Elsevier

Ore Geology Reviews

Volume 124, September 2020, 103653
Ore Geology Reviews

Geochemistry, zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf-O isotopes of the Late Mesozoic granitoids from the Xiong'ershan area, East Qinling Orogen, China: Implications for petrogenesis and molybdenum metallogeny

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2020.103653Get rights and content

Highlights

  • These granitoids were emplaced between 132 Ma and 127 Ma.

  • These granitoids derived from mixing of Taihua Group, Xiong’er Group and mantle.

  • The ore-bearing granite porphyry possesses higher fO2 than the ore-barren plutons.

Abstract

The petrogenesis and genetic relationship of molybdenum mineralization in the Late Mesozoic granitoids from the Xiong’ershan area remains controversial. This study presents integrated whole-rock geochemistry, zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf-O isotopes for Late Mesozoic ore-bearing granite porphyry stock (Leimengou granite porphyry) and ore-barren plutons (Haoping and Jinshanmiao plutons) in the Xiong’ershan area of the East Qinling Orogen Belt (EQOB). The ore-barren granitoids are high-K subalkaline, metaluminous, and show negative correlations between Al2O3, MgO, TiO2, MnO, CaO, FeOT and P2O5 with SiO2. However, the Leimengou granite porphyry lacks distinctive linear correlation between major oxides with SiO2 except Al2O3, K2O and Na2O. These granitoids are enriched in LREE over HREE with slightly negative europium anomalies. Most samples show enrichment of Rb, Ba, Th, U, K and Pb, and depletion of Nb, Ta, P and Ti, mostly overlapping the ranges of the Taihua Group. Zircon U-Pb ages from the Haoping pluton, Jinshanmiao pluton and Leimengou granite porphyry are 130.9 ± 0.4 Ma, 127.7 ± 0.7 Ma and 131.5 ± 0.9 Ma, respectively. The Hf-O isotopic features of zircon from the Leimengou granite porphyry (δ18Ozircon = 5.03‰ − 5.86‰, εHf(t) = −24.3 to −14.4) are markedly similar with the Haoping pluton (δ18Ozircon = 5.17‰ − 5.61‰ and εHf(t) = −26.6 to −21.4). Zircon grains from the Jinshanmiao pluton have unique δ18Ozircon ranging from 6.01‰ to 8.90‰ and εHf(t) from −15.6 to −12.2. The co-variations of whole-rock geochemistry and Hf-O isotopic features in the samples suggest that Haoping pluton and Leimengou granite porphyry originated from mixture of partial melts of the Taihua Group with mantle-derived material, whereas the Jinshanmiao pluton originated from mixture of Xiong’er Group and mantle-derived material, with minor input of Taihua Group. The zircon grains from the Leimengou granite porphyry have significant higher Ce4+/Ce3+ (mean 547) and δEu (mean 0.65) ratios than those in the ore-barren Haoping pluton (mean 207 and 0.54, Ce4+/Ce3+ and δEu, respectively) and the Jinshanmiao pluton (mean 235 and 0.62, respectively). The main controlling factors for porphyry-type Mo mineralization are likely the oxygen fugacity (fO2) of the magma and input of mantle-derived material in the Xiong'ershan area. The geochemical and isotopic data show that the emplacement of these intrusions in the EQOB occurred in the post-collision settings during 132–127 Ma.

Introduction

The Late Mesozoic granitoids representing prolonged magmatism during 160–108 Ma, are widely distributed in the East Qinling Orogen Belt (EQOB) (Li et al., 2018a, Yang et al., 2019). Previous studies show that the Late Mesozoic molybdenum mineralization in the EQOB is spatially and temporally associated with the Late Mesozoic magmatism (Mao et al., 2008, Mao et al., 2010, Stein et al., 1997, Guo et al., 2018). However, the petrogenesis and magma sources of the Late Mesozoic granitoids remain debated. The diverse sources of Late Mesozoic magmatism include: (1) mixing of partial melting of the lower crust or Archean-Paleoproterozoic metamorphic crystalline basement of the North China Craton (NCC) with mantle-derived material (Li et al., 2012a, Li et al., 2015, Wang et al., 2016, Wang et al., 2017, Zhang et al., 2015, Zhang et al., 2017); and (2) partial melting of crust of the Yangtze Craton (YC) that subducted northward underneath the NCC (Bao et al., 2009, Bao et al., 2014, Bao et al., 2017, Bao et al., 2018). Recognizing the origin of Late Mesozoic magma is an important work that can distinguish the key factors of formation of molybdenum deposits.

Late Mesozoic Mo ore-bearing and ore-barren granitoids were extensively reported from the Xiong’ershan area, EQOB (Han et al., 2013, Li et al., 2012b, Mao et al., 2010). Most granitoid plutons in this area are genetically related to porphyry-type molybdenum, hydrothermal Au, and hydrothermal Ag-Pb-Zn mineralization (Cao et al., 2015, Cao et al., 2017, Li et al., 2013b, Li et al., 2016, Tang et al., 2013, Zhao et al., 2018), whereas some plutons are essentially barren (Nie et al., 2015, Wang et al., 2006, Wang et al., 2010a, Wang et al., 2010b, Xiao et al., 2012). The controlling factors between these spatially and temporally related ore-bearing and ore-barren plutons remain unclear. Previous studies have shown that oxygen fugacity controls speciation of sulfur to influence the stability of sulfide which in turn influences the partitioning of Mo from magmatic hydrothermal fluids (Jugo, 2009, Sun et al., 2015). Therefore, oxygen fugacity of porphyry magmas has a strong control over the behavior of Mo (Han et al., 2013, Hu et al., 2019, Xue et al., 2018a). Recently, Han et al., 2013, Xue et al., 2018a carried out contrastive research on ore-barren plutons and ore-bearing granite porphyry stocks in the Xiong’ershan area and Luanchuan area, and proposed that the oxygen fugacity of ore-bearing granite porphyry stocks were significantly higher than that of ore-barren plutons and that the Mo mineralization were closely associated with highly oxidized magmas. However, the question whether the oxidized feature of magma was controlled by the magma source or affected by the porphyry mineralization process remains elusive (Sun et al., 2015).

