major types and time space distribution of mesozoic ore deposits in south china and their geodynamic settings the ore deposits of the mesozoic age in south china can be divided into three groups each with different metal associations and spatial distributions and each related to major magmatic events the first event occurred in the late triassic 230 210 ma the second in the mid late jurassic 170 150 ma and the third in the early mid cretaceous 120 80 ma the late triassic magmatic event and associated mineralization is characterized by peraluminous granite related w sn nb ta mineral deposits the triassic ore deposits are considerably disturbed or overprinted by the later jurassic and cretaceous tectono thermal episodes the mid late jurassic magmatic and mineralization events consist of 170 160 ma porphyry skarn cu and pb zn ag vein deposits associated with i type granites and 160 150 ma metaluminous granite related polymetallic w sn deposits the late jurassic metaluminous granite related w sn deposits occur in a ne trending cluster in the interior of south china such as in the nanling area in the early mid cretaceous from about 120 to 80 ma but peaking at 100 90 ma subvolcanic related fe deposits developed and i type calc alkaline granitic intrusions formed porphyry cu mo and porphyry epithermal cu au ag mineral systems whereas s type peraluminous and or metaluminous granitic intrusions formed polymetallic sn deposits these cretaceous mineral deposits cluster in distinct areas and are controlled by pull apart basins along the south china continental margin based on mineral assemblage age and space time distribution of these mineral systems integrated with regional geological data and field observations we suggest that the three magmatic mineralization episodes are the result of distinct geodynamic regimes the triassic peraluminous granites and associated w sn nb ta mineralization formed during post collisional processes involving the south china block the north china craton and the indo china block mostly along the dabie sulu and songma sutures jurassic events were initially related to the shallow oblique subduction of the izanagi plate beneath the eurasian continent at about 175 ma but i type granitoids with porphyry cu and vein type pb zn ag deposits only began to form as a result of the breakup of the subducted plate at 170 160 ma along the nne trending qinzhou hangzhou belt also referred to as qin hang or shi hang belt which is the neoproterozoic suture that amalgamates the yangtze craton and cathaysia block a large subduction slab window is assumed to have formed in the nanling and adjacent areas in the interior of south china triggering the uprise of asthenospheric mantle into the upper crust and leading to the emplacement of metaluminous granitic magma and associated polymetallic w sn mineralization a relatively tectonically quiet period followed between 150 and 135 ma in south china from 135 ma onward the angle of convergence of the izanagi plate changed from oblique to parallel to the coastline resulting in continental extensional tectonics and reactivation of regional scale ne trending faults such as the tan lu fault this widespread extension also promoted the development of ne trending pull apart basins and metamorphic core complexes accompanied by volcanism and the formation of epithermal cu au deposits granite related polymetallic sn w deposits and hydrothermal u deposits between 120 and 80 ma with a peak activity at 100 90 ma

a late cretaceous tin metallogenic event in nanling w sn metallogenic province constraints from u pb ar ar geochronology at the jiepailing sn be f deposit hunan china abstract the jiepailing deposit located in southern hunan province china is a giant sn be f deposit in the nanling w sn province the sn be f mineralization is spatially associated with the jiepailing granite porphyry la mc icp ms zircon u pb dating of the jiepailing granite porphyry yielded a weighted mean 206 pb 238 u age of 90 5 0 9 ma mswd 0 32 which is interpreted as the emplacement age of the granite porphyry hydrothermal muscovite yields a plateau 40 ar 39 ar age of 92 1 0 7 ma mswd 0 9 which is well consistent with the zircon u pb age of the jiepailing granite porphyry responsible for the sn be f mineralization indicating a temporal link between the emplacement of the jiepailing granite porphyry and the sn be f mineralization our new high precise geochronological data suggest that the jiepailing giant sn be f deposit and related granite formed during the early late cretaceous 92 90 ma which provided convincing evidence for a previously unrecognized metallogenic event related to late cretaceous granitic magmatism in nanling region the occurrence of the late cretaceous sn metallogenic event identified in southern hunan province further highlights the importance of systematic metallogenic studies of the nanling w sn province integrated with high precise geochronological data obtained previously it is suggested that the nanling region mainly experienced three tectonomagmatic activities and lithospheric thinning events during mesozoic which are responsible for three sn w metallogenic events to form the world class nanling w sn metallogenic province

absolute timing of sulfide and gold mineralization a comparison of re os molybdenite and ar ar mica methods from the tintina gold belt alaska new re os molybdenite dates from two lode gold deposits of the tintina gold belt alaska provide direct timing constraints for sulfide and gold mineralization at fort knox the re os molybdenite date is identical to the u pb zircon age for the host intrusion supporting an intrusive related origin for the deposit however 40ar 39ar dates from hydrothermal and igneous mica are considerably younger at the pogo deposit re os molybdenite dates are also much older than 40ar 39ar dates from hydrothermal mica but dissimilar to the age of local granites these age relationships indicate that the re os molybdenite method records the timing of sulfide and gold mineralization whereas much younger 40ar 39ar dates are affected by post ore thermal events slow cooling and or systemic analytical effects the results of this study complement a growing body of evidence to indicate that the re os chronometer in molybdenite can be an accurate and robust tool for establishing timing relations in ore systems

