Gold nanoparticles in natural paleo fluids from Kola superdeep borehole

The Kola superdeep borehole (SG-3) is the result of a scientific drilling project (realized in 1970-1992) in the Pechengsky District, near the Russian border with Norway, on the Kola Peninsula. This borehole of 12,262 meters retains the deepest artificial point on Earth. This project is the first attempt to characterize Au nanoparticles in natural fluid inclusions inside quartz from this borehole using micro-beam scanning small-angle/wide angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) techniques combined with simultaneous X-ray fluorescence (XRF), anomalous SAXS (ASAXS) and X-ray near edge structure (XANES). These new data are indispensable for the knowledge of Au behavior in deep fluid systems and the mechanism of its accumulation in the Earth’s crust.