Richards 2009). Alternatively, subsequent oxidation of
magmatic sulfides can also supply metals to aqueous fluids
(Fig. 2).
SULFUR AND METAL CONTENT
OFHYDROTHERMAL FLUIDS
In contrast to bulk salinity (NaCl+KCl+CaCl2), which is
reliably determined by microthermometry of fluid inclu-
sions, the concentrations of metals and sulfur in hydro-
thermal fluids became measurable when in situ methods
such as LAICPMS and PIXE were developed in the late
1990s. These methods can accurately analyse individual
fluid inclusions trapped in minerals during growth or during
post-growth deformation, providing quantitative determi-
nations of the metal content to the ppm level (e.g. Heinrich
et al. 2003). In combination with near-infrared microscopy,
in situ methods have been extended to the analysis of fluid
inclusions in opaque sulfide minerals (Kouzmanov et al.
2010). Quantification of sulfur concentrations in individual
E lements
fluid inclusions is also possible (Guillong et al. 2008). An
ore-forming fluids from magmatichydrothermal systems,
including porphyry, skarn and epithermal polymetallic
deposits worldwide (see Kouzmanov and Pokrovski 2012).
Metal contents of pristine magmatic fluids show patterns
that are controlled by the metal abundances in the source
magmas and by elevated fluidmelt partition coefficients.
As a result, metal concentrations in pristine magmatic fluids
typically range between 10s and 1,000sppm, one to three
orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding average
separation of aqueous liquid and vapour phases, result in
additional enrichment, with the brine phase containing up
to several wt% Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb and Mn; thus these metals
become major fluid constituents, along with Na and K.
Concentrations of other metals of economic interest, such
as Mo, As, Sb and Ag, vary between 10s and 100s ppm.
Some of these metals, especially those transported as
sulfide complexes (e.g. Au), may also be enriched in the
vapour phase (Heinrich et al. 2003; Pokrovski et al. 2013).
The sulfur content of magmatichydrothermal ore-forming
fluids varies substantially, reaching wt% concentrations,
and so indicating that the major ingredients for sulfide
precipitation are available from the hydrothermal fluid
itself and do not require an external source.
For VHMS, iron oxidecoppergold (IOCG), sediment-
hosted, and orogenic gold deposits, data pertaining to
the mineralizing fluid compositions are still fragmentary.
Nevertheless, existing datasets on some sediment-hosted
deposits indicate that, despite the two orders of magni-
tude lower metal contents (10s to 100s ppm Zn and Pb)
in basinal brines compared to magma-derived fluids, the
reported measured concentrations are much higher than
those predicted in the past (e.g. Wilkinson et al. 2009).
These new findings sharply changed the understanding
of transport mechanisms, of metal deposition efficiency,
and of the time span of hydrothermal sulfide ore-forming
processes.
SULFUR SOURCES AND MAIN REACTIONS
Geological and isotope evidence indicates that sulfur in
hydrothermal sulfides can have four sources: (i) segregated
from a magma together with water; (ii) leached from sulfides
disseminated in rocks (since most magmatic, sedimen-
tary, and metamorphic rocks contain small quantities of
sulfides, mainly pyrite and pyrrhotite); (iii) derived from
sulfate minerals in evaporites; (iv) derived from seawater
sulfate and basinal brines.
Sulfide precipitation can be described by the following
schematic reaction (where aq = aqueous, Me = metal, s=
solid)
Me2+ (aq) + H2 S (aq) = MeS (s) + 2H + (aq) (1)
At least three of the four sulfur sources listed above contain
sulfur in oxidized form. But, as shown by reaction (1),
sulfur must be in its reduced state (S2) to allow precipita-
tion of sulfides. In addition to biogenic sulfate reduction
(Rickard et al. 2017 this issue), there are two other sulfate
reduction mechanisms that are key for the precipitation
of hydrothermal sulfides.
Magmatichydrothermal fluids, depending on their oxida-
tion state, contain different proportions of sulfur species,
including H2S, HS , SO2, SO42, HSO4, and S3. Hydrothermal
fluids originating from calc-alkaline magmas are enriched
in oxidized sulfur species, to a large extent made up of SO2.
In the following disproportionation reaction, which occurs
upon fluid cooling, S 4+ undergoes both oxidation and
99 A pr il 2017
reduction and provides the S2 necessary to form sulfides decreases with increasing pH (Fig. 3C) and increasing H2 S
and the S6+ necessary to form sulfates such as alunite and (Fig. 3D). By contrast, because gold is mainly transported
anhydrite; as sulfide complexes, the removal of H 2 S from the fluid
causes Au precipitation, typically through boiling in epith-
4SO2 + 4H2O = 3SO42 + 6H + + H2 S (2)
ermal deposits and via pyrite formation by a reaction with
In sedimentary environments in which dissolved sulfate Fe-bearing wallrock in orogenic-gold deposits.
(in basinal brines and other formation waters) encounters
Although the above four parameters explain most precipita-
hydrocarbons at about 100C to 160C, sulfate is reduced
tion phenomena, recent data may open new perspectives.
inorganically by hydrocarbons (a process called thermo-
The last five years of hydrothermal research were marked
chemical sulfate reduction, or TSR). In a simplified form,
by the recognition of a new form of aqueous sulfur in
TSR can be represented as follows:
hydrothermal fluids: the trisulfur radical ion, S3 (Pokrovski
2H + + SO42 + CH4 = CO2 + H2 S + 2H2O (3) and Dubessy 2015). The omission of S3 in current models
of hydrothermal fluids is due to its very rapid breakdown to
KEY PARAMETERS CONTROLLING SULFIDE sulfate and sulfide in aqueous solutions when the solutions
PRECIPITATION IN HYDROTHERMAL cool below 200150C, which means that S 3 in experi-
SYSTEMS mental and natural fluid (and melt) samples is not detected
at room temperature. Pokrovski and Dubessy (2015)
Sulfide precipitation from hydrothermal fluids is governed
demonstrated the stability of this ion over a wide tempera-
by four main physico-chemical parameters across various
ture (T = 200700C) and pressure (P from saturated vapor
ore deposit types: (1) temperature, (2) acidity (pH), (3)
pressure to ~30 kbar) ranges. Significant amounts of S 3
salinity, and (4) fO2 f S2 . Of key importance is the nature
(>10100ppm S) may be contained in fluids typical of
of the metal-transporting agents: base metals and Ag
magmatichydrothermal and metamorphic environments,
are commonly transported as chloride complexes, Mo as
which are characterized by elevated total S concentrations
(alkali-)oxyhydroxide and possibly oxychloride complexes,
(>1,000 ppm), slightly acidic to neutral pH (3 to 7) and
and Au mainly as sulfide complexes. Figure 3 shows the
redox conditions enabling the coexistence of sulfate (or
influence of these four parameters on the solubility of
sulfur dioxide) and hydrogen sulfide (Fig. 4). Furthermore,
chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, molybdenite, argentite,
Pokrovski et al. (2015) have shown that S3, together with
and native gold under conditions typical for a wide range
HS , can form stable complexes with Au, enabling transport
of hydrothermal ore deposits. The solubility of all sulfides
of this metal in aqueous solutions at 10100 times higher
decreases with decreasing temperature. For instance, with
concentration than by traditional sulfide complexes. By
other parameters constant, a temperature decrease from
analogy with Au, other sulfur-loving, economically critical
350C to 250C triggers a solubility decrease of two orders
metals, such as Mo, Re, and the platinum-group elements,
of magnitude for Cu and Ag, and one order of magni-
might also form stable complexes with S3. Such complexes
tude for Zn (Fig. 3A). Similar effects on the solubility of
would enhance metal mobility and focus the deposition
metals transported as chloride complexes are caused by
upon destabilization of the radical ion. This hypothesis
a salinity decrease (base metals and Ag), in contrast to
awaits further study.
that of Au (Fig. 3B). The solubility of base metals strongly

USING SULFIDE
105
3001000 bar,10 wt. % NaCl eq., pH = 5
105
400 C, 500 bar, pH = 5 MINERALS TO
sulfur and O2 buffered by pymthm sulfur (0.017m H2S), redox = pymthm
104
104 RECONSTRUCT
PHYSICO-CHEMICAL
metal in fluid (ppm)

metal in fluid (ppm)

103
103
102
PARAMETERS OF ORE
102
10
FORMATION
1 10
Ag2S Mineral assemblages can
10-1 Au
CuFeS2
1 be used to reconstruct the
10-2
FeS2
10-1
physico-chemical parameters
10-3 MoS2
AA ZnS
10-2
BB that prevailed during the
10-4
150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550 0.1 1 10 formation of an ore deposit.
Temperature (C) Salinity (wt. % NaCl eq.) The term mineral assemblage
signifies a group of minerals in
105 105
400 C, 500 bar, 10 wt. % NaCl eq. 400 C, 500 bar, pH = 5 chemical equilibrium (Einaudi
sulfur (0.017m H2S) redox = mthm
104
redox = pymthm
104 et al. 2003). The sulfidation
metal in fluid (ppm)

state (Fig. 5A) of hydrothermal

metal in fluid (ppm)

103 103
fluids as a function of log S2
102 102
and temperature determines
10 10 the stability domains of key
1 1 sulfide, sulfosalt and oxide
minerals (Einaudi et al. 2003).
10-1 10-1

10-2
CC 10-2
DD The typical environments of
3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 7 7.5 0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 the main ore deposits types
1
pH H2S (mol/kg) can vary in terms of S2 and
temperature (Fig. 5B). Cross-
Solubility of metals in hydrothermal fluids in equilib- cutting relationships between
Figure 3
rium (i.e. saturated) with major sulfide minerals as a
function of the four parameters (A) temperature, (B) fluid salinity, successive mineral assemblages allow the sulfidation-
(C) pH, and (D) H2S concentration. In each case, a number of state evolution of the hydrothermal system to be traced.
physical and chemical parameters of the fluid are fixed (as indicated Mineralogical and metal zoning of sulfide- and sulfosalt-
in the figure). Galena solubility, not shown, is slightly lower than bearing assemblages can be used for exploration purposes
that of sphalerite. Abbreviations: hm (hematite); py (pyrite);
mt(magnetite). Modified from Kouzmanov and Pokrovski (2012). because they may act as prospection guides towards the
center of the mineralizing system.

E lements 100 A pr il 2017

 Magmatic-hydrothermal uid
(0.22.0 kbar)
2 wt% S, H2S:SO2 = 1 at 700 C, 2 kbar
T-P gradient = 278 C/1 kbar
sulfur concentration, wt% S
Metamorphic uid
1 (210 kbar)
10
Pyrite-Pyrrhotite-Magnetite
10 0 T-P gradient = 75 C/1 kbar
so, in turn, metal-sulfide complexes to be destabi-
lized (e.g. responsible for much gold precipitation).
S3- Progressive cooling, due to boiling and/or mixing,
away from the heat source explains much of the

1 H2S 10 -1 metal zoning observed in different deposit types.

SO2
(H)SO4 SO2 10
-2
H2S
For example, at a similar temperature, chalcopy-
-3
rite is much less soluble than sphalerite or galena
10
S3- HS- (Fig. 3A). This results in metal zoning (at the ore
10 -4 body to deposit scale) of Cu in proximal locations
0.1 10 -5 and the deposition of ZnPb and AgMn in distal

4
SO
H)
-6 locations, as commonly observed in many types

(
10
S2 -

-7 of deposits (porphyry copper, skarn, carbonate-

10
-8
AA BB
10
0.01
200 300 400 500 600 700 200 300 400 500
Temperature, C Temperature, C
Concentrations of the different forms of sulfur,
Figure 4
including the sulfur radical ions, in two typical types
of fluids as a function of temperature (T ). (A) Magmatic
hydrothermal fluid. (B) Metamorphic fluid. The sulfur species
concentrations were predicted using the stability constants of sulfur
forms reported in Pokrovski and Dubessy (2015) and in Pokrovski et
al. (2015). The concentration of S2 is tentative. The S3, and,
potentially, S2 ions may represent a significant part of dissolved
sulfur content over a wide TP range. Direct experimental data are
currently limited to <500C (gray areas).
The abundances of minor and trace elements in some
sulfides and sulfosalts can also be used as indicators of
physical and chemical parameters of ore formation. For
example, the iron content of sphalerite strongly depends
on temperature and f S2 (Fig. 5A) and has been extensively
used in ore deposits research, together with other mineral
thermometers and thermobarometers (e.g. Sack and Ebel
2006). Recently, using in situ LAICPMS analyses, Cook
et al. (2016) established the partition coefficients for trace
elements between different base-metal sulfides, thereby
opening new possibilities in the use of these sulfides as
tracers of paleo-physicochemical conditions.
PROCESSES CONTROLLING SULFIDE
PRECIPITATION IN HYDROTHERMAL
OREDEPOSITS
Processes such as cooling, phase separation (boiling),
mixing, and fluidrock interaction are key for sulfide
precipitation in hydrothermal systems because they influ-
ence the four main parameters of the fluids (temperature,
salinity, pH, and fO2 fS2). Because sulfide solubility strongly
depends on temperature, cooling of hydrothermal fluids
is the most efficient process leading to ore deposition. A
main cause of cooling is boiling and the removal of the
high-heat vapour phase during depressurization events.
This causes H 2 S to fractionate to the vapour phase and
replacement, epithermal, and VHMS).
Mixing between two fluids with contrasting
600 700 temperature and composition can also cause
mineral precipitation, particularly in basinal
settings. For example, mixing between hot saline
fluids and cold meteoric waters is an efficient mechanism
to decrease both the temperature and salinity of metal-
bearing fluids, and so favour sulfide precipitation. Mixing
of metal-bearing but H 2 S-poor fluids with fluids rich in
H 2 S can also trigger sulfide precipitation. The key factors
in forming a hydrothermal sulfide deposit are not only
the availability of metals but also the presence of reduced
sulfur.
Metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids are typically not in
equilibrium with their host rocks. The resulting water
rock interactions produce alteration in the wallrock
and influence the solubility of metal sulfides in the fluid.
Neutralization of reactive fluids through interaction with
carbonates and feldspars increases the pH, which can lead
to sulfide precipitation (e.g. Fig. 3C). Redox conditions are
also strongly influenced by fluidrock interaction (e.g. fluid
reduction by Fe 2+ -bearing silicate minerals or by rocks
rich in organic matter, or oxidation by Fe3+ -rich detrital
continental sediments). Interaction of metal-bearing fluids
with rocks containing pyrite is a common sulfide precipita-
tion mechanism for elements like copper that have a high
affinity for reduced sulfur (iron from pyrite may in this case
re-precipitate as oxide). The opposite process scavenging
of H2 S by the host rock via Fe sulfidation reactions desta-
bilizes metal-sulfide complexes, leading to gold precipita-
tion in orogenic gold deposits.
SELECTED EXAMPLES OF PROCESSES
CAUSING SULFIDE PRECIPITATION
INHYDROTHERMAL DEPOSITS
The analysis of the occurrence of sulfides in porphyry
copper, VHMS and sediment-hosted deposits and of the
associated precipitation mechanisms helps to unravel the
formation of hydrothermal ore deposits.

(A) Log fS2 versus temperature

A B Figure 5
diagram, illustrating various sulfida-
tion states (in green) of the hydrothermal fluids,
based on stable sulfide mineral assemblages (from
Einaudi et al. 2003). FeS (mol%) content of sphal-
erite is also plotted (in red; from Barton and
Toulmin 1964); sphalerite is a common mineral in
many hydrothermal ore types and its FeS content
can indicate the temperature or sulfur fugacity.
(B) Log fS2 versus temperature estimated for
various hydrothermal ore deposits. Colours are
visualization aids only. Abbreviations: asp (arseno-
pyrite), bn (bornite), cp (chalcopyrite), cv (covel-
lite), dg (digenite), lo (loellingite), po (pyrrhotite),
py (pyrite). Ore deposit abbreviations as in Table 1.

E lements 101 A pr il 2017

 Table 1 MAJOR SULFIDE AND SULFOSALT MINERALS IN HYDROTHERMAL DEPOSITS RELATED TO BASE AND PRECIOUS METALS.

Metal Major sulfides Minor sulfides/sulfosalts Deposit types

chalcopyrite* CuFeS2, covellite CuS, enargite Cu3AsS 4,
Porphyry Cu(MoAu) deposits, HS and
Copper Cu bornite* Cu5FeS 4, chalcocite* tennantitetetrahedrite Cu12 (As, Sb) 4S13 ;
IS epithermal, skarn, VHMS, SHMS, IOCG
Cu2S >180 sulfide and sulfosalt species
sphalerite ZnS wurtzite ZnS (rare); >20 Cu, Tl, and HS and IS epithermal, skarn, VHMS,
Zinc Zn
(common host ofFe, In, Cd) Ag-bearing sulfosalts SHMS,MVT
galena PbS HS and IS epithermal, skarn, VHMS,
Lead Pb >160 sulfosalt species
(common host of Ag) SHMS,MVT
acanthite Ag2S LS epithermal AuAg deposits, IS poly-
Silver Ag >120 sulfosalt and sulfide species
(also selenides, etc.) metallic epithermal deposits
Fe-bearing sulfides are not mined for
pyrite* FeS2, pyrrhotite FeS, marcasite* FeS2, arsenopyrite* FeAsS; iron. Pyrite, pyrrhotite, and marcasite,
Iron Fe
chalcopyrite* CuFeS2 >110 sulfide andsulfosalt species are ubiquitous in hydrothermal ore
deposits as gangue minerals.

Abbreviations: HS, IS, LS (high, intermediate, low sulfidation); IOCG (iron oxideCuAu); MVT (Mississippi Valley type);
SHMS (sedimentary-hosted massive sulfide); VHMS (volcanic-hosted massive sulfide); * these minerals may contain economically
recoverable gold.

Porphyry copper deposits are among the largest sulfur
anomalies on Earth. These low-grade, high-tonnage
deposits are related to shallow intrusions in volcanic arcs,
with both metals and sulfur released from the magmas via
hydrothermal fluids. Porphyry copper deposits consist of
quartzsulfide stockwork veins and disseminated sulfides
in large volumes of hydrothermally altered porphyritic
stocks and country rocks (Fig. 1A). In the early stages of
porphyry copper deposit formation at depths of 23 km,
the minerals bornite, chalcopyrite and magnetite precipi-
tate from the magmatic fluid. In subsequent lower tempera-
ture stages, the proportion of reduced sulfur increases and
pyrite progressively becomes more abundant. At shallow
(<1 km), epithermal depths where there is sharp cooling ,
the sulfides are dominated by intermediate- to very high-
sulfidation assemblages of enargite, digenite and covel-
lite (Fig. 5A). In porphyry systems, temperature decrease,
accompanied by vapor-liquid separation, as well as fluid
rock interaction and more distal mixing, causes a general
mineral, and hence metal, zonation over a scale of a few
kilometers: one often observes a core of Cu ( Mo), an inter-
mediate zone of ZnPbAg veins, and more distal AsSb
(AuHg)-dominated margins.
Volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits consist of high-
grade, low-tonnage ore bodies, built up by 10s vol% of
fine-grained base-metal sulfides (Fig. 1E). The sulfides
precipitate at the interface between the oceanic crust and
seawater and as replacement assemblages in the subsurface.
Cooling and neutralization of hot, reactive and reduced
H 2 S- and metal-bearing fluids with seawater is regarded
to be the main process that governs sulfide precipitation
in VHMS deposits.
In the sedimentary rockhosted environments that occur
in basins, several deposit styles are related to the flow of
basinal brines. In general, stratiform Cu deposits, clastic
sediment-hosted massive PbZn Cu sulfide (SHMS), and
carbonate-related Mississippi Valley type (MVT) PbZn
deposits are all formed by fluids of intermediate sulfida-
tion state at temperatures of ~100C to 250C (Fig. 5B).
The SHMS deposits form in passive margins, back-arcs

TYPICAL METAL GRADES, SIZE OF ORE BODIES, AND MAIN ORE-FORMING HYDROTHERMAL FLUID MENTIONED IN
Table 2 THEARTICLE. See Figure 5 for sulfidation state and fluid temperature; see text for precipitation mechanisms. Mt = million tons;
other abbreviations as inTable 1. Sources and additional data on the deposit types in Hedenquist et al. (2005).

Deposit type Typical metal grades Typical size (ore) Origin of main metal-bearing hydrothermal fluid
0.4% 1.5% Cu
Porphyry Cu(Mo Au)
0.04% 0.15% Mo 5005,000 Mt Magmatic
deposits
( Au, <0.11 g/t)
1% 2% Cu ( Au)
Cu /ZnPb skarns 10150 Mt Magmatic
2% 10% Zn + Pb
0.55 g/t (Au) ( Ag)
HS and IS epithermal 1% 2% Cu 10150 Mt Magmatic
4% 8% (Zn + Pb) ( Ag)
LS epithermal Au 0.55 g/t Au, ( Ag) 10100 Mt Meteoric waters mixed with magmatic fluids
1.0% 1.8% Cu
Evolved seawater (extensional setting) mixed with
VHMS 0.8% 4% Zn 1050 Mt
magmatic (magmatic arc)
0.1% 1% Pb
~3% 8% Zn 1040 Mt (MVT)
SHMS/MVT 1% 2% Pb Basinal brines
<0.3% Cu (Ag) 20200 Mt (SHMS)

2% 3% Cu
Stratiform Cu 2003,000 Mt Basinal brines
<0.4% Co (Ag) ( ZnPb)
CO2-rich, low salinity fluids. Metamorphic component
Orogenic Au 28 g/t 440 Mt
with magmatic? / evolved meteoric? / mantle degassing?
IOCG 0.5% 2% Cu ( Au) 20200 Mt Magmatic basinal brines

E lements 102 A pr il 2017

and continental rifts; sulfide precipitation is caused by CONCLUSIONS
mixing fluids that ascend along basin margin faults and
The key processes that govern sulfide precipitation in
so vent into basins with anaerobic conditions where they
hydrothermal systems are common, to varying degrees,
encounter H 2 S-rich waters. This process is the root of the
across many ore deposit types, and can be used to formu-
term sedex (sedimentary exhalative), which is frequently
late genetic models. These models, in turn, can be used to
applied to SHMS deposits, although researchers now avoid
refine methods of exploration for mineral resources (e.g.
this term because most sulfide precipitation takes place
Sillitoe 2010). Windows of understanding are being opened
by subsurface replacement of already deposited sediments,
on the true nature of ore-forming processes via analytical
where reduced biogenic sulfur is also available as diagenetic
and experimental developments for measuring the metal
pyrite. Fluid mixing is also important in epigenetic base-
and sulfur contents (and their speciation) in hydrothermal
metal deposits that have been formed by basinal brines on
fluids, via experiments on the stability of metal-bearing
carbonate platforms: the largest MVT deposits form when
sulfur complexes in high TP liquids and vapours, and via
metal-bearing basinal brines mix with fluids rich in H2 S
determining the trace-element contents and their struc-
(generated by TSR, Eq. 3) or with fluids containing biogenic
tural state in sulfide minerals. This improved knowledge
H2 S in organic matter and/or hydrocarbons. Precipitation
contributes to better exploration models and on how to
is also related to salinity decrease during fluid mixing.
optimize mineral processing. This will help ensure that
Interaction of oxidizing metal-bearing basinal brines with
our technology-hungry society will have a supply of metals
black shales and other sediments containing biogenic
long into the future (Arndt et al. 2017) and it will lessen
reduced sulfur, mostly in the form of framboidal pyrite, is
the environmental impact of mining and ore processing
the main process at the origin of stratiform Cu deposits and
operations. All these aspects rely on an understanding of
other sedimentary rockhosted deposits. As noted above,
sulfide minerals and their stabilities.
copper is less soluble than zinc and lead, and, it can only
be transported by oxidizing fluids (buffered by hematite),
devoid of H 2 S. The lithologic contact between red beds ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(oxidized clastic sediments) and black shales controls the We thank J. Hedenquist, D. Smith and Guest Editors Marie
stratiform morphology of these copper deposits. Sulfides Edmonds and Kate Kiseeva for their reviews, which greatly
commonly are zoned with native copper, chalcocite and improved the manuscript, and to Jodi Rosso and the Elements
covellite, bornite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena in a staff for the careful editing. We acknowledge financial
sequence from the oxidized to the reduced H2 S-rich part support from grants SNF 160071, 162415, 165752, Soumet
of the redox profile. ANR-11-BS56-0009 and RadicalS ANR-16-CE31-0017.

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 Volcanic Sulfides
andOutgassing
Marie Edmonds1 and Tamsin A. Mather2

1811-5209/17/0013-0105$2.50DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.105

S
ulfides are a major potential repository for magmatic metals and sulfur. ascending basaltic melts, support
In relatively reduced magmas, there may be a dynamic interplay between sulfide-oxidising microbial life
and modulate ocean chemistry
sulfide liquids and magma degassing as magmas ascend/erupt. Sulfide- and oxidation state.
bubble aggregates may segregate to shallow levels. Exsolved fluids may oxidize
Sulfur is a ubiquitous component
sulfides to produce SO2 gas and metals, which can vent to the atmosphere of magmas and displays complex
with chalcophile metal ratios reflecting those in their parent sulfide liquids. behaviour due to its ability to exist
Sulfide breakdown and/or sequestration timing and balance define the role in many valence states and species
(S2, S6+, S 0 and as S2, SO2, SO3 and
of sulfides in both ore formation and the environmental impacts of volcanic H2S in the gas phase). Its behaviour
eruptions, including during the evolution of large igneous provinces, which in magmas is largely dependent on
are key periods of heightened volcanism during Earth history. magma oxidation state (the avail-
ability of oxygen) (Carroll and
Keywords : sulfide, outgassing, metals, partitioning, vapour, eruptions Rutherford 1985). Under reduced
conditions, sulfur dissolves as
INTRODUCTION sulfide (S2), and under oxidized conditions, as sulfate (S6+
Sulfides are a common feature of near-surface magmas in SO42); under intermediate conditions, both speciation
(Fig. 1), and they play an important role in volcanic states are present. Dissolved sulfur species will progressively
systems in the supply of sulfur and chalcophile metals concentrate in melts during crystallization (of non-sulfur-
to the atmosphere and to sites of ore formation. Sulfur is bearing phases), until eventually the melt concentration of
one of the most abundant and important volatile species sulfur may reach the level required for the precipitation of
produced by volcanic activity. Volcanic eruptions may (or saturation in) a non-volatile, sulfur-bearing phase. The
produce large clouds of sulfur dioxide which, when injected form of this phase is dependent on both the fugacities (or
into the stratosphere, convert to sulfate aerosols and may put simply, the abundance or availability) of oxygen and
impact climate by absorbing incoming solar radiation and sulfur in the system. Under oxidized conditions, the solid
scattering it back into space. Tropospheric plumes of sulfur sulfur-bearing phase is anhydrite (CaSO4). In the relatively
gases and aerosol may be large enough to cause environ- reduced magmas that are typical of mid-ocean ridges, for
mental damage and health hazards. Sulfur-rich fluids at example, this sulfur-bearing phase might be monosulfide
submarine mid-ocean ridges, formed by the outgassing of solid solution (mss) or an FeOS immiscible liquid that
can quench to a sulfide solid solution (Parat et al. 2011).