a review of the intracontinental porphyry deposits in the middle lower yangtze river valley metallogenic belt eastern china abstract the middle lower yangtze river valley metallogenic belt mlyb is one of the most important metallogenic belts in eastern china and contains many important porphyry deposits these deposits include the tongshankou cu mo jiguanzui cu au chengmengshan cu mo wushan cu mo fengshandong cu au dingjiashan cu yangjishan au shaxi cu au dongguashan cu au shujiadian cu and anjishan cu deposits etc in this review we summarize the geological characteristics including the stratigraphy structure ore bearing porphyry types vein characteristics and wall rock alteration metallogenic ages and petro geochemistry of representative porphyry deposits in the mlyb we conclude that porphyritic magmatism and metallogeny have occurred in three stages the early ca 149 135 ma and late ca 123 105 ma stages comprise mainly porphyry skarn mineralization whereas the middle ca 133 125 ma stage comprises porphyry mineralization ore bearing porphyries in the mlyb are the high k calc alkaline to calc alkaline series with the majority possess adakitic geochemical signature the ore bearing porphyries with adakitic signature may have originated from magma mixing produced by the delamination of enriched lithospheric mantle and partial melting of the thickened lower crust the enriched mantle derived mafic melts component are very important for generating fertile magma and the 34s and 18o values suggest that ore forming materials were magma derived compared with porphyry deposits in typical magmatic arc settings porphyry deposits in the mlyb do not contain advanced argillic lithocaps or high to intermediate sulfidation systems and the magmatic and ore forming material sources are also very different

synmetamorphic high density carbonic fluids in the lower crust evidence from the nilgiri granulites southern india high density co2 inclusions occur abundantly in granulite facies rocks age of metamorphism approximately 2 5 b y of the nilgiri massif southern india the chronology of carbonic inclusions in the widespread enderbitic granulites studied in relation to the development of micro textures and mineral assemblages indicates that randomly oriented negative crystal shaped co2 inclusions 4 20 mu m in garnet and quartz grains qtz i armoured by garnet entrap syn peak metamorphic pore fluids the more abundant trail bound co2 inclusions in the deformed polygonized and partially recrystallized matrix quartz grains qtz ii and iii and plagioclase grains were formed in connection with a stage of compressional deformation and subsequent annealing related to the development of the late proterozoic bhavani shear zone these inclusions resulted from local re equilibration of the former peak granulitic carbonic inclusions and re entrapment of released fluids the presence of pure co2 in all the inclusions is confirmed by microthermometric data and laser excited raman microspectrometry temperatures of homogenization liquid phase are in the range of 50 to 20 degrees c and the corresponding co2 densities are between 1 154 and 0 807 g cm3 mineralogical thermobarometry on the enderbitic granulites documents a continuous gradient of near peak metamorphic conditions from 750 degrees c 9 10 kb in the northern part to 730 degrees c 7 kb in the southwestern part of the nilgiri massif uniform p t estimates 600 650 degrees c 6 7 kb for late coronitic garnet quartz assemblages in enderbites and metadolerites indicate that differential uplift of the massif to mid crustal levels was accomplished before late compressional deformation in conformity carbonic inclusions in quartz ii and iii are characterized by uniformly high density 1 154 1 08 g cm3 in contrast early carbonic inclusions in garnet and quartz i preserve the density contrast reflecting the regional p t gradient during near peak metamorphic fluid entrapment the fluid inclusion systematics indicate near isochoric uplift of the northern high p domain but near isobaric cooling of the southwestern low p domain the carbonic fluids are thought to have been derived either from internal sources during dehydration melting processes or from freezing synmetamorphic intrusives into the lower crust

in situ la mc icp ms and id tims u pb geochronology of cassiterite in the giant furong tin deposit hunan province south china new constraints on the timing of tin polymetallic mineralization abstract the furong deposit located in southern hunan province china is a newly discovered giant tin deposit spatially associated with the a type qitianling granite the petrogenetic link between the giant furong tin deposit and the qitianling granite batholith remains controversial because of the lack of precise dating for the tin polymetallic mineralization here we report for the first time in situ u pb data on cassiterite obtained by la mc icp ms and the results are compared to id tims data the in situ la mc icp ms analyses of the cassiterites provide a reliable age constraint for tin polymetallic mineralization in the furong deposit yielding an isochron age of 159 9 1 9 ma at 95 confidence level mswd 18 which is indistinguishable from the id tims 206 pb 238 u weighted mean age of 158 2 0 4 ma the in situ u pb ages corroborate the ar ar dates published for the furong tin deposit which indicate that the mineralization is coeval with the emplacement of the qitianling granite batholith these results provide further evidence of a close temporal link between the pluton s emplacement and tin mineralization in the furong area the data obtained clearly demonstrate that in situ la mc icp ms u pb dating of cassiterite is a robust geochronometer for direct dating of tin polymetallic mineralization

