Yonsei University · Earth and Planetary Sciences
Professor M. Santosh's research lab specializes in tectonomagmatic processes, crustal evolution, and the genesis of ore deposits, with a strong focus on orogenic gold systems and the tectonic evolution of continental cratons. The lab integrates geophysical imaging, geochemical analysis, and structural geology to unravel the deep Earth processes behind mineralization and lithospheric dynamics, particularly in East Asia. Key research directions include the role of metamorphic fluids in ore formation, the tectonic evolution of the North China Craton, and the geodynamic setting of large-scale gold provinces such as Jiaodong. The lab also investigates the interplay between subduction, crustal deformation, and magmatism in the context of supercontinent assembly and breakup.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
An evaluation of recent S-wave receiver functions, S-wave velocities and two versions of P-wave tomographic images along various transects in the North China Craton provides some clues on the subduction-collision history of the different crustal blocks and their final amalgamation within the Paleoproterozoic Columbia supercontinent. Interpretation of a N–S seismic section of the craton suggests thick slab debris sinking to various depths in the mantle. The W–E seismic corridors show the preserva
The ca. 126–120 Ma Au deposits of the Jiaodong Peninsula, eastern China, define the country's largest gold province with an overall endowment estimated as >3000 t Au. The vein and disseminated ores are hosted by NE- to NNE-trending brittle normal faults that parallel the margins of ca. 165–150 Ma, deeply emplaced, lower crustal melt granites. The deposits are sited along the faults for many tens of kilometers and the larger orebodies are associated with dilatational jogs. Country rocks to the gr
Although the term orogenic gold deposit has been widely accepted for all gold-only lode-gold deposits, with the exception of Carlin-type deposits and rare intrusion-related gold systems, there has been continuing debate on their genesis. Early syngenetic models and hydrothermal models dominated by meteoric fluids are now clearly unacceptable. Magmatic-hydrothermal models fail to explain the genesis of orogenic gold deposits because of the lack of consistent spatially – associated granitic intrus
With very few exceptions, orogenic gold deposits formed in subduction-related tectonic settings in accretionary to collisional orogenic belts from Archean to Tertiary times. Their genesis, including metal and fluid source, fluid pathways, depositional mechanisms, and timing relative to regional structural and metamorphic events, continues to be controversial. However, there is now general agreement that these deposits formed from metamorphic fluids, either from metamorphism of intra-basinal rock
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