A
a bB C
c
vapour
olivine (ol) bubble

melt inclusion

sulfide

Volcanic sulfides in basaltic tephra from Iceland and

1 Department of Earth Sciences
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom
E-mail: marie.edmonds@esc.cam.ac.uk
2 Department of Earth Sciences
University of Oxford
S Parks Rd
Oxford OX1 3AN, United Kingdom
E-mail: tamsin.mather@earth.ox.ac.uk
Figure 1
from Hawaii (USA). (A) Backscattered electron image
of polished section of Holuhraun tephra that was erupted
November 2014 on the northern margin of the Vatnajokull ice cap
(Iceland), showing basaltic glass (gl), and abundant vesicles (v).
(B)Reflected light image of Holuhraun tephra showing, in addition
to glass and vesicles, olivine (ol), plagioclase (plg) and bright
sulfide globules. (C) Reflected light photomicrograph of an olivine
crystal in tephra erupted during the 1959 eruption of K- lauea Iki,
K- lauea Volcano, Hawaii, containing inclusions of silicate melt,
vapour bubbles and spherical globules of quenched sulfide liquid.
Image credits : (A, B) Margaret Hartley and (C) Isobel Sides.

E lements , V ol . 13, pp. 105110 105 A pr il 2017

Photomicrographs to show quenched sulfide liquids in a Volcanic gas emissions
range of volcanic rocks, in the form of inclusions in crystals
Sulfide
and in matrix glass, are shown in Figure 1. No sulfide No sulfide
involvement breakdown involvement
Sulfide liquids display a range of compositions and may involvement
contain appreciable concentrations of metals, such as Chalcophile Metals reflect
Chalcophile
copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni). Sulfide liquids are dense depletion fluidmelt
enrichment partitioning
relative to silicate melts and may settle gravitationally and
be reworked multiple times, leading to the segregation of
massive volcanigenic sulfide deposits (Ripley and Li 2013): Surface Non-buoyant Buoyant
bubble/sulfide
these deposits may have substantial economic value. In bubble/
aggregates

volcanic systems, however, which involve magmas stored
at low pressures, hydrothermal fluids may also coexist with
sulfide-saturated magmas. Interaction between oxidising,
water-rich fluids and sulfide liquids may promote an inter-
play between volcanic outgassing and sulfide saturation
such that sulfides might break down, supplying sulfur
directly to the atmosphere (Nadeau et al. 2010). Volcanoes
are significant sources of metals to the atmosphere via
gas and aerosol phases (Mather et al. 2012); where sulfide
saturation occurs, some of these metals may derive directly
from sulfide breakdown (Larocque et al. 2000).
Sulfur is also volatile in silicate melts, it partitions strongly
into a vapour phase at low pressures in the crust, and
sulfide saturation may have a key modulating effect on
meltvapour partitioning. Sulfur partitioning behaviour
is well understood for a wide range of oxidation states
and melt compositions. In general, experiments indicate
that sulfur partitions strongly into the gas phase. This is
particularly the case for more reducing conditions below
the sulfatesulfide transition because of the lower solubility
of sulfur when it exists as the S2 ion than when it occurs
dissolved as sulfate (S6+) under more oxidizing conditions.
Saturation of the melt in sulfide or, under more oxidizing
conditions, in anhydrite limits the sulfur concentration in
the co-existing gas phase to just a few per cent by volume
(Zajacz et al. 2012).
The interplay between and timing of these partitioning
processes (between silicate melt, vapour and sulfide) has
consequences for outgassing or sequestration in reduced
volcanic systems. There are a range of possible processes
involving sulfide saturation and vapour saturation of melts,
and their consequences are summarised in Figure 2. The
mass budget of sulfur available for degassing into the
atmosphere in volcanic systems is often estimated using
the sulfur concentration in melt inclusions (tiny incre-
ments of melt trapped in growing crystals), the so-called
petrological method (Sigurdsson et al. 1985). However, only
rarely is the sulfur in the sulfide liquid phase taken into
account, beyond, that is, the recognition of sulfide satura-
tion. The timing of sulfide saturation and vapour saturation
in volcanic systems is likely critical for determining the
extent to which metal-rich sulfides are sequestered and
for determining the magnitude of sulfur-rich gas clouds
outgassed with the magma during eruptions. The high
degree of wetting of hydrous vapour on sulfide liquid
droplets may render the sulfide liquids buoyant, promoting
their involvement in volcanic outgassing processes and
preventing sulfide sequestration (Mungall et al. 2015).
In this article, we review what controls the formation
of sulfide liquids in volcanic melts, what compositions
these sulfide liquids have, and the potential interaction
between sulfide liquids and hydrothermal volcanic fluids.
We also discuss the fundamental role that sulfides play in
modulating the transport of sulfur from mantle-derived
melts to the crust and into the atmosphere, and the
feedbacks related to the formation of sulfide ore deposits
associated with these magmas.
Decreasing pressure
sulfide
aggregates
Vapour saturation Sulfide
saturation
Sulfide
Simultaneous/
closely spaced in time
settling
Sulfide
saturation Vapour saturation
Sulfide
settling
Sulfides
sequestered
Magma at depth
Increasing oxygen fugacity
Increasing water content
Schematic diagram to illustrate the primary processes
Figure 2
by which magmatic sulfides and exsolved aqueous
fluids interact in volcanic systems, the implications for the forma-
tion of ore deposits, and/or the outgassing of metals and sulfur to
the atmosphere.
SULFIDE SATURATION IN ERUPTING
BASALTIC MELTS
Herein, we focus on those systems that contain substan-
tial quantities of sulfide in the melt, which correspond to
magmas in ocean island settings (hotspots), in mid-ocean
ridge (MOR) settings, and some arc (subduction-related)
magmas. The concentration of sulfur required to saturate
in sulfide is known as the sulfur concentration at sulfide
saturation (SCSS). The sulfate-dominated volcanic systems
are beyond the scope of this paper, but they are often
characteristic of more evolved magmas and are extremely
important in volcanic arcs, where anhydrite may modulate
the mass of sulfur outgassing into the atmosphere (Masotta
et al. 2016).
Sulfide-Saturation in Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalts
(MORBs)
We will begin by considering the case of mid-ocean ridge
basalts (MORBs). These basalts are well understood and
characterized and are erupted with an oxygen fugacity
that ensures that much of the dissolved sulfur is present as
sulfide. The amount of sulfur that a melt can dissolve before
saturation with respect to a sulfide phase depends on both
melt composition (largely the Fe 2+ content, with which
sulfur forms complexes in the melt) but also temperature
and pressure. Various empirical models to describe the SCSS
have been proposed (Liu et al. 2007) that take account
of complex compositional and intrinsic parameters. A
schematic illustration to show how typical mid-ocean
ridge basaltic melt may evolve due to fractional crystalli-
zation is shown in Figure 3. Sulfide saturation occurs when

E lements 106 A pr il 2017

 Temperature (C)
1241 1199 1160
2200
ol
plag-in
cpx-in
ol-out
to
S (ppm) in melt
d ue ion
S izat
Sulfide sat.
in l fluids which in turn causes limited opportunity to transfer
e nt stal
1600 h m cry
ri c a l
En ction
fra
Sulfur con
cen
1000 at sulfide sa tration
turation
0 40 60 80 100
Crystallization (wt%)
Figure 3 Sulfide saturation due to fractional crystallization of
initially sulfide-undersaturated mid-ocean ridge
basaltic magma in the crust. Dashed lines show the sulfur concen-
tration at sulfide saturation (SCSS) (after Li and Ripley 2005). Grey
curves show the concentration of sulfur rising as a result of
fractional crystallization (assuming that sulfur behaves as an incom-
patible element). Two initial concentrations of sulfur are illustrated:
800 ppm and 1,100 ppm (after Ripley and Li 2013). Symbols: cpx
(clinopyroxene); ol (olivine); plag (plagioclase).
the sulfur concentration in the melt intersects the SCSS
curve. Mid-ocean ridge basalts are thought to be sulfide-
saturated during generation in their mantle source region
(Mavrogenes and ONeill 1999). The decrease in pressure
during magma ascent will result in an increase in the
SCSS for anhydrous melts (caused by the larger volume
of dissolved sulfur over sulfide) and, thus, tend to drive
the magmas toward under-saturation. Data from MORBs,
however, show a correlation between sulfur concentra-
tion and decreasing Cu with MgO concentrations (Jenner
and ONeill 2012), consistent with sulfide saturation prior
to and during eruption, with Cu partitioning into the
sulfide phase. Observations of quenched, rounded sulfide
blebs in submarine MORB glasses confirm sulfide satura-
tion. An explanation for crustal, late-stage sulfide liquid
saturation might be fractional crystallization, which even
after modest amounts (~10%) will tend to drive the liquid
towards sulfide saturation (Li and Ripley 2005). A detailed
study of the textures of MORB sulfides show that they
are typically exsolved into Ni-rich and Cu-rich regions
(Fig. 4). The Ni-rich regions, known as monosulfide solid
solutions (mss), are also rich in Co and Re; the Cu-rich
regions, known as intermediate sulfide solid solutions (iss)
are also enriched in Zn, Cd, Ag, Sn, Te, Bi and Au (Patten
et al. 2013).
Basalts erupted in Iceland also display globules of quenched
sulfide liquids in their groundmass (Fig. 1) (Sigmarsson
et al. 2013). This suggests that, like typical MORB, they
are saturated with a sulfide phase shortly before, during
and after eruption, due to both fractional crystallisation
(increasing the sulfur concentration in the liquid) and
cooling (reducing the SCSS). Models predict that tholei-
itic basaltic melts from Iceland will become saturated in
a sulfide phase after around 50% crystallization, which is
illustrated by data from Hekla volcano (Moune et al. 2007).
Hekla melt inclusions follow a trend that predicts that they
reach sulfide saturation when MgO levels in the melt reach
~6.5 wt% MgO. These levels probably result from fractional
crystallization in upper crustal magma reservoirs shortly
before eruption, thereby forming sulfide liquid globules as
observed in erupted rocks (Fig. 1).
E lements
It is straightforward then, to demonstrate that MORB and
Icelandic melts are sulfide-saturated and that sulfide satura-
tion occurred at a relatively late stage, in response to crystal-
lization. However, MORBs are typically erupted in water
depths of > 1 km, which means that only small amounts
of water are degassed from the melt and, hence, the sulfide
liquids are unlikely to be in contact with aqueous magmatic
their sulfur burden to the atmosphere or water column
(Fig. 2). But what would be the consequences of subaerial
eruption and outgassing of such sulfide-bearing basalts?
Degassing of Sulfide-Saturated magmas
inaRange of Tectonic Settings
As discussed above, Icelandic melts are sulfide-saturated at a
relatively late stage of evolution and in response to crystal-
lization. The very large fluxes of sulfur dioxide loading
associated with Icelandic eruptions such as the 1783
Laki eruption, which produced an estimated 122 Tg of S
(Thordarson and Self 1993), or the 2014 Holuhraun (Iceland)
eruption, which produced an estimated 8.90.3Tg of S
(Gauthier et al. 2016), testify to the sulfur-rich nature of
the basaltic melts ascending into the crust beneath Iceland
and to the efficient outgassing of sulfur from melts as they
decompress and erupt. The role of sulfides in this sulfur
outgassing, and its implications in terms of metal release,
is worthy of further detailed consideration.
Most magmatic melts are vapour-saturated from the
mid-crust, co-existing with a CO2 -rich vapour phase at
depth, which becomes more H2O-rich closer to the surface.
The vapour phase also contains significant quantities of
sulfur and halogen species. Magmatic sulfide stability is
extremely sensitive to degassing-induced redox changes
in the melt and to the removal, through outgassing, of
exsolved sulfur species. Outgassing lowers the fugacity
of sulfur in the gas phase and induces sulfide liquid (SL)
oxidation and breakdown via a reaction of the form (Berlo
et al. 2014):
3FeS (SL) + 2H2O (melt,fluid) + 2O2(melt,fluid)
Fe3O4 + 2H2 S (fluid) + SO2(fluid)
This reaction results in the formation of magnetite Fe3O4,
which does not hold metals in its structure to the same
degree as sulfide. Thus, when this reaction applies, it causes
the release of the concentrated metals, as well as H 2 S and
SO2, directly into the aqueous fluid bubblesilicate melt
system (Fig. 4). This process of metal transfer from the
sulfide liquid to the volcanic gas phase has been inferred for
a range of volcanoes, including the more evolved systems of
Kawah Ijen Volcano (Berlo et al. 2014) and Merapi Volcano
(Nadeau et al. 2010), both in Indonesia. At Merapi, the
metal ratios observed in volcanic gases emitted from the
crater have the same ratios of Cu to Au as the sulfides
trapped as inclusions inside phenocrysts (Nadeau et al.
2010). At Kawah Ijen, metal concentrations in melt inclu-
sions, combined with abundances of H2O, CO2 and S, were
used to reconstruct the presence of a sulfide liquid at depth
that had sequestered metals. Breakdown of the sulfide phase
resulted in redistribution of metals between metals and
fluids before outgassing at the volcanic vents (Berlo et al.
2014). More generally, the distribution of metals in volcanic
plumes may provide corroborating evidence for such a
sulfide breakdown mechanism (Fig. 5). The volcanic gas
and aerosol composition of the plume accompanying the
Holuhraun eruption in Iceland shows that it was enriched
in metals (Gauthier et al. 2016), with their distribution
mirroring the trend in elemental sulfidesilicate melt parti-
tioning behaviour (Fig. 5). In particular, the enrichment
of Re, Se and Te in the volcanic aerosol phase is strongly
107 A pr il 2017

iss: Cu, Cd, Ag, Sn, Zn,
1100C
Te, Pb, Bi, Au, Pd, Pt
sl
mss: Ni, Co, Re, Pd, Pt
Metals and sulfur
transferred to
fluid phase
gas
bubble
Sketches showing the formation of monosulfide and
Figure 4
intermediate sulfide solid solutions during cooling
from magmatic temperatures, and the oxidation, decomposition
and resorption of these sulfide phases in the presence of magmatic
vapour bubbles in the melt. Abbreviations: cp (chalcopyrite); iss
(intermediate solid solution); mss (monosulfide solid solution); po
(pyrrhotite); py (pyrite); sl (sulfide liquid). Magmatic iss and po
suggestive of an origin by sulfide breakdown in the melt
because these latter elements have extremely high sulfide
silicate melt partition coefficients (>500) (Brenan 2015).
Once the sulfide has broken down, there may be some
further partitioning between fluid and melt, which is likely
to be dependent on the chloride concentration of the fluid,
owing to the tendency for metal ions to be complexed with
chloride (and perhaps sulfur) in the gas phase.
In fact, the sulfidesilicate melt partition coefficients for
many key metals are high (>100) (Fig. 5), and it follows that,
where erupting melts are sulfide-saturated (as appears to be
the case for many types of basalts), most of these metals
(90.0% 99.9%) in the magma will likely be sequestered
into the sulfide phase prior to eruption, even for small
mass abundances of sulfide. This sulfide phase will break
down when an aqueous fluid develops in the melt due to
vapour saturation. The metal-rich gases observed at such
volcanoes must, therefore, in large part be derived from the
breakdown of sulfide liquids prior to eruption.
The sulfide liquids themselves, however, are often entirely
absent in the volcanic rock products because of the efficient
and rapid nature of the breakdown process described above.
But in some cases, sulfide globules are preserved in the
matrix glasses or, more commonly, as inclusions in pheno-
crysts, protected from the fluid phase by the crystal host
(Fig. 1). It therefore follows that many magmas erupted at
the surface have lost, due to resorption and oxidation, a
large proportion of the sulfide liquids that were present in
the magma prior to degassing. Additional evidence for this
comes from comparisons of sulfide form and distribution
within intrusive and volcanic rocks from the Cenozoic
Bingham and Tintic Districts of Utah (USA). These Utah
volcanic rocks (and associated porphyries) have two
orders of magnitude less sulfide by mass than accompa-
nying dykes, which were emplaced at higher pressures
where degassing was inhibited. The textures of all of the
sulfides in the volcanic rocks and porphyries have been
modified extensively by resorption and degassing (Fig. 4).
Immiscible liquids crystallized as pyrrhotite and chalco-
pyrite with declining temperature and pressure, and these
liquids locally recrystallized to pyrite and an Fe-oxide as
they were oxidized. The textures change from subspher-
ical sulfide blebs near the margins of the quenched (and
E lements
Cooling, crystallization and unmixing
iss 800C iss cp
sl
mss po po
mss
py py
cp gas
cp cp cp bubble cp
py
Fe-
oxide Fe-oxide py py
gas Fe-oxide
gas
bubble
bubble
Oxidation and resorption
destabilize relative to magnetite due to changes in either f(O2) or
f(S2), and this leads to the release of metals from sulfides to the
melt and/or magmatic fluids. These fluids are then either seques-
tered into ore bodies or, in the case of volcanic systems, outgassed
into the atmosphere. Modified from Yang (2012) and Patten et al.
(2013).
better preserved) dykes and sills, to partially altered sulfides
farther in, to complete absence of sulfides in the vast
majority of the intrusions and volcanic rocks (except where
small sulfides are completely enclosed by phenocrysts). The
cooling of these magmas, coupled with the degassing of
magmatic volatiles, including sulfur-bearing gases (e.g. H2S,
SO2), caused resorption and oxidation of magmatic sulfides
to occur (Larocque et al. 2000). It has been estimated that
degassing and oxidation removed greater than 90% of the
original endowment of magmatic sulfides. This example
illustrates well why volcanic rocks rarely contain sulfides
in the matrix glass and provides an explanation for the
low-magmatic sulfide abundances of slowly cooled, exten-
sively degassed, large, porphyritic intrusions. Most impor-
tantly, degassing and oxidation allows metals and sulfur,
under some conditions, to participate in the formation of
porphyry deposits; in other cases, the metals and sulfur is
outgassed to the atmosphere.
Sulfides, therefore, may play a much greater role in
supplying sulfur to co-eruptive gas plumes than previ-
ously assumed. The commonly used petrological method
(which uses the difference in sulfur concentration between
melt inclusions and degassed matrix) to calculate sulfur
outputs from past basaltic eruptions might be improved
in many cases by reconstructing the sulfide saturation and
producing a robust mass balance using chalcophile element
inventories.
Dynamics of SulfideAqueous Fluid Interaction
An important question relates to how sulfides remain
in suspension in relatively low-viscosity basaltic liquids
so they can participate in the resorption and oxidation
reactions discussed above. Sulfide liquids are dense, and,
therefore, they are predicted to settle out of the liquids by
gravity and to accumulate in basal zones in the magma
chamber. Such basal zones may later form the loci for
economically viable NiCuplatinum group element (PGE)
sulfide accumulations (Ripley and Li 2013).
Recently, however, experiments have shown that the
contact angle for sulfur-bearing vapour on sulfides is
small (i.e. the wettability, or the ability of the fluid to
maintain contact with the solid surface, is high) much
smaller than for bubbles nucleating on silicate crystal
108 A pr il 2017

A
Metal-bearing
volcanic gas/
aerosol plume
8.0
B Present-day hotspot magmatic systems
7.0
Volcanic outgassing: log (EFMg)
6.0
Str
om
5.0
bol
i associated with severe degradation of
Etna
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
Mg W Cu Zn Mo Ag Sb Sn In As Pb Tl Cd Bi Re Se Te
Volcanic gas data
Sulfidesilicate melt partition coefficient
Holuhraun, Iceland
Kilauea, Hawaii Aq. fluidsilicate melt partition coefficient
Figure 5 (A) Aerial photograph of metal-bearing gas plume
from Holuhraun fissure eruption, Iceland. Credit:
NASA/L andsat. (B) The metal composition (analyzed using ICPMS) sulfur concentration and then applying the petrological
of volcanic plumes from Holuhraun (Iceland) (Gauthier et al. 2016) method (Blake et al. 2010).
and from K- lauea (Hawaii, USA) (Mather et al. 2012). The data are
shown in units of the log of the enrichment factor (EF; by mass)
relative to the element magnesium (Mg). Also shown are chalco-
phile element sulfidesilicate partition coefficients (Brenan 2015;
Kiseeva and Wood 2013), and aqueous fluidmelt partition coeffi-
cients (Zajacz et al. 2008) plotted on top.
phases such as olivine, pyroxene or plagioclase (Mungall
et al. 2015). Theoretical calculations also show that it is
energetically far more favourable for aqueous bubbles to
nucleate on sulfides or on sulfide liquid droplets, to the
exclusion of all other phases, if sulfides are present, even
in small amounts (Mungall et al. 2015). The effect of the
formation of sulfidebubble compound drops on their deposition of volcanic gas/aerosols related to Siberian Traps
distribution may be profound. If this process occurs at
low pressures, the bulk density of the bubblesulfide liquid
aggregate may be lowered sufficiently to render the sulfide
liquid buoyant relative to the silicate melt. This buoyancy
E lements 109
allows the sulfide liquid to ascend
to the surface with the melt during
eruptions, participating in the outgas-
sing process, so breaking down and
supplying its sulfur and metal loads
to the atmosphere (Fig.2). The timing
of vapour and sulfide saturation are
potentially critical. If sulfide satura-
tion occurs before the generation of a
significant gas fraction, then sulfides
may be lost and sequestered gravita-
tionally. If vapour saturation occurs
concurrently with (or before) sulfide
saturation in the upper crust, then
buoyant aggregates may form. The
melt viscosity and the timescales of
settling are also key.
THE ROLE OF SULFIDES IN
2 km OUTGASSING ASSOCIATED
WITH LARGE IGNEOUS
PROVINCES (LIPs)
1000
in the oceans and on continents
provide an analogue for ancient flood
basalt provinces in terms of their sulfur
Sulfide-silicate melt OR fluid-melt
budgets and the role of sulfides in
outgassing. The emplacement of large
igneous provinces (LIPs) have been
100
partition coefficient
the Earths surface environment and
some are coincident with extreme mass
extinctions in the sedimentary record,
suggesting a causal link. The potential
role of sulfides in LIP degassing has
10
implications in terms of understanding
these key events in Earth history.
The sulfur budgets of LIPs are notori-
ously difficult to reconstruct, owing
to melt inclusions being commonly
1 small and entirely recrystallized, with
rare exceptions (Self et al. 2008). It is
commonly believed that LIP basalts
are sulfide-saturated, a condition
that forms the basis of a widely used
method to calculate the likely sulfur
outgassing budgets of these eruptions:
using the MORB FeOS relationship
to estimate the pre-eruptive dissolved
Abundant evidence of sulfide saturation and accumulation
exists in LIPs worldwide, exemplified by the Norilsk sulfide-
hosted PGE deposits, part of the end-Permian Siberian
Traps Magmatic Province. The high Pt concentration of the
deposits here require multiple episodes of sulfide resorption
and precipitation to concentrate the PGE elements, as well
as the assimilation of sulfate from country rocks to generate
the heavy sulfur isotopic signature of the deposits (Li et
al. 2009). Sediments at the PermianTriassic boundary
at many locations around the world show spikes in their
metal concentrations most notably in Ni (Rothman et al.
2014), but also other metals such as mercury (Sanei et al.
2012) and these spikes may be linked to transport and
volcanism. The direct observations of sulfide saturation in
magmas supports the idea that sulfides played an impor-
tant role in generating the gaseous outputs of LIPs in our
geological past, perhaps contributing to these metal spikes
A pr il 2017
in sediments. Further studies to understand the interplay
between sulfides and sulfur/metal degassing in present-day
analogues will have clear implications in terms of under-
standing the economic and environmental implications
for LIP events in the geological record and in present-day
global biogeochemical cycles and ore formation.
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A pr il 2017
 Chalcophile Elements and
Sulfides in the Upper Mantle
Ekaterina S. Kiseeva1, Ral O. C. Fonseca2, Duane J. Smythe1

1811-5209/17/0013-0111$2.50DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.111

