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Geology
Erosion and collapse of volcanoes: Causes of telescoping in intrusion-centered ore
deposits
Richard H. Sillitoe
Geology 1994;22;945-948
doi: 10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0945:EACOVC>2.3.CO;2

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Erosion and collapse of volcanoes: Causes of telescoping in

intrusion-centered ore deposits
Richard H. Sillitoe

27 West Hill Park, Highgate Village, London N6 6ND, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT
Telescoping is the process of juxtaposing or overprinting early, deep mineralization,
commonly of porphyry type, and late, shallow, generally epithermal styles of precious- and
base-metal mineralization. Telescoping is attributed to synhydrothermal degradation of
volcanic paleosurfaces, as a result of either rapid erosion under pluvial conditions or sector
(and, less probably, caldera) collapse of the volcanic edifices. Paleosurfaces may be lowered
easily by 1 km during the ~ 1 m.y. total life spans of hydrothermal systems, leading to the
vertical compression of any contained ore deposits by at least 1 km. Sector collapse may
be triggered by volcanic tumescence due to synmineralization intrusion, and it may be
facilitated by hydrothermal weakening of volcanic edifices. Sector collapse causes extensive
ingress of meteoric and/or ocean water to the magmatic environment and a decrease in
confining pressure. The latter may induce hydrothermal brecciation, boiling and possible
epithermal Au precipitation, and even accelerated efflux of magmatic fluids. Telescoped
systems are believed to possess greater potential for the existence of both porphyry-type
deposits at shallower than normal depths and giant ore deposits.
INTRODUCTION
Telescoped ore deposits are those in
which alteration and mineralization that are
characteristic of late, shallow, low-temperature environments are compressed vertically
onto early, deep, high-temperature environments. Such juxtaposition of incompatible
alteration and mineralization types is considered traditionally to be a consequence of
the steep geothermal gradients induced by
approach to paleosurfaces in volcanic terranes (e.g., Graton, 1933). However, this hypothesis fails to explain satisfactorily the extreme telescoping, including extensive
overprinting, of shallow, epithermal and
subvolcanic, porphyry-type alteration and
mineralization recognized recently from
many Au and base-metal deposits developed in subduction-related, volcano-plutonic arcs. Extreme telescoping is attributed
to the effects of lowering of paleosurfaces
and associated paleo-water tables during
the life spans of hydrothermal systems (Sillitoe, 1989). This concept is explored further
here by considering the interplay between
rates of paleosurface degradation and durations of hydrothermal activity, the consequences for ore deposition in Au-rich hydrothermal systems, and some implications
for exploration.
TELESCOPED DEPOSITS
Precious- base-metal-bearing, intrusion-centered systems developed beneath
stratovolcanoes and large flow-dome complexes, as well as in areas lacking appreciable volumes of volcanic products, may be
subdivided into three distinctive alteration
environments diagnostic of relative paleodepth (Fig. 1): (1) Porphyry-type, stockwork Cu and/or Au mineralization associGEOLOGY, v. 22, p. 945-948, October 1994

ated with K-silicate alteration in and around

porphyry stocks. The fluids responsible were
high-temperature, saline brines under lithostatic conditions (e.g., Gustafson and Hunt,
1975). (2) Epithermal Au and/or Ag mineralization, of a variety of styles, in overlying,
typically volcanic rocks. The fluids involved
were much lower in temperature and salinity, the former being controlled under hydrostatic conditions by boiling point for
depth constraints. Epithermal deposits may
be of either high-sulfidation (acid-sulfate)
type, where advanced argillic alteration
and high-sulfidation sulfide assemblages
(commonly including enargite) result from
relatively oxidized, acidic fluids, or lowsulfidation (adularia-sericite) type, where
assemblages containing illite or sericite
adularia accompanied by low-sulfidation
sulfides (e.g., the minor Cu as chalcopyrite)
are generated by reduced, neutral-pH fluids
(Hedenquist, 1987; Heald et al., 1987). (3)
Metal-deficient, advanced argillic-altered
rocks, products of steam-heated, surficial
ground waters formed in the vadose zone
between the paleo-water table and paleosurface (e.g., Hedenquist, 1991). The powdery nature of these near-surface, acidleached rocks is a principal distinction from
the mineralogically similar alteration associated with the high-sulfidation epithermal
environment.
In systems that underwent little or no telescoping, these three alteration environments span at least 2 vertical km, as at Red
Mountain, Arizona. There a porphyry CuMo deposit is separated by 600 m from an
overlying zone of advanced argillic and
sericitic alteration of high-sulfidation epithermal type (Quinlan, 1981; Fig. 1A). In
contrast, in highly telescoped systems, all