new precise zircon u pb and muscovite 40ar 39ar geochronology of the late cretaceous w sn mineralization in the shanhu orefield south china abstract the shanhu orefield located in the northeastern guangxi province is an important part of w sn polymetallic metallogeny in the nanling region the shanhu w sn deposit is spatially associated with the yantianling granite la icpms zircon u pb dating of the yantianling granite yields late cretaceous ages of 100 9 2 2 ma and 100 8 2 3 ma hydrothermal muscovite 40ar 39ar dating yields plateau ages of 102 7 1 7 ma and 100 8 0 7 ma this date coincides well with the la icpms zircon u pb age of the yantianling granite indicating a spatial temporal link between the w sn mineralization and the granitic magmatism in combination with regional geological data it is suggested that a late cretaceous mineralization event related to granitic magmatism occurred in the nanling region which might have resulted from regional lithospheric extension

dehydration melting and the granulite transition in metapelites from southern namaqualand s africa in a prograde amphibolite granulite transition zone in the namaqualand metamorphic complex metapelites show an interbanding of the amphibolite facies association biotite sillimanite quartz with the granulite facies association garnet cordierite k feldspar relict graded bedding shows that compositional banding is of sedimentary origin the garnet cordierite k feldspar gneisses contain quartzofeldspathic segregations surrounding garnets and have more fe rich bulk compositions than the biotite sillimanite schists

late cretaceous granitic magmatism and mineralization in the yingwuling w sn deposit south china constraints from zircon and cassiterite u pb geochronology and whole rock geochemistry abstract numerous late cretaceous w sn deposits associated with granitic rocks were developed in the southern part of south china however the relationship among granitic magma mineralization and tectonic setting remains disputed the yingwuling w sn deposit is spatially associated with k feldspar granite and biotite granite in the southwestern part of guangdong province south china la icp ms zircon u pb dating of k feldspar granite biotite granite and weathered ore bearing granites yielded ages of 79 ma which agree well with la icp ms cassiterite u pb age of 79 6 0 9 ma indicating a close genetic link between the yingwuling pluton and w sn mineralization geochemically both k feldspar granite and biotite granite show high sio 2 na 2 o k 2 o and low cao p 2 o 5 contents and they belong to shoshonitic series and high k calc alkaline series respectively high rb sr ratios and low nb ta and zr hf ratios of the yingwuling pluton indicate strong magmatic differentiation compared with k feldspar granite biotite granite experienced a higher degree of fractional crystallization as indicated by lower fe 2 o 3 tio 2 lree sr eu ba and zr contents and higher sio 2 hree rb cs and y contents their sr and nd isotope compositions initial 87 sr 86 sr 0 7027 and 0 7097 e nd t 5 6 and 5 7 are less radiogenic than that of the south china basement thus it is likely that some juvenile materials were involved in the formation of these granitic intrusions this is also favored by the wide range of zircon hf isotope values e hf t 6 6 to 0 8 which indicates mixing processes a type granite affinity of the yingwuling pluton shows that it was possibly formed in an extensional setting late cretaceous w sn deposits constitute an ew trending belt from guangdong to yunnan provinces which was compatible with the northward subduction of the neo tethys plate rather than the northwestward subduction of the pacific plate during late cretaceous combined with previous studies on magmatic rocks and tectonic activities during late cretaceous in south china this study suggests that the subduction of the neo tethys plate was most possibly responsible for the late cretaceous yingwuling granitic intrusion and associated w sn mineralization

gold mineralization of the chencai suichang uplift and tectonic evolution of zhejiang province southeast china abstract a metallogenic model is proposed in which gold and base metal mineralization in se china is related to plate interactions along the pacific margin with southeast asia from about 900 to 70 ma all depositional orogenic and metallogenic processes can be explained by subduction events along northeast trending zones with progressive accretion and cratonization along the continental margin these subduction zones moved southeast for a distance of less than 150 km as a result the area is one of crustal reworking in which the rocks and mineral deposits of earlier events have been repeatedly modified the chencai suichang uplift is an uplifted crustal block in central zhejiang province of mainland china in which the proterozoic basement is exposed as tectonic windows in overlying mesozoic volcanics several gold and base metal deposits are located in these proterozoic windows as well as in the younger volcanics most economic deposits were formed during the last major tectono magmatic event affecting the area the yanshanian 160 170 ma event although there is evidence for earlier mineralization that has been remobilized during the yanshanian it is suggested that crustal reworking was particularly important in remobilising and upgrading gold mineralization the model presented is supported not only by local geology and isotopic data but also by the regional distribution of gold deposits which are arranged in a 50 km wide belt parallel to the yanshanian subduction zone three major episodes of mineralization occurred during 1 a subduction related period of metamorphism partial melting and mesothermal fluid generation and mineralization in the lower crust during the caledonian 2 subduction related volcano plutonic activity with epithermal mineralization during the early yanshanian and 3 hydrothermal mineralization during late yanshanian tectono magmatic event in the third two main categories of metallogenic control are recognized namely 1 hydrothermal fluid generation in the lower crust and 2 upper crust structural and lithological controls on mineralization