S
ulfides are among the most important petrogenetic agents in magmatic SULFIDES IN
systems. They are ubiquitous in most upper-mantle rock types, common THE UPPER MANTLE
as inclusions in diamonds and they host significant amounts of geochem- Sulfides are ubiquitous accessory
phases in all types of mantle
ically and economically important chalcophile (sulfur-loving) elements, such
xenoliths. The major sulfide
as Cu, Ni, Pb, In, Au and the platinum-group elements. Despite their low phases present in mantle rocks
abundance (<< 1% of the bulk rock), residual sulfides have a disproportionate are pentlandite, pyrrhotite and
control over the chalcophile element budget in upper mantle lithologies, as cha lcopy r ite ( Vaugha n a nd
Corkhill 2017 this issue). Also
well as that of melts derived from the Earths mantle. present are the monosulfide solid
Keywords : chalcophile, element partitioning, upper mantle, sulfides solution (mss) and intermediate
solid solution (iss) phases. The
observed mineralogy of mantle
INTRODUCTION sulfides, however, likely represents low temperature
Sulfides are minerals that contain the sulfide anion, S2, (<300C) re-equilibration of high-temperature mss or,
as the major structural component. Sulfides are common possibly, sulfide melt. Therefore, most recent studies have
accessory minerals in the Earths interior. They are observed concentrated on reporting the bulk chemistry of polyphase
in upper-mantle peridotites and oceanic basalts, in mantle inclusions (e.g. Bulanova et al. 1996), and this will be the
xenoliths, and are also the most common mineral inclu- focus of this discussion.
sion in diamonds. Despite sulfur being a minor compo-
The compositions of sulfides from mantle xenoliths
nent in the mantle present at concentrations of ~150300
and diamond inclusions are shown in Figure 2. Sulfides
parts per million (ppm) S in the bulk silicate Earth (e.g.
observed in mantle xenoliths are dominantly Fe-rich with
Palme and ONeill 2013) sulfides are, nonetheless, very
minor amounts of Ni and Cu. Peridotite xenoliths gener-
important phases because many elements have a strong
ally contain sulfides with ~20 wt% Ni and 45 wt% Cu, on
affinity for sulfur. These sulfur-loving elements are termed
average. Eclogitic sulfides are generally similar with respect
chalcophiles (Fig. 1), and they are concentrated in sulfide
to their Cu content compared to peridotite-hosted sulfides,
minerals. Thus, sulfides control the behaviour of the
but are consistently lower in Ni, with average concentra-
chalcophile elements during magmatic processes.
tions ~3 wt% Ni.
Most chalcophile elements (some of which are also sidero-
Even though sulfides are accessory phases in mantle
phile, or iron-loving) are economically important metals;
xenoliths (<0.1%) they are the most common mineral
ten of these are the most valuable metals in the world [In,
inclusions found in diamonds, accounting for 35% 46%
Re, Au, Ag and the platinum-group elements (PGEs)]. In
of all diamond inclusions in the Finsch, Koffiefontein
Earths crust, these elements are typically found associated
and Premier kimberlite pipes of South Africa (Harris and
with base-metal sulfides, and sulfide deposits are mined
Gurney 1979). The Ni and Cu concentrations in sulfide
extensively as a result. In addition to their economic impor-
inclusions in both peridotite- and eclogite-type diamonds
tance, residual sulfides exert a strong control on the budget
are broadly similar compared to intergranular sulfides in
of chalcophile elements during partial melting and crustal
peridotite and eclogite xenoliths, respectively. The marked
differentiation and, hence, have a profound effect on the
difference in Ni concentrations between peridotite- and
trace-element concentrations found in erupted magmas.
eclogite-hosted sulfides has been used as a paragenetic
In this article, we explore the occurrence of sulfides in discriminator (Bulanova et al. 1996). Pearson et al. (1998)
the Earths mantle, the role of sulfides in the partitioning also noted that Ni concentrations of diamond-hosted
of chalcophile elements in magmatic systems, and the sulfide inclusions correlate broadly with Os, and that Re/
abundance of chalcophile elements in mantle-derived Os may be a more robust petrogenetic indicator for differen-
silicate melts. tiating between peridotitic and eclogitic sulfides. Of course,
how the concentrations of these elements in sulfides may
be used as petrogenetic indicators hinges on our under-
1 Department of Earth Sciences standing of their partitioning behaviour between sulfide
University of Oxford and silicate melt during mantle melting.
Oxford, UK, OX1 3AN
E-mail: k ate.kiseeva@earth.ox.ac.uk
duane.smythe@earth.ox.ac.uk
2 Steinmann Institut
Universitt Bonn
53115 Bonn, Germany
E-mail: raul.fonseca@uni-bonn.de

E lements , V ol . 13, pp. 111116 111 A pr il 2017

 Figure 1 Periodic table showing chalcophile elements
(highlighted in yellow). Note that many of these
elements, according to Goldschmidts classification, are also
siderophile.
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ON
PARTITIONING OF CHALCOPHILE
ELEMENTS INTO SULFIDES
Because sulfides have the ability to concentrate economi-
cally important elements, several studies have been aimed
at quantifying the chalcophile character of ore-forming
metals. Most experimental studies have focused on PGEs
(see review by Brenan et al. 2016) and, to a lesser extent,
on the chalcophile elements, such as Cu, Ag, Sb, Tl, As and
others (e.g. Kiseeva and Wood 2013; Li and Audtat 2012).
The most obvious way to investigate the behaviour of
chalcophile elements in magmatic systems is through
studying the partitioning of trace elements between sulfide
and silicate liquids. The partition coefficient (D) for an
element M is defined as the concentration of this element
in a sulfide liquid divided by its concentration in a silicate
liquid.
sulfide liquid
CM
sulfide/silicate =
DM silicate liquid
CM
The higher the D, the more element M prefers to go
into a sulfide phase, hence the more chalcophile it is.
Determining D can be tackled using two different experi-
mental approaches, both, as shown below, being similarly
effective.
The first approach uses oxidesulfide equilibria at controlled
oxygen and sulfur fugacity conditions. The exchange of
a chalcophile element, such as Pb, between sulfide and
silicate melt can be described by the following reaction:
x S = PbS + x O (1)
PbOx/2 + 2 x/2 2
4 4
where x corresponds to the valence of Pb in silicate and
sulfide melts. Assuming Pb is present in dilute concentra-
tions, we can express Equation (1) in terms of the equilib-
sulf/sil
rium constant (Brenan et al. 2016) and relate the D Pb
with oxygen and sulfur fugacity according to:
fO2 (2)
x log
sulf/sil
logD Pb
4 f S2
E lements
An essential conclusion to be drawn from Equation (2)
is that the partition coefficient of a chalcophile element
between sulfide and silicate melts is a function of the ratio
between sulfur and oxygen fugacity. In other words, higher
f S2 values will favour the partitioning of Pb to a sulfide
sulf/sil), whereas high values of fO will
melt (i.e. higher D Pb 2
drive Pb into silicate melt (i.e. lower D Pb sulf/sil). In nature,
however, because sulfur is a redox-sensitive element, fO2
and f S2 are inversely proportional, and as a result, do not
vary independently.
In the more oxidising conditions prevalent during arc
magmatism, sulfide is not stable and sulfate becomes the
preferred S species (e.g. Jugo et al. 2010). When this occurs,
fS2 will drop considerably, while fO2 can increase unabated.
However, it is desirable to evaluate how fO2 and f S2 affect
trace-element behaviour individually, because different
trace elements will respond to changes in these parameters
in different ways depending on how chalcophile they are.
A large number of experimental studies of silicate melts
at 1 atm pressure were carried out during the 1980s and
1990s, in which fO2 and f S2 were controlled either by
gas mixing or by the use of redox buffers (see review by
Brenan et al. 2016). Unfortunately, some of these studies
turned out to be compromised by contamination of their
silicate glasses by the noble metals that the experiments
were doped with. The so-called micronugget contami-
nants, which are sub-micrometer particles of metal and/
or sulfide present in the silicate melt, are not dissolved
species and can easily (wrongly) be included into the glass
composition when experimental products are analysed.
This has resulted in a widespread underestimation of the
sulf/sil
melts DM , in particular at more reducing conditions
(cf. Ertel et al. 2008).
Only over the last couple of decades has the micronugget
contamination issue been overcome by either measuring
the solubilities of individual chalcophile elements in sulfide
melt and silicate melt independently (e.g. Fonseca et al.
2011), or by measuring sulfidesilicate equilibria directly
(Mungall and Brenan 2014). As a result, more recent studies
sulf/sil
now show DM increasing with decreasing fO2 /f S2, as
expected from Equation (2).
A good illustration of the dependence of the partitioning
behaviour of a given trace element with fO2 /f S2 is given
by Os. Older data obtained from experiments that did
not consider micronugget contamination (grey symbols
in Fig. 3a) are completely at odds with more recent Os
partitioning data, in that they show the opposite depen-
dence on fO2 /f S2 expected from Equation (2). More recent
112 A pr il 2017
 CuS0.5 FeO content of the silicate melt in mole fraction or weight
%. In theory, x will be the valence of the chalcophile

0
100%

element being studied (Fig. 3b).

10
90

Relationships between partition coefficients and FeO

20
80 content of the silicate melt, summarised by Equation (5),
have been successfully tested on a large number (>15) of

30
70
chalcophile and moderately chalcophile elements and
have proved to be valid for a broad range of temperatures
40
60
and sulfide and silicate melt compositions. Moreover, the
method outlined in Equation (5) allows the partition
50

50
coefficient of a given chalcophile element to be described
60

40 in terms of the easily measurable FeO content of silicate

magma, precluding the need to account for oxygen and
70

30 sulfur fugacities.
80

20 The two experimental approaches aimed at determining the

partitioning relationships between the sulfide and silicate
90

10 liquids are essentially addressing the same equilibrium, and

10

they provide similar results for chosen TfO2 conditions,

0%

0
most notably when applied to melting of Earths mantle.

0%
10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90
0

10
FeS NiS To illustrate the equivalence of the approaches, we applied
the two methods to the same dataset using data from
Ternary diagram (CuS0.5, FeS and NiS) showing the Gaetani and Grove (1997). These authors controlled fO2
Figure 2
major element composition of the mantle sulfides (in
weight %). Green (peridotite); red (eclogite and pyroxenite). Data and f S2 and they synthesised silicate glasses over a range
sulf/sil is plotted as a
from Efimova et al. (1983), Bulanova et al. (1996), Pearson et al. of FeO concentrations. In Figure 4, D Ni
(1998), Guo et al. (1999), Richardson et al. (2001), Westerlund et function of log(fO2 /f S2 ) and log[FeO] and shows an excel-
al. (2006). lent correlation.
9
studies (blue symbols in Fig. 3a), where efforts were made to 1,300 C, 1 bar F96 (Os)
A
log DOs (sulfide/silicatemelt)

B08 (Os)
B08 (recalc.)
avoid micronugget contamination, agree with the predic- 8 F99 (Os)
S02 (Os)
tion of Equation (2). This contrast is a good illustration M&B14 (Os)
7
of the strides that have been made in investigating the
chalcophile nature of trace elements over the last 25 years.
6
One other complexity that arises from the experimental
approach described above is that the partition coefficient 5 sulfide/silicate
DOs
for a chalcophile element is related to sulfur and oxygen
fS
fugacities, which are easily controlled in laboratory exper- 4 2 =
Pt
iments but that can be difficult to measure or estimate fS
-P
tS
3
for natural systems. To overcome this problem, Kiseeva 2 =R
u-
Ru
and Wood (2013, 2015) proposed an alternative second S
2
2
approach. -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Following the study by Haughton et al. (1974), who related fO 2 ( FMQ)

fS2 to FeS and fO2 to FeO, Kiseeva and Wood (2013) derived
3
an expression that substitutes the fO2 /f S2 ratio from 1,400 C, 15 kbar Basalt + FeS B
log DPb (sulfide/silicatemelt)

Equation (2) with the FeO content of the silicate liquid Basalt + (Fe,Ni)XSY

(provided that the silicate melt is in equilibrium with the

FeS sulfide), considering the exchange reaction:
2
MOx/2 (silicate) + (x/2)FeS (sulfide) =
MSx/2 (sulfide) + (x/2)FeO (silicate) (3)
Again, if we use divalent Pb as an example, Equation (3)
will become:
1
PbO (silicate) + FeS (sulfide) = PbS (sulfide) + FeO (silicate) (4)

As for Equation (1), Equation (4) can be rearranged so that

log D Pb = -1.09 log [FeO] +2.64
sul/sil
sulf/sil relates to the equilibrium
the partition coefficient D Pb 2
(R = 0.96)
0
constant and the activity of FeO in silicate melt (Kiseeva 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
and Wood 2013). This leads to the very simple statement
that when a magma is sulfide-saturated (where the activity log [FeO] in silicate melt
of FeS will be approximately unity), DPb sulf/sil mainly depends

on the FeO content of the silicate liquid: Figure 3 (A) Compilation of literature sulfidemelt/silicatemelt
partition coefficients for Os, given as a function of
oxygen fugacity (here given relative to the fayalitemagnetite
sulf/sil x log[FeO] (5) quartz redox equilibrium FMQ) and at different sulfur fugacities
log D Pb A+
2 (dashed and solid blue lines). Data sources include studies with
micronugget contamination that was not taken into account (grey
where A is a constant related to the free energy of the cross symbols). Blue symbols represent experiments where
FePb exchange between sulfide and silicate liquids; x is a micronugget contamination was avoided. Data from Fonseca et al.
(2011) and Mungall and Brenan (2014). (B) Sulfidemelt/silicate
constant related to the valence of the element; [FeO] is the melt partition coefficients for Pb versus log[FeO] content (wt %)
ofthe silicate glass. Modified from Kiseeva and Wood (2013).

E lements 113 A pr il 2017

 4 is relatively constant during fractional melting and shows
slope = -1 A only a small increase in concentration when approaching

log DNi (sulfide/silicatemelt)

sulfide exhaustion. Despite being strongly chalcophile, Ni
is also compatible in olivine (D ~26), and this dominates
its partitioning. Thus, sulfide exerts little or no control on
Ni concentration during the melting of peridotite.
3
slope = -0.63
2
R = 0.95 THE ROLE OF SULFIDES IN CONTROLLING
THE REOS ISOTOPE SYSTEM
Rhenium and osmium were scavenged into the Earths
core during terrestrial accretion, leaving the silicate mantle
highly depleted in these elements. Although they share
2
-5 -4.5 -4 -3.5 -3 -2.5
this particular geochemical property, Re and Os have
contrasting geochemical behaviours during partial melting
1/2 log (f O2 fS ) 2
of the mantle: Re is thought to be mildly incompatible,
4 whereas Os is thought to be compatible (e.g. Fonseca et
B al. 2011). This fundamental difference is unique among
log DNi (sulfide/silicatemelt)

commonly used isotope chronometers (e.g. KAr, RbSr,

SmNd, LuHf, and UThPbHe systems) where both
parents and daughters are highly incompatible elements.
The fact that Re is mildly incompatible and Os is compatible
3 causes large variations of Re/Os ratios in oceanic basalts.
Mid-ocean ridge basalts, for example, have Re/Os ratios

slope = -0.93
2
R = 0.95
10000
2 A A
1000 S
0.5 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.9

log [FeO]corr in silicate melt

100 Cu
Sulfidemelt/silicatemelt partition coefficients for Ni.
Concentration (Ni, Cu, S ppm, Pt, Pb, In, Ir, Au ppb)

Figure 4 sulf/sil plotted as a function of

(A) Values of log D Ni In
log(fO2/fS2). (B) Values of log D Nisulf/sil plotted as a function of 10
log[FeO]. The log[FeO] values have been corrected for the activity Au
of FeS (see Kiseeva and Wood 2013). It is notable that the model
1
using the relationship shown in Equation 5 (panel B) provides the Ir
slope (1) predicted by the reaction stoichiometry. In contrast, the
model using the relationship in Equation 2 (panel A), yields a 0.1

Sulfide
substantially non-stoichiometric dependency (0.63 slope). This

Out
could potentially be due to the uncertainties in the fS2 measure-
ments or due to the deviation from ideality in the FeNiCuS 0.01
0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
system. Additional discussion can be found in Gaetani and Grove
(1997). Data from Gaetani and Grove (1997).
10000
B B
S
1000
Ni
The method described in Equation (5) enables us to compile
100
partition coefficients for a number of chalcophile elements
in typical magmas (Table 1). Pt
10

CHALCOPHILE ELEMENT BEHAVIOUR

DURING MANTLE MELTING 1
Pb
The behaviour of chalcophile elements during mantle 0.1
Sulfide

melting is summarised in Figure 5. Elements with a very

Out

strong chalcophile affinity (DM sulf/sil of 10 4 10 6 ) (Table 1),

such as Pt, Ir and Au, are extremely depleted in the silicate
liquids due to their retention in the residual mantle sulfide.
Only when sulfide is almost exhausted from the mantle
source (~16% of aggregate fractional melting, assuming
140 ppm S in the mantle source), will highly chalcophile
elements partition into the silicate melt. The concentration
of chalcophiles that are incompatible in silicate phases,
such as Pt and Au, decrease with continued melting as
they become diluted by the silicate melt, while Ir, which
is likely retained by olivine (Brenan et al. 2016), remains
at constant concentrations.
The moderately chalcophile elements, such as Ni, Cu,
sulf/sil values of ~101,000. Both In
In, and Pb have D M
and Pb are incompatible elements in mantle silicates, so
their concentrations continually decrease with increased
melting. Copper, which is only moderately incompatible,
0.01
0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
F (melt fraction)
Instantaneous concentration of chalcophile elements
Figure 5
(A) Ni, Cu, In, and Ir. (B) Pt, Au, and Pb] in basaltic
melt during fractional melting of a depleted mantle source,
following the method of Mungall and Brenan (2014). The elements
are grouped as shown for clarity. Major element chemistry of the
melts and phase proportions were modelled using pMELTS (Ghiorso
et al. 2002); sulfur solubility was calculated using the model of
Smythe et al. (2017). Assuming 140 ppm sulfur in the mantle,
sulfide becomes exhausted at approximately 16% melting (denoted
as sulfide out), which allows highly chalcophile elements to parti-
tion into the silicate melt. As the chalcophile base metals have
smaller sulfide melt/silicate melt partition coefficients relative to the
PGEs (Kiseeva and Wood 2013; Mungall and Brenan 2014) they are
less sensitive to the presence of sulfide in the residue. Partition
coefficients and depleted mantle concentrations are shown in
Table2.

E lements 114 A pr il 2017

 Table 1
EXPERIMENTALLY DERIVED PARTITION compatible in sulfide (e.g. Mungall and Brenan 2014): about
COEFFICIENTS OF SELECTED CHALCOPHILE 97% of the Os budget in source peridotites is controlled by
ELEMENTS BETWEEN SULFIDE AND SILICATE MELTS
sulfide (Luguet et al. 2007).
Andesite Basalt Komatiite
Effectively then, residual sulfide is the primary phase in the
69 wt % FeO 811 wt % FeO 1014 wt % FeO Earths mantle that confers on the ReOs isotope system its
Tl 1418 1315 1113 unique ability to date episodes of mantle melting. Mantle
In 1424 1117 812 sulfides efficiently retain the entirety of the Os budget of
Sb 2239 1726 1320 a peridotite during partial melting, while Re, owing to
its high incompatibility, is efficiently removed from the
As 2936 2531 2227
mantle. At high degrees of partial melting (10% 20%),
Pb 4162 3346 2537 alloys are expected to form from a host sulfide (Luguet et
Co 5686 4563 3450 al. 2007; Fonseca et al. 2011), and, because of this, Os will
Cd 6598 5373 4259 further fractionate from Re.
Cu 420560 360460 290390 If melt-depleted peridotites can be presumed to have lost
Ag 530700 460580 370490 all their Re during partial melting, then their 187Os/188Os
Se 550850 450650 350500 can potentially be used to derive model ages that osten-
Ni 7701,160 630870 500690
sibly track melt extraction events (reviewed in Lorand and
Luguet 2016). This approach can be applied at both the
Bi 10001250 9001,100 800950
whole-rock and mineral (i.e. sulfide) scale to date ancient
Te 3,0003,800 2,6003,200 2,3002,800 melting events in the Earths mantle (e.g. Wainwright et
Re 2222,377 (3,100) al. 2015). However, the same thing that makes the Re/
Au 4,10011,200 (6,300) Os system so useful in dating ancient melt events is also
Pd 6.70 10 4 5.36 105 (1.89 105)
responsible for its biggest caveat. For example, metasomatic
sulfides, which can be introduced to a mantle peridotite
Rh 5.72 10 4 5.91 105 (2.05 105)
through basaltic melt percolation and/or fluid infiltra-
Ru 3.03 105 4.85 105 (4.19 105) tion, will typically introduce Re into a virtually Re-free
Ir 4.80 10 4 1.90 106 (4.58 105) peridotite. Because of this, these metasomatic sulfides will
Os 3.52 105 1.15 106 (7.49 105) develop more radiogenic 187Os/188Os over time, which will
Pt 4.38 103 3.45 106 (8.45 105)
mix into the whole-rock signature and obscure the actual
age of melt depletion of that peridotite. This difficulty
Notes: Partition coefficients for elements Tl through Te (1.5 GPa, can be partly circumvented by carrying out studies at the
1,400C, and in equilibrium with FeS) are from Kiseeva and Wood mineral scale to identify different generations of mantle
(2015) and Kiseeva (unpubl). Values are derived according to
Equation (5), and partition coefficients decrease with increasing sulfide, each with their own 187Os/188Os (cf. Wainwright
FeO content of the silicate liquid. To determine partition coeffi- et al. 2015). Sulfides are, thus, unique in their ability to
cients at different temperatures, the reader is referred to the elec- fractionate Re from Os in magmatic systems and to control
tronic appendix of Kiseeva and Wood (2015). The highest and the the Os isotope systematics during melting of the Earths
lowest partition coefficients for elements Re through Pt are given,
with the average value in brackets. Values for Re (0.11.5 GPa and mantle.
1,2001,250C) are from Brenan (2008). Values for AuPt (1 atm
and 1,200C) are from by Mungall and Brenan (2014). CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
ranging between 10 and 2,000 (Shirey and Walker 1998). The role of sulfides in igneous processes is not limited to
This variability makes the ReOs isotopic system a useful the examples listed above. For instance, the Cu/Ag ratios
geochemical tool for understanding mantle evolution. of erupted magmas are fully controlled by the distinctive
The experimental literature has provided some detailed partitioning of Cu and Ag into solid and liquid sulfides
insights into the geochemical behaviour of Re during (Wang and Becker 2015). Furthermore, the precipitation of
partial melting of the mantle. Rhenium is the least chalco- sulfide may be responsible for the decline in Cu concentra-
phile of all the highly siderophile elements (e.g. Mungall tion of arc lavas during the evolution of volcanic systems
and Brenan 2014), and it has been shown to partition into at convergent margins (Lee et al. 2012). Sulfide also plays
other mantle phases such as clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, a significant role in the mysterious behaviour of Pb (Hart
garnet, and spinel (Mallmann and ONeill 2007), particu- and Gaetani 2006) during mantle melting, which includes
larly under more reducing conditions. At oxidising condi- the nearly constant Ce/Pb (~25) and Nd/Pb (~20) ratios of
tions, however, Re will become hexavalent and will behave mid-ocean ridge basalts and of ocean island basalts and the
as a highly incompatible element during partial melting of lead paradox, whereby all major Pb reservoirs appear to
the Earths mantle. Osmium, on the other hand, is strongly be substantially younger than the silicate Earth.

Table 2 PARTITION COEFFICIENTS USED FOR MODELLING THE CURVES IN FIGURE 5.

