Metal and Mineral Microinclusions in Rocks: Research Finding Interpretation and Application to the Study of Magmatic Systems of Kamchatka and Stanovoi Fold Belt

Abstract

This paper discusses the problems of interpreting the study results obtained for metal and mineral microinclusions by the scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, which are related to the matrix material effect. The method was shown to work well when studying “relatively large” (5–10 μm) microinclusions for the purpose of phase identification and semi-quantitative determination of their composition normalized to 100%. The potential for “cleaning” analysis results from “additives” caused by matrix elements, as well as the criteria for assessing a distance from boundaries of a micro-object at which the matrix effect becomes minimum, are considered. The results we obtained by means of these approaches are illustrated by examples of petrology and metallogeny of igneous rocks studied in the Kamchatka region and the Stanovoy fold belt. This study made it possible to obtain new data on petrological processes in the mantle–crust substrate under the active volcanic arc and on the ore–magmatic system evolution under the ancient active continental margin.