geology geochronology and hf isotope geochemistry of the longtougang skarn and hydrothermal vein cu zn deposit north wuyi area southeastern china abstract the recently discovered longtougang skarn and hydrothermal vein cu zn deposit is located in the north wuyi area southeastern china the intrusions in the ore district comprise several small porphyritic biotite monzonite porphyritic monzonite and porphyritic granite plutons and dikes the mineralization is zoned from a lower zone of cu rich veins and cu zn skarns to an upper zone of banded zn pb mineralization in massive epidote altered rocks the deposit is associated with skarn potassic epidote greisen siliceous and carbonate alteration molybdenite from the cu rich veins yielded a re os isochron age of 153 6 3 9 ma which is consistent with u pb zircon ages of 154 0 1 3 ma for porphyritic monzonite 154 0 0 8 ma for porphyritic biotite monzonite and 152 0 0 8 ma for porphyritic granite geological observations suggest that the cu mineralization is genetically related to the porphyritic biotite monzonite and porphyritic monzonite all the zircons from intrusive rocks in the ore district are characterized by ehf t values between 13 41 and 4 38 and hf model ages tdm2 between 2054 and 1482 ma reflecting magmas derived mainly from a proterozoic crustal source molybdenite grains from the deposit have re values of 14 6 27 7 ppm indicative of a mixed mantle crust source the porphyry skarn abundant cu and hydrothermal vein type pb zn ag deposits in the north wuyi area are related to the late jurassic porphyritic granites and early cretaceous volcanism respectively the late jurassic mineralization related granites were derived from the crustal anatexis with some mantle input which was triggered by asthenospheric upwelling induced by slab tearing during oblique subduction of the paleo pacific plate beneath the south china block and the early cretaceous mineralization related granitoids mainly from crust material formed within a series of nne trending basins during margin parallel movement of the plate

geology geochemistry and tectonic settings of the molybdenum deposits in south china a review abstract south china block scb is the area including the yangtze craton and the huanan orogen where scattered precambrian terranes are usually regarded as segments of cathaysia land it is the third most important molybdenum metallogenic province in china next to the qinling dabie area and northeast china containing 29 mo only or mo dominated 9 w mo sn bi and 8 cu mo deposits these 46 deposits are located mainly in 1 the lower yangtze river belt of the northeastern yangtze craton 2 the northern jiangnan orogenic belt that is generally considered a meso neoproterozoic magmatic arc complex accreted onto the southeastern margin of the yangtze craton 3 the wuyi yunkai orogenic belt characterized by local exposures of proterozoic metamorphic terranes and the more widespread sinian uppermost proterozoic to triassic sedimentary sequences and 4 the southeast coastal volcanic belt characterized by yanshanian andesitic to felsic volcanic rocks their genetic types are dominated by porphyry and skarn mineral systems with only a few quartz vein systems the orebodies form veins lens cylindrical shapes pipes or irregular in shape usually controlled by faults at various scales and volcanic subvolcanic complexes the host rocks are variable in lithologies including granites porphyries volcanic breccias and tuffs clastic sediments and carbonate rocks but the high grade orebodies are usually hosted in carbonate shale sequences hydrothermal mineralization processes can be generally divided into four stages from early to late they are 1 k feldspar quartz veins or veinlets 2 quartz molybdenite stockworks 3 quartz polymetallic sulfide stockworks and 4 quartz carbonate fluorite veinlets fluid rock interaction as exemplified by wallrock alteration evolved from k silicate alteration k feldspar quartz mica through phyllic quartz sericite chlorite epidote to propylitic or argillic alteration with skarn alteration typically occurring in skarn type mineral systems hydrothermal mineral assemblages vary between two end members namely the dry system formed by co2 rich fluids and marked by quartz k feldspar fluorite carbonate and epidote and the wet system mainly originated from co2 poor fluids and composed of biotite sericite and chlorite the ore forming fluids are magmatic in origin and show high temperature and high salinity the melt fluid systems forming cu mo deposits are more oxidizing than those forming the w mo or mo deposits as suggested by accessory minerals in granitoids and daughter minerals in fluid inclusions the cu mo deposits are related to the i type granitic rocks adakite like whereas the w mo and mo only systems are related to granitic rocks of s or a types although all of them show high k contents available isotope ages show that the mo and mo bearing deposits were predominantly formed in the early yanshanian orogeny 170 134 ma followed by the late yanshanian orogeny 110 92 ma and the caledonian orogeny 450 410 ma the caledonian mo mineralization has been observed only in the wuyi yunkai orogenic belt and related to the collision between the yangtze craton and the pre devonian huanan orogen or terranes separated from the cathaysia land linked to the assembly of the gondwana supercontinent the early yanshanian mineralization affected the entire huanan orogen and the eastern yangtze craton and resulted from the syn to post collisional tectonism following the closure of eastern paleo tethys the late yanshanian mo deposits mainly occur in the southeast coastal volcanic belt and the southeastern margin of the wuyi yunkai orogenic belt and are related to the westward subduction of the paleo pacific plate the skarn type mineral systems generally show lower re contents than the porphyry type deposits in a same tectonic unit suggesting that carbonate host rocks have lower re contents than the causative porphyries the re contents in molybdenites from porphyry or porphyry skarn cu mo systems are 50 ppm mainly 100 ppm suggesting a source significantly contributed by the mantle whereas the re contents in molybdenites from the mo only or w mo dominated deposits are

