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Porphyry copper deposits (PCDs) represent the most important type of Cu reservoir on Earth, but the mechanism of Cu enrichment in PCDs is debated due to the lack of direct constraints. This issue may be resolved by the study of copper isotopes (δ65Cu), which are strongly fractionated during formation and/or precipitation of sulfides. Here we report high-precision Cu-isotope data on a large set of porphyries, mafic magmatic enclaves (MMEs), and sulfide ores from PCDs in southern Tibet. For comparison, barren intrusions from southern Tibet were also analyzed. The fertile porphyries and MMEs from PCDs have high Cu contents and elevated δ65Cu values compared with the barren intrusions and global average felsic rocks. These features are inconsistent with the known supergene processes after sulfide formation (e.g., leaching and weathering). Because sulfides formed from secondary Cu-rich fluids are enriched in heavy Cu isotopes, the elevated Cu contents and Cu-isotope ratios indicate that the Cu source for PCDs was a refertilized lithosphere enriched in sulfides. This suggests that initial Cu enrichment in magma sources could be a key step in the formation of giant PCDs in continental collision zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread Miocene (24-8 Ma) ultrapotassic rocks and their entrained xenoliths provide information on the composition, structure, and thermal state of the sub-continental lithospheric mantle in southern Tibet during the India-Asia continental collision. The ultrapotassic rocks along the Lhasa block delineate two distinct lithospheric domains with different histories of depletion and enrichment. The eastern ultrapotassic rocks (89°E-92°E) reveal a depleted, young, and fertile lithospheric mantle (87Sr/86Srt = 0.704-0.707 [t is eruption time]; Hf depleted-mantle model age [TDM] = 377-653 Ma). The western ultrapotassic rocks (79°E-89°E) and their peridotite xenoliths (81°E) reflect a refractory harzburgitic mantle refertilized by ancient metasomatism (lavas: 87Sr/86Srt = 0.714-0.734; peridotites: 87Sr/86Srt = 0.709-0.716). These data integrated with seismic tomography suggest that upwelling asthenosphere was diverted away from the deep continental root beneath the western Lhasa block, but rose to shallower depths beneath a thinner lithosphere in the eastern part. Heating of the lithospheric mantle by the rising asthenosphere ultimately generated the ultrapotassic rocks with regionally distinct geochemical signatures reflecting the different nature of the lithospheric mantle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]