three alteration environments may be observed within 500 to < 100 m of one another.
Gold deposits displaying extreme telescoping are plentiful in youthful volcano-plutonic arcs of the circum-Pacific region and
are typified by Marte, northern Chile
(Fig. IB) and Ladolam in Lihir Island,
Papua New Guinea (Fig. 1C).
The mid-Miocene porphyry Au deposit at
Marte comprises gold-bearing, quartz veinlet stockworks, accompanied by sericite,
clay, and chlorite after preexisting K-silicate
alteration, in a composite diorite porphyry
stock. The stock is in sharp contact upward
with comagmatic andesitic volcanic rocks
displaying advanced argillic alteration (Vila
et al., 1991; Fig. IB), which contains only
minor Au and enargite of high-sulfidation
epithermal type. Acid-leached, andesitic
volcanic rocks, barren of metals but rich in
native S, are preserved only 200 m higher in
elevation than the base of the advanced
argillic zone (Vila et al., 1991) and are inferred originally to have been far more widespread (Fig. IB). Marte is hosted by the coeval Pastillitos stratovolcano, 10 X 10 km in
basal dimensions, which is breached on one
flank by an amphitheater-like depression to
expose the alteration and Au deposit (Vila
et al., 1991).
The Ladolam Au deposit was generated
during the past 1 m.y. within the small (10 X
6 km) Luise stratovolcano of alkalic, intermediate composition, which is breached to
the ocean, giving rise to a caldera-like depression (Moyle et al., 1990). A multiphase
monzonitic stock that underwent K-silicate
alteration and low-grade porphyry CuMo-Au mineralization is located from 0 to
200 m beneath this depression, and it is
overlapped by an extensive, flat-lying, tabular zone of breccia-hosted Au mineralization of low-sulfidation epithermal type
(Moyle et al., 1990; Fig. 1C). The epithermal
Au zone, in turn, is partially overlain and
probably overprinted by a native S-bearing,
acid-leached zone (Fig. 1C), which is still
partly active, as shown by acidic hot springs
and steaming ground (Moyle et al., 1990).
Intrusion-related, Au and/or Ag basemetal deposits other than those of porphyry
type may also be telescoped. For example, at
Porgera, Papua New Guinea, fault-controlled epithermal Au ore of low-sulfidation
type overprinted Au-Ag-Zn-Pb-bearing
sulfide stockworks in calcareous siltstones
alongside small alkalic diorite stocks and
945

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A. RED MOUNTAIN
2000-1

WNW
VVINVV

ESE

1500-

1000LITHOLOGY
Intrusive rocks | + +1

500"

Volcanic rocks I

ALTERATION
Acid leaching | AL |
metres

Hydrothermal
breccia-hosted
Cu-Mo
mineralization

1000

Advanced argillic | A |
Sericitic | S |
Intermediate argillic r j ^ - i
1
overprinting K-silicate 1

