Rare Earth Element Mobility in Arc-Type Volcanic Rocks

Some samples from arc-type volcanic suites collected in northern New Zealand and southeastern Papua New Guinea show rare earth element (REE) and Y abundances which are enriched relative to the those typical of their respective associations. This enrichment appears to be the result of an alteration process which selectively mobilises the REE and re-precipitates them as REE-bearing minerals in veins and interstitial patches. The alteration is on a micron scale and is not detected in routine petrographic examination. The spectre of REE mobility in young apparently fresh rocks is important to igneous geochemists who use REE abundances to constrain petrogenetic models and may also be important because it indicates the operation of a natural REE enrichment process which could operate in the formation of economic REE deposits.