the transformation of amphibolite facies gneiss to charnockite in southern karnataka and northern tamil nadu india amphibolite facies metamorphic grade gives way southward to the granulite grade in southern karnataka as acid gneisses develop charnockite patches and streaks and basic enclaves develop pyroxenes petrologic investigations in the transitional zone south of mysore have established the following points 1 the transition is prograde amphibole bearing gneisses intimately associated with charnockite at kabbal and several similar localities are not retrogressive after charnockite as proved by patchy obliteration of their foliation by transgressive very coarse grained charnockite high fluorine content of biotite and amphibole in gneisses and high large ion lithophile element contents in gneisses and charnockites these features are in contrast to very low fluorine in retrogressive amphiboles and biotites very low large ion lithophile element contents and zonal bleaching of charnockite in clearly retrogressive areas as at bhavani sagar tamil nadu 2 metamorphic temperatures in the transitional areas were 700 800 c pressures were 5 7 kbar and h2o pressures were 0 1 0 3 times total pressures based on thermodynamic calculations using mineral analyses dense co2 rich fluid inclusions in the kabbal rocks confirm the low h2o pressures at the first appearance of orthopyroxene farther to the south in the nilgiri hills and adjacent granulite massif areas peak metamorphic temperatures were 800 900 c pressures were 7 9 kbar and water pressures were very low so that primary biotites and amphiboles those with high f contents are rare 3 the incipient granulite grade metamorphism of the transitional areas was introduced by a wave of anatexis and k metasomatism this process was arrested by drying out under heavy co2 influx charnockites so formed are hybrids of anatectic granite and metabasite of metabasite and immediately adjacent gneiss or are virtually isochemical with pre existing gneiss despite gross recrystallization to granulite mineralogy these features show that partial melting and metasomatism are attendant rather than causative in charnockite development copious co2 from a deep crustal or mantle source pushed ahead of it a wave of more aqueous solutions which promoted anatexis granulite metamorphism of both neosome and paleosome followed the process is very similar to that deduced for the madras granulites by weaver 1980 the massif charnockites for the most part extremely depleted in lithophile minor elements show many evidences of having gone through the same process

extremely high density pure co2 fluid inclusions in a garnet granulite from southern india abstract a late archean 2 4 2 7 ga garnet granulite from the southern margin of the south indian craton preserves fluid inclusions with the highest density co2 yet reported from lower crustal rocks the rock comprises garnet clinopyroxene salite plagioclase amphibole pargasite orthopyroxene hypersthene biotite scapolite and quartz with accessory k feldspar ilmenite apatite and ankerite pressure temperature estimates of 9 11 kbar and 740 800 c are computed from electron microprobe data on equilibrium assemblages we report here detailed inclusion petrography and microthermometric data on fluids trapped in garnet feldspar and quartz from the granulite the dominant category in all these minerals are composed of monophase carbonic inclusions with melting temperatures close to 56 6 c indicating a co2 rich composition for the fluid laser raman microscopic studies confirm that the fluid is pure co2 with no traces of impurities such as n2 and or ch4 the inclusions homogenize into the l

fluid evolution and exhumation path of the trivandrum granulite block southern india in charnockites and host garnet biotite gneis ses of the trivandrum granulite block tgb southern india fluid inclusions are mainly represented by co2 rich categories aqueous inclusions with low salt concentration 0 33 13 5 wt nacl equiv occur sub ordinately we recognize three generations of co2 rich inclusions which have contrasting fluid densities that correlate with the different stages of metamorphic evo lution established from mineral phase equilibria studies although some of these inclusions show variable depression in melting temperatures laser raman spec troscopic studies revealed no volatiles other than co2 we report here the occurrence of high density co2 rich inclusions for the first time from this region with homogenization temperatures in the range of 21 9 to 15 6 c q 1 041 1 012 g cm 3 the marked secondary character of these high density inclusions and their tex tural association with late brittle deformational features indicate their entrapment at low temperature conditions 250 300 c post dating charnockite formation regional metamorphism in tgb stage m1 took place at ca 700 c and 5 36 kbar although higher tempera tures prevailed in the northern part of the terrain a subsequent period of decompression of the order of 6 7 km was accompanied by partial recrystallization of host rocks and intensive processes of charnockite for mation m2 that extended to subisobaric cooling from 785 805 to 680 700 c the relatively small population of aqueous inclusions in charnockites and their low salinity preclude any major role for metasomatic pro cesses involving increase of potassium activity and confirm the important role of co2 rich fluids in stabi lizing low water activities during the final phase of exhumation of the region ca 9 km in depth additional heat input resulted in mineralogical alterations corre lated to stage m3 while the source of heat and fluids involved in charnockite formation is postulated to be magmas derived from sublithospheric sources the late heat and fluid transfer are correlated to late pan african ultrabasic and alkaline intrusives emplaced at shallow depths