B. MARTE

K-silicate I * I

5000

Ai
4500-

4000-

Porphyry A u ore ( > l g / t )

metres

1000

Epithermal A u ore (>1g/t)

metres

Figure 1. A: Nontelescoped porphyry Cu-Mo system at Red Mountain, Arizona (after

Quinlan, 1981), showing 600 m separation between K-silicate core and advanced
argillic-sericitic zone of high-sulfidation type. Undocumented thickness of advanced
argillic alteration and surficial, supra-water table acid-leached zone have been lost
to erosion. B: Telescoped porphyry Au system at Marte, Chile (after Vila et al., 1991),
showing advanced argillic zone of high-sulfidation type juxtaposed with Au-bearing
quartz veinlet stockwork (of K-silicate parentage) developed in diorite porphyry
stock. Acid-leached rock generated above paleo-water table is nearby. C: Extremely
telescoped porphyry Cu-Mo-Au system at Ladolam, Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea
(after Moyle et al., 1990), showing overprinting of K-silicate-altered, monzonitic intrusion and tabular zone of low-sulfidation epithermal Au mineralization. Acid leaching, locally still active, affects intrusive rocks and is believed to overprint Au mineralization.

dikes (Richards, 1992); these intrusions may

have lacked coeval volcanic products. Similarly, at Fresnillo, Mexico, low-sulfidation
epithermal Ag veins and an overlying acidleached horizon overprinted carbonate-replacement ores rich in base metals
(Simmons, 1991).
HYDROTHERMAL LIFE SPANS
Results of radiometric dating of alteration minerals from porphyry Cu deposits
946

least intermittently, for 3 m.y. (Silberman et

al., 1979; Sawai et al., 1989).
Such longevity of hydrothermal activity
requires multiple intrusion and release of
magmatic fluids, for which there is ample
evidence in intrusion-centered systems (e.g.,
Gustafson and Hunt, 1975), because single
intrusive bodies would cool in only 10 000 to
100000 yr (e.g., Cathles, 1981). This conclusion accords with eruptive spans of 1 m.y. or
more for some large composite volcanoes
(e.g., Francis and Rundle, 1976).

suggest total durations of hydrothermal activity in and around the porphyry stocks that
commonly approximate 1 m.y. and, in some
systems, attain 2 to 3 m.y. (e.g., Silberman,
1985; Whalen et al., 1982). Broadly similar
life spans, on the order of 0.5 to 1.5 m.y., are
documented for several shallow epithermal
systems (Noble and Silberman, 1984; Silberman, 1985), although the still-active Steamboat Springs, Nevada, and Toyoha (Yunosawa), Japan, systems have been active, at

DEGRADATION OF VOLCANIC
PALEOSURFACES
Erosion
Subaerial erosion rates may be ten times
higher, averaging perhaps 1 m/1000 yr, in
mountainous regions characterized by steep
relief than in those with more subdued topography (e.g., Schumm, 1963). In volcanoplutonic arcs subject to rapid uplift under
pluvial, tropical conditions, such as the wellmineralized arcs of the western Pacific region, seismically induced landsliding is a major process of landform degradation (e.g.,
Loffler, 1977, p. 161). In mountainous parts
of Papua New Guinea, for example, overall
denudation rates ranging from 0.75 to 4
m/1000 yr have been calculated by various
methods (Ruxton and McDougall, 1967; Simonett, 1967; Pickup et al., 1984). Moreover,
short-term denudation rates as high as 30
m/1000 yr are documented by Oilier and
Brown (1971) for the early, vegetation-free
years of a scoria cone in Papua New Guinea.
Collapse
Stratovolcanoes and large flow-dome
complexes are degraded even more effectively by the process of sector collapseinstantaneous gravitational sliding of debris
avalanches to leave breached edifices or "avalanche calderas." Individual debris avalanches may penetrate deeply into volcanoes
and remove >10 km 3 (and as much as 45
km3) of volcanic rock (Siebert, 1984; Crandell, 1989). Sector collapse appears to be a
normal stage in the evolution of large, composite volcanoes, especially those > 2 km
high and having steep upper slopes due to
more felsic, andesitic to dacitic compositions (Siebert, 1984; Francis and Wells,
1988). Siebert (1984) estimated that sector
collapse occurs worldwide about four times
each century, as well as taking place as many
as ten times during the lives of single volcanic edifices (Beget and Kienle, 1992). Sector collapse may be triggered by seismic
events, eruptive activity, and/or high-level
magma intrusion, the last into the environment of potential porphyry deposit formation. Debris avalanches may also act as triggers for eruptive and explosive activity,
GEOLOGY, October 1994

