Atlas reveals rocks with rare earth element potential, helping pinpoint new deposits

A new atlas charts the global distribution of unusual, critical-metal-bearing igneous rocks, finding that they often form near the thick and ancient cores of the world's major continents. Researchers from Cambridge's Department of Earth Sciences mapped occurrences of CO2-rich igneous rocks—the world's primary source of rare earth elements—finding that their distribution is strongly tied to variations in Earth's rigid outer layer, the lithosphere.