Database of mineral deposits related to the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) in the northern United States and northern Ontario, Canada

The Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) of North America is one of the world’s largest continental rifts and has an age of 1.1 Ga (giga-annum). The MRS hosts a diverse suite of magmatic and hydrothermal mineral deposits in the Lake Superior region where rift rocks are exposed at or near the surface. As part of the construction of a database summarizing information on mineral deposits in the MRS, data from regional mineral deposits were downloaded from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS), the USGS Mineral Deposit Database (USMIN), and the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines Mineral Deposit Inventory (MDI). Deposits related to MRS rocks or mineralizing events were identified and compiled into a database to develop a space/time classification for MRS-related mineral deposits.

北美中大陆裂谷系（Midcontinent Rift System, MRS）是全球规模最大的大陆裂谷系之一，形成年代为11亿年（1.1 Ga，即十亿年）。该裂谷系在裂谷岩石出露于地表或近地表处的苏必利尔湖区域，赋存着多样的岩浆与热液矿床。作为构建总结北美中大陆裂谷系矿床信息数据库的工作之一，研究人员从美国地质调查局（U.S. Geological Survey, USGS）矿产资源数据系统（Mineral Resources Data System, MRDS）、美国地质调查局矿床数据库（USMIN）以及安大略省能源、北部发展与矿产部矿床清单（MDI）中下载了区域矿床相关数据。研究人员筛选出与该裂谷系岩石或成矿事件相关的矿床，整合至数据库中，以建立针对裂谷系相关矿床的时空分类体系。