Zircon U-Pb dating, zircon Hf-O isotopes and trace elements can provide crucial insights into the emplacement ages, magma sources, physico-chemical conditions of magma and petrogenetic processes of granitoids (Ballard et al., 2002, Belousova et al., 2005, Claiborne et al., 2006, Claiborne et al., 2010, Wang et al., 2013, Wang et al., 2014a). In this paper, we perform whole rock geochemistry, in situ zircon U-Pb-Hf-O isotopes and trace elements on an ore-bearing porphyry stock and two ore-barren plutons in the Xiong’ershan area, so as to: (1) precisely determine the emplacement ages of the granitoids, (2) decipher their magma sources, petrogenesis and tectonic implications, and (3) explore the genetic relationship between Late Mesozoic magmatism and Mo mineralization in the Xiong’ershan area.

Section snippets

Geological setting

The Qinling Orogenic Belt (QOB) is located at the central segment of the Central China Orogen (CCO) (Fig. 1a). The QOB is carved up by the Mianlue Suture, Shangdan Suture, Luanchuan Fault, and San-bao Fault. They separate the QOB into four geotectonic units from south to north: the northern margin of the YC, South Qinling Belt, North Qinling Belt and the Huaxiong Block representing the reactivated southern margin of the NCC (Fig. 1b; Dong and Santosh, 2016, Dong et al., 2011, Tang et al., 2016).

Huashan pluton

The Huashan pluton mainly intrudes into the Late Neoarchean-Paleoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic Xiong’er Groups in the Xiong’ershan area (Fig. 2). The pluton is composed of three primary granite phases, and from south to north these are the Wuzhangshan pluton (Phase 1), Haoping pluton (Phase 2) and Jinshanmiao pluton (Phase 3).

Phase 1 forms a tongue-shaped intrusion located in the southern segment of the pluton, and is light red or gray-white porphyritic biotite monzogranite (Fig. 2). The

Samples

Fourteen samples including five coarse-grained porphyritic biotite hornblende monzogranites from Phase 2 of the Huashan pluton (Haoping pluton), four biotite monzogranites from Phase 3 of the Huashan pluton (Jinshanmiao pluton) and five granite porphyries from the Leimengou stock were selected for petrography and whole rock geochemistry in this study (Fig. 2). Zircon U-Pb-Hf-O isotope and trace element analyses were carried out on porphyritic biotite hornblende monzogranite (HS-01: 34°20′52″N,

Whole-rock geochemistry

Whole-rock geochemical data of 14 samples from the Haoping pluton, Jinshanmiao pluton and Leimengou granite porphyry stock are listed in Supplementary Table 2 and illustrated on Fig. 5, Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8.

All the nine rock samples from the Haoping pluton and Jinshanmiao pluton are fresh and have low loss on ignition (LOI) values of 0.47 to 0.75 wt% (Fig. 5; Supplementary Table 2). However, the five samples from Leimengou granite porphyry show slight to moderate alteration with variable LOI

Timing of the Huashan-Leimengou magmatism and Mo mineralization

Zircon grains from Haoping pluton, Jinshanmiao pluton and Leimengou granite porphyry stock yield respective weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of 130.9 ± 0.4 Ma, 127.7 ± 0.7 Ma and 131.5 ± 0.9 Ma. These ages are consistent with the zircon U-Pb ages reported for the Haoping pluton (130.7 ± 1.4 Ma, Li, 2005; 128.7 ± 1 Ma, 129.3 ± 2.4 Ma, Xiao et al., 2012), Jinshanmiao pluton (132 ± 1.6 Ma, Li, 2005, Xiao et al., 2012; 128± 1 Ma, Nie et al., 2015), and Leimengou granite porphyry (136.2 ± 1.5 Ma, Li,

Conclusion

  • 1.

    The zircon U-Pb data presented in this study show that the Haoping pluton, Jinshanmiao pluton and Leimengou granite porphyry were emplaced at 130.9 ± 0.44 Ma, 127.7 ± 0.73 Ma and 131.5 ± 0.9 Ma, respectively.

  • 2.

    Whole rock geochemistry and zircon Hf-O isotopes indicate that the parental magma of the Haoping pluton and Leimengou granite porphyry were mainly sourced from partial melting of Taihua Group, mixed with mantle-derived components. The Leimengou granite porphyry involved more of

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgement

We thank Professor Huayong Chen (Editor-in-Chief), Professor Thomas Blenkinsop (Associate Editor), Professor Huan Li (Reviewer) and another anonymous reviewer for their valuable editorial effort, constructive comments and suggestions that greatly benefitted this manuscript. The research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0600504), Open Research Project from the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University

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