Late Cenozoic mineralization, orogenic collapse and slab detachment in the European Alpine Belt

It is known that mineralization in orogenic belts often occurs in extensional settings late in the collisional history, and without voluminous co-temporal magmatism. In search of the underlying geodynamic processes we consider the spatial and temporal distribution of Late Cenozoic hydrothermal mineralization in the European Alpine Belt and relate this to the distribution of heat in the lithosphere as inferred from seismic tomography. Specifically, we propose a hypothesis for mineralization in the European Alpine Belt involving increase in heat flow and fluid flow in response to tearing and detachment of lithosphere slabs and concomitant emplacement of the hot asthenosphere at lower crustal levels. We conclude that detailed knowledge of lithosphere/mantle structure and processes can help to define potentially mineralized zones within regions of orogenic collapse. Our approach pioneers the application of lithosphere and mantle tomography to metallogenesis and to earth resources exploration.