Zircon U-Pb dating is the most commonly used method for isotopic geochronology. However, it has been a difficult issue when relating zircon U-Pb ages to metamorphic conditions in complex metamorphic rocks. Much progress has been made in the past decade with respect to the genesis of zircon and its constraints on interpretation of U-Pb age. Three methods have been proposed to link zircon U-Pb age to metamorphic conditions: (i) internal structure; (ii) trace element feature; (iii) mineral inclusion composition. Magmatic zircon shows typical oscillatory zoning and/or sector zoning, whereas metamorphic zircon has internal structures such as no zoned, weakly zoned, cloudy zoned, sector zoned, planar zoned, and patched zoned ones. Zircons formed in different geological environments generally have characteristic internal structures. Magmatic zircons from different rock types have variable trace element abundances, with a general trend of increasing trace element abundances in zircons from ultramafic through mafic to granitic rocks. Zircons formed under different metamorphic conditions have different trace element characteristics that can be used to relate their formation to metamorphic conditions. It is an effective way to relate zircon growth to certain P-T conditions by studying the trace element partitioning between coexisting metamorphic zircon and garnet in high-grade metamorphic rocks containing both zircon and garnet. Primary mineral inclusions in zircon can also provide unambiguous constraints on its formation conditions. Therefore, interpretation of zircon U-Pb ages can be constrained by its internal structure, trace element composition, mineral inclusion and so on.

Genesis of zircon and its constraints on interpretation of U-Pb age

Stable isotope geochemistry of ultrahigh pressure metamorphic rocks from the Dabie–Sulu orogen in China: implications for geodynamics and fluid regime

The golden transformation of the Cretaceous plate subduction in the West Pacific

Orogenic gold: Common or evolving fluid and metal sources through time

Tectonic evolution of a composite collision orogen: An overview on the Qinling–Tongbai–Hong'an–Dabie–Sulu orogenic belt in central China

Petrogenesis of post-orogenic syenites in the Sulu Orogenic Belt, East China: geochronological, geochemical and Nd-Sr isotopic evidence

The North China craton (NCC) hosts numerous gold deposits and is known as the most gold-productive region of China. The gold deposits were mostly formed within a few million years in the Early Cretaceous (130-120 Ma), coeval with widespread occurrences of bimodal magmatism, rift basins and metamorphic core complexes that marked the peak of lithospheric thinning and destruction of the NCC. Stable isotope data and geological evidence indicate that ore-forming fluids and other components were largely exsolved from cooling magma and/or derived from mantle degassing during the period of lithospheric extension. Gold mineralization in the NCC contrasts strikingly with that of other cratons where gold ore-forming fluids were sourced mostly from metamorphic devolatization in compressional or transpressional regimes. In this paper, we present a summary and discussion on time-space distribution and ore genesis of gold deposits in the NCC in the context of the timing, spatial variation, and decratonic processes. Compared with orogenic gold deposits in other cratonic blocks, the Early Cretaceous gold deposits in the NCC are quite distinct in that they were deposited from magma-derived fluids under extensional settings and associated closely with destruction of cratonic lithosphere. We argue that Early Cretaceous gold deposits in the NCC cannot be classified as orogenic gold deposits as previously suggested, rather, they are a new type of gold deposits, termed as “decratonic gold deposits” in this study. The westward subduction of the paleo-West Pacific plate (the Izanagi plate) beneath the eastern China continent gave rise to an optimal tectonic setting for large-scale gold mineralization in the Early Cretaceous. Dehydration of the subducted and stagnant slab in the mantle transition zone led to continuous hydration and considerable metasomatism of the mantle wedge beneath the NCC. As a consequence, the refractory mantle became oxidized and highly enriched in large ion lithophile elements and chalcophile elements (e.g., Cu, Au, Ag and Te). Partial melting of such a mantle would have produced voluminous hydrous, Au- and S-bearing basaltic magma, which, together with crust-derived melts induced by underplating of basaltic magma, served as an important source for ore-forming fluids. It is suggested that the Eocene Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada, occurring geologically in the deformed western margin of the North America craton, are comparable with the Early Cretaceous gold deposits of the NCC because they share similar tectonic settings and auriferous fluids. The NCC gold deposits are characterized by gold-bearing quartz veins in the Archean amphibolite facies rocks, whereas the Nevada gold deposits are featured by fine-grained sulfide dissemination in Paleozoic marine sedimentary rocks. Their main differences in gold mineralization are the different host rocks, ore-controlling structures, and ore-forming depth. The similar tectonic setting and ore-forming fluid source, however, indicate that the Carlin-type gold deposits in Nevada are actually analogous to decratonic gold deposits in the NCC. Gold deposits in both the NCC and Nevada were formed in a relatively short time interval (<10 Myr) and become progressively younger toward the subduction zone. Younging of gold mineralization toward subduction zone might have been attributed to retreat of subduction zone and rollback of subducted slab. According to the ages of gold deposits on inland and marginal zones, the retreat rates of the Izanagi plate in the western Pacific in the Early Cretaceous and the Farallon plate of the eastern Pacific in the Eocene are estimated at 8.8 cm/yr and 3.3 cm/yr, respectively.

