TY - JOUR
T1 - The lavrion mines
T2 - A unique site of geological and mineralogical heritage
AU - Voudouris, Panagiotis
AU - Melfos, Vasilios
AU - Mavrogonatos, Constantinos
AU - Photiades, Adonis
AU - Moraiti, Eugenia
AU - Rieck, Branko
AU - Kolitsch, Uwe
AU - Tarantola, Alexandre
AU - Scheffer, Christophe
AU - Morin, Denis
AU - Vanderhaeghe, Olivier
AU - Spry, Paul G.
AU - Ross, James
AU - Soukis, Konstantinos
AU - Vaxevanopoulos, Markos
AU - Pekov, Igor V.
AU - Chukanov, Nikita V.
AU - Magganas, Andreas
AU - Kati, Marianna
AU - Katerinopoulos, Athanasios
AU - Zaimis, Stefanos
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - The Lavrion area corresponds to the western part of the Attic-Cycladic metamorphic belt, in the back-arc region of the active Hellenic subduction zone. Between the Eocene and the Miocene, metamorphic rocks (mainly marbles and schists) underwent several stages of metamorphism and deformation due to collision and collapse of the Cycladic belt. Exhumation during the Miocene was accommodated by the movement of a large-scale detachment fault system, which also enhanced emplacement of magmatic rocks, leading to the formation of the famous Lavrion silver deposits. The area around the mines shows the stacking of nappes, with ore deposition mainly localized within the marbles, at marble-schist contacts, below, within, or above the detachment. The Lavrion deposit comprises five genetically-related but different styles of mineralization, a feature never observed in another ore deposit elsewhere, containing the highest number of different elements of any known mining district. The local geology, tectonic, and magmatic activity were fundamental factors in determining how and when the mineralization formed. Other key factors, such as the rise and the fall of sea level, which resulted from climate change over the last million years, were also of major importance for the subsequent surface oxidation at Lavrion that created an unmatched diversity of secondary minerals. As a result, the Lavrion deposit contains 638 minerals of which Lavrion is type-locality for 23 of them, which is nearly 12% of all known species. Apart from being famous for its silver exploitation, this mining district contains more minerals than any other district on Earth. The unique geological, mineralogical, and educational (mining, archaeological, and environmental) features suggest that it is highly suitable to be developed as a future UNESCO Global Geopark.
AB - The Lavrion area corresponds to the western part of the Attic-Cycladic metamorphic belt, in the back-arc region of the active Hellenic subduction zone. Between the Eocene and the Miocene, metamorphic rocks (mainly marbles and schists) underwent several stages of metamorphism and deformation due to collision and collapse of the Cycladic belt. Exhumation during the Miocene was accommodated by the movement of a large-scale detachment fault system, which also enhanced emplacement of magmatic rocks, leading to the formation of the famous Lavrion silver deposits. The area around the mines shows the stacking of nappes, with ore deposition mainly localized within the marbles, at marble-schist contacts, below, within, or above the detachment. The Lavrion deposit comprises five genetically-related but different styles of mineralization, a feature never observed in another ore deposit elsewhere, containing the highest number of different elements of any known mining district. The local geology, tectonic, and magmatic activity were fundamental factors in determining how and when the mineralization formed. Other key factors, such as the rise and the fall of sea level, which resulted from climate change over the last million years, were also of major importance for the subsequent surface oxidation at Lavrion that created an unmatched diversity of secondary minerals. As a result, the Lavrion deposit contains 638 minerals of which Lavrion is type-locality for 23 of them, which is nearly 12% of all known species. Apart from being famous for its silver exploitation, this mining district contains more minerals than any other district on Earth. The unique geological, mineralogical, and educational (mining, archaeological, and environmental) features suggest that it is highly suitable to be developed as a future UNESCO Global Geopark.
KW - Attica
KW - Cultural heritage
KW - Geoheritage
KW - Geotope
KW - Lavrion
KW - Minerals
KW - Ore deposits
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85100070883&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/min11010076
DO - 10.3390/min11010076
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85100070883
SN - 2075-163X
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 22
JO - Minerals
JF - Minerals
IS - 1
M1 - 76
ER -