The term"carbonatite"has a history of over one hundred years since its initial proposal.It refers to a unique rock type that is intriguing and subject to debate.Carbonatite is characterized by its abundance of carbonate minerals and its association with mafic,ultramafic,or alkaline silicate rocks.It forms carbonatite-silicate complexes with unique chemical compositions and mineralogical features.These complexes also have the potential to host significant economic deposits.In recent decades,significant advancements have been made in studying carbonatite in various aspects,including understandings on its genesis,identifications on its magma sources,investigation over its geochemistry and geochronology,experimental studyings on its physical characteristics under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions,discovering the economically important mineral deposits related to the carbonatite and the enrichment and mineralization mechanisms of rare earth elements in carbonatite-related REE deposits,etc.This article serves as a comprehensive review and commentary on the research progresses made in the field of carbonatite.It covers topics such as the definition and classification of the carbonatite,and its diagenetic backgrounds,spatial-temporal distributions and petrological characteristics and mineral compositions,as well as the origins and evolutionary features of its magma and the carbanatite-related mineral resources.This article emphasizes the necessity of developing a classification scheme for carbonatite from a genetic perspective.It also summarizes the occurrence and distribution characteristics of carbonatite discovered in China and highlights the differences between the evolution of carbonatite magma and silicate magma.Furthermore,this article suggests the importance of researching the transitional stage of melt-fluid during carbonatite magma evolution.Finally,it employs data visualization and bibliometric analysis of thousands of papers retrieved from the Scopus database that use"carbonatite"as a keyword.This analysis identifies and summarizes the current research hotspots within the field of carbonatite research.It also provides insights into the future trends in carbonatite studies.
CarbonatiteDefinition and classificationDistributionPetrological characteristicsMagmaEconomic mineral resources
万方数据
维普