alkaline magmatism versus collision tectonics in the eastern ghats belt india constraints from structural studies in the koraput complex abstract linear domains of deformed alkaline rocks and carbonatites have recently been identified as representing sites of ancient suture zones in peninsular india the western margin of the proterozoic eastern ghats belt egb is characterized by a series of alkaline plutons that are aligned close to the contact with the archaean craton most of the complexes were deformed and metamorphosed during a subsequent orogenic event unlike other plutons in the belt the alkaline complex at koraput reportedly escaped deformation and granulite facies metamorphism forming an anomalous entity within the zone multiply deformed country rocks hosting this complex underwent syn d1cr granulite facies metamorphism followed by d2cr thrusting with pervasive shearing along a ne sw trending foliation a second granulite facies event followed localized d3cr shearing within the koraput complex strain partitioning was responsible for preserving igneous textures in the gabbroic core but aligned magmatic amphibole needles and plagioclase laths occasionally define a s1ac fabric along the margins s1ac is rotated parallel to a ne trending east dipping s2ac fabric in the gabbro fringing syenodiorite and nepheline syenite bands locally d3ac shearing follows d2ac deformation s2ac and s3ac parallel s2cr and s3cr in the country rocks high grade metamorphism represented by recrystallization of amphibole and plagioclase and breakdown of amphibole and biotite to garnet pyroxene and k feldspar in the complex follows d3ac unlike earlier reports therefore the koraput body is also deformed and metamorphosed the aligned alkaline complexes in the egb probably represent deformed alkaline rocks and carbonatites formed by rifting related to an earlier episode of continental break up that were deformed during subsequent juxtaposition of the egb with the archaean craton this supports the contention that the western margin of the egb and its contact with the archaean craton is a suture zone related to the indo antarctica collision event

how long lived is ultrahigh temperature uht metamorphism constraints from zircon and monazite geochronology in the eastern ghats orogenic belt india abstract along the coast of peninsular india the eastern ghats expose a deep crustal section through a composite proterozoic orogenic belt to quantify the late mesoproterozoic early neoproterozoic pressure p temperature t time t evolution of the eastern ghats province new shrimp u pb zircon and monazite age data from multiple localities are reported and integrated with the results of phase equilibria modelling samples of residual granulite migmatite and enderbite yield a spread of weighted mean 207pb 206pb zircon and monazite ages between ca 970 and ca 930 ma based on ranges of spot ages from several samples the late prograde to peak ultrahigh temperature uht metamorphism counter clockwise evolution ccw to t 950 c at p 8 kbar and initial cooling is interpreted to have occurred between ca 1130 and ca 970 ma regionally extensive enderbite and charnockite magmas were emplaced into the hot suprasolidus crust around the time of peak metamorphism for the residual granulites and migmatites the retrograde p t t path is characterized by close to isobaric cooling to the variable but elevated solidi for different samples weighted mean ages between ca 970 and ca 930 ma in several samples are interpreted to record the timing of crystallization of melt trapped by the percolation threshold in each of these samples two additional weighted mean ages of ca 980 ma from korhonen f j saw a k clark c brown m bhattacharya s 2011 new constraints on uht metamorphism in the eastern ghats province through the application of phase equilibria modelling and in situ geochronology gondwana research 20 764 781 extend this range back in time by 10 my the variability in the calculated weighted mean ages across the region is interpreted to be due mainly to differences in the temperature of the elevated solidus from sample to sample suggesting a slow cooling rate of 1 c my during the retrograde stage of this long lived uht metamorphism these results demonstrate that the eastern ghats province sustained uht conditions t 900 c for 50 my and perhaps for as long as 200 ma from ca 1130 to 930 ma during a single ccw tectono metamorphic event

co 2 melts and granulite metamorphism the discovery that granulites contain co2 rich fluid inclusions while amphibolites in the same terrane contain h2o rich or mixed co2 h2o inclusions1 has led to a debate over the processes that produce granulite metamorphism one theory2 4 maintains that granulites form as the result of a massive influx of co2 from lower crustal or mantle sources such an influx could be responsible for the marked depletion many granulite terranes show in large ion lithophile elements2 5 others however maintain that granulite facies metamorphism is a necessary complement of crustal melt ing6 9 recently lamb and valley10 11 have argued that granulite metamorphism may be a product of any one of three processes co2 streaming partial melting or recrystallization of originally dry rocks here we suggest that these processes need not be independent and that they all may be related to the passage of melts through the crust