Depleted
Olivine Clinopyroxene Orthopyroxene Spinel Sulfide
mantle
Ni 5 1 1 0.001 9801,140 1,960 ppm
Pb 0.003 0.1 0.009 0.001 6174 23.2 ppb
Cu 0.05 0.043 0.15 0.22 540635 30 ppm
In 0.04 0.3 0.02 0.001 2328 12.2 ppb
Pt 0.009 850,000 6.2 ppb
Au 0.01 7,000 1 ppb
Ir 2 520,000 2.9 ppb

E lements 115 A pr il 2017

The Pd/Cu ratio may be an indicator of sulfide saturation
in magmatic systems (Park et al. 2013), a parameter of
fundamental importance in volcanic degassing. Ultimately,
the precipitation of sulfides that act as a reservoir for the
chalcophile and highly siderophile elements, such as Cu,
Ag, Pb and the PGEs, is one of the key triggers that eventu-
ally leads to the formation of porphyry ore deposits and
are key for the formation of magmatic sulfide deposits.
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A pr il 2017
 Sedimentary Sulfides
David Rickard1, Marc Mussmann2, and Jeffrey A. Steadman3
1811-5209/17/0013-0117$2.50DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.117
S
edimentary sulfides constitute over 95% of the sulfide on the surface
of the planet, and their formation, preservation and destruction largely
determines the surface environment. The sulfide in sediments is mainly
derived from the products of sulfate-reducing bacteria, which are currently
responsible for oxidizing over half the organic matter flux reaching sediments.
Pyrite is the mineral overwhelmingly produced. The geochemistry of pyrite,
both in terms of its isotopic composition and its trace-element loading, has
varied dramatically over geologic time. As such, it is a major source of our
current understanding about the nature of the early Earth and of the Earths
subsequent geochemical and biological evolution.
Keywords : sulfides, sediment, pyrite, microorganisms, evolution
INTRODUCTION
Research into sedimentary sulfides constitutes one of the
most exciting areas of contemporary scientific research.
This is evident from the thousands of publications
describing and reviewing advances in the subject: these
papers contribute to our understanding of past, present
and future natural worlds. For detailed references, readers
are referred to the 3,928 citations listed in recent compre-
hensive reviews of various aspects of the subject by Rickard
(2012) and Rabus et al. (2015).
Sulfides are ubiquitous in modern sediments. Most geolo-
gists carry an acid bottle in their rucksacks to test whether
rocks contain carbonates; however, if they were to add
a drop of acid to most of the sediments of the world
just a few centimetres below the surfacethey would be
rewarded with the distinctive rotten egg smell of H 2 S.
Some 300 million tons of sulfide are produced annually
in sediments and associated waters and about 96% of this
through the activities of sulfate-reducing microorgan-
isms. Perhaps surprisingly, sedimentary sulfide dwarfs the
amount of sulfur produced by volcanic activity.
The sulfate molecule is remarkably stable under ambient
conditions, and inorganic reduction to sulfide is kineti-
cally inhibited at temperatures less than ~100 C. Sulfate-
reducing microorganisms bring a small set of enzymes
to bear on the process that facilitates the intracellular
8-electron reduction of S(VI) in sulfate to S(II). This reduc-
1 School of Earth and Ocean Sciences
Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT Wales
Email: rickard@cardiff.ac.uk
2 Division of Microbial Ecology
Department of Microbiology andEcosystem Science
University of Vienna, A-1090 Wien, Austria
E-mail: mussmann@microbial-ecology.net
3 CODES (ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits)
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 79, Hobart, Tasmania 7001
E-mail: Jeffrey.Steadman@utas.edu.au
E lements , V ol . 13, pp. 117122 117
Pyrite nodule (35
mm) from the 2.7Ga
Neoarchean Oroya Shale
of Kalgoorlie (Western
Australia). Pyrite nodules
in this unit contain up
to 8 ppm Au. Photo : Jeff
Steadman.
tion is coupled to the oxidation of
organic carbon, ultimately, to CO2
(the microbial sulfate reduction
equation in Fig. 1). In this process,
sulfate reduction is, therefore,
coupled as an electron acceptor
to the energetics of microbial
metabolism, and this is described
as dissimilatory sulfate reduction
(DSR). This contrasts to assimila-
tory sulfate reduction, which is a
feature of many organisms and
refers to the process where the
sulfide produced is supplied for
biosynthesis (i.e. assimilated) with
no energy gain.
Dissimilatory sulfate reduction is also described as sulfate
respiration and, although the more familiar oxygen respira-
tion is far more favorable energetically, sulfate is relatively
abundant in the modern oceans. There is over 100 times
as much dissolved sulfate as dissolved oxygen in average
ocean water, and this has resulted in sulfate-reducing
microorganisms being amongst the most abundant organ-
isms on Earth. Such organisms are currently so abundant
that they oxidize more than half of all the organic matter
reaching sediments. This means that sedimentary sulfide
formation (the pyrite formation equation in Fig. 1) is
related to primary productivity (the primary produc-
tivity equation in Fig. 1), which is the photosynthesis of
carbon dioxide and water to produce organic matter and
oxygen. The oxygen contents of the oceans and atmosphere
are then, ultimately, controlled by the amount of sulfide
that is fixed, mostly as pyrite, in sediments. The reverse
reactionthe oxidative weathering of pyritedecreases
the proportion of oxygen in the air (the pyrite oxida-
tion equation in Fig. 1). Sedimentary sulfides, thus, play a
fundamental role in the global sulfur, oxygen, and carbon
cycles (Fig. 1) and the formation of sedimentary sulfides
largely determines the nature of the surface environment
of our planet and how it works.
Of course, it is reasonable to ask if this has always been
the case. Sedimentary pyrite has been forming throughout
geological time. Figure 2 shows examples of sedimentary
pyrite formation from a temporal cross-section of sediments,
from framboids found in recent sediments to pyrite from
the Eoarchean Era (~3.8 Ga) (Fig. 2). The balanced chemical
equations are in Figure 1 allow an accounting of the masses
of these compounds in the Earth system. This, in turn,
has permitted the construction of great algorithms that
describe the variations of these elements in the past, such
as for atmospheric oxygen and CO2 (e.g. Berner 1987, 2009).
These models can be checked against the amount of pyrite
buried in contemporary sedimentary rocks. Indeed, much
of what we know about the earliest Earth environment is
A pr il 2017

Relationship of sedimentary sulfides to the global
Figure 1
sulfur, carbon, and oxygen cycles. Named chemical
equations are referred to the main text.
derived from probes into the geochemistry of sedimentary
pyrite. The geochemistry of ancient pyrite has proven to
be a powerful proxy for the geochemical evolution of the
surface conditions of the planet, particularly the ocean and
atmosphere. This itself has led to a deeper understanding
of the evolution of life, especially microbial life, over the
last 3.8 Ga.
In this review, we describe sedimentary sulfides at the
present time and then move on to sedimentary sulfides in
the past. Finally, we look at the future of the sedimentary
sulfide system and how this will affect the environment.
SEDIMENTARY SULFIDES TODAY
Sulfide in sediments is fixed almost exclusively as pyrite.
This is because of the overwhelming abundance of Fe in
sediments compared with other metals. Almost is the key
word here: in modern sediments, other metastable iron
sulfide minerals, such as mackinawite (tetragonal FeS) and
greigite (cubic Fe3S4), are occasionally found. Pyrite forma-
tion also fixes a variety of trace elements that substitute
into the pyrite structure (e.g. Se and As) or that are copre-
cipitated sulfide minerals, such as chalcopyrite (CuFeS2 ),
sphalerite (ZnS) (Fig. 2C) and as the cobaltian and nickel-
iferous varieties of pyrite. How these trace elements get
concentrated by factors of millions to the levels found in
sedimentary pyrite from the exceptionally low concentra-
tions in natural waters has remained a mystery ever since
Ed Goldbergs original discoveries in the 1960s (Table 1).
E lements
The total sulfur content of normal,
dried marine sediments averages 0.3
wt% and varies up to 2.5 wt%, with
most S being concentrated in shallow
sediments. Indeed, up to 80% of global
microbial sulfate reduction occurs at
water depths of <200 m. All of the
other sulfur reservoirs in the Earth
are dominated by sulfide, mainly
combined with Fe(II) in pyrite or
pyrrhotite. Our everyday experience of
the oxygen-rich Earths surface means
that sulfate is the most familiar form
of sulfur to us. In fact, it is a relatively
rare form of sulfur in nature. For the
Earth as a whole, for example, less than
0.04% of the total sulfur is in the form
of sulfate.
Microbial Production
ofSulfide
Sulfate, sulfite, thiosulfate, and
elemental sulfur respiration during
anoxia is the property of two of the
three current domains of life: the
Bacteria and the Archaea. Independent
of respiration, some bacteria produce
sulfide by the disproportionation of
sulfite, thiosulfate, or elemental sulfur.
Although the capacity to respire sulfur,
thiosulfate, and sulfite is widespread,
dissimilatory sulfate reduction (DSR)
is the main source of biogenic sulfide
today.
In DSR, sulfate is the terminal acceptor
of electrons from simple organic compounds or hydrogen
and the consequent reduction produces sulfide. Until
recently, this process was considered to consist of three
main enzymatic steps but, recently, a fourth step was
identified (Santos et al. 2015). An important ecology for
sulfide production in sediments is through consortia of
sulfate-reducers and methane-metabolizing microorgan-
isms (methanotrophs) (Figs. 3A, B), which results in some
of the highest sulfate-reduction rates recorded in modern
sediments (>5 mol cm3 d1). During anaerobic methane
oxidation, methanotrophic archaea form zero-valent
disulfide, which is then disproportionated by the bacte-
rial partner (Milucka et al. 2012).
The capacity to grow by DSR is not limited to a single
modern prokaryotic domain. Most sulfate-reducers
belong to the Bacteria, but a few Archaea also display this
capability. Sulfate-reducing microorganisms are found
in almost all environments on Earth. In marine surface
sediments, free-living, single-celled deltaproteobacterial
sulfate-reducers are the main source of biogenic sulfide.
They far exceed abundances of archaeal or other bacterial
sulfate-reducers and may account for more than 10 8 cells
cm3 of sediment (Ishii et al. 2004). Intriguingly, current
genome sequencing of sulfidic biomes reveals a hidden
diversity of sulfate-reducers. It seems that many additional,
hitherto uncultured, sulfate-respiring microorganisms
surely await further discovery.
Myths and Realities
The analytic chemistry of sulfides in modern sediments
is complex, and the results are mostly operational. The
simplest procedures separate those components that are
soluble in dilute mineral acids (acid volatile sulfide, or AVS)
and that evolve hydrogen sulfide from those that require
118 A pr il 2017
 in the product sulfide and that,
A
A BB
therefore, the sulfur isotopic
composition of pyrite could act
as a signature for ancient micro-
bial processes.
A
In 2000, James Farquhar and
colleagues discovered that the
less abundant sulfur isotopes
in sedimentary pyrite sulfur
10 m (pyrite-S) from Archean rocks
showed a large deviation from
C
C DD the ratios expected from simple
m a s s - d e p e nd e nt f r ac t ion -
ations (Farquhar et al. 2000). It
C became clear that Archean pyrite
commonly showed this effect but
that pyrites in younger rocks did
not. The pyrite-S was obviously
recording a significant change
in planet Earth. It appears that
the anomalous sulfur isotopic
1 mm compositions could only happen
if there was so little oxygen in
Sedimentary sulfides through time. (A) Modern pyrite the terrestrial atmosphere that
Figure 2
framboids. Photo : David R ickard. (B) Early Jurassic (180 the global sulfur cycle was perturbed. Although there had
Ma) pyrite cubes and framboids. Photo : Jeff Steadman. (C) Late
Ordovician (450 Ma) graptolite infilled with pyrite (py), chalcopy- been earlier indications that the Archean atmosphere had
rite (cpy), and sphalerite (sp) in the graphitic (c) remains of the been anoxic (reviewed in Canfield 2005), the disappearance
organism. photo : David R ickard. (D) Early Paleoproterozoic (2.3 Ga) of these anomalous sulfur isotope compositions has been
radiating pyrite nodule. Photo Emily Williams. Figures 2A, 2C and 2D described as the smoking gun evidence for an anoxic (i.e.
are reproduced from R ickard (2012) by permission of E lsevier .
pO2 < 10 5 present atmospheric level) Archean atmosphere
(Lyons and Gill 2010).

oxidizing acids to dissolve. Acid volatile sulfide is often
mistakenly equated with FeS, in particular the metastable
phases mackinawite (FeS) and greigite (Fe3S 4) (Fig. 4). In
fact, these latter phases have not been widely reported
from marine sediments. They occur more commonly in
freshwater sediments. Total reduced sulfur is a relatively
robust measurement that reports the sulfur content after
reducing all inorganic S in the sediment to S(II). It is
commonly closely correlated with pyrite-S in marine
sediments, reflecting the dominance of pyrite as the sulfide
mineral in sediments.
One consequence of the disconnect between metastable
iron sulfides and AVS is that the classic vertical distribu-
tion of sedimentary sulfidespyrite increases with depth
as AVS decreasesis rarely observed. Most pyrite is formed
in the top 20 cm of the sediment, but pyrite formation may
continue for many millions of years during late diagenesis
due to the activities of microorganisms, especially sulfate-
reducers, into the deep biosphere.
ANCIENT SEDIMENTARY SULFIDES
Information about the nature of the sedimentary sulfide
system in the past comes from two major sources: the
geochemistry of sedimentary pyrite, and microbial
genomics. Pyrite is an ideal time capsule for probing
ancient environments because it is exceptionally stable and
only soluble in oxidizing acids. Therefore, pyrites chemical
and isotopic composition closely reflects its composition
when it was formed.
The Smoking Gun
Sulfur occurs naturally as four stable isotopes: 32 S, 33S, 34S,
and 36S. Of these, 32 S and 34S are the most abundant, and
measurements of the 34S/32 S ratio have been technically
accessible since the middle of the 20 th century. One of
the earliest discoveries was that low temperature, micro-
bial sulfate reduction concentrated the lighter 32 S isotope
Further detailed work showed that the timing of this
major change, known as the first Great Oxygenation Event
(GOE-1), in the composition of the atmosphere could be
pinned down to 2.472.32 Ga (early Paleoproterozoic).
However, recent work suggests that the oxygen content of
the atmosphere also varied during the Late Archean and
that the ancient atmosphere was intermittently oxygenated
(Anbar et al. 2007). The great problem is, of course, the
huge swathes of time involved and the relative scarcity of
samples from these periods. The vast swings in atmospheric
oxygen concentration detailed in the last 500 My of Earth
history make the idea of similar variations in the early
Earth unsurprising. However, the fact remains that most
sedimentary pyrites younger than 2.32 Ga show no anoma-
lous sulfur isotopic signatures whereas those older than
2.47 Ga commonly do. The atmosphere of the early Earth
is, therefore, believed to have been generally anoxic.
A B
green sulfate-reducers red methanogens
1 m 5 m
Figure 3 Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) images of
sulfate-reducing bacteria (green) and methanogens
(red) from sediments. (A) Free-living sulfate-reducing bacteria in a
marine coastal sediment. Photo : Marc M ussman. (B) A consortium of
methanotrophic archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria from a cold
seep. R eprinted by permission of Macmillan Publishers Ltd from Boetius et
al . (2000).

E lements 119 A pr il 2017


The major components of sulfides in modern
Figure 4
sediments. The box outlines those components that
may contribute to the measurements of acid volatile sulfide (AVS).
Sulfidic Oceans
For some time, geochemists could not understand why,
if there was no O2 in the Precambrian atmosphere, the
rocks were not full of sulfide minerals. The answer was
provided in 1998 by Don Canfield: the intensive sulfide
production in sediments today is enabled by the amount
of sulfate in the modern oceans; this, in turn, reflects the
oxygenated present-day atmospheres (Canfield 1998). This
is another counterintuitive idea: significant atmospheric O2
concentrations are required for large amounts of sedimen-
tary sulfides to be produced. In Precambrian oceans, there
was limited sulfate and, therefore, the amount of sulfide
in the sediments was also limited. Even so, most of the
sulfide produced in sediments today is oxidized by sulfur-
oxidizing microorganisms. If these organisms were absent
from the Earth today, then the whole Earth would bask in
the gentle pong of toxic H2S. In the period after GOE-1 (2.3
Ga) and up to the second GOE (GOE-2), which is associated
with the explosion in animal diversity ~540 Ma, the O2
content of the atmosphere was still low. Canfield (1998)
proposed that the oceans would have often been sulfidic,
and oceanic anoxic events would have dominated the
environmental history of the Earth during this period. The
prevalence of sulfidic conditions had considerable implica-
tions for ocean geochemistry and may have inhibited the
rapid evolution of multicellular lifeforms.
Evolution of the Sulfur Biome
Sulfate-reducing microorganisms require sulfate to prolif-
erate, and the absence of high sulfate concentrations in the
oceans of the past may have meant that dissimilatory sulfate
reduction (DSR) was not a dominant microbial process in
the early Archean. There is some evidence to support this
hypothesis. Sedimentary pyrite enriched in the light sulfur
isotope became globally abundant after GOE-1. Before that
first major increase in atmospheric oxygen, most sedimen-
tary pyrite did not show this characteristic signature of
dissimilatory sulfate reduction. Instead, volcanogenic
elemental sulfur and reduced sulfur compounds, such as
thiosulfate and sulfite, may have been the primary electron
acceptors. Considering the close phylogenetic relationship
between sulfate reducers and sulfur disproportionators/
E lements
respirers, these metabolisms possibly
coexisted. Prevalent sulfur dispro-
portionation/respiration in the early
Archean is consistent with the fact that
thiosulfate, sulfite, and sulfur respira-
tion is more widespread today than DSR
(Fig. 5). A phylogenomic reconstruc-
tion of the assumed diversity of 4,000
protein families from the Archean also
seems to match the geological record,
suggesting a shift from sulfite- and
thiosulfate-related genes in the early
Archean to more sulfate-related genes in
the Neoarchean (David and Ahm 2011).
However, there is nothing that upsets a
beautiful theory more than an uncom-
fortable fact. The uncomfortable fact
in this case is provided by isotopically
light sulfur isotope compositions of
3.5 Ga (Paleoarchean) pyrites from the
Dresser Formation in Western Australia.
The problem is that widespread isotopi-
cally light sulfur in sedimentary pyrite
is not found until almost 800 My later.
Initially, this light sulfur was reported as a depletion in
34S, and various subsequent attempts were made to explain
its occurrence by processes that did not involve DSR.
Subsequently, independent analyses showed that none
of these alternative theories were tenable. The multiple
S isotope systematics were only consistent with DSR and
could not be explained by other processes, including sulfur
disproportionation. This conclusion was disturbed by later
multiple S isotope analyses of other pyrite samples from the
3.5 Ga Dresser Formation, which revealed an unusual deple-
tion in the heaviest sulfur isotope, 36S (Wacey et al. 2015).
Although this does not rule out DSR, the logic suggesting
that similar isotope fractionation patterns suggest similar
enzymatic processes is then not supported.
One idea to resolve the conflict is that on the early Earth,
DSR might have been restricted to organisms that thrive
at 42122 C, the thermophilic sulfate-reducers (cf. Weiss
et al. 2016). The 3.5 Ga Dresser Formation pyrites appear
to have been formed in an evaporitic basin fed by volcanic
sulfate: an environment in which thermophiles might be
expected to thrive. Further support for this idea comes
from the modeled evolutionary history of the dissimilatory
sulfite reductase enzyme. This indicates that DSR probably
evolved in the ancestors of thermophilic sulfur-, thiosul-
fate- and sulfate-reducing archaea (Muller et al. 2015).
It is also consistent with the view of Karl Stetter (2006),
whose small subunit of ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) Tree
of Life placed hyperthermophiles near the root. However,
recent analyses, especially of the genomics of heat-resistant
proteins, have cast doubt on this hot-to-cold sequence
of evolution, suggesting instead a cold-to-hot sequence,
although moderate thermophiles are not excluded (Forterre
2015).
The microfossil evidence for the sulfur organisms that
were present in those 3.5 Ga environments shows that
they were not, however, equivalent to modern prokaryotes.
In some ways, this is not surprising because we did not
realize we were sharing our planet with a third domain
of life until just 40 years ago (Woese and Fox 1977). It is
entirely probable that other domains might have existed in
the past but are now entirely extinct. The sulfate-reducing
gene set is currently not restricted to a particular domain
and, therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that it could
have been carried by other domains in the past, including
120 A pr il 2017
 The evolution and diversity of dissimilatory sulfide-
Figure 5
producing prokaryotes. There are 11 sulfide-producing
phyla of which just 7 can reduce sulfate or sulfite (red). The ability Table 1 Mean concentrations of 15 trace elements in 1,579
to reduce thiosulfate (green) and sulfur (yellow), as well as sulfur samples of sedimentary pyrite, ranging from 3.5 Ga
disproportionation (blue), is indicated. Lateral transfer of DSR to today, compared with their concentrations in a sample of
(dissimilatory sulfate reduction) gene sets is indicated by triangles. modern sedimentary pyrite and current concentration factors over
LUCA(S) refers to the last universal common ancestor(s) of the contemporary ocean water. D erived from data in L arge et al. (2014).
modern sulfide producing organisms. GOE-1 and GOE-2 refer to the
first and second Great Oxidation Events. Concentration
All pyrite Modern pyrite
factor

(ppm) (ppm) (millions)

the giant, thick-walled microorganisms which appear to
have been involved in sulfide production on the early Earth Mn 799 2330 116.0
(cf. Rickard 2012). Co 349 81 68.0
After GOE-1, oceanic sulfate concentrations increased and Ni 911 501 1.0
DSR began to dominate the sulfur isotope record. Mesophilic
sulfate-reducing bacteria, similar to those dominating Cu 434 537 3.6
marine sulfide production today, likely emerged during, or Zn 807 666 1.9
shortly after, the increase in oceanic sulfate levels between
2.45 Ga and 2.35 Ga. This was followed by several episodes As 1269 339 2.8
of exchange of DSR genes that fostered a cross-domain Se 105 226 1.5
dissemination of DSR (Rabus et al. 2015) (Fig. 5).
Mo 103 938 0.1
The Chemical Evolution of Sedimentary Pyrite Ag 16 9 4.4
Table 1 shows that the average concentrations of trace
Cd 55 19 0.3
elements in sedimentary pyrite over geologic time are
distinctly different to those in modern sedimentary pyrite. Sb 124 55 0.3
Large et al. (2014) explained this variation by assuming
Te 4 5 76.9
that the concentrations of these elements fixed in pyrite
depends to a large extent on how much was available in Tl 17 27 2.1
the sediment porewaters at the time, this being ultimately
Pb 460 66 24.6
related to the concentrations of these elements in the
oceans and associated waters. The trace element chemistry Bi 13 3 9.5
of sedimentary pyrite might then be used as an effective
proxy of past ocean chemistry through geologic time. The
results suggest that the Archean oceans were enriched in Fe, and Co-centered enzymes, and their enrichment in the
Ni, Co, As, Sb, Cu, and Au compared to modern oceans. This Archean ocean water may have maintained an atmosphere
Archean ocean composition was controlled by a combina- relatively rich in CH4 (Williams and Frausto Da Silva 1996).
tion of erosive flux from a continental crust dominated This would lead to the potential for the development of
by ultramaficmafic (komatiitebasalt) rocks and a hydro- microbial consortia such as those formed between metha-
thermal seafloor flux related to active submarine volca- notrophs and sulfate-reducers in modern sediments (Fig.
nism (Large et al. 2015a). The high levels of Au and As 3) with the concomitant possibility of the prevalence of
in marine pyrite from ~3.0 Ga to 2.55 Ga may account organisms with alternative microbial sulfide-producing
for the abundance of both sediment-hosted and orogenic metabolisms.
gold deposits of this age around the world. Furthermore,
methanogenic bacteria have a relative abundance of Ni-

E lements 121 A pr il 2017

In the Paleoproterozoic, following GOE-1 at ~2.4 Ga, there
was a gradual decrease in Ni, Co, As, and Au in marine
pyrite related to a cessation of komatiitic volcanism.
Many bio-essential nutrient trace elements dropped to
a minimum through the period 1.71.5 Ga, suggesting
a low point in productivity and possibly atmospheric O2
for the mid-Proterozoic. The explosion of life at the start
of the Phanerozoic is accompanied by one of the most
dramatic increases in nutrient supply and productivity
recorded by the marine pyrite proxy. Molybdenum, Se,
Cu, Ni, Au, and Tl rise by one to two orders of magni-
tude, peaking at 520480 Ma (mid-Cambrian to early
Ordovician). Following this unprecedented rise in the trace
element contents of sedimentary pyrite, Large et al. (2015b)
reported five further peaks of trace-element enrichment in
sedimentary pyrite at 390 Ma (Middle Devonian), 310 Ma
(Middle Pennsylvanian), 240 Ma (Middle Triassic), 150 Ma
(Late Jurassic), and 0 Ma, coincident with variations in pO2
in the global atmosphere/ocean system. Large et al. (2015b)
interpreted these trace element enrichments in sedimen-
tary pyrite as reflecting nutrient enrichment in contem-
porary oceans and also noted a coincidence between the
corresponding nutrient minima and major mass extinc-
tions of macroscopic life forms in the Phanerozoic.
CONCLUSIONS: A SULFIDIC FUTURE?
Of course, the great algorithms describing the biogeochem-
ical cycles of the elements can also be run forwards in
time and used to model the fate of our environment over
the next decades and centuries. The global biogeochem-
ical sulfur cycle has changed dramatically over the last
200 years. For example, the sulfate content of the oceans
has increased by 47% since the industrial revolution due
to atmospheric pollution and an increase in the flux of
sulfate to the oceans. Death zones, where macroscopic life
no longer survives, are spreading in the oceans as multicel-
lular life forms are first suffocated as the oxygen is removed
and then poisoned as toxic H 2 S escapes into the water
column in the absence of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. This
process is ultimately powered by global warming, which
increases primary productivity (the primary productivity
equation in Fig. 1) and thereby increases sulfate reduc-
tion (the microbial sulfate reduction equation in Fig. 1)
and sedimentary sulfides. Global warming exacerbates the
problem because the oceans become more stratified and the
connection between the atmosphere and oceans becomes
more restricted. It appears as though humankind needs to
be prepared for a sulfidic future.
The increased significance of sulfidic sediments to our
future well-being means that we are only seeing the tip of
the iceberg of the significance of sedimentary sulfides to
future research in the natural sciences. The biogeochemistry
of sedimentary sulfides provides a unique probe into how
the Earth works and the evolution of both the Earth itself
and the life forms that populated it. The burgeoning area
of sulfide studies is destined to continue to be a focus for
some of the most exciting and rewarding research in the
natural sciences.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Ross Large, Rob Raiswell, Michael Bttcher and
an anonymous reviewer for their critical comments on an
earlier draft of the manuscript.

