The Productivity of Ore-Bearing Intrusions and the Possible Impact Initiation of the Siberian Trap Formation and the Norilsk Pd–Pt–Rh–Cu–Ni–Co Deposits

The extremely high productivity of the Norilsk ore-bearing intrusions is shown. In terms of productivity, it exceeds the largest Pt–Pd giant Bushveld in palladium by about 20 000 times and in platinum by 3000 times. Such a huge difference cannot be explained by any processes of differentiation. The Siberian Trap Formation is the largest igneous formation in the world. The Norilsk palladium deposits, the largest in the world, is associated with this formation and conforms to the boundary of the terminal Permian and the Early Triassic. The boundary corresponds to the most powerful impact event on the Earth in East Antarctica. A hypothesis for the possible impact initiation of a superplume that generated the Siberian Trap Formation and Norilsk Pd deposits has been proposed. Data on the palladium and platinum geochemistry in the terrestrial planets correlates with this concept.