isotopic geochemistry zircon u pb ages and hf isotopes of a type granites from the xitian w sn deposit se china constraints on petrogenesis and tectonic significance abstract zircon u pb geochronological geochemical and petrological analyses have been carried out on the xitian granite emplaced in the middle part of shi hang zone which is closely related to the economically important xitian tungsten tin deposit in hunan province southeast china la icp ms zircon u pb dating of two representative samples yielded weighted means 206 pb 238 u age of 151 7 1 2 ma and 151 8 1 4 ma these granites are comprised mainly of k feldspar quartz plagioclase fe rich biotite and minor fluorite and are characterized by enrichments in rb th rees total ree 159 351 ppm and hfses e g zr and y but depletions in ba sr p eu and ti they are metaluminous to weakly peraluminous and show a clear a type granite geochemical signature with high sio 2 73 44 78 45 wt total alkalis na 2 o k 2 o 2 89 8 98 wt fe 2 o 3 mgo ratios and low p 2 o 5 cao mgo and tio 2 contents in situ zircon hf isotope analysis suggests their e hf t values ranging from 7 43 to 14 69 sr nd isotope data show their e nd t values in the range of 9 2 to 7 3 with corresponding t dm2 ages of 1 72 1 56 ga these characteristics indicate that the xitian granite originated from partial melting of metamorphic basement rocks with a certain amount of mantle derived materials combined with previous geochemical and isotopic data it is derived that mantle crust interaction was gradually enhanced from the early to late stages of magmatism the ore forming materials and fluids of the xitian w sn deposit are mainly produced by the early yanshanian granitic magmatism which is also responsible for the late jurassic ca 152 ma a type granitic rocks that host the w sn polymetallic deposits distributed along the shi hang zone implying a significant mesozoic extensional event in southeast china likely caused by the subduction of the paleo pacific plate

the origin of the world class tin polymetallic deposits in the gejiu district sw china constraints from metal zoning characteristics and 40ar 39ar geochronology the gejiu tin polymetallic deposits in the western cathaysia block of south china comprise the world s largest primary tin district with a total resource of approximately 300 million metric ton ores at an average grade of 1 wt percent sn tin polymetallic mineralization occurs in five deposits and has four ore types i e greisen skarn stratabound cassiterite sulfide mostly oxidized and vein type ore in each deposit the orebodies typically occur in an extensive hydrothermal system centered on a shallow late cretaceous granitoid cupola metal zoning is well developed both vertically and horizontally over the entire district from w be bi mo sn ores inside granite intrusions to sn cu dominated ores at intrusion margins and farther out to pb zn deposits in the surrounding host carbonate this zoning pattern is similar to that of other hydrothermal deposits in other parts of the world indicating a close genetic relationship between magmatism and mineralization in this paper we dated thirteen mica samples from all types of mineralization and from the five deposits in the gejiu district the ages range from 77 4 0 6 ma to 95 3 0 7 ma and are similar to the existing zircon u pb age of the granitic intrusions 77 4 2 5 85 8 0 6 indicating a genetic relationship between the mineralization and the intrusions geological characteristics metal zoning patterns and new geochronological data all indicate that the tin polymetallic ores in the gejiu district are hydrothermal in origin and are genetically related to the nearby granitic intrusions it is unlikely that the deposits are syngenetic as has been proposed in recent years

cretaceous granitic magmatism and mineralization in the shanhu w sn ore deposit in the nanling range in south china abstract abundant jurassic cretaceous w sn ore deposits are distributed in the nanling range in south china however the exact mineralization ages relationships between mineralization and granitic rocks and tectonic settings of these deposits remain controversial as a giant quartz vein type w sn deposit hosted in devonian sedimentary strata the shanhu orebodies are featured by located about 4 km far away from the yantianling muscovite granite zircon u pb dating of the yantianling granite yielded ages of 101 0 1 5 ma and 100 4 1 1 ma consistent with cassiterite u pb ages of quartz vein ores 100 2 1 0 ma and 100 5 1 1 ma indicating a close genetic relationship between the granitic magmatism and quartz vein type w sn mineralization the yantianling muscovite granite is characterized by highly silicious 72 01 74 62 wt high alkali na2o k2o 5 32 7 89 wt and strongly peraluminous a cnk 1 11 1 81 the granite is enriched in rb ta nd and u and depleted in sr ti and p it displays right declining chondrite normalized ree patterns with strongly negative eu anomalies and has low nb ta and zr hf ratios indicating that the granite experienced strong magmatic differentiation the yantianling granite has low whole rock end t values 9 5 to 9 3 zircon ehf t values 12 7 to 7 8 and paleoproterozoic model ages the granite belongs to s type and was derived from partial melting of meta sedimentary crust the low ce4 ce3 ratios averaging 47 of zircon from the yantianling granite indicated low oxygen fugacity similar to other w bearing granites in south china this study indicated that cretaceous granitic magmatism in the nanling range also has strong w sn mineralization potential combined with previous studies on coeval magmatic rocks and tectonic activities we propose that the yantianling s type granite and associated w sn mineralization in the nanling range were formed during the regional lithospheric extensional environment

