Climate has a strong impact on copper resources, according to a new research by the University of Idaho and the University of Michigan. Data showed that areas with high erosion rates have less copper deposits than areas which experience relatively low number of erosion cases.
The study, published in Nature Geoscience, suggests that “climate is driving erosion and mineral exposure in deposit-bearing mountain landscapes.” “This effect persists over very long periods of Earth’s history,” said Stephen Kesler, an emeritus professor from the University of Michigan’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
“It’s exciting to think that erosion and the building of our mountain landscapes influences where society gets its resources from,” added Brian Yanites, an assistant professor in University of Idaho’s Geological Sciences. Kesler and Yanites spearheaded the research titled “A Climate Signal in Exhumation Patterns Revealed by Porphyry Copper Deposits.”