Downloaded from geology.gsapubs.org on May 23, 2013

especially laterally directed blasts (Voight et

al., 1981).
Edifices weakened by hydrothermal alteration and/or fluid saturation may be particularly susceptible to sector collapse (Siebert,
1984; Lopez and Williams, 1993); however,
frequent occurrence of the phenomenon in
the central Andes since the mid-Miocene
onset of aridity shows that voluminous
ground water resulting from a pluvial climate is not a prerequisite (Francis and
Wells, 1988). Indeed, Francis and Wells suggested that a low denudation rate may even
enhance the likelihood of sector collapse
because high volcano slope angles are likely
to be maintained. However, pluvial conditions will ensure more rapid degradation of
an edifice once breached (e.g., Papua New
Guinea; Johnson, 1987).
Vertical collapse, either by magma
eruption or withdrawal, as opposed to largescale slope failure of volcanic edifices, gives
rise to circular or elliptical summit calderas
which, when modified and breached by erosion, may be difficult to distinguish from debris-avalanche amphitheaters. However, the
collapsed material involved in caldera formation is retained within the confines of the
volcanoes instead of being redistributed as
debris avalanches.
CONSEQUENCES OF TELESCOPING
FOR ORE GENESIS
If a denudation rate of 1 m/1000 yr is assumed to apply for the 1 m.y. total life span
of an intrusion-centered, hydrothermal system, its upper volcanic parts will be lowered
by 1 km if growth by eruptive activity is assumed to be zero. Up to three times this
thickness of rock could be removed synhydrothermally by tripling either the erosion
rate or the system's life span; both would be
theoretically feasible, as noted above. These
estimates of synhydrothermal erosion rates
are supported by results of alteration and
fluid-inclusion studies at Palinpinon, Philippines, which show that the surface of this
active, stratovolcano-related hydrothermal
system was lowered by at least 450 m in < 1
m.y. (Reyes, 1990), a minimum denudation
rate of 0.45 m/1000 yr. In contrast, sector
collapse is not restricted to the tropics, and
probably affects most composite volcanoes
at least once. A single sector collapse may
eliminate instantaneously as much as 25%
of an edifice and a rock column > 1 km high
(Fig. 2).
Rapid erosion and sector or caldera collapse of volcanoes may cause either gradual
or abrupt downward displacements, respectively, of active hydrothermal environments
and result in telescoped alteration-mineralization systems. In the early stages of intrusion-centered systems, stocks and accomGEOLOGY, October 1994

AL

Figure 2. A: Stratovolcano during early stages

of development of porphyry Cu and/or Au deposits at depth. High-sulfidation epithermai
environment, including surficial acid-leached
zone, is present high in system. B: Telescoping of epithermai environment and porphyry
Cu and/or Au deposit as result of sector collapse. Epithermai Au Cu mineralization may
develop in telescoped high-sulfidation zone.
Legend as in Figure 1.

panying porphyry-type alteration and

mineralization are emplaced beneath 1-2
km of volcanic cover (Fig. 2). Removal of a
substantial part of this cover during continued hydrothermal activity permits juxtaposition or overprinting of shallow-level epithermai environments and the originally
deeper porphyry stock, as at Marte and
Ladolam (Fig. 2). Indeed, at Ladolam,
transformation of a porphyry-type to an epithermai environment may have been virtually instantaneous. Continued paleosurface
lowering during epithermai alteration and
mineralization results in appreciable drop of
paleo-water tables and overprinting of supra-water table acid-leached zones onto
originally deeper epithermai zones, as at
Ladolam and, possibly, Marte (Fig. 1).
Telescoping at Marte is attributed to synhydrothermal collapse, landsliding, and erosion, possibly coupled with hydrothermal
rock dissolution, as proposed by Nairn and
Houghton (1989) to explain the amphitheater-like crater on the flank of White Island
stratovolcano, New Zealand. The breach in
Pastillitos volcano to reveal Marte, like that
at White Island, was not produced by sector
collapse, because there is no obvious outward displacement of the lowermost preserved part of the constructional cone. In
contrast, telescoping at Ladolam is ascribed
to sector collapse (Sillitoe, 1989; Moyle et
al., 1990; Lopez and Williams, 1993), followed by erosional scarp retreat to generate
the present form of Luise caldera.
It seems likely that erosional degradation
of active intrusion-centered hydrothermal
systems is always sufficiently slow to permit
gradual and progressive changes of the fluid
regime to take place (e.g., Palinpinon, Phil-

