Are Alkalic Porphyry Deposits Overlain by Advanced Argillic Lithocaps?

Abstract

A commonly highlighted feature that distinguishes alkalic porphyry deposits from those associated with calc-alkaline magmatism is a paucity of the advanced argillic alteration that can form shallow-level lithocaps. This scarcity has been attributed to either the inability of alkalic systems to generate the necessary hyperacidic fluids or erosional removal. Here, it is concluded that erosional removal is responsible, as supported by the following four lines of evidence: Alkaline stratovolcanoes at convergent margins emit as much SO2—the principal ingredient for hyperacidic fluid formation—as those in calc-alkaline arcs;At least one example of recently formed lithocap alteration in an alkaline volcano (Vulcano, Italy) is known;Remnants of advanced argillic lithocaps are present in several alkalic porphyry systems, but only those of Cenozoic age, whereas Paleozoic and Mesozoic deposits, including those in the Macquarie arc of New South Wales, Australia, and the Intermontane belt of British Columbia, Canada, appear to lack them; andAvailable fluid inclusion pressure estimates for alkalic porphyry deposits show paleodepths of at least 1.5 km, possibly up to several km, for deposits lacking lithocaps, consistent with their erosional removal. Therefore, it is concluded that preservation potential, influenced to a significant degree by formational age, is a fundamental control on the presence or absence of lithocaps above alkalic porphyry deposits—as, of course, it is in porphyry systems hosted by calc-alkaline intrusions. Thus, the presence of lithocaps in association with both alkaline and calc-alkaline igneous centers is evidence for concealed shallow intrusions and potential porphyry-type mineralization.