page_title: Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit
hierarchical_section_title: Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposit
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a cross-section of a typical volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) ore deposit. An exhalite or tuffite is composed of sediment deposited out of seawater influenced by vented hydrothermal fluids. An exhalite horizon on the paleoseafloor can usually be followed along strike to its source vent, which is useful for exploration. The underlying older volcanic rocks are not the direct source of mineralization. cpy=chalcopyrite py=pyrite po=pyrrhotite sp=sphalerite gn=galena ba=barite For more information, see Hannington, M.D.&#32;(2014).&#32;"Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits". Treatise on Geochemistry (Second Edition)&#32;13: 463-488. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.01120-7. Fixed format of previous work
context_page_description: Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits, also known as VMS ore deposits, are a type of metal sulfide ore deposit, mainly copper-zinc which are associated with and created by volcanic-associated hydrothermal events in submarine environments.
  These deposits are also sometimes called volcanic-hosted massive sulfide deposits. The density generally is 4500 kg/m³. They are predominantly stratiform accumulations of sulfide minerals that precipitate from hydrothermal fluids on or below the seafloor in a wide range of ancient and modern geological settings. In modern oceans they are synonymous with sulfurous plumes called black smokers.
  They occur within environments dominated by volcanic or volcanic derived rocks, and the deposits are coeval and coincident with the formation of said volcanic rocks. As a class, they represent a significant source of the world's copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver ores, with cobalt, tin, barium, sulfur, selenium, manganese, cadmium, indium, bismuth, tellurium, gallium and germanium as co- or by-products.
context_section_description: Volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits, also known as VMS ore deposits, are a type of metal sulfide ore deposit, mainly copper-zinc which are associated with and created by volcanic-associated hydrothermal events in submarine environments.
  These deposits are also sometimes called volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VHMS) deposits. The density generally is 4500 kg/m³. They are predominantly stratiform accumulations of sulfide minerals that precipitate from hydrothermal fluids on or below the seafloor in a wide range of ancient and modern geological settings. In modern oceans they are synonymous with sulfurous plumes called black smokers.
  They occur within environments dominated by volcanic or volcanic derived (e.g., volcano-sedimentary) rocks, and the deposits are coeval and coincident with the formation of said volcanic rocks. As a class, they represent a significant source of the world's copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver ores, with cobalt, tin, barium, sulfur, selenium, manganese, cadmium, indium, bismuth, tellurium, gallium and germanium as co- or by-products.
  Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits are forming today on the seafloor around undersea volcanoes along many mid ocean ridges, and within back-arc basins and forearc rifts.  Mineral exploration companies are exploring for seafloor massive sulfide deposits; however, most exploration is concentrated in the search for land-based equivalents of these deposits.
  The close association with volcanic rocks and eruptive centers sets VMS deposits apart from similar ore deposit types which share similar source, transport and trap processes. Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits are distinctive in that ore deposits are formed in close temporal association with submarine volcanism and are formed by hydrothermal circulation and exhalation of sulfides which are independent of sedimentary processes, which sets VMS deposits apart from sedimentary exhalative (SEDEX) deposits.
  There is a subclass of VMS deposits, the volcanic- and sediment-hosted massive sulfide (VSHMS) deposits, that do share characteristics that are hybrid between the VMS and SEDEX deposits.  Notable examples of this class include the deposits of the Bathurst Camp, New Brunswick, Canada (e.g., Brunswick #12); the deposits of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, Portugal and Spain, and the Wolverine deposit, Yukon, Canada.
caption: A cross-section of a typical volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) ore deposit as seen in the sedimentary record[1]
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