Time Scales of Porphyry Cu Deposit Formation: Insights from Titanium Diffusion in Quartz

Porphyry dikes and hydrothermal veins from the porphyry Cu-Mo deposit at Butte, Montana, contain multiple generations of quartz that are distinct in scanning electron microscope-cathodoluminescence (SEM-CL) images and in Ti concentrations. A comparison of microprobe trace element profiles and maps to SEM-CL images shows that the concentration of Ti in quartz correlates positively with CL brightness but Al, K, and Fe do not. After calibrating CL...