Decratonic gold deposits

The Sanshandao gold deposit, with total resources of more than 60 t of gold, is located in the Jiaodong gold province, the most important gold province of China. The deposit is a typical highly fractured and altered, disseminated gold system, with high-grade, quartz-sulphide vein/veinlet stockworks that cut Mesozoic granodiorite. There are four stages of veins that developed in the following sequence: (1) quartz-K-feldspar-sericite; (2) quartz-pyrite±arsenopyrite; (3) quartz-base metal sulfide; and (4) quartz-carbonate. Fluid inclusions in quartz and calcite in vein/veinlet stockworks contain C-O-H fluids of three main types. The first type consists of dilute CO2–H2O fluids coeval with the early vein stage. Molar volumes of these CO2–H2O fluid inclusions, ranging from 50–60 cm3/mol, yield estimated minimum trapping pressures of ≥3 kbar. Homogenization temperatures, obtained mainly from CO2–H2O inclusions with lower CO2 concentration, range from 267–375 °C. The second inclusion type, with a CO2–H2O±CH4 composition, was trapped during the main mineralizing stages. These fluids may reflect the CO2–H2O fluids that were modified by fluid/rock reactions with altered wallrocks. Isochores for CO2-H2O±CH4 inclusions, with homogenization temperatures ranging from 204–325 °C and molar volumes from 55 to 70 cm3/mol, provide an estimated minimum trapping pressure of 1.2 kbar. The third inclusion type, aqueous inclusions, trapped in cross-cutting microfractures in quartz and randomly in calcite, are post-mineralization, and have homogenization temperatures between 143–228 °C and salinities from 0.71–7.86 wt% NaCl equiv. Stable isotope data show that the metamorphic fluid contribution is minimal and that ore fluids are of magmatic origin, most likely sourced from 120–126 Ma mafic to intermediate dikes. This is consistent with the carbonic nature of the fluid, and the cross-cutting nature of those deposits relative to the host Mesozoic granitoid.

Ore-forming fluids associated with granite-hosted gold mineralization at the Sanshandao deposit, Jiaodong gold province, China

http://www.igg.cas.cn/xwzx/yjcg/201208/W020120831306035678559.pdf

Reactivation of the Archean lower crust: Implications for zircon geochronology, elemental and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic geochemistry of late Mesozoic granitoids from northwestern Jiaodong Terrane, the North China Craton

https://www.cas.cn/ky/kyjz/201108/W020110824363804401800.pdf

Mesoproterozoic carbonatitic magmatism in the Bayan Obo deposit, Inner Mongolia, North China: Constraints for the mechanism of super accumulation of rare earth elements

Hong-Rui Fan

Papers

Petrogenesis of post-orogenic syenites in the Sulu Orogenic Belt, East China: geochronological, geochemical and Nd-Sr isotopic evidence

Decratonic gold deposits

Ore-forming fluids associated with granite-hosted gold mineralization at the Sanshandao deposit, Jiaodong gold province, China

Reactivation of the Archean lower crust: Implications for zircon geochronology, elemental and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic geochemistry of late Mesozoic granitoids from northwestern Jiaodong Terrane, the North China Craton

Mesoproterozoic carbonatitic magmatism in the Bayan Obo deposit, Inner Mongolia, North China: Constraints for the mechanism of super accumulation of rare earth elements