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genomic view of the ecophysiology,
catabolism and biotechnological
relevance of sulphate-reducing prokary-
otes. Advances in Microbial Physiology,
66: 55-321
and Sedimentary Rocks. Elsevier,
Amsterdam, 816 pp
Santos AA and 6 coauthors (2015) A
protein trisulfide couples dissimilatory
sulfate reduction to energy conserva-
tion. Science 350: 1541-1545
Stetter KO (2006) Hyperthermophiles
in the history of life. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B:
Biological Sciences 361: 1837-1842
Wacey D, Noffke N, Cliff J, Barley ME,
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the ~3480 Ma Dresser Formation: New
insights into sulfur cycling on the early
Earth. Precambrian Research 258: 24-35
Weiss MC and 6 coauthors (2016)
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Nature Microbiology 1, doi: 10.1038/
nmicrobiol.2016.116
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 Association of Applied Geochemists
www.appliedgeochemists.org
FROM THE PRESIDENT
I hope your 2017 is off to a positive and produc-
tive start. In my corner of the globe (Western
Australia) there are subtle indicators that the
minerals industry is gradually improving from
what has been referred to as an extended
downturn, or a trough. Historically, these
activities are cyclical and, perhaps, 2017 is
trending in a positive direction for the minerals
sector, fingers crossed. Of our applied geochem-
istry members, the consultancy sector is
probably the worst affected by these extended
economic downturns, and this trickles down from exploration
geochemistry-related consultancy through resource recovery and into
remediation and the environmental geochemistry realm. I recognise
that these times are challenging for a number of our AAG members
and, in particular, Id like to thank you for your loyalty to the AAG.
In 2017, the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) celebrates in 175th
year. Founded in 1842, the GSC is Canadas oldest scientific agency
and continues to play a leading role in exploration and in sustainable
development of Canadas mineral, energy and water resources. Many of
our members have either been part of the GSC or collaborated with GSC
staff over the decades in many important areas of resources research.
The GSC continues to be an important contributor to, and mentor of
students in, applied geochemistry. On behalf of the AAG, I congratulate
Canada for the continued success of this important scientific institution
and wish it well for the next 175 years!
Ryan Noble, President AAG
REGIONAL COUNCILLORS
The AAG maintains a global network of eight regional councillors.
Three of them are introduced below.
Katherine Knights UK and Republic of Ireland
Katherine (Kate) is currently a geochemist with
the Geological Survey of Ireland. She holds an
MSc in geochemistry and has over ten years
experience in environmental (regional/rural/
urban) geochemistry and project management
in European geological surveys, exploration
geochemistry, and systematic geochemical
baseline surveys of soils, stream sediments,
water and vegetation. Additionally, she has
experience in mapping techniques and explora-
tion applications in the UK and internationally.
She has specific skills in comprehensive field, laboratory and data QA/
QC procedures; data conditioning; mapping and data interpolation;
and statistical analyses of geological and geochemical datasets, including
univariate, multivariate and geostatistical methods. Kate is proficient
in the use of geographic information system (GIS) software and
databases, statistical programs, MS Office and geochemical modelling
packages.
E lements 123
Joo H. Larizzatti Brazil
Joo is an experienced geologist and geochemist
currently employed by the geochemistry
division of the Geological Survey of Brazil
(CPRM) based in Rio de Janeiro. He graduated
in geology from the Universidade Estadual
Paulista (Brazil) in 1987 and obtained a DSc in
geochemistry and geotectonics from the
Universidade de So Paulo (Brazil) in 2002. At
the CPRM, he works in regional geochemical
mapping applied to mineral exploration and
geological mapping, with a particular interest
in the CPRM geoscientific database, data integration within GIS, and
geochemical data treatments.
Iftikhar A. Malik Southeast Asia
Iftikhar completed a BSc (Hons) in geology in
1969, followed by an MSc in mineralogy and
petrology from the Punjab University, Lahore
(Pakistan). He obtained a Pakistan Atomic
Energy Commissions Research Scholarship in
1972 and for two years carried out research on
uranium mineralization at Baghal Chur
(Pakistan). In 1975, he joined the Pakistan
Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) at
its Quetta (Baluchistan) office where he
remained until he retired as deputy general
manager in 2007. His position gave him the opportunity to work
throughout the country and in three great mountain ranges: the
Himalaya, Karakuram and Hindu Kush. He contributed to the field of
geochemistry using data from a decade-long program of stream
sediment data collection in northern Pakistan. He was involved in the
creation of the Punjab Geological Society, the Baluchistan Geological
Society and the National Geological Society of Pakistan.
RECENT ARTICLES IN GEOCEHMISTRY:
EXPLORATION, ENVIRONMENT, ANALYSIS
Vol. 11, No. 1, February 2017
Geochemical and mineralogical controls on
metal(loid) dispersion in streams and stream
sediments in the Prairie Creek district, NWT
Kristina Skeries, Heather Jamieson, Hendrik
Falck, Suzanne Paradis, and Stephen Day
Geochemical and mineralogical controls on
metal(loid) mobility in the oxide zone of the
Prairie Creek Deposit, NWT Drew Stavinga,
Heather Jamieson, Daniel Layton-Matthews,
Suzanne Paradis, and Hendrik Falck
Hydrogeochemical assessment of groundwater quality in the
Soutpansberg Basin around Tshikondeni, Limpopo Province, South
Africa Ntokozo Malaza
The Blackwater gold-spessartine-pyrolusite glacial dispersal train,
British Columbia, Canada: Influence of sampling depth on indicator
mineralogy and geochemistry Stuart A. Averill
A pr il 2017
 Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

www.minersoc.org

MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY WELCOMES NEW NEW BOOK PUBLISHED IN THE EUROPEAN

GENERAL SECRETARY, DR JANA HORK MINERALOGICAL UNION NOTES IN MINERALOGY
This is my first communication as the new General SERIES
Secretary of the Mineralogical Society of Great A new title in the EMU series has been
Britain and Ireland (MSGBI). It is a great honour published: Mineral Reaction Kinetics:
to be taking up this post, although I do this with Microstructures, Textures, Chemical and
some trepidation, following the sterling work of Isotopic Signatures, edited by W. Heinrich
the past general secretary, Kathryn Goodenough. and R. Abart.
One of the many contributions Kathryn made,
In the late 20 th century, advances in exper-
while working with the Executive Director, was
imentation and in material characteriza-
to support and nurture the Societys eight Special
tion greatly fostered the development of
Interest Groups (SIGs). The success of these is the
internally consistent thermodynamic data.
life-blood of the society, contributing a vibrancy and providing a
Together with the development of thermo-
valuable network for researchers, both in established fields of research
dynamic modelling tools, this enhanced
and newer ones. The oldest, the Applied Mineralogy Group, was formed
our ability to analyse phase equilibria in
over 50 years ago, and the newest, the Geomicrobiology Network, was
rocks and to obtain accurate quantitative
inaugurated just three years ago. These groups also provide a platform
information on the conditions of magmatic
for students to present their work at specialist meetings, often supported
and metamorphic crystallization. This gave an unprecedented boost to
by bursaries from the SIGs, and thereby nurture a new generation of
mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry and helped illuminate long-
mineral scientists.
standing questions in geodynamics, as well as in geo- and cosmo-
So, while the SIGs currently support the health and sustainability of chemistry. The attainment of thermodynamic equilibrium among the
the MSGBI and its membership, it is also important that we consider phases that constitue a given rock and the metastable preservation
the external perception of mineralogy in society. This is not just so that of those equilibrium phase relationsindispensable pre-requisites for
we sustain the subject academically through future generations, but applying equilibrium thermodynamicscould now be demonstrated
also so that the wider public has an appreciation and understanding of or, at least, tacitly assumed.
the resources and materials that sustain our everyday lives. It is such
The aim of this volume, which arose from an EMU School held in
information that allows them to make better informed decisions about
Vienna in September 2016, is to provide a methodologically sound
how we use these resources and their social and environmental impact.
insight into the theoretical foundations of mineral reaction kinetics;
Society, in general, needs scientific literacy. Such literacy is not usually to help students and others become acquainted with contemporary
high, however, and seems particularly low in mineralogy. It was with a methods in experimentation and analytical techniques; and to give
mixture of surprise and despair that I watched an episode of the BBCs worked examples that illustrate recent geoscience advances based on
University Challenge television program where highly capable univer- an improved characterization and understanding of mineral and rock
sity students failed to correctly answer simple questions on common systems.
minerals from very simple descriptions. This is not an isolated incident.
The book is available from the Mineralogical Society online bookshop:
My job as Head of Mineralogy and Petrology at the National Museum
www.minersoc.org (click on bookshop) at a price of 55 (institutions)
of Wales means that I am heavily involved in public engagement, either
and 40 for individuals (+ shipping). It is also available from the MSA
face-to-face or managing engagement projects. It is not uncommon to
Online bookshop and from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
be confronted with members of the general public who are attracted to,
and clearly interested in, minerals, but who have little understanding
of mineral compositions, how minerals formed or anything actually MEETING: REDOX-ACTIVE MINERALS
relating to minerals! IN NATURAL SYSTEMS
Clay Minerals Group, Geomicrobiology Network,
Nevertheless, it is always possible to find a common thread that can
Environmental Mineralogy Group, Geochemistry Group
spark a laymans interest. I feel that it would be a wonderful aspiration
if, alongside the academic activity of our various aspects of mineralogy,
we can attempt to communicate the science wherever possible and,
perhaps, to consider ways in which we could do this in a more joined-
up fashion. In todays busy world, this is perhaps a big task. But public
engagement is now acknowledged by UK research councils as a valuable
component of research projects, so perhaps we should view this as an
investment in sustaining mineralogy in the future.
of the Mineralogical Society

University of Manchester, UK
2122 June 2017
For several centuries, mineralogy has been dealing with the occur-
rence, classification and description of materials that appear in nature
as rocks. Recent advances in analytical techniques, such as X-ray
and neutron diffraction, and in computational power have enabled
accurate identification of crystal structures and atomic-scale simula-
tions of the mineral behaviour. These advancements have led to a

E lements 124 A pr il 2017

greater understanding of the relationships between the atomic-scale ROY STARKEY RECEIVES THE PRESTIGIOUS
structure of minerals and their function under different environmental MARSHAWARD
conditions. Modern mineralogy has opened frontiers and given inspira-
Roy E. Starkey has received the 2016
tion to material chemists and biotechnologists in the synthesis of new
Marsh Award for Mineralogy. The
materials for clean energy generation, environmental remediation and
Marsh Awards recognise unsung heroes
energy-efficiency technologies. Redox-active minerals are among the
or heroines who have made a major
most attractive materials in many industries, including waste minimisa-
contribution to the promotion of
tion and recycling, reduction of atmospheric pollution, carbon seques-
mineralogy in the UK or abroad. Roy
tration and novel energy storage using materials such as electronic
was presented the award by Brian
ceramics. Redox-active minerals are also abundant in nature, occurring
Marsh OBE (chairman of the Marsh
in environments such as aquatic sediments, hydromorphic soils, sewage
Christian Trust) at a ceremony held at
sludge, waterlogged peat soils, hypolimnia of stratified lakes, sediments
the Natural History Museum (London,
of eutrophic rivers and seafloor hydrothermal vents, to name just a
UK) on 6 February 2017
few. Their abundance in nature has driven research to understand how
biological processes mediate redox active mineral formation. A molec- Roy is an amateur mineralogist and
ular-level understanding of the electron-transfer reactions is the key member of the MSGBI and has passion-
to innovate many society-formative and clean technologies, including ately dedicated his life to British
ore processing, waste recycling and the environment protection that topographic mineralogy. He was instru-
are based on stringent control of interfacial processes.` mental in the formation of the British
Micromount Society in 1981.
Four of the Special Interest Groups of the Mineralogical Society will
come together for a summer 2017 meeting with the theme Redox-Active Over the years, Roy has donated many
Minerals in Natural Systems. The meeting will consist of two days of personally collected specimens of
scientific sessions (including a poster session) followed by a one-day British minerals to nearly every major
field trip to Parys Mountain, NE Anglesey, north Wales. museum in Britain, including the
Natural History Museum (London), the Royal Scottish Museum and
Each of the SIGs will sponsor a session at the meeting, with delegates
the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
encouraged to move between sessions. There will be a minimum of
five keynote speakers: Roys first book, Crystal Mountains: Minerals of the Cairngorms, was
Geomicrobiology Network: Amelia-Elena Rotaru (University published in 2014 and is a culmination of over 25 years of fieldwork
of southern Denmark) and research in a historically important mineral-producing region. He
Clay Minerals Group (contact Anke Neumann: Anke. is currently engaged in research for his second book, The Minerals of the
Neumann@newcastle.ac.uk) English Midlands, which is due for publication in 2018.

Geochemistry Group (contact Jason Harvey feejh@leeds.ac.uk): Roy is a former president of the Russell Society, has been a key player
Susan Little (Imperial College, London) in the revitalization of the new mineralogical exhibit at the Lapworth
Museum in Birmingham (UK) and, of course, co-organized the series
Environmental Mineralogy Group (contact Claire Corkhill:
of meetings Natures Treasures with the Mineralogical Society. Our
c.corkhill@sheffield.ac.uk): speaker tbd
warmest congratulations to Roy.
Mineralogical Society Hallimond Lecturer: Barrie Johnson,
Bangor University (Wales).
TRANS-IAPETUS WORKSHOP
Check the societys website for details (http://www.minersoc.org/Redox. This is a conference focused on the formation and destruction of
html). the Iapetus Ocean. The meeting broadly follows from the Highland
Workshop series and contributions are welcome from studies using
2017 JOURNAL CONTENTS geochronology, geochemistry, palaeontology, palaeomagnetism to
geodynamic modelling.
Check new content in both Mineralogical Magazine
(www.minersoc.org, members click on login; The meeting will be hosted at the University of Hull, UK on 25-26
ht t p ://w w w.i ngentacon nec t.com/content/ May 2017. More information from the workshop website at: https://
minsoc/mm and http://minmag.geoscience- transiapetus.wordpress.com/
world.org/) and Clay
Minerals (www.minersoc. GOLDSCHMIDT
org, members click on Reminder that Mineralogical Society members are entitled to the
login; http://www.ingen- members rate when registering for the Goldschmidt Conference.
taconnect.com/content/
minsoc/cm and http://
claymin.geoscienceworld.
org/)

1 Introductory text courtesy of K. Hudson-Edwards and I. Ahmed, editors of an

EMU Notes in Mineralogy Volume: Redox-Active Minerals: Properties, Reactions and
Applications in Natural Systems and Clean Technologies, to be published in 2017)

E lements 125 A pr il 2017

 Meteoritical Society

http://meteoriticalsociety.org ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULE

2017, July 2528, Santa Fe, NewMexico
COMMITTEE MEMBERS THANKED (USA)
Many thanks to all those members who are serving on the Meteoritical 2018, July 2327, Moscow (Russia)
Societys committees this year. We have listed their names below with 2019, July 812, Sapporo (Japan)
names of the committee chairs in bold. Without the generous help of 2020, Dates to be determined, Glasgow
all these members, the society could not function. We greatly appre- (Scotland, UK)
ciate their help.

Name Affiliation Ends Name Affiliation Ends

LEONARD MEDAL AND NIER PRIZE 5 members; 3-year term ENDOWMENT 5 members; 3-year terms
Sara Russell (Chair) Natural History Museum, London (UK) 2018 Drew Barringer The Barringer Crater Company, Arizona 2017
(Co-Chair) (USA)
Phil Bland Curtin University (Australia) 2017
Uwe Reimold (Co-Chair) Leibniz Institute @ Humboldt-Universitaet 2017
Richard Binzel Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2019 Berlin (Germany)
(USA)
Gary Huss University of Hawaii (USA) 2017
Roger Hewins Rutgers University (USA) 2020
Rhian Jones University Manchester (UK) 2019
Maria Schnbchler ETH Zurich (Switzerland) 2021
Candace Kohl (ex-officio)
BARRINGER AWARD 4 members, 4-year term
Trevor Ireland (ex-officio)
Alex Deutsch (Chair) Universitt Mnster (Germany) 2017
AUDIT 3 members; 3-year terms
John Spray University of New Brunswick (Canada) 2018
Beda Hofmann (Chair) Natural History Museum, Bern (Switzerland) 2017
Akiko Nakamura Kobe University (Japan) 2019
Harold Connolly Rowan University (USA) 2019
Philippe Claeys Vrije University, Brussels (Belgium) 2020
Jutta Zipfel Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt 2020
PELLAS/RYDER AWARD 3 MetSoc; 3 GS; 3-year term (Germany)
Katherine Joy (MS, Chair) University of Manchester (UK) 2018 PUBLICATIONS 6 members+Treas; 3-year terms
Randy Korotev (MS) Washington University in St. Louis (USA) 2017 Cecile Engrand (Chair) University of Paris (France) 2017
Brad Thomson (GS) University of Tennessee (USA) 2018 Ian Lyon University of Manchester (UK) 2017
Emily Martin (GS) New York University (USA) 2019 Akira Tsuchiyama Kyoto University (Japan) 2017
Sharon Wilson Purdy (GS) Smithsonian/National Air and Space 2019 Alan Rubin University of California, Los Angeles (USA) 2018
Museum (USA)
Martin Bizzarro Natural History Museum, Copenhagen 2019
Jon Friedrich (MS) Fordham University (USA) 2019 (Denmark)
MCKAY AWARD 6-8 members; 1-year term Tomoki Nakamura Tohoku University (Japan) 2019
Tasha Dunn (Chair) Illinois State University (USA) 2017 JOINT PUBLICATIONS 6 members; 3-year terms
Karen Ziegler (Vice Chair) University of New Mexico (USA) 2017 Liz Canuel (GS) (Chair) Virginia Institute of Marine Science (USA) 2017
NOMENCLATURE 12 members; 3-year term 3 ex officio Steve Shirey (GS) Carnegie Institution of Washington (USA) 2018
Audrey Bouvier, Bulletin University of Western Ontario (Canada) 2018 George Flynn (MetSoc) SUNY Plattsburgh (USA) 2018
Editor, ex-officio
Thorsten Kleine (MetSoc) Universitt Mnster (Germany) 2019
Jeff Grossman, Database NASA Headquarters (USA) 2019
Editor, ex-officio Jisun Park (MetSoc) Kingsborough Community College, CUNY 2019
(USA)
Laurence Garvie (Chair) Arizona State University(USA) 2019
Mark Rehkamper (GS) Imperial College, London (UK) 2019
Knut Metzler Universitt Mnster (Germany) 2017
MEMBERSHIP AND SERVICE AWARD
Vinciane Debaille Universite Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) 2017
Erin Walton (Chair) MacEwan University (Canada) 2018
Emma Bullock Carnegie Institution of Washington (USA) 2017
Devin Schrader Arizona State University (USA) 2019
Hasnaa Universit Hassan II de Casablanca 2017
Chennaoui-Aoudjehane (Morocco) Ludovic Ferriere Natural History Museum, Vienna (Austria) 2017
Meenakshi Wadhwa Arizona State University (USA) 2018 Gretcein Benedix Curtin University (USA) 2019
(ex-officio)
Rhiannon Mayne Texas Christian University (USA) 2017
Francis McCubbin NASA/JSC (USA) 2019
Matthias Meier ETH Zurich (Switzerland) 2019
Mutsumi Komatsu Waseda University (Japan) 2019
Tomas Kohout University of Helsinki (Finland) 2018
Tasha Dunn Colby College (USA) 2019
Jerome Gattacceca CEREGE (CNRS), Aix-en-Provence (France) 2019
RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW!
Please renew your membership! You can renew online at http://
metsoc.meteoriticalsociety.net. Please renew by 31 March 2017.
After that date, a $15 late fee will be assessed.

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 Mineralogical Society of America

www.minsocam.org PUBLICATIONS ON SULFUR

PRESIDENTS LETTER GEORGE HARLOW tion and table
Mineral-Related Organizations
the View at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show
As previous Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) presidents have
discussed in letters to Elements, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show
(TGMS) is just one spectacle in a remarkable extravaganza in Tucson,
Arizona (USA). The events extend for several weeks from the end of
January every year and features minerals, gems, fossils and various other
accoutrements, claiming to be the largest event of its kind on the planet.
I have now attended 39 of these in my role as a mineral and gem curator,
mineralogist, and consumer of news, views, tacos and margaritas. MSA
fields a booth staffed with Alex Speer, John Rakovan, Carl Bowser, and
people like myself who visit for a while. However, there are many other
organizational representatives who attend or man booths at the actual
TGMS show as well as the other shows for gems and fossils. I would
expect for those of you who have not attended this show that you may
not be aware of the diversity of mineral-related/interested organizations.
So here is a short list: Mineralogical Association of Canada; Friends
of Mineralogy; Gemological Institute of America; Arizona Geological
Society; Desert-Gold-Diggers; US Geological Survey; US Forest Service;
Rocks & Minerals; Lithographie, Ltd.; Mineralogical Record; Mindat.
org; Old Pueblo Lapidary Club; Gem-A Gemmological Society of Great
Britain; Arizona Desert Museum; The Carbon Mineral Challenge;
Geo-Literary Society; TGMS Micromineral Group; Arizona Historical
Society; and others. This is a robust group of organizations. Some are
professional societies, others have diverse interests related to miner-
alogy as a hobby, its history and that of our mining heritage, minerals
as adornment, education about minerals and geology, publishing and
publications, resources, and pretty much whatever else you can think
of related to minerals and society. One might ask whether we are in
competition with these organizations, which to some degree, MSA
probably is. However, the greater sense one gets is that most of the
people in these booths have a hunger for information or of sharing
information about things mineralogical; they provide an uplifting
aspect to being a mineral scientist in attendance. MSAs presence at
the show is appreciated by those organizations listed above, and we
who are there appreciate communicating with them. Mineralogy is
alive and well in Tucson.
George Harlow, 2017 MSA President
The combined MSA/MAC booth at the 2017 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show. Many
of the show attendees are from the general public. They attend out of curiosity
and can have lots of questions that keep the staff of the booth busy. Answering
questions here are volunteer MSA members John Rakovan and Carl Bowser.
For more descrip-
of contents of
these books, and
ordering online
visit minsocam.
org or contact
Mineralogical
Society of America,
3635 Concorde
Pkwy Ste 500, Chantilly, VA 20151-1110 USA
phone: +1 (703) 652-9950 fax: +1 (703) 652-9951
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2018/2019 AWARDS
Nominations must be received by 1 June 2017
The Roebling Medal (2018) is MSAs highest award and is given for
eminence as represented by outstanding published original research in
mineralogy.
The Dana Medal (2018) is intended to recognize continued outstanding
scientific contributions through original research in the mineralogical
sciences by an individual in the midst of their career.
Mineralogical Society of America Award (2018) is given for
outstanding published contribution(s) prior to 35th birthday or within 7
years of the PhD.
The Distinguished Public Service Medal (2019) is presented to an
individual who has provided outstanding contributions to public policy
and awareness about mineralogical topics through science.
Society Fellowship is the recognition of a members significant scien-
tific contributions. Nomination is undertaken by one member with two
members acting as cosponsors. Form required, contact committee chair
or MSA home page.
Submission requirements and procedures are on MSAs home page:
http://www.minsocam.org/
New (and old): REVIEWS in MINERALOGY
andGEOCHEMISTRY
Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes
Volume 82: Non-Traditional
Stable Isotopes, Fang-Zhen
Teng, James Watkins, and
Nicolas Dauphas, editors.
(2017) i-xvi+ 885 pages. ISBN
978-0-939950-98-0
Volume 55: Geochemistry
of Non-Traditional Stable
Isotopes, Clark M. Johnson,
Brian L. Beard, and Francis
Albarede, editors. (2004) i-xvi + 454 pages.
ISBN 0-939950-67-7; ISBN13 978-0-939950-67-6
Since the publication of Geochemistry of Non-Traditional Stable Isotopes in
2004 (volume 55), analytical techniques have significantly improved and
new research directions have emerged in non-traditional stable isotope
geochemistry. Volume 82 reviews the status of non-traditional isotope
geochemistry from analytical, theoretical, and experimental approaches
to analysis of natural samples. In particular, applications to cosmochem-
istry, high-temperature geochemistry, low-temperature geochemistry, and
geobiology are discussed. These volumes provide the most comprehensive
review on non-traditional isotope geochemistry for students and researchers
who are interested in both the theory and applications of non-traditional
stable isotope geochemistry.

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 European Association of Geochemistry
www.eag.eu.com
THE GREAT EASTERN
I had the good fortune to be part
of the 2016 EAG Distinguished
Lecture Program. My research
interests lie at the interface
between chemistry and biology,
and I have always enjoyed inter-
acting with researchers from
these disciplines. I am a biologist
by training but work on the
biogeochemical processes of cold
environments. Sometimes, I use
Alex Anesio in Kiev (Ukraine)
biolog ical techniques and
sometimes more chemically-oriented approaches to determine the
magnitude of carbon and nutrient cycling on glaciers. The EAG lecture
tour was an excellent opportunity to interact across the disciplines,
and I went to institutes that focus on geochemistry Kiev (Ukraine)
and Krakow (Poland) or on biology/microbiology Bucharest
(Romania) and Ljubljana(Slovenia). At each place, my goal was to engage
microbiologists with geochemists. On top of that, it was a great oppor-
tunity for me to see a side of Europe that has a rich history. The airline
gods were certainly in favour of the tour. Travelling back and forth
between four different destinations in 9 days meant boarding 10
different planes and using 5 different airline companies in a short
period of time. Except for one harmless small delay between Belgrade
and Ljubljana, every single flight was bang on time, making the whole
trip really smooth.
The attentive audience at the Institute of Biology, Romanian Academy
My first lecture, which was on a Friday, was at the M.P. Semenenko
Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Ore Formation, which is
part of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine in Kiev. This was
my first chance to calibrate the talk to ensure that an audience of
(mostly) geochemists would enjoy some microbiology. Based on the
number of questions asked and interest shown, I thought the tour
started well. After the lecture, I had a very nice time learning about
rocks and the projects running at the institute. First, there was a tour
at the institutes Natural History Museum, which had one of the most
amazing and complete mammoths I have ever seen, as well as a wide
range of rocks and minerals. Thereafter, PhD student Tatiana Ilchenko
took me for a tour of Kievs city centre, and I learned a great deal about
Ukrainian Orthodox churches. It was my first time in Kiev, and I found
it very impressive.
Saturday morning, I flew to Bucharest via Warsaw. I was to stay in
Bucharest until Tuesday, so I was quite excited at the chance to be
a tourist here. Dr. Cristina Purcarea and her PhD student Antonio
Mondini took me to a variety of places and every place just made me
more and more dazzled. I was simply speechless during my visit to
the Palace of the Parliament, and I enjoyed some amazing food, too.
E lements
Ljubljana, Slovenia
OnMonday, it was time to give two lectures in the Institute of Biology
Bucharest, which is part of the Romanian Academy Bucharest. There
was a very enthusiastic audience, and we had a great and lively discus-
sion throughout the morning and afternoon. I am very grateful for the
gift from Cristina, which included a T-shirt with my favourite book
character, Dracula.
Come Tuesday it was time to go to Ljubljana, via Belgrade, where Prof.
Nina Gunde-Cimerman and PhD student Laura Perini took excellent
care of me. I had an absolutely great Slovenian meal, including some
very delicate frog meat. The talk was in the Department of Biology
at the University of Ljubljana and a nice mix of academic staff and
undergraduate students were in attendance. We had some very good
discussions about the role of fungal communities in cold environments.
This is still an understudied biological component of glaciers and is
a topic that Prof. Gunde-Cimermans lab is doing exciting work on.
On Thursday and Friday, I spent time in Krakow at the Institute of
Geological Sciences, Jagiellonian University, hosted by Prof. Marek
Michalik and Dr. Monika Kasina and a PhD student. In attendance were
academics and students working on the interface between geochem-
istry and biogeochemistry, resulting in really interesting discussions
about the role of microbes on rock weathering. Krakow is a vibrant
city with around 100,000 students across several universities; there
are beautiful historic places and lots of nice people. Krakow is one of
the oldest cities in Poland: if you visit, do not miss the castle and the
Jagiellonian Universitys museum.
Because I work in the UK during a period of so much debate created
by Brexit, I could hardly stop thinking about the impact that the
European Union (EU) has had on collaborative research across Europe
and, in particular, on the societies and economies of Eastern European
countries. I am trying to be neutral, but it was impossible not to notice
what Slovenia and Romania have gained by their membership of the
EU, what Ukraine might gain from membership, and what the UK will
lose from leaving.
The young generation in the places I visited are full of hope and are
enthusiastic about their work. I am extremely grateful to all my hosts
for making my tour so enjoyable and stimulating. I would like to say
a special thank you to the young generation of postdocs and PhD
students who took such excellent care of me. They are not only nice
young people but also very bright rising stars who are doing extremely
interesting work in geochemistry/microbiology. Special thanks to
Tatiana, Antonio, Laura and Monika. I must also thank Marie-Aude
Hulshoff for all her hard work in sorting the practicalities out. Last
but not least, I thank the EAG for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.
Alexandre Anesio (University of Bristol)
Videos of the lectures Biogeochemical Cycles and Microbial Processes in
Icy Habitats and The Interplay between Weathering and Microbes during
Soil Formation are available at www.eag.eu.com/outreach/dlp.
128 A pr il 2017
2017 EAG AWARDS
Urey Award to Eiji Ohtani Early registration: 13 June
Eiji Ohtani (Tohoku University, Japan) is an Pre-registration: 13 July
outstanding academic who has mastered deep-
earth geochemistry, mineralogy, and mineral
physics. Eiji pioneered melting experiments of
mantle silicates to pressures above 20 GPa. Since
then, Eijis research has clarified three main
themes: (1) The melting behavior of Earth and
planetary materials and the properties of melts at
high pressures and temperatures; (2) The global
circulation of water and other volatiles in Earths
interior; (3) The geochemistry, mineralogy and physical properties of
Earths mantle, core and coremantle boundary. This body of work has
revolutionized our understanding of the interior dynamics and early
GOLDSCHMIDT 2017
evolution of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Eiji is known as a
very modest man, but by awarding him the 2017 Urey Medal, the EAG
1318 August 2017
recognizes that he has nothing to be modest about. Paris, France
Heinz Lowenstam Science Innovation Award goldschmidt.info/2017
to Bo Thamdrup
Bo Thamdrup (University of Southern Denmark)
has made outstanding contributions to the field
of aquatic biogeochemistry, significantly
advancing our understanding of the nature and
dynamics of the microbial cycling of elements in
sediments and in the water column. Bo, together
with Kai Finster (University of Aarhus, Denmark),
discovered a completely new mode of microbial
life characterized by elemental sulfur dispropor-
tionation. This process is active in settings that
support sulfide oxidation and can profoundly influence the isotopic
composition of sulfide in sediments. In other seminal work, Bo unrav-
eled the dynamics of iron cycling in aquatic sediments, and, in partic-
ular, the processes that control iron reduction. Finally, Bo, together
with Tage Dalsgaard (University of Aarhus) was the first to describe the
microbial process of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) in
the environment. Bo and his colleagues then quantified anammox as
a globally significant process in the nitrogen cycle, completely rewriting
the textbooks on the environmental cycling of nitrogen.

