Lithium enrichment in intracontinental rhyolite magmas leads to Li deposits in caldera basins.

ABSTRACT: The omnipresence of lithium-ion batteries in mobile electronics, and hybrid and electric vehicles necessitates discovery of new lithium resources to meet rising demand and to diversify the global lithium supply chain. Here we demonstrate that lake sediments preserved within intracontinental rhyolitic calderas formed on eruption and weathering of lithium-enriched magmas have the potential to host large lithium clay deposits. We compare lithium concentrations of magmas formed in a variety of tectonic settings using in situ trace-element measurements of quartz-hosted melt inclusions to demonstrate that moderate to extreme lithium enrichment occurs in magmas that incorporate felsic continental crust. Cenozoic calderas in western North America and in other intracontinental settings that generat

SUBMITTER: Benson TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5559592 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature