Geological Evolution of Carbonatites and Related Rocks: Implications for Critical Resource Exploration and Petrogenesis
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Deposits".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 97
Special Issue Editors
Interests: carbonatites; recycle of elements such as S, O, C and REEs; geological carbon sink; global climate change; carbon neutrality; climate disasters
Interests: PGE-Cu-Ni deposits; Siberian traps; geochemistry; melt inclusions; olivine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Carbonatites and associated rocks are of paramount importance to modern society as the primary global source of several critical raw materials, such as niobium, rare earth elements (REEs), and others vital for advanced technologies and the green energy transition. Despite their limited volumetric occurrence, these rocks exhibit remarkable genetic diversity and global distribution. A significant subset is mantle-derived, originating from extremely low-degree partial melting of refractory mantle lithologies, and is frequently associated with world-class deposits of critical metals. Understanding the processes that concentrate these metals is therefore a first-order economic and scientific challenge. In parallel, other carbonatites are crustal in origin, formed by partial melting of carbonate-rich metasediments (e.g., marble), and provide unique insights into deep carbon mobility and long-term geological carbon sequestration within the Earth's interior.
This Special Issue seeks original contributions that advance the mechanistic understanding of carbonatite petrogenesis and its direct link to resource potential. We welcome studies that integrate field observations, experimental petrology, geochemical and isotopic analyses, and theoretical modelling. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Petrogenetic models and classification schemes for mantle- and crustal-derived carbonatites, with emphasis on discriminating features and tectonic settings.
- Mechanisms of critical metal (e.g., REEs, Nb) enrichment, fractionation, and mineralization in carbonatite systems, and their implications for mineral exploration targeting and deposit models.
- The role of fluids, magmatic evolution, and hydrothermal processes in the formation of economic concentrations of metals.
- The petrogenesis of crustal carbonatites and their significance as tracers of deep carbon cycling and crustal metasomatism.
- Methodological advances, including high-precision isotopic and trace-element geochemistry, thermodynamic modelling, and integrative case studies from major carbonatite complexes worldwide.
By synthesizing diverse lines of evidence, this Special Issue aims to foster a holistic understanding of carbonatite genesis and evolution, with a primary focus on its fundamental implications for securing critical raw materials and advancing deposit-scale geological knowledge.
Dr. Yan Liu
Dr. Nadezhda Krivolutskaya
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- carbonatite petrogenesis
- critical raw materials
- rare earth elements (REE)
- magmatic–hydrothermal processes
- deep carbon cycle
- geological evolution
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