Houtermans Award to Julie Prytulak

Julie Prytulak is a lecturer at Imperial College
London (UK) and could be described as a force of
nature. She has breathed life (and profanities) into
isotope geochemistry across the globe. Julie is the
scourge of bad data and a beacon of laboratory
rigour. An exceptional analyst, Julie has mastered
two of the most challenging isotopic measure-
ments in the game: the abundances of 231Pa and
50V. Both these isotopes are barely sufficient to

count as naturally occurring, yet Julie has

managed to measure both at high enough precision to be derive infor-
mation on mantle melting and its redox state. This work not only
showcased her consummate isotope measuring abilities but also her
innovative applications of this hard-won data. Julie has seized the
opportunity of plasma mass-spectrometry to tackle challenging geolog-
ical problems. She is a fitting recipient of the 2017 Houtermans Medal.

E lements 129 A pr il 2017

 The Clay Minerals Society
www.clays.org
THE PRESIDENTS CORNER
By the time this message goes to press the 54th
Annual Clay Meeting, which is to be held 28
June 2017 in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), will
be around the corner. This annual conference is
the very essence of Clay Minerals Society (CMS)
activity and is its principal goal. Without exagger-
ation, we may say that the society exists to
organize conferences for its members. Annual
conferences are the oldest activity of the US clay
community. They are older than the CMS itself,
which began in 1952 as a permanent conference organizer (Clay
Minerals Committee) before the CMS was incorporated in 1962. Clay
conferences are older than our journal, Clays and Clay Minerals, which
was launched in 1968 as the continuation of the annual conference
proceedings. That is why the 1968 issue of Clays and Clay Minerals is
not volume 1 but volume 16.
The annual clay meetings have always been small, not more than 300
people. According to my experience, this is their great advantage: you
do not feel lost in a crowd of thousands of people. And, after a few years,
you personally know a big portion of the attendants because personal
interaction is intense. This is a very inspiring experience and also a
great social event. I have been attending the annual meetings since
my postdoc times (Corvallis, Oregon in 1976), and I cannot imagine
my professional life without them.
Conferences do not happen by themselves. Behind each are the hard-
working volunteers of the organizing committee. Hundreds of people
over the past 54 years have devoted their time and energy to keep
the conferences going. All these organizers deserve our thanks. This
is particularly true these days when pressure on scientists is high and
finding time for such volunteer work becomes more and more difficult.
Often the annual conference has a dominant or special topic that makes
it even more attractive. For the 2017 Edmonton conference, the tradi-
tional connection between clay science and the oil industry will be
stressed, in part because the CMS meeting will be held in conjunction
with the Oil Sands Clay Conference, organized biannually by the Centre
for Oil Sands Sustainability.
See you in Edmonton. Do not miss the deadlines!
Jan Srodon (ndsrodon@cyf-kr.edu.pl)
President, the Clay Minerals Society
STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
Congratulations to Monsurat Omolola Jimoh (Ladoke Akintola
University of Technology, Nigeria), Rebecca Simon (University of
Colorado, USA), and Hunter Bell (University of Toronto at Mississauga,
Canada) for winning CMS Student Research Grants in 2016!
Monsurat Omolola Jimohs research interests
include modifying locally sourced Nigerian clay
and finding applications of these modified clays
to vegetable oil refining and waste water treatment
(using clay as an adsorbent). Her present research
is on the use of locally sourced clays and
additives for water-based drilling-fluid
formulations. This research is aimed at devel-
oping American Petroleum Institute standard
water-based drilling fluids using clay and additives
that are sourced locally, rather than using imported clays and synthetic
additives.
E lements 130
Rebecca Simon examines the relationship between
clay mineral diagenesis and hydrocarbon
migration. Diagenesis in nanoporous reservoirs,
such as the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation of
northeastern Colorado (USA), is likely a coupled
process that involves inorganic mineral cementa-
tion and pore occlusion resulting from progres-
sively maturing organic matter. Rebecca is
analyzing Niobrara drill cores that span the
known range of thermal maturity from the
Denver Basin. Samples from each core are submitted to a range of
nano-characterization techniques designed to determine specifically
how the illitization process affects the migration of liquid hydrocarbons
through geometrically evolving nanopores and pore throats.
Hunter Bell studies the formation of glauco-
nite and its role of in preservation of
fossils. Unlike other Middle Ordovician deposits
around southern Ontario (Canada), the fossils
from the Upper Gull River Formation of the
Simcoe Group are coated in glauconite. These
fossiliferous glauconitic deposits are systemati-
cally restricted to specific fossil species and are
exceedingly limited in the surrounding matrix.
Hunters research focus lies in determining the
crystallization history of these green clays and clarifying the role that
they have evidently played in fossil preservation. He will work with
samples from the Royal Ontario Museum to determine the sedimentary
and diagenetic context of the mineralization through petrologic
analysis, scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and
electron probe microanalysis.
LATEST PAPERS IN CLAYS AND CLAY MINERALS
Sequestration of catechol and pentachlorophenol by mechanochemically treated
kaolinite. V. Ancona, P. Di Leo, and M. D. R. Pizzigallo
XRD and TEM studies on nanophase manganese oxides in freshwater ferroman-
ganese nodules from Green Bay, Lake Michigan. S. Lee and H. Xu
Surface crystal chemistry of phyllosilicates using X-ray photoelectron spectros-
copy: A review. C. Elmi, S. Guggenheim, and R. Gier
Synthetic zeolites derived from fly ash as effective mineral sorbents for diesel
fuel spill remediation. P. Gao, Y. Zhang, and L. Zhao
Adsorption of Cu(II) on rhamnolipid-layered double hydroxide nanocomposite.
Y. Li, H.-Y. Bi, H. Li, and Y.-S. Jin
Near-infrared study of water adsorption on homo-ionic forms of montmorillonite.
V. Bizovsk, H. Plkov, and J. Madejov
Clays in the critical zone: an introduction. Paul Schroeder
Clay minerals in deeply buried paleoregolith profiles, Norwegian North Sea. L.
Riber, H. Dypvik, R. Srlie, and R. E. Ferrell, Jr.
Illite-smectite-rich clay parageneses from Quaternary tunnel valley sediments
of the Dutch southern North Sea mineral origin and paleoenvironment
implications. B. egvic, A. Benvenuti, and A. Moscariello
Adsorption of soil-derived humic acid by seven clay minerals: A systematic study.
R. A. Chotzen, T. Polubesova, B. Chefetz, and Y. G. Mishael
Kaolinite and halloysite derived from sequential transformation of pedogenic
smectite and kaolinite-smectite in a 120 ka tropical soil chronosequence. P.
C. Ryan, F. J. Huertas, F. W. C. Hobbs, and L. N. Pincus
Traprock transformation into clayey materials in soil environments of the
Central Siberian Plateau, Russia. S.N. Lessovaia, M. Pltze, S. Inozemzev,
and S. Goryachkin
Characteristics of early Earths critical zone based on middlelate Devonian
paleosol properties (Voronezh high, Russia). T. Alekseeva, P. Kabanov, A.
Alekseev, P. Kalinin, and V. Alekseeva
REMINDERS
Dont forget to renew your membership for 2017! Registration for the
Clay Mineral Society Annual Meeting is open. http://www.cms2017.
com/
A pr il 2017
 German Mineralogical Society

www.dmg-home.org

FROM THE SOCIETY NEWS EDITOR DVGeo Opens Office

Joint Meeting of DMG Geochemistry and Petrology/ The German umbrella organization for geosciences
Petrophysics Sections: 2324 June 2017 Dachverband der Geowissenschaften (DVGeo) opened
its public office at the Museum fr Naturkunde in
The 2017 joint meeting of the DMG Petrology/Petrophysics and Berlin. (See www.dvgeo.org).
Geochemistry sections will be held 2324 June in Berlin (Germany)
at the Freie Universitt (Institute of Geological Sciences). As always,
the focus of the meeting is the combining of research activities of both ANNUAL DMG MEETING 2017
DMG sections. Young scientists are strongly encouraged to give a talk The System Earth and its
or present a poster. The sessions begin at 14:00 on Friday, June 23, and
will end at 18:00 on Saturday, June 18. All participants are invited to
Materials from Seafloor
the traditional barbecue on Friday evening. toSummit
Costs: A fee of 30 payable on the day. Non-local student members of 2429 September 2017
DMG are eligible for travel support to the amount of 50. Bremen, Germany
Information/registration before 6 June: milke@zedat.fu-berlin.de
Important dates
Forthcoming DMG Short Courses 15 June 2017: Deadline for abstract submission
K3 Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy (Anwendungen der Festkrper- Before 15 August 2017: Normal registration
NMR-Spektroskopie in der mineralogischen und geowissenschaftlichen After 15 August 2017: Late registration
Forschung), Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and Geophysics, Ruhr For more information please visit: www.GeoBremen17.de
University Bochum, Dr Michael Fechtelkord, 69 June 2017, http://
www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/dgk-ak12/workshops/ 50 sessions in these scientific themes:
K4 Mineralogy, Mineral Physics, and Seismology of the Earths Dynamic Earth from the Interior to the Surface
Mantle (Mineralogie, Mineralphysik und Seismologie des Erdmantels), Magmatic and Metamorphic Systems
Bayerisches Geoinstitut/University Bayreuth, Dr Hauke Marquardt GeosphereBiosphere Interactions
(BGI), Prof. Christine Thomas (University Mnster), 1822 September SolidLiquid Interface Reactions
2017, http://depict-group.org/short-course/ Earth History and Global Change
Early Earth and Evolution of Planets
Sedimentary Systems
DMG Awards for Young Scientists Energy, Materials, Resources
The Paul Ramdohr Award is given for the best oral presentation by Archaeometry and Outreach
a student at the annual meeting of the German Mineralogical Society Open Session
(DMG). Student members of the DMG may apply when submitting an
abstract for GeoBremen 2017 (the joint meeting of the DGGV and the Plenary lectures
DMG, to be held 2429 September 2017 in Bremen, Germany). The Nanoscience and crystallization (Helmut Clfen, University of
application form can be downloaded from http://www.dmg-home.org/ Konstanz, Germany)
fileadmin/downloads/Form-Paul-Ramdohr-Preisallg_v1.pdf. Neotectonics (Todd Ehlers, University of Tbingen, Germany)
In memory of the late petrologist and geochemist Beate Mocek, the Hazards and their impacts (Sean Gulick, University of Texas, USA)
Beate Mocek Prize of the German Mineralogical Society was created Seafloor processes (Susan Humphries, Woods Hole Oceanographic
by her family to encourage female young scientists in the areas of Institution, USA)
petrology and geochemistry. Female undergraduate or PhD students Pilbara and early life (Martin van Kranendonk, University of
who are also members of the DMG are eligible to apply for this prize. Sydney, Australia)
Please submit your application by 30 June 2017 to DMG President Reiner
Klemd (reiner.klemd@fau.de).
Field trips
Wilhelmshaven / Wadden Sea / island of Spiekeroog (Andr
Team of DMG Editors Freiwald)
Christopher Giehl (University of Coastal dynamics the tidal Weser- and Ems estuaries (Christian
K iel, christopher.giehl @ min. Winter, Marius Becker)
uni-kiel.de) recently joined the Steel mill Bremen one of the most productive factories of
editorial team of the German Arcelor Mittal (Michael Wendschuh)
new slet te r i n ge os c ie nce s Moor Gnarrenburg Geotope and Biotope (Joachim Blankenburg)
(Geowissenschaftliche Mitteilungen, Rheinisches Schiefergebirge Givetian volcanoes and reefs
or GMIT). Christopher will also (Rdiger Henrich, Wolfgang Bach)
support Klaus-Dieter Grevel as Baltic Sea islands: Rgen and Usedom (Gsta Hoffmann)
DMG society news editor for North Sea island: Heligoland (Torsten Bickert)
Christopher Giehl Klaus-Dieter Grevel
Elements. The Quaternary of Schleswig-Holstein new sites (Alf Grube)

E lements 131 A pr il 2017

 Geochemical Society
www.geochemsoc.org
2017 GS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
This winter, the membership of the Geochemical Society (GS) elected
four new members to its Board of Directors and re-elected Treasurer Sam
Savin to another term. New Goldschmidt Officer Stephen Parman also
joined the board as co-chair of the 2018 Goldschmidt Local Organizing
Committee.
Magali Ader was elected to a three-year term as
GS International Secretary. She will lead efforts
to increase the societys reach and membership
in under-represented countries. She is a professor
of geochemistry at the Institut de Physique du
Globe de Paris (France), where her research focuses
mainly on deciphering C, N and Cl stable isotope
compositions in sedimentary rocks and fluids.
This has led to research on the evolution of carbon
and nitrogen biogeochemical cycles through time,
bacterial vital effects, diagenesis, fluidrock interactions in CO2 storage
sites and solute transport properties in sedimentary basins.
Sasha (Alexandra) Turchyn, a low temperature
isotope geochemist in the Department of Earth
Sciences at the University of Cambridge (UK),
joins the board as GS Secretary. She will manage
official communications of the board and keep
records of its meetings. Dr. Turchyn is currently
Reader in Biogeochemistry and Fellow of Trinity
Hall College. Her research focuses on the use of
light stable isotopes to elucidate pathways and
processes in the sedimentary biosphere and to
understand the role of sedimentary diagenesis in
the global carboncycle.
Tamsin Mather, began her term as a GS
non-officer director representing Europe. She is a
volcanologist and professor of earth sciences at
the University of Oxford, where she has been on
the faculty since 2006. Her research explores the
many and diverse ways in which volcanoes
interact/have interacted with Earths environ-
ment. She also researches volcanic behavior from
a hazard perspective. This has led to collabora-
tions with a broad range of geochemists and
geophysicists working from mantle to ionosphere and beyond.
Stephen Parman, associate professor at Brown
University (USA) in the Department of Earth,
Environmental and Planetary Sciences, joins the
board as a GS Goldschmidt Officer. In this role,
he will represent the Local Organizing Committee
of the 2018 Goldschmidt Conference in Boston
(USA). Dr. Parman is an experimental petrologist
and geochemist and his research focuses broadly
on the origin and evolution of the Earth and
terrestrial planets. Currently, his groups main
projects include volatile cycling in the terrestrial mantle, evolution of
the continental crust, early Earth magmatism, lunar mantle evolution
and, most recently, the evolution of Mercurys interior and surface. His
primary mode of research uses high-pressure experiments to quantify
geochemical equilibrium and kinetic parameters and processes. The
experimental data is used in conjunction with geochemical observa-
tions of terrestrial and planetary materials and with geodynamic
modeling.
E lements 132
Sam Savin was elected to another term as GS
Treasurer, the position responsible for overseeing
the societys finances. Now retired and consulting
on geochemical, environmental and administra-
tive matters, Dr. Savin previously served as Dean
of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve
University (USA) and as Provost at New College
of Florida (USA). His research applied stable
isotope techniques to a wide range of problems
relating to the sedimentation, diagenesis and
low-grade metamorphism of siliclastic sediments, and to weathering
and soil formation. He has worked on the reconstruction of paleocli-
matic and paleoceanographic conditions of the past 100 million years,
based on carbon and oxygen isotope distributions in planktonic and
benthic foraminifera. He has also used stable carbon isotopes to study
metabolic processes in human infants and mothers. He was named a
Geochemical Fellow in 2009.
Claudine Stirling was elected as a GS Director
representing members in Africa, Asia, Australia
and South America. She is an isotope geochemist
and Associate Professor in the Department of
Chemistry at the University of Otago (New
Zealand). Her research has focused on the
geochemical analysis of the U-decay series
isotopes, including the non-traditional U stable
isotope system, with emphasis on technique
development by multiple collector inductively
coupled mass spectrometry and applying this to paleoclimatology,
paleoceanography, and cosmochemistry. She also investigates the stable
isotope systems of bioactive metals, such as cadmium, and redox-sensi-
tive elements, such as iron, to investigate their biogeochemical cycling
in the oceans and to track past oceanatmosphere conditions.
The GS Board consists of 11 officers and 6 directors that represent the
3 geographic regions of the society. The board meets in person at the
Goldschmidt Conference every summer and virtually at other times
throughout the year.
ARE YOU RECEIVING GEOCHEMICAL NEWS?
Every week, the GS shares information about the latest discoveries
in geochemistry through our electronic newsletter, Geochemical News.
This newsletter includes faculty and postdoctoral position openings,
a scientific conferences calendar, and updates on society activities. Its
sent by email each Tuesday and subscriptions are free! You can find a
link to subscribe at www.geochemsoc.org. We also welcome suggestions
for news items to feature in future editions. If you have information of
interest to the geochemical community that you would like to share,
please contact the editors at gn@geochemsoc.org.
2017 LECTURE HONORING F. EARL INGERSON
Dr. Karim Benzerara of the Institut de
Minralogie, de Physique des Matriaux et de
Cosmochimie, CNRS (France) will deliver the
2017 Ingerson Lecture at the Goldschmidt
Conference in August. Dr. Benzerara is Director
of Research at CNRS, where he studies the interac-
tions between microorganisms and rocks, such as
the formation (biomineralization) or alteration of
minerals. The title, date, and time of his lecture
will be posted at: https://goldschmidt.info/2017/
medalsView.
A pr il 2017
BEGINNINGS
The Geochemical Societys founder, Frederick Earl Ingerson (1906
1993), was a seminal figure in geochemistry. He is remembered today
by the Ingerson Lectures, delivered at the Goldschmidt Conference as
a means of honoring his significant and enduring contributions to the
field of geochemistry. More than 60 years after he helped launch the
GS, we look back at his legacy.
Ten years later, he helped establish the International Association of
Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry (now the International Association
of GeoChemistry, or IAGC) again serving as its first president and
guiding it through its formative years. In 1986, the first three issues of
IAGCs official journal, Applied Geochemistry, were dedicated to Ingerson
(Hitchon 1986).

Ingerson was born in 1906 in He was also active in the negotia-

Barstow, Texas (USA), a town in the tions that created Geochimica et
rural western part of the state with Cosmochimica Acta in 1950, served
fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. He on its inaugural editorial board, and
earned his BA in chemistry and MA continued serving as an editor for its
in geology from Simmons University first 30 volumes representing an
(USA) before going to Yale University impressive 144 issues. And he was a
(USA) to complete his PhD in geology founding editor of the International
in 1934. Geology Review (Fleischer 1986).

As an early career scientist, he As a researcher, Ingerson wrote nearly

joined the staff of the Geophysical 200 scientific publications, including
L aborator y at t he C a r neg ie fundamental works on petrofabric
Institution of Washington (USA), analysis and geologic thermometry,
where his work focused on equilibria supervised the translation of a prodi-
in hydrothermal systems. His influ- gious number of Russian geological
ential work, along with that of publications, presented papers in
George W. Morey and other experi- Spanish in Peru and Mexico, and
menters, led later to the successful published papers in Portuguese on
growth of synthetic quartz crystals Earl Ingerson (back row-center) poses with his Carnegie Brazilian quartz deposits (Alcade
Geophysical Laboratory colleagues in 1939. Geochemist 1977; Brantley 2007).
(Fleischer 1986). Moving to the U.S. George W. Morey, with whom Ingerson collaborated on
Geological Survey, Ingerson headed the several studies in the 1930s and 40s, sits in front of him.
Among many accolades and honors,
Geochemistry and Petrology Branch for 11 Six decades later, the Geochemical Societys business office
Ingerson was awarded the Day Medal
years. While there, he not only maintained moved to the Carnegie Institution campus. Photo : C arnegie
Institution, G eophysical L aboratory. from the Geological Society of America,
the USGS tradition of supporting funda- the Distinguished Service Medal of the US
mental research, he also led the survey Department of the Interior, an honorary
into new fields, such as isotope geology DSc degree from his alma mater (Hardin-
and organic geochemistry (Fleischer 1986). Simmons University), and was an honorary Life Member of both the
Ingerson was recruited to the University of Texas at Austin (USA) in IAGC and GS. Today, with more than 4,000 members from 67 countries,
1958 at a time when the university was endeavoring to build a truly the Geochemical Society is still pursuing Earl Ingersons mission of
eminent and distinguished faculty, thanks to his widely recognized bringing together geochemists from around the world.
reputation (Jodeit 1958; Alcade 1977). He served first as Professor of
Geology and later as Associate Dean of the Graduate School.
REFERENCES
In 1955, Ingerson realised that geochemistry was a rapidly growing
and very active discipline and he saw the need for an overarching Alcade (1977) University of Texas Ingerson E (1956) Why a geochem-
at Austin Alumni Magazine, Nov. ical society? Geochemical News
organization dedicated to bringing professionals together. Ingerson thus 1977, p 25 1: 1
spearheaded the formation of the Geochemical Society, and served as
Brantley S (2007) Message from the Ingerson E (1962) The Geochemical
its first president. The enthusiastic initial response over 1,400 profes- President. Elements 3: 286 Society. GeoTimes 6: 8-14
sional members from dozens of countries signed up within the first
year proved him right (Geotimes 1962). Response to invitations to Fleischer M (1986) A Tribute to F. Earl Jodeit M (1958) Committee of 75
Ingerson. Applied Geochemistry Says Texas U. is Not First Class.
Charter Membership in the Geochemical Society has been most grati- 1: 5-6 Rice Thresher 46: 4
fying, Ingerson wrote in the first issue of Geochemical News (1956). All
Hitchon B (1986) Editorial. Applied
of these are highly qualified professional individuals who are active in Geochemistry 1: 1
several different fields of science.

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 European Mineralogical Union
www.eurominunion.org
EMU EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (20162020)
The following scientists were elected to the EMU Executive Committee
(20162020) during emc2016 :
President Michael Carpenter,
University of Cambridge (UK)
Vice-Presidents Ewa Saby, Polish Academy
of Sciences
Isabelle Daniel, University
of Lyon (France)
Treasurer Wim van Westrenen,
University of Amsterdam
(Netherlands)
Secretary Juraj Majzlan, University
of Jena (Germany)
Juraj Majzlan and Wim van Westrenen will continue in their roles
as Secretary and Treasurer. Brief biographies of those joining the
committee for the first time are given below.
Michael Carpenter is Professor of Mineralogy and
Mineral Physics in the Department of Earth Sciences,
University of Cambridge (UK). His research interests
cover the interdisciplinary fields of mineralogy and
materials physics, with a particular focus on phase
transitions. He has served the Mineralogical Society
of America and the Mineralogical Society of Great
Britain and Ireland, both as a member of council and
as president. He feels strongly that the scientific field of mineralogy, in
the broadest sense, benefits very substantially from the formal links
and informal collaborations that occur between national societies.
These may take the form of joint conferences, publications, field trips
and workshops but extend also to collaboration between individual
scientists. He sees the role of the EMU as enabling and facilitating these
joint efforts and looks forward to seeing how this can be done at a
practical level. All suggestions for joint ventures between European
mineralogical societies will be received with interest.
EwaSabyis Professor of Geochemistry and
Petrology in the Institute of Geological Sciences,
Polish Academy of Sciences (IGN PAN) (Poland). Her
research concentrates on the geochemistry of
magmatic and post-magmatic processes. She and her
group of co-workers model petrogenetic mechanisms
by applying geochemical tools, including fractal
statistics (which can be used for examining self-
organizing complex phenomena), investigating phase relations, and
developing new methods to visualize geochemical data. Professor Saby
has served the University of Warsaw (Faculty of Geology) as a Vice-Dean
for Student Affairs and as a Vice-Dean for Scientific Affairs, she has also
been a member and Vice-President of the Mineralogical Society of
Poland. Currently, she is Director of IGN PAN and she chairs the
Committee of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Science.

