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Isotope geochemistry of the Tieluping silver-lead deposit, Henan, China: A case study of orogenic silver-dominated deposits and related tectonic setting

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Abstract

The Tieluping silver deposit, which is sited along NE-trending faults within the high-grade metamorphic basement of the Xiong’er Terrane in the Qinling orogenic belt, is part of an important, recently discovered Mesozoic orogenic-type Ag-Pb belt. Ore formation includes three stages: an early barren quartz-pyrite stage (E), an intermediate polymetallic sulfide ore stage (M), and a late barren carbonate stage (L). Carbon, sulfur and lead isotope systematics indicate that the E-stage fluids are deeply sourced; the L-stage fluids are shallow-sourced meteoric water; whereas the M-stage fluids are a mix of deep-sourced and shallow-sourced fluids. Sulfur and lead isotope data show that the ore-forming fluids must have originated from a source with elevated radiogenic lead and low δ34S values, that differs significantly from exposed geologic units in the Xiong’er Terrane, the lower crust and the mantle. This supports the view that the carbonate-shale-chert sequences of the Guandaokou and Luanchuan Groups south of the Machaoying fault might be the favorable sources, although little is known about their isotopic compositions. A tectonic model that combines collisional orogeny, metallogeny and hydrothermal fluid flow is proposed to explain the formation of the Tieluping silver deposit. During the Mesozoic collision between the North China Craton and South China Block (Early-Mid Triassic Indosinian Orogeny), crustal slabs containing the carbonate-shale-chert sequences of the Guandaokou and Luanchuan Groups, locally rich in organic matter (carbonaceous shale), were thrust northwards beneath the Xiong’er Terrane along the Machaoying fault. Metamorphic devolatilisation of this underthrust slab probably provided the ore-forming fluids to develop the Ag-Pb ore belt, which includes the Tieluping silver deposit. Fluids and magmas were emplaced during extensional stages related to the Jurassic-Cretaceous Yanshanian Orogeny.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by MSTC (Grant No. 95-Pre-39–04), NSFC (Grant Nos. 40352003, 49972035, 49672119, 49573179), Hundred Young Scientists Program of CAS, and Trans-Century Teacher Program of EMC. The authors thank Wang Zhiguang (Chief Engineer, Henan Bureau of Geological Exploration for Non-ferrous Metals), Dr Chen Dejie, and Wang Haihua, Li Zhen and Zhu Haiting (MSc students, PKU) for their help in field investigation. Profs. Wei Qiying (PKU), Fan Hongrui (IGG of CAS) and Engineers Li Jian and Ni Debao (PKU) are also thanked for their kind help in laboratory research. Drs. D. Huston, S. F. Liu, and T. Ulrich are thanked for their constructive suggestions and reviewing of earlier versions of the manuscript. The authors are indebted to Profs. Robert Kerrich, and Michael Meyer for their review and constructive criticism. We are very grateful to Prof. Bernd Lehmann for his thoughtful insights, which greatly improved the final version of this paper. Michael Prause and Susanne Dowsett (GSWA) drafted the figures. Franco Pirajno publishes with the permission of the Director of the Geological Survey of Western Australia.

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  1. Yan-jing Chen

    Present address: Department of Geology, Peking University, 1000871, Beijing , China

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  1. Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 550002, Guiyang , China

    Yan-jing Chen

  2. Geological Survey of Western Australia, 100 Plain Street, 6004, WA, Australia

    Franco Pirajno

  3. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, 1397 Civil Engineering Building, West Lafayette, Indiana , 47907, USA

    Ying-hui Sui

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Chen, Yj., Pirajno, F. & Sui, Yh. Isotope geochemistry of the Tieluping silver-lead deposit, Henan, China: A case study of orogenic silver-dominated deposits and related tectonic setting. Miner Deposita 39, 560–575 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-004-0429-9

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