Roughly only around 5% of the volcano-magmatic complexes on Earth contain ore mineralization, the rest 95% remain barren. My research is focused on deciphering geochemical and tectonic factors controlling the volcanic activity in a given area, and most important, why some of volcano-magmatic complexes contain ore mineralizations, notably gold and silver deposits, but others remain barren?
Eolo Seamount (Mediterranean):
Lead isotopic record in hydrothermal sediments
(see Kamenov et al., Geology, 2009)
1. Relationships between magmatism and ore-deposit formation
Gold from NW USA epithermal deposits (see Kamenov et al. 2007)
2. Submarine hydrothermal process
Latest results show something quite unexpected: apparently recent hydrothermal systems in the Mediterranean Sea "recycle" anthropogenic lead!
3. Trace-element and isotopic compositions of environmental samples, human teeth and bones: implications for ancient human origins and current environmental problems
4. Laser-ablation U-Pb and Hf isotope analyses; Development of new analytical techniques for ICP-MS instruments; Utilization of non-traditional isotope systems for deciphering geochemical processes
Latest laser ablation work is on using synthetic zircons to resolve some of the problems encountered during the "in-situ" Hf isotope analyses.
Human activities since the Colonial Times (15 century) in Florida disturbed the natural cycle of a number of metals, like Pb, V, Cu, Zn, Cd, Sb. In addition, the latest results show that Sr and Sr isotopes natural cycle is also affected by human activities in Florida!
(Kamenov et al. 2009, Geochim.Cosmochim.Acta)
