Global Metallogenic Zonality of the Pacific Ore Belt

Abstract

This article discusses problems of global metallogenic zonality of the Pacific Ore Belt (POB), which is understood as the complex of volcanogenic–plutonogenic units related to the evolution of the lithosphere of marginal seas; this lithosphere combines both continental and oceanic metallogenic features and also possesses a characteristic specificity of ore accumulation. It is shown that the ideas by S.S. Smirnov about the POB zonality have not considerably changed with time and, moreover, have been supported by the new global tectonic concepts. Nevertheless, the nature of metallogenic homogeneity of the external (Ag–Cu) and internal (Sn–W) zones of the POB seems to be more complicated and ambiguous. The metallogenic role of the Ag/Au ratio in ores of POB deposits is shown.