Managing Editor Kevin Murphy, Isabelle Daniel is a mineralogist and a spectrosco-

of EMU Notes in Mineralogical Society of pist. She works on the interactions between minerals,
Mineralogy Great Britain and Ireland fluids, and microbes under extreme conditions. She
(UK) is a professor at the Universit Claude Bernard Lyon
1 (France) and the Dean of the Observatory of Earth
Sciences and Astrophysics of Lyon. Isabelle has a
longstanding interest in characterizing volatiles in
Past President Wilhelm Heinrich, GFZ subduction zones and how those volatiles get
Potsdam (Germany) recycled. Her experimental work focuses on the stability of hydrous
minerals at subduction conditions; the rate of fluid release, using an
in situ kinetic approach; and the stability and speciation of carbon in
subduction aqueous fluids. Her most recent research is on the explora-
tion of the physical limits of microbial life on Earth and on the role of
Past Corina Ionescu, minerals and their surfaces in the emergence of life. In 1989, she
Vice-Presidents Babes-Bolyai University received a BS in Earth Sciences from the cole Normale Suprieure de
(Romania) Lyon (France), and she earned a PhD in mineralogy from the Universit
Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in 1995, working at that time on the structural
transitions between minerals, glasses and melts.
The new committee wish to thank all the members of the former
Fernando Gervilla, Executive Committee and all the persons who have been involved in
University of Granada (Spain) the various EMU activities for their commitment.

E lements 134 A pr il 2017

 International Association of GeoChemistry

www.iagc-society.org

FROM THE PRESIDENT In our modern world, intense communication is a strong reality, and this
is also a driver for science. For the IAGC, this includes everything from
As I start my challenge as IAGC President for a
Elements, to the Newsletter of the International Association of GeoChemistry,
two-year term, I want to first thank our outgoing
to our working groups meetings, and even our Facebook and LinkedIn
President, Ian Cartwright, and outgoing
pages. One key objective of the next two years is to define and adapt
Past-President, Richard B. (Rich) Wanty, for their
our communication to continually strengthen the network between
commitments to the IAGC as council members,
scientists. We are open to suggestions/comments, or anything else.
Vice-President, and President. Ian now starts a
Please do not hesitate to contact us: Philippe Negrel (p.negrel@brgm.
two-year term as Past-President, and I look forward
fr) or Neus Otero (notero@ub.edu).
to having benefits of his experience. I would like
to welcome our new Vice-President, Neus Otero, I look forward to working with all of you.
from the Universitat de Barcelona (Spain).
Philippe Ngrel (IAGC President)
The group of members who serve as officers, council members, and
working group leaders are the core team of the association and their INTRODUCING OUR NEW VICE-PRESIDENT,
dedication assures the continued success of the IAGC. The working NEUSOTERO
groupsWaterRock Interaction, Global Geochemical Baselines, Applied
Neus Otero is a professor in the Earth Sciences
Isotope Geochemistry, Geochemistry of the Earths Surface, Urban
Faculty of the University of Barcelona (Spain). She
Geochemistry, Biogeochemistry and Environmental Geochemistry
obtained her degree in geology (1998) and her
are the foundation of the society and continue to organize important
PhD in geological sciences (2004) from the
and successful meetings, such as the recent meetings in France [Applied
University of Barcelona. As a post-doc, she worked
Isotope Geochemistry (AIG)-11 in Orlans] and in Portugal [15th
at the Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera
WaterRock Interaction International Symposium (WRI-15) in Evora].
and in the Institute of Environmental Assessment
Compared to other societies, the IAGC has developed a different, but
and Water Research, both part of the Spanish
complementary, strategy for meetings. Rather than big meetings that
Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) network.
aim to represent a large forum for science, our working groups organize
During this period, she was also a postdoctoral
dedicated and focused meetings that allow for important scientific
fellow in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the
exchanges. The next planned meetings will be the 11th International
University of Waterloo (Canada).
Symposium on Geochemistry of the Earths Surface (GES-11) to be
held in Guiyang (China) and organized by Jiubin Chen (Institute of Her research uses isotopic tools to identify the source and fate of
Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences), and the 12th Applied contaminants in the environment. Current research lines deal with
Isotope Geochemistry (AIG-12) in Copper Mountain Colorado (USA) agricultural and industrial pollution, applying a multi-isotopic
organized by Rich Wanty (US Geological Survey). approach to trace the sources of pollution in surface and groundwater,
and to monitor natural attenuation. She also works in the development
The IAGC is a healthy and growing society. This fact is strongly related
and implementation of remediation technologies, especially in-situ
to the success of our journal, Applied Geochemistry, which is going strong
treatments. She is a senior project manager and is actively involved
thanks to the excellent management of Michael Kersten, our executive
in the transfer of scientific knowledge to public administrators and/or
editor. Great work was done in the past by Ron Fuge, who edited AG for
to private companies. She has published over 30 scientific papers, and
19 years and who retired from this position at the end of 2012. Michael
presented more than 100 contributions at national and international
Kersten from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz (Germany) took
conferences. She has helped organize and/or be on the scientific
over as executive editor, and the journals metrics have all steadily
committees of several conferences, including co-hosting the AIG-9
increased. For example, between 2014 and 2015 the total cites went
conference in Tarragona (Spain) in 2012. She subsequently co-edited
from 8,883 to 9,648; the impact factor went from 2.268 to 2.468, and
a special edition of Applied Geochemistry from the AIG-9 conference.
AG is now ranked 29 of 81 journals in the category Geochemistry
& Geophysics, reflecting the great job Michael did with the precious Neus teaches mineralogy and thermodynamics. She is the coordinator
collaboration of the associated editors. However, in addition to the of a Master in Mineral Resources and Geological Hazards, and is part of
authors that want to see their scientific research published, AG needs the Barcelona Earth Sciences Facultys academic committee and quality
reviewers. If you are asked to review a paper, please accept and make committee. She supervises PhD, master, and degree students. Neus also
a positive impact on our science and on our association, because the organizes and teaches post-graduate national and international courses,
IAGC lives off the royalties from AG: all IAGC members have a keen focusing on the use of stable isotopes as tracers of pollution.
interest in its success. Our contract with publishers Elsevier has led
to important financial support for the working groups and funding
for the Elsevier PhD Student Research Grant Program. The journal
also needs enthusiastic associate editorsif you are interested, please
contact Michael Kersten. 11th International Symposium on the Geochemistry
of the Earth's Surface (GES-11)
Another important program is the IAGC/Elsevier PhD Student Research 1116 June 2017 | Guiyang, China
Grant, which aims to attract more students to the association (www. www.datas-online.net/ges2017/index.php
iagc-society.org/phd_grants.html). It is important to motivate young
scientists and students to become active in the IAGC, to become 12th International Symposium on Applied Isotope
members of a global network of colleagues, and to participate in our Geochemistry (AIG-12)
working groups. 1722 September 2017 | Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA
www.appliedisotopegeochemistry.org

E lements 135 A pr il 2017

 Mineralogical Association of Canada
www.mineralogicalassociation.ca
MAC FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
We congratulate Jillian Kendrick and Justin Drummond, each a recip-
ient of a Mineralogical Association of Canada Foundation Scholarship
in 2016.
Jillian Kendrick completed her BSc degree (Earth
Sciences) at Dalhousie University (Canada) in 2015,
where, for her honours thesis, she studied coronitic
metagabbro from the Grenville Province (Canada)
and pseudomorphs after olivine. Further pursuing
her interest in metamorphic petrology and micro-
analysis, she began her MSc degree the following
fall at Memorial University of Newfoundland
(Canada) working with Dr. Aphrodite Indares. Her MSc research
combined trace element analysis with cathodoluminescence (CL)
imaging to examine seemingly uninteresting minerals in partially
melted aluminous rocks and show them in a new light. She first focused
on quartz, using CL imaging and high-resolution mineralogical maps
of thin sections to identify different generations of quartz growth in
the samples. This work was combined with trace titanium analysis of
the quartz to assess the applicability and limitations of the Ti-in-quartz
thermobarometer. Using similar methodology, she has since begun to
study kyanite, identifying prograde and retrograde generations of
kyanite growth, typically preserved in the same crystal. The aim is to
determine the possible reactions involved in kyanite growth and
consumption during the metamorphic evolution of the rocks. The
results of her work have implications for the behaviour of these minerals,
and of some minor elements, during metamorphism, particularly
during partial melting at high temperatures and subsequent melt
crystallization.
Justin Drummond completed his BSc (2012) and
MSc (2014) in Earth and Environmental Science at
Acadia University (Canada). His MSc research
integrated sedimentology and multi-technique
petrography to constrain the depositional environ-
ment of phosphorus accumulation in Neoproterozoic
phosphatic sediments of the ~610 Ma Sete Lagoas
Formation of central Brazil. This study provided
further insight into phosphorus cycling in the Precambrian ocean
during the Late Neoproterozoic, just before the ventilation of Earths
deep oceans. After completing his MSc, Justin began his PhD in
geochemistry at Queens University (Canada) under the supervision of
Dr. Kurt Kyser and Dr. Noel James. Justins PhD focuses on character-
izing groundwater calcretes and calcrete-hosted uranium deposits in
Western Australia, and assessing whether there are potential U deposits
in the calcretes of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin (WCSB).
This study integrates petrography, mineralogy, sedimentology and
isotope geochemistry to constrain the primary factors influencing
uranium accumulation. This study will help refine ore genesis models
and should aid in determining where in the WCSB there may be
uranium deposits. Additionally, this information will provide context
for the application of novel exploration techniques, such as the use of
trace-elements in vegetation as vectors to ore.
MAC TRAVEL AND RESEARCH GRANT AWARDS
IN2016
MAC awarded 11 student travel and research grants in 2016 totalling of
$10,000: one to an undergraduate student, four to MSc students, and
six to PhD students. Congratulations to these deserving individuals!
Excerpts of their reports follow.
E lements 136
Janina Czas is a PhD student at the University
of Alberta (Canada), under the supervision of Prof.
Thomas Stachel. She received the MAC Student
Travel Grant to attend the 2016 GACMAC confer-
ence in Whitehorse (Yukon, Canada). Her research
is focused on diamonds, which is part of her PhD
on investigating the age, formation and diamond
population of the lithospheric mantle of the Sask
Craton (Canada). The conferences special session Cratons, Kimberlites
and Diamonds provided an excellent venue to present her research
on diamondiferous micro-xenoliths from the Fort la Corne (FALC)
area of the Sask Craton. For her talk she discussed how FTIR (nitrogen
aggregation characteristics) and SIMS (13C, 15N and N concentrations)
data are used to investigate the formation and evolution of the FALC
diamonds. During the meeting, she also had the opportunity to discuss
her PhD research with the sessions keynote speakers.
Sarah Davey is a PhD student at Carleton
University (Canada), under the supervision of
Professors Richard Ernst and Brian Cousens. The
MAC grant allowed her to visit the geochronology
laboratory at the University of Toronto (Canada) to
learn about general geochronology procedures and,
more specifically, sample preparation and mineral
separation techniques. She had never conducted
geochronological analyses before so it was important for her to learn
the detailed, step-by-step, process, from crushing and separation, to
selecting appropriate grains, to using the thermal ionization mass
spectrometer, and how to perform analyses and the calculations that
follow. She sat with Dr. Sandra Kamo who explained the processes
involved in dating zircons and baddeleyite. Now that Sarah knows how
heavy liquids and the Wilfley table are used for separation, she will
return to the University of Toronto to hand pick zircons and baddeley-
ites from her own samples for dating.
Abd-Erraouf Djirar is a geophysics MSc student
at the University of Western Ontario (Canada)
under the supervision of Prof Sean Shieh.
Abd-Erraouf was awarded a MAC research grant to
carry out radial X-ray diffraction studies on samples
of baddeleyite that have been compressed in
diamond anvil cells. The research aims to under-
stand how baddeleyite behaves under high-pressure
conditions. The experiments were conducted at the Advanced Photon
Source synchrotron at the Argonne National Laboratory (Illinois, USA)
and provided high-quality X-ray data that will allow him to understand
the deformation in baddeleyite that occur at very high pressures in the
diamond anvil cell. These high-pressure regions are difficult to explore
with normal X-ray diffraction equipment and require high powered
3rd generation synchrotron sources. The results of this experiment will
go towards completing his MSc thesis.
Lauren Harrison is a PhD student at University
of British Columbia (Canada) who is studying the
geochemistry of Northwestern Hawaiian Ridge lavas
and mantle dynamics under the supervision of Dr.
Dominique Weis. Lauren attended the Goldschmidt
2016 in Yokohama (Japan), which was a rewarding
experience providing many new and interesting
ideas, and a rich mentorship opportunity as it
attracted different experts in her field. Her conference mentor was
Takahashi Nakagawa, a numerical dynamicist who was most instructive
to talk to about a model she was developing at the time to explain
some of her geochemical data. Lauren was able to meet Ryoji Tanaka
A pr il 2017
(Okayama University, Japan), whose Hawaiian end-member models she
uses extensively in her own research, and to discuss with him the
criteria and possible characteristics of those end-member mixing
sources in the Hawaiian plume.
Malcolm Hodgskiss is an MSc student at McGill
University (Canada), under the supervision of Prof.
Galen P. Halverson. Malcolm travelled 28 days to
six locations throughout the Belcher Islands
(Canada) to study the entirety of the Belcher Group,
a Paleoproterozoic succession composed predomi-
nantly of carbonate sediments. In order to better
constrain the paleoenvironmental evolution of the
area, approximately 8 km of stratigraphic sections were measured and
sampled at a high resolution. Additionally, the approximately 1.9 Ga
Tukarak Formation was sampled for molar tooth structures, ribbon-
like veins of microcrystalline calcite which formed in argillaceous
carbonate sediments from approximately 2.60.6 Ga. These would
complement a suite of molar tooth structures already collected from
nine other field locations spanning the period 1.40.6 Ga. Several
volcanic tuffs were also collected from the Kasegalik Formation, in the
lowermost Belcher Group, to better constrain the age of this
succession.
Brendt C. Hyde is a PhD student at the University
of Western Ontario (Canada) who carried out in
situ trace element analyses on two meteorites using
laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometry at the University of Portsmouth (UK).
Mineral specific rare earth and highly siderophile
element concentrations were acquired to assess the
extent of melting and differentiation that occurred
on the meteorites parent body/bodies. Uranium, thorium and lead
isotopic ratios were measured from phosphates to determine the
chronology of the melt environments. His PhD aims to describe early
melt processes on asteroids now represented by meteorites and so
obtain a better understanding of how and for what duration these melt
environments thrived and their ultimate contribution to the formation
of current terrestrial bodies.
Ty Magee is an MSc student at the University of
Saskatchewan (Canada) who participated in the
KarratZinc expedition to West Greenland, along
with a scientific crew that included geologists from
four institutions, including the Geological Survey
of Denmark and Greenland. The expedition focused
on the stratigraphy, structure, and the distribution
of potential zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) deposits within
the Paleoproterozoic Karrat Group. The expedition was a unique and
unforgettable experience that allowed him to see firsthand how expedi-
tions are run both logistically and scientifically. The MAC Student
Travel Grant allowed him to travel to Greenland and join this unique
venture. He was able to do geological mapping, collect sulfide samples
for his thesis, and gain valuable experience from talented geologists.
The objective of his thesis is to analyze sulfide samples from two forma-
tions of the Karrat Group that host PbZn mineralization.
Brayden McDonald is an MSc student at the
University of Saskatchewan (Canada) who carried
out a uranium isotope analysis of shales samples
from the CenomanianTuronian (Cretaceous)
ocean anoxic event (known as OAE-2), a tempo-
rally and paleo-geographically well-constrained
event. Samples of OAE-2 provide a unique oppor-
tunity, as they are already well characterized but
have never been analyzed for uranium isotopes.
E lements 137
This project is helping to develop methods needed to identify similar
environments within the Precambrian Earth. By looking at a well-
defined event, the methods developed to analyze ocean anoxia through
the use of variations in the isotope record, he can confidently apply
those same methods to Paleoproterozoic aged shale in order to analyze
the changing availability of oxygen within Precambrian oceans and
the driving forces behind previous ocean anoxic events.
Mallory Metcalf is an undergraduate student at
Queens University (Canada) under the supervision
of Prof Ronald C. Peterson. She received a MAC
travel grant to attend the GACMAC 2016 confer-
ence in Whitehorse (Yukon, Canada). She presented
her undergraduate thesis, which focused on the
chemical analysis of cadwaladerite, a rare aluminium
halide discovered near a small sulfate outcrop in
Cerros Pintados (Chile) but declared as questionable species by the IMA
due to inadequate analyses. This research project is comparing cadwala-
derite to lesukite using SEM, XRD, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, to
explore the relationship between them. Her GACMAC experience was
very positive and she found comfort in everyones enthusiasm to learn
about other colleagues work, including her own. She also appreciated
listening to the work being done in different fields, specifically on Mars
and the ore petrology sessions.
Rebecca Paisley is a PhD student at McGill
University (Canada) who has completed a field
expedition to the Cordn Caulle volcanic complex
in Chile. Her current project focuses on constraining
gas pathways in rhyolitic magmas using short-lived
radionuclides. Preliminary work on samples
collected by previous researchers had yielded some
interesting results. Rebecca found the hike
exhausting but as she came above the tree line, hiked past the active
fumarole fields, and spotted the 40-m high obsidian flow, there was a
palpable sense of anticipation for the days ahead. Over the next three
days she and the team analyzed, described and sampled volcanic bombs
from the 2011 eruption; explored the most recent vent structure; and
examined past flows and bombs for comparison. The experience was
one of the most extreme, eventful but satisfying expeditions she has
undertaken during her career. It has allowed her to collect samples that
she can use to finalize her projects.
Emily Scribner is a PhD student at the University
of British Columbia (Canada) who received a MAC
travel grant to attend the GACMAC 2016 confer-
ence in Whitehorse. She presented her research on
the Ash Mountain tin-bearing skarn of northern
British Columbia, whose goal was to provide a
detailed characterization of the mineralogy of the
skarn as well as to determine the conditions that
resulted in the crystallization of the tin-bearing silicate mineral
malayaite. Attending this conference provided her with many beneficial
experiences, such as presenting her research to a large group of scientists
and receiving constructive feedback from the audience following her
talk. She also had the opportunity to attend a number of talks, including
ones of on tin-, tantalum-, and tungsten-mineralization, metamorphism
and petrology, as well as pedagogical techniques applied to the teaching
of earth sciences, which was of great interest to her.
A pr il 2017
 Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences
http://jams.la.coocan.jp
RECENT STUDIES AT THE ISOTOPE IMAGING
LABORATORY (IIL), HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY
The origin of water on Earth remains one of the great mysteries of plane-
tary science. Carbonaceous chondritelike materials are the most likely
sources of Earths water (e.g. Alexander et al. 2012). Fluid inclusions in
halite from ordinary chondrites are the only direct samples of extrater-
restrial liquid water available for laboratory measurements (Zolensky et
al. 1999). At Hokkaido Universitys Isotope Imaging Laboratory (IIL),
we measured the H and O isotopic compositions of halite fluid inclu-
sions (Fig. 1) using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and a
cryogenic apparatus for sample cooling (down to 190C). The isotopic
compositions of the fluid inclusions brines vary greatly among the
individual inclusions (400 < D < +1,300, 20 < 17O < +30),
indicating that the equilibration of the isotopes of these aqueous fluids
started in the asteroidal fluid before they were trapped in the halite
(Yurimoto et al. 2014). The isotopic correlation between D and 17O
suggests that the mixing of the inner Solar System water (chondritic
water) with outer Solar System water (cometary water) occurred in the
planetesimals in the early Solar System and that waterrock interac-
tions proceeded in these planetesimals to produce planetary water.
This might be a fundamental mechanism in the evolution of modern
planetary water, including Earths water, causing the variations in the
isotopic composition of the water from planets, asteroids, comets, icy
satellites, and other Solar System objects.
Figure 1 Fluid inclu-
sions in halite crystals
found in two ordinary
regolith chondrites. (left)
Monahans (H5). (right)
Zag (H36). Image from
Yurimoto et al. (2014).
The energy distribution of solar wind is an indicator of solar activity
and correlates with the implantation profiles of solar wind particles
in solid materials that are directly irradiated by the solar wind. Solar
wind He is one of the best candidates for measuring the implanta-
tion profile because He is the second most abundant element of solar
wind and almost free from terrestrial contamination. But measuring
implantation profiles of solar wind He is difficult because conventional
depth-profiling methods have extremely low He ionization yields or
they require extremely large sample volumes. At IIL, we measured
the solar wind He implantation profile of a sample from the NASA
Genesis solar wind sample return mission (Burnett 2013; Bajo et al.
2015). The implantation profile of a 10m 2 surface area of the Genesis
diamond-like carbon film was obtained using novel secondary neutral
mass spectrometry (SNMS) and post-ionization with a strong-field laser
(Fig. 2). The projected range, peak concentration, and concentration at
a given depth of the solar wind He implantation profile are consistent
with the energy distribution accumulated during the solar wind irradia-
tion periods of the Genesis mission. Therefore, solar wind implantation
profiles provide a new approach to determining solar activities without
direct monitoring. Using He depth profiling on asteroid, lunar, and
meteorite samples, we can potentially decode ancient solar activities,
such as records of superflares, which have been astronomically observed
for other solar-type stars but not for the Sun (Maehara et al. 2012).
Hisayoshi Yurimoto
Isotope Imaging Laboratory, Hokkaido University
E lements
A laser
Figure 2
ioniza-
tion mass nanoscope
(LIMAS). It is a laser
post-ionization
sputtered neutral
mass spectrometer
(SNMS) developed
for measuring solar
wind particles from
extraterrestrial
materials. (Tonotani
et al. 2016).
REFERENCES
Alexander CMOD and 5 coauthors (2012) The provenances of asteroids, and
their contributions to the volatile inventories of the terrestrial planets.
Science 337: 721-723
Bajo K-I and 10 coauthors (2015) Depth profiling analysis of solar wind
helium collected in diamond-like carbon film from Genesis. Geochemical
Journal 49: 559-566
Burnett DS (2013) The Genesis solar wind sample return mission: past, present,
and future. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 48: 2351-2370
Maehara H and 8 coauthors (2012) Superflares on solar-type stars. Nature 485:
478-481
Tonotani A and 5 coauthors (2016) Evaluation of multi-turn time-of-flight
mass spectrum of laser ionization mass nanoscope. Surface and Interface
Analysis 48: 1122-1126
Yurimoto H and 5 coauthors (2014) Isotopic compositions of asteroidal liquid
water trapped in fluid inclusions of chondrites. Geochemical Journal 48:
549-560
Zolensky ME and 7 coauthors (1999) Asteroidal water within fluid inclusion-
bearing halite in an H5 chondrite, Monahans (1998). Science 285: 1377-1379
JOURNAL OF MINERALOGICAL AND PETROLOGICAL
SCIENCES Vol. 112, No. 1, February, 2017
Original Articles
Granulite facies paragneisses from the middle segment of
the Mogok metamorphic belt, central Myanmar Ye Thu Kyaw,
Masaki ENAMI, Takenori KATO and Motohiro TSUBOI
Priceite from the Fuka mine, Okayama Prefecture, Japan
Shoichi KOBAYASHI, Tamami ANDO, Mitsuo TANABE, Shigetomo
KISHI and Isao KUSACHI
Letters
The relationship between the proportion of microboudi-
naged columnar grains and far-field differential stress: A
numerical model for analyzing paleodifferential stress
Tarojiro MATSUMURA, Tatsu KUWATANI and Toshiaki MASUDA
Stability field of phase Egg, AlSiO3OH at high pressure and
high temperature: possible water reservoir in mantle transi-
tion zone Ko FUKUYAMA, Eiji OHTANI, Yuki SHIBAZAKI, Hiroyuki
KAGI and Akio SUZUKI
Preliminary report on the excess argon bearing K-feldspar
from metagranite in the Brossasco-Isasca UHP Unit of
Dora-Maira Massif, Italy Tetsumaru ITAYA, Koshi YAGI, Chitaro
GOUZU, Ngo Xuan Thanh and Chiara GROPPO
Petrology and possible significance of barroisite-bearing
metabasite from the Kebara Formation in NW Kii Peninsula
Ryoji KATO and Takao HIRAJIMA
Mineralogical and crystallographic features of polycrys-
talline yakutite diamond Hiroaki OHFUJI, Motosuke NAKAYA,
Alexander P. YELISSEYEV, Valentin P. AFANASIEV and Konstantin D.
LITASOV
Carbon substitution for oxygen in-cristobalite Saki MITANI
and Atsushi KYONO
138 A pr il 2017
 IMA SPONSORED SOCIETY NEWS

Austrian Mineralogical Society

www.univie.ac.at/OeMG

HISTORY The Felix Machatschki Prize, established in 1995, is awarded to

young scientists who have demonstrated scientific potential early
The Austrian Mineralogical Society is one of the oldest mineralogical
in their carrier. Recipients include Ronald Miletich (1998), Rainer
societies in the world. Initially founded as the Wiener Mineralogische
Abart (1999), Peter Tropper (2004), Gnther J. Redhammer (2004),
Gesellschaft in 1901, this society was renamed the sterreichische
Robert Krickl (2010) and Hannes Krger (2012). The prize is named
Mineralogische Gesellschaft (MG) in 1947.
after the distinguished Austrian mineralogist Karl Ludwig Felix
The current membership of the MG is spread throughout Austria, Machatschki (18951970). Machatschki studied at the University
although an increasing number of members come from other countries, of Graz and joined the groups of Victor Moritz Goldschmidt in Oslo
partly through scientific collaboration and partly due to the mobility of (Norway) and W. L. Bragg in Manchester (UK). He became professor
the Austrian members. Society members work in all disciplines of the at the Universities of Tbingen and Munich (both Germany) before
mineralogical sciences. One of the MGs major aims is to distribute he was appointed Professor of Mineralogy in Vienna (1944). He made
knowledge of the mineralogical sciences to all interested persons; this great contributions to the study of feldspars and developed a concept
is partly done by collaborating with mineralogical museums. Bringing of the atomic arrangement in silicates.
together academic and professional mineralogists with mineral collec-
A special honour bestowed by the MG is the title of Honorary
tors and with the interested public is a special focus of the MG.
President (Ehrenprsident). Although it was only formally included
Mineral collectors knowledge of mineral localities and finds of unique
into the societys statutes in 1934, it had been previously awarded.
samples are highly welcome and too-often neglected by the scientific
Recipients of this honour have been Gustav Tschermak (1911), Friedrich
community. Lectures on mineralogical topics at different levels are
Becke (1931), Josef Emanuel Hibsch (1932), Hermann Julius Tertsch
regularly organized by university-based mineralogical institutes and
(1969) and Hans Wieseneder (1971). On 24 May 2013, the title of
museums, and the MG sponsors joint meetings and field excursions.
Honorary President of the MG was awarded to Josef Zemann, on the
Initially, news from MG were printed in journals such as the Zeitschrift occasion of his 90 th birthday.
fr Kristallographie Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteilungen (later
renamed Tschermaks Mineralogische und Petrographische Mitteilungen
but now known simply as Mineralogy and Petrology). Since 1969, the
Mitteilungen der sterreichischen Mineralogischen Gesellschaft has been
published yearly as a separate journal. This journal includes society
news, abstracts of scientific contributions to meetings, and original
contributions. (see www.uibk.ac.at/mineralogie/oemg/).