ippines; see above). During caldera collapse, the entire system is likely to sink, and
the consequent hydrothermal perturbation
is difficult to predict but could be relatively
passive. In contrast, when sector collapse occurs, the hydrologic regime is certainly disturbed catastrophically. Fluid pressures will
drop, possibly from lithostatic to hydrostatic, with the resulting production of widespread hydrothermal (phreatic) fracturing
and brecciation, as at Ladolam (Moyle et al.,
1990). There is likely to be a concomitant
major ingress of meteoric water causing dilution of the exsolving magmatic fluids, as
documented (e.g., Gustafson and Hunt,
1975) for transformation from porphyrytype to epithermai conditions. Ocean water
may also gain access to some systems in island-arc settings, as inferred at Ladolam
(Moyle et al., 1990). Boiling of deeply circulated meteoric or ocean water-dominated
fluids, induced by reductions in confining
pressure, is an effective means of precipitating Au in the epithermai environment (e.g.,
Hedenquist, 1987) and seems to have been
instrumental in accumulation of the giant
Au resource at Ladolam (Moyle et al.,
1990).
Sector collapse during early, rather than
late, hydrothermal stages, and possibly even
triggered by tumescence of the edifice during synmineralization intrusion, is likely to
modify profoundly the magmatic-hydrothermal regime. For example, pressure reductions imposed on a magma chamber could
be sufficient to change the salinity of exsolving magmatic fluids (e.g., Cline and Bodnar,
1991). Indeed, it may be speculated that catastrophic pressure reductions triggered by
sector collapse, rather than simply passive
magma crystallization (Burnham, 1979), instigate the exsolution of magmatic fluids required for stockwork fracturing, orthomagmatic brecciation, and porphyry-type ore
formation.
EXPLORATION IMPLICATIONS
Telescoping is important economically
because of the potential to generate giant
ore deposits by juxtaposing or overprinting
the products of two or more mineralizing
environments. Ladolam and Porgera, considered above, are two examples. Furthermore, telescoping may result in hydrothermal leaching and reconcentration of metals
deposited early in intrusion-centered systems, a process that may have assisted grade
development at Ladolam and Porgera (Sillitoe, 1989).
Telescoping must be taken into account
during exploration of all intrusion-centered
systems, especially where high-sulfidation
epithermai Au Cu (as enargite) deposits
are being explored, because of the possibil947

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ity that intrusion-hosted porphyry Cu (as

chalcopyrite-bornite) and/or Au mineralization is concealed at much shallower depths
than otherwise might be anticipated. Field
evidence for telescoping may be provided by
either (1) a porphyry intrusion and/or latemagmatic, vitreous quartz veinlet stockworks (generated originally as part of a
K-silicate assemblage) overprinted by advanced argillic alteration and high-sulfidation sulfide assemblages or (2) preservation
of volcano remnants (e.g., Marte and Ladolam). Sector collapses have been recognized
from volcanic landforms as old as early Miocene, at least in arid regions like northern
Chile (e.g., Naranjo and Cornejo, 1989). In
the absence of morphologic evidence, debris-avalanche and/or consequent explosive
products containing blocks of altered and
mineralized rock suggest that sector collapse affected the upper parts of a mineralized, and potentially telescoped, hydrothermal system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank J. W. Hedenquist, H. Hoogvliet, and
R. W. Johnson for reviews.
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Manuscript received May 5, 1994
Revised manuscript received July 18, 1994
Manuscript accepted July 21, 1994

GEOLOGY, October 1994