AWARDS
The MG presents four awards to persons with special merits in the
mineralogical sciences and in the society. Individuals of outstanding
international reputation, who publish important contributions to the
mineralogical sciences, as well as those who render outstanding services
to the society, may be elected by the General Assembly as an Honorary
Member (Ehrenmitglied). Among the first in the long list of such
members were Viktor Mordechai Goldschmidt, Rudolf Koechlin and
Isidor Weinberger. Current Honorary Members of the MG include
Walter Postl, Anton Preisinger, Richard Tessadri, Ekkehart Tillmanns
and Josef Zemann.
In 1955, the MG introduced the Friedrich Becke Medal for inter-
nationally renowned scientists with strong links to the mineralogical This model of the structure of halite was built by Robert Krickl and exhibited in
sciences in Austria. The medal is awarded in memory of Friedrich Viennas Town Hall in 2015. At 3 m tall, it is recognized in the Guinness Book of
Johann Karl Becke (18551931), who held a Records as the largest 3D-model of an atomic structure.
number of professorial appointments across
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Amongst other
MGS MINPET MEETINGS
positions, he was Rector at the University of
Vienna, and editor of the Mineralogische und Since 1987, members of the MG meet every second year at what
Petrographische Mittheilungen. Beckes research is termed the MinPet (for mineralogy and petrology) meeting. This
focused on magmatic and metamorphic rocks meeting is organized in turn by the mineralogical institutes in Graz,
and their classification. He improved the deter- Innsbruck, Leoben, Salzburg, and Vienna. In addition, joint meetings
mination of rock-forming minerals by means of have been co-organized with the other European societies and several
their light-refractive properties the Becke line international conferences have been sponsored by the MG. These
The Friedrich Becke
Medal designed by technique for determining the relative refractive include the EMC meetings, the 5th European Conference on Mineralogy
Arnold Hartig (1878 indices of two minerals. Those who have been and Spectroscopy (2004), the EMU School on Spectroscopic Methods
1972; member of the awarded the Friedrich-Becke-Medal include in Mineralogy (2004), and the 2005 International Eclogite Conference.
Vienna Knstlerhaus)
Thomas Armbruster (Switzerland), Petr Cern A special event was the 100th anniversary of MGs foundation in 2001,
(Canada), Dmitry Grigoriev (Russia), Wilhelm which was, appropriately, held in Vienna.
Heinrich (Germany), Klaus Langer (Germany), Emil Makovicky
(Denmark), Dmitry Pushcharovsky (Russia), George R. Rossman (USA) Herta Effenberger (herta.silvia.effenberger@univie.acc.at)
and Friedrich Seifert (Germany). andRainer Abart (rainer.abart@univie.ac.at)

E lements 139 A pr il 2017

 BOOK REVIEW
MARINE GEOCHEMISTRY1
DOI: 1811-5209/17/0140-$0.00 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.140
Climate change, ocean acidification, coral bleaching,
marine dead zones... for better or worse, the Anthropocene
is certainly proving to be an interesting time for marine
science, and particularly for marine geochemistry. Add
to this the advent of vast and vastly accessible informa-
tion, as well as technological advances in analytics and
computing, and you are left with a virtually endless poten-
tial for scientific inquiry. And certainly the field of marine
geochemistry is growing in all directions, as researchers
push the boundaries of the science. Marine geochemists
can now measure how isotopes of elements found in the oceans at
pico-molar levels vary across entire ocean basins, and model what this
implies for global change over millennia past and those to come! Heady
times to be a marine geochemist. More importantly, it is a critical
time to teach and inspire the next generations of marine geochemists
so that they may keep forging ahead. As such, Marine Geochemistry by
Roy-Barman and Jeandel comes at an opportune moment.
Marine Geochemistry by Roy-Barman and Jeandel, is designed as an
instructional tool; the textbook to accompany a class, for example.
That Roy-Barman and Jeandels book is written entirely by the authors
gives it a continuity of logic and cadence that is beneficial to instruc-
tion. The book is written as a very natural narrative that is remark-
ably easy to read. And while occasional mathematical derivations are
needed, these are kept short and to the point (or are put in appen-
dices), thereby maintaining the storylines flow. Overall, the material
is intended for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, and
the authors assume the reader has some mathematical understanding
can understand derivativesand has a basic knowledge of chemistry,
biology and geology. While no prior oceanography is needed, Marine
Geochemistry would probably not be the best introductory text, as it
advances at a fair clip.
Similar to its celebrated predecessor, Tracers in the Sea by Broecker and
Peng (1982, Columbia University Press), Roy-Barman and Jeandel have
adopted the tracer perspective to marine geochemistry as a theme for
their book, which follows a fairly logical format. The first two chapters
describe the oceans and their physical properties (currents, circula-
tion), and the general chemical properties of the salt-water solution
(including major and minor salts, gases, carbonate chemistry, redox and
trace metals). Chapters 3 and 4 introduce both stable (Chapter 3) and
radioactive (Chapter 4) isotopes as tracers in the oceans. Topics covered
include the established isotope systems of oxygen and carbon, as well
as more novel systems such as boron and iron. As with the entire book,
discussions of specific subjects (e.g. strontium or neodymium isotopes)
are intermixed with explanations of more general concepts (e.g. mass-
dependent versus mass-independent fractionation, clumped isotopes,
radioactive decay, isotope mixing) and other fundamental principles.
While not always seamless, this approach to interchanging theory and
application works well and is remarkably easy to follow.
The shorter Chapters 5 and 6 start integrating all these concepts into
simple box models (Chapter 5) and advectivediffusion models (Chapter
6): topics perhaps not expected to be found in a geochemistry text,
but illuminating the power of the tracers discussed. Note that these
chapters are not instructive of the nuance of modeling, but more the
application of the tracers. With a good deal of material covered, the
book then sets its sights on a new level of complexity, introducing the
reader to bio-geochemistry. This is an important chapter that reflects the
increasingly interdisciplinary nature of all marine sciences. Roy-Barman
1 Roy-Barman M, Jeandel C (2016) Marine Geochemistry: Ocean Circulation,
Carbon Cycle, and Climate Change. Oxford University Press, 384 pp ISBN
9780198787495; Hardcover US$98.50, 65.00
E lements
and Jeandel offer a surprisingly thorough description of
the important features and concepts in marine biology,
more than the simplifications that geochemists are wont,
and remiss, to make. Of course, a geochemist slant is clear:
after all, under whose purview is silica and iron limitation?
Chapter 8 revisits topics introduced in the first chapters but
now in greater detail, examining gases in the ocean (and
atmosphere) with a focus on carbon dioxide. Inevitably,
the discussion evolves into a more detailed description
of carbonate chemistry in the oceans, an ostensibly
straightforward topic that often turns unpleasant for
students. Roy-Barman and Jeandel succinctly and effectively handle
the topic, including the concept of alkalinity. Chapter 9 develops ideas
of particlewater interactions in the water column and at the bottom of
the ocean, both of which have a significant impact on ocean geochem-
istry. Reflective of the entire book, Roy-Barman and Jeandels treatment
of particles in the ocean is thorough, but not exhaustive. For example,
the compendium edited by Schulz and Zabel (Marine Geochemistry, 2006
edition, Springer) is almost entirely devoted to the topic of sediment
water interaction as covered in Roy-Barman and Jeandels Chapter 9.
Where Roy-Barman and Jeandel have succeeded in their book is in
presenting enough depth in one topic while still able to cover the
wide breadth of related topics, so providing a holistic appreciation of
marine geochemistry.
The penultimate Chapter 10 describes global ocean thermohaline
circulation, a topic where marine geochemical tracers arguably shine
brightest. This is logically followed by scaling up the discussion to
planetary changes in the marine environment and climate, from the
birth of the planet to the most recent and future changes (Chapter
11). As throughout the book, the authors maintain laudable objec-
tivity in discussion of the future changes in marine systems that are
being observed and predicted. Generally, the text can be read in a way
suitable for instruction of geochemistry to all oceanographers, and can
also be read layers deeper for those students specifically interested in
marine geochemistry. For further depth into a particular chapters topic
specialized texts should be consulted.
The disappointment I found to this first edition is the lack of Internet-
based support, such as online supporting documents, downloadable
images, or other teaching tools. The Internet derives its greatest utility
in the storage and access of data that is simply not possible for books to
compete with. On the other hand, as a means to understand informa-
tion, the Internet is, perhaps, a teachers biggest enemy. Even so, works
such as the 6th edition of Talley, Pickard, Emery and Swifts beautiful
Descriptive Physical Oceanography: An Introduction (2011, Academic
Press) has found a way to bridge the bookInternet schism. While
Roy-Barman and Jeandel unfortunately did not provide suggestions,
there are certainly clear avenues for developing a similar collaboration
between Marine Geochemistry and the Internet. Teachers should find
it easy to pick up topics presented in Marine Geochemistry for further
Internet-based exploration, especially given abundant access to compre-
hensive established online data (e.g. WOCE [World Ocean Circulation
Experiment]) and the newest biogeochemistry GEOTRACES data, all
made available online at the touch of a button and facilitated through
visualization programs such as Ocean Data View. In fact, there are
many instances where Roy-Barman and Jeandel introduce a topic that
is ripe for further classroom investigations. Moreover, the authors have
developed real-world problem sets for each chapter (answers are also
provided). These problems are often extracted or derived from cited
published work, which makes it possible for students to go to the original
source to read further. Like Gunter Faures timeless Principles of Isotope
Geology (2nd Edition 1986, Wiley), the development of problem sets will
certainly be an important facet in the success of Marine Geochemistry
as an instructional tool.
Contd on page 141
140 A pr il 2017
 PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA
NAMESNEWFELLOWS
Dominique Weis (Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric
Sciences, the University of British Columbia, Canada) and David
Graham Pearson (Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences,
University of Alberta, Canada) were inducted as Fellows of the Royal
Society of Canada at the societys Induction and Awards Ceremony on
18 November 2016 in Kingston, Ontario (Canada).
L eft to right: Graham Pearson; Dominique Weis; Maryse Lassonde, President of
the Royal Society of Canada (RSC); and Jamal Deen, President of the Academy of
Science of the RSC.
Founded in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) is the senior
national body grouping distinguished Canadian scholars, artists and
scientists. It comprises the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences
of Canada. Its mission is to recognize scholarly research and artistic
excellence, to advise governments and organizations, and to promote a
culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national
academies around the world. It consists of nearly 2,000 fellowsmen
and women who are selected by their peers for outstanding contribu-
tions in the natural and social sciences, arts, and humanities.
We reproduce Dominque and Grahams respective citations below.
Dominique Weis is internationally recognized for her insightful
research on the chemical and isotopic composition of Earths mantle
with major impact on our understanding of the worlds major large
igneous provinces, mantle plumes and arcs, including Kerguelen
Archipelago, Hawaiian Islands, and Cascades. Her research has eluci-
dated a crucial relationship between ocean island composition and
deep mantle processes. Her work crosses traditional domains of Earth
science to encompass pioneering studies tracking the source and
fate of metals in the environment.
Graham Pearson is a world-leading expert on the origin of deep
continental roots and the diamonds they host. His research has
transformed our knowledge of how continents form. Pearsons
pioneering work on diamonds has revolutionized our understanding
of when and where diamonds form and is leading a new paradigm
of where Earths deep water is stored. Graham holds one of Canadas
prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chairs.
E lements
RODNEY C. EWING ELECTED MEMBER OF
THENATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
In February 2017, the National Academy of
Engineering (USA) announced that Rodney
C. Ewing (founding editor of Elements and a
professor at Stanford University, USA) was
elected as a member to the academy. Election
to the National Academy of Engineering
(NAE) is among the highest professional
distinctions. Academy membership honors
those who have made outstanding contribu-
tions to engineering research, practice, or
education, including, where appropriate,
significant contributions to the engineering
literature and to the pioneering of new and
developing fields of technology, making major advancements in tradi-
tional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative
approaches to engineering education. Rod was elected in recognition
for his research on the long-term behavior of complex ceramic
materials to assess their suitability for engineered nuclear waste seques-
tration. He, along with the other individuals in the newly elected
class, will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAEs annual
meeting in Washington, D.C. in October 2017.
DONT MISS AN ISSUE OF ELEMENTS.
Join a participating society!
Book Review Contd from page 140
To date, marine geochemists have likely relied on Chester and
Jickells Marine Geochemistry (3rd Edition 2012, Wiley), or Susan Libes
Introduction to Marine Biogeochemistry (2nd Edition 2009, Academic Press),
or tried to cherry-pick from other marine chemistry, marine geology
and isotope texts to make a reasonable supporting text for instruction.
While all are benchmark books, each covers slightly different set of
topics, and their styles are distinctly different. As a crude generaliza-
tion, I would estimate that Roy-Barman and Jeandels book would be
more approachable for students than Chester and Jickells, and better
for a more advanced student than Libes text. As a bonus, Roy-Barman
and Jeandels Marine Geochemistry also delivers with amusing vignettes
and a subtle French undertone that I found trs charmant.
In summary, I have name-dropped some definitive texts in this review.
Marine Geochemistry by Roy-Barman and Jeandel should hold its own
among these. This text will certainly become a classroom standard
for training new generations of marine geochemists and inspire their
amazing research to come.
Brian Haley
Oregon State University, USA
141 A pr il 2017
 A LIFE IN SCIENCE

ON IMPLEMENTING A WORKPLACE CULTURAL SURVEY

Penelope L. King1 and Ian S. Williams
1811-5209/17/0142-$0.00 DOI: 10.2113/gselements.13.2.142

In late 2015, our workplace ran a Workplace Cultural Survey. How

hard could it be to ask a few questions and assess the answers? We
were about to learn that unlike the Earth sciences, social science can
be difficult and nuanced.
The need for a workplace survey was recognised by the academic staff
in our institution, who were concerned by the very low percentage of
women in our staff profile, especially compared to our nearly gender-
balanced graduate student cohort. This is a common situation in many
Earth science institutions worldwide, but we wanted to know why. How
could we make our workplace attractive to as wide a range of people
as possible? What could we do to improve both gender balance and
other forms of diversity? What were, and continue to be, the barriers
to equality and diversity?
It is well established that removing barriers for women and other under-
represented groups improves the workplace for all. Different viewpoints
spur on greater effort, and a more holistic approach, leading to improved
decision making. Workplaces that are perceived to be balanced and fair was taken to include a range of presenters on these topics to avoid the
have improved staff productivity, flexibility, and retention. double bind that under-represented people can find themselves in:
being perceived as having self-interest if they present, yet, conversely,
Our survey aimed to probe the factors contributing to imbalance in
have their work minimized and their contributions unacknowledged if
our academic staffing. We chose a survey approach for two reasons:
they do not present. Senior staff were involved to emphasize that even
1) Scientists are skilled at data-driven decision-making; therefore, we
department leaders endorsed the survey.
expected that the data would provide a focus for informed discussion;
2) We felt that the findings from a survey would raise awareness of The participants in the survey included current staff and students and
workplace issues and engender a common desire to see those issues those who had left the workplace in the last 3 years. We requested that
resolved. participants supply demographic data (e.g. women versus men, students
versus staff) to help preserve anonymity and to allow responses to be
SURVEY CHALLENGES assessed by group rather than individually. The survey was accompanied
by an information sheet, which included a description of the process of
Implementation of the survey began with the question, If you find out
storing and collecting the data, how the data would be communicated,
something awful, what will you do? Really awful things need to go
the risks for participants, plus information on counselling services. The
to law enforcement, and this could mean that the survey participants
questions that were asked related to demographics; perceptions (general
might no longer remain anonymous. Because some employee groups
and specific), experiences (discriminatory behaviour, fairness and value
have so few women, preserving anonymity might be impractical
placed on work, equity and diversity policies, and mentoring/supervi-
how could we mitigate that? If we wanted to publish or disseminate
sion) and why people might want to leave. Importantly, comments were
the results, survey participants needed to be aware of this and Ethics
encouraged and the questions were designed to be actionable shortly
Clearance would be required. And participation rates would have to
after the survey results were released.
be high enough for the results to be valid. What if the leaders in our
organization denied the survey results or failed to act on them? We
realised that we needed help! LESSONS LEARNED
Our findings are not publishable because we did not arrange for the
Our solution was to hire a fully independent, social scientist who could
survey results to be released. But, 100% of those who completed the
remain at arms-length from those within the workplace. Participants
survey said that they enjoy the work they do. This attitude continues
in the survey were informed that this person would be the only one
to make our institute a great place in which to work! That said, the
allowed to see the raw survey results and would be responsible for
survey identified significant areas for improvement. Thus, we are now
compiling, assessing, and interpreting the findings, making sure that
closer to more fully understanding those troublesome areas, we have
anonymity was retained. The social scientist helped us to design a
raised awareness, and we have already put recommendations in place
better survey to elicit the information that was sought and suggested a
to move forward.
structure and wording to ensure the least possible bias in the responses.
We have learned, while implementing and analysing this survey, that
In the leadup to the survey, our equality and diversity committee found
diversity issues are difficult because your own behaviour is also under
it helpful to remind ourselves, and others, that we had been asked
the microscope. We have learned phrases like, none of us is immune
to implement the survey of the staff by the staff. We were all in this
to bad behaviour, but when this happens, aim to fix it as quickly as
together!
possible. We learned that the committee needed time to digest the
We aimed to find out what issues people in the workplace thought the results of the survey so that the quiet or under-represented voices could
survey should probe, because this would empower all to engage with be heard. It is easy to focus on your own employment group and forget
the process. The committee arranged presentations on a range of topics, others. Weve also learned that we need to be up-standers rather than
including on the current state of diversity and on predictions of what by-standers when we see behaviour that is not acceptable.
was needed to reach higher levels of diversity through hiring. Care
Would we do a workplace cultural survey again? Yes! In fact, we aim
to do so in a couple of years to make sure that our workplace culture
has improved.
1 Research School of Earth Sciences
Australian National University We are happy to provide resources for your workplace cultural survey
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia please e-mail the lead author: penny.king@anu.edu.au
E-mail: penny.king@anu.edu.au

E lements 142 A pr il 2017

 CALENDAR
INTERNATIONAL ECLOGITE CONFERENCE 2017
(IEC-12) 2017 IN SWEDEN April 25 AAPG 2017 Annual
Convention, Houston TX. Web page:
www.aapg.org/events/conferences/ace
April 26 253rd ACS National
Meeting & Exposition, San Francisco,
The first International Eclogite Conference (IEC) CA, USA. Web page: www.acs.org
was organized in France in 1982. Traditionally, April 1014 Asteroids, Comets,
IECs have been held every four years, but since Meteors 2017 (ACM 2017), Monte-
2009 they have been taking place every two video, Uruguay. Web page: acm2017.uy/
years. Planning for the 2017 conference (IEC-12) April 1721 2017 MRS Spring
is well underway. The principal organizers are Charlotte Mller (Lund, Meeting & Exhibit, Phoenix, AZ USA.
Sweden), Jaroslaw Majka (Uppsala, Sweden), Herman van Roermund Web page: www.mrs.org/spring2017/
(Utrecht, the Netherlands) and Marian Jank (Slovak Academy of April 2327 EGU General Assembly
Sciences). The IEC-12 conference is scheduled for 2029 August 2017 in 2017, Vienna, Austria. Web page: www.
re (Sweden) and will directly follow the 2017 Goldschmidt Conference egu2017.eu/
in Paris (France). May 711 EMAS 2017 / IUMAS-7:
European Workshop on Modern
The program is very attractive. A three-day pre-conference field trip Developments and Applications
will be to northern Jmtland (Seve Nappe Complex) in the Swedish in Microbeam Analysis, Konstanz,
Caledonides, where evidence of ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamor- Germany. Web page: www.microbeam-
phism has recently been found in eclogite, garnet pyroxenite, and analysis.eu
paragneiss. Following tradition, a one-day field trip to the newly discov- May 911 Chondrules as Astrophys-
ered diamond-bearing UHP metamorphic rocks near re will be held ical Objects, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
mid-conference during the four-day meeting. The meeting itself will Web page: chondrules.phas.ubc.ca/
have oral and poster sessions that will cover a broad spectrum of topics, May 1418 Geological Association
such as petrology, micro- and nano-mineralogy, geochemistry, melts of CanadaMineralogical Associa-
tion of Canada (GACMAC) Meeting,
and fluids, structural geology, tectonics and geochronology. The confer-
Kingston, ON, Canada. Web page:
ence will finish with a three-day post-conference field trip to the classic www.kingstongacmac.ca/
high-pressure and ultrahigh-pressure rocks in the northern part of the
May 2025 JPGUAGU Joint
Western Gneiss Region in Norway. Meeting 2017, Chiba, Japan. Web
page: www.jpgu.org/meeting_e2017/
May 2527 2nd North American
Workshop on Laser Ablation
(NAWLA17), San Antonio, TX USA.
Web page: nalaworkshop.weebly.com/
May 2630 American Crystallo-
graphic Association Annual Meeting,
New Orleans, LA, USA. Web page:
www.amercrystalassn.org/content/
pages/main-annual-meetings
June 28 Clay Minerals Society
One key locality to be visited is reskutan (Sweden). Photo : J. A ndersson Meeting, Edmonton, Alberta CA. Web
(G eological Survey of Sweden). page: www.cms2017.com/
June 1116 11th International
Further details on IEC-12 can be found at www.geology.lu.se/IEC12. Symposium on the Geochemistry of
For information on IECs in general, see www.rub.de/eclogite. the Earths Surface (GES-11), Guiyang,
China. Web page: www.datas-online.
C. Mller, J. Majka, H. van Roermund net/ges2017/
and M. Jank (organization committee); June 1117 AMAM2017ICAM2017
H.-P. Schertl (current IEC president). Joint Conference: 2nd International
Conference on Applied Mineralogy
and Advanced Materials; and 13th
ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE International Congress for Applied
Mineralogy, Castellaneta Marina, Italy.
Analab 79
Web page: www.amam2017.org
Australian Scientific Instruments (ASI) 79 June 1217 3rd Planetary Data
Workshop, Flagstaff, AZ USA. Web
CAMECA Inside Front Cover page: www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/
planetdata2017/
Dr. Eduard Gbelin Association 80
June 1315 8th International
Elemental Scientific, Inc. 104 Symposium on Granitic Pegmatites,
Excalibur Mineral Corporation 76 Kristiansand, Norway. Web page:
www.nhm.uio.no/forskning/aktuelt/
Gemological Institute of America 77 arrangementer/konferanser-seminarer/
peg2017/
International Mineralogical Association 139
June 1921 EMU (European Miner-
IsotopX 96
alogical Union) school: Mineral
Fibres: Crystal Chemistry, Chemical-
ProtoXRD Back Cover Physical Properties, Biological Inter-
Rigaku 144 action and Toxicity, Modena, Italy.
Web page: emu2017.unimore.it/
Savillex Inside Back Cover
June 19July 21 CIDER 2017
Selfrag 88 Summer Program: Subduction Zone
E lements 143 A pr il 2017
Structure and Dynamics, Berkeley, CA
USA. Web page: www.deep-earth.org/
summer17.shtml
June 2122 Redox: Special Interest
Groups of the Mineralogical Society,
Manchester, UK. Web page: www.
minersoc.org/Redox.html
June 23June 28 Tourmaline
2017, Bystrice nad Perntejnem, Czech
Republic. Web page: tourmaline2017.cz
July 1721 XVI ICC International
Clay Conference, Granada, Spain. Web
page: www.16icc.org/
July 1721 Earth Educators Rendez-
vous, Albuquerque, NM USA. Web
page: serc.carleton.edu/earth_rendez-
vous/2017/index.html
July 2123 Gold and Silver Deposits
in Colorado, Golden, CO USA. E-mail:
Pete Modreski (pmodreski@usgs.gov)
July 2328 Annual Meeting of the
Meteoritical Society, Santa Fe, NM,
USA. Details forthcoming
July 31August 4 13th International
Topical Meeting on Nuclear Applica-
tions of Accelerators (AccApp17),
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Web
page: accapp17.org/program/
August 49 Magmatism of the
Earth and Related Strategic Metal
Deposits, Miass, Russia. Web page:
emsmd.ru/
August 610 Microscopy & Micro-
analysis 2017 Meeting, St. Louis MO
USA. Web page: microscopy.org/
MandM/2017/
August 1213 Workshop: Melt
Inclusions: Methods and Applica-
tions, Portland, OR USA. Web page:
iavcei2017.org/preA_5.html
August 1318 Goldschmidt 2017,
Paris, France. Web page: goldschmidt.
info/2017/
August 1418 IAVCEI Scientific
Assembly 2017, Portland, OR USA.
Web page: www.iavcei.org/meeting-
courses/future-iavcei-meetings.html
August 2023 Society of Geology
Applied to Mineral Deposits (SGA)
14th Biennial Meeting, SGA Quebec
2017 Mineral Resources to Discover,
Quebec City, Canada, Web page:
sga2017.ca
August 2024 254th ACS National
Meeting & Exposition, Washington,
DC, USA. Web page: www.acs.org
August 2024 BIOGEOMON 2017
9th International Symposium on
Ecosystem Behavior, Litomyl Chateau,
Czech Republic. Web page: www.
biogeomon.cz
August 2029 12 th International
Eclogite Conference (IEC), re,
Sweden. Web page: www.geology.
lu.se/IEC
The meetings convened by the
societies participating in Elements
are highlighted in yellow. This
meetings calendar was compiled by
Andrea Koziol (more meetings are
listed on the calendar she maintains
at https://sites.google.com/a/
udayton.edu/akoziol1/home/miner-
alogy-and-petrology-meetings).
To get meeting information listed,
please contacther at akoziol1@
udayton.edu
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