metamorphism of the koraput alkaline complex eastern ghats province india evidence for reworking of a granulite terrane abstract an assemblage of predominantly metasedimentary rocks in the eastern ghats province india underwent granulite facies metamorphism and deformation in early neoproterozoic times and was subsequently intruded by the koraput alkaline complex the intrusion was earlier believed to be syn to late tectonic the gabbroic core of the complex hosts nepheline bearing syenitic dykes and veins following emplacement magmatic amphibole within the syenites and early orthopyroxene in feldspathic gneisses within the country rocks were retrogressed to biotite during pervasive solid state deformation subsequent prograde metamorphism resulted in the formation of anhydrous assemblages at the expense of relict magmatic amphibole within the syenites and metamorphic biotite in both the complex and the country rocks reactions reconstructed from textural observations indicate breakdown of biotite and amphibole to garnet clinopyroxene orthopyroxene bearing assemblages schreinemakers analysis on the relevant mineral associations suggests that heating was followed by loading of the region this indicates thermal rejuvenation of the complex and the host granulites during an intracrustal orogeny that post dates emplacement and cooling of the pluton available ages suggest that this event occurred in the mid neoproterozoic and is probably unrelated to the amalgamation of the granulite belt with the archaean bastar dharwar craton

co2 rich fluid inclusions in staurolite and associated minerals in a high pressure ultrahigh temperature granulite from the gondwana suture in southern india abstract we report the first detailed fluid inclusion study on mg al rocks from the gondwana suture zone along the palghat cauvery shear zone system in southern india these rocks underwent high pressure p 12 kbar and ultrahigh temperature t 990 c metamorphism during the late neoproterozoic associated with the collisional assembly of the gondwana supercontinent fluid inclusions of texturally primary and pseudosecondary categories occur in plagioclase staurolite and kyanite in these rocks inclusions of secondary nature are found in garnet and apatite all the trapped fluids show melting temperatures in the range of 58 6 to 56 6 c suggesting a dominantly pure co 2 composition the secondary inclusions show high homogenization temperatures t h of 12 9 to 30 0 c indicating low density of 0 59 0 83 g cm 3 although most of the primary and pseudosecondary inclusions also contain moderate to low density fluids 0 67 0 95 g cm 3 t h 3 5 to 27 4 c rare high density inclusions 1 00 1 06 g cm 3 t h 26 1 to 14 1 c were discovered in matrix plagioclase and porphyroblastic staurolite the estimated co 2 isochores for the high density primary and pseudosecondary inclusions intersect the clockwise p t trajectory of the rocks at around 8 3 9 0 kbar at 1000 c which broadly coincide with the peak metamorphic conditions of the area since these fluid inclusions show textural evidence for entrapment during the growth of the host high grade minerals we interpret the high density co 2 fluids to be traces of a co 2 rich synmetamorphic fluid that was present during the peak ultrahigh temperature metamorphism despite the preservation of high density co 2 inclusions in staurolite and plagioclase the primary and pseudosecondary inclusions in most of the other minerals show wide density variation which suggests the fluids in these inclusions underwent significant density reversal density decrease during decompression of the rocks from high pressure through the peak ultrahigh temperature stage along a clockwise p t trajectory the finding of pure co 2 inclusions in these mg al granulites conforms with similar observations from many other granulite facies terrains with the carbonic fluids probably derived from mantle reservoirs and transferred through deep seated shear zones that characterize this gondwana suture

fluid inclusion studies on the koraput alkaline complex eastern ghats province india implications for mid neoproterozoic granulite facies metamorphism and exhumation abstract following ultrahigh temperature granulite metamorphism at 1 ga the eastern ghats province of india was intruded by the koraput alkaline complex and was subsequently re metamorphosed in the granulite facies in the mid neoproterozoic time fluid inclusion studies were conducted on silica undersaturated alkali gabbro and syenites in the complex and a pre metamorphic pegmatitic granite dyke that intrudes it high density 1 02 1 05 g cc pseudo secondary pure co2 inclusions are restricted to metamorphic garnets within the gabbro and quartz within the granite whereas moderate 0 92 0 95 g cc and low density 0 75 g cc secondary inclusions occur in garnet magmatic clinopyroxene plagioclase hornblende and quartz the isochores calculated for high density pseudo secondary inclusions pass very close to the peak metamorphic window 8 kbar 750 c and are interpreted to represent the fluid present during peak metamorphism that was entrapped by the growing garnet microscopic round inclusions of undigested relict calcite in garnet suggest that the co2 present during metamorphism of the complex was internally derived through carbonate breakdown pure to low salinity 0 00 10 1 wt nacl equivalent aqueous intra intergranular inclusions showing unimodal normal distribution of final ice melting temperature tm and temperature of homogenization th are present only in quartz within the granite these represent re equilibrated inclusions within the quartz host that were entrapped at the metamorphic peak rare chemically precipitated graphite along the walls of carbonic inclusions is interpreted as a post entrapment reaction product formed during decompression the fluid inclusion evidence is consistent with rapid exhumation of a thickened lower crust following the mid neoproterozoic granulite facies metamorphic event the study suggests that mantle co2 transported by alkaline magma into the crust was locked up within carbonates and released during granulite metamorphism

temporal consistency between granite evolution and tungsten mineralization in huamei ao southern jiangxi province china evidence from precise zircon u pb molybdenite re os and muscovite 40ar 39ar isotope geochronology abstract the large huamei ao tungsten deposit with total wo 3 reserves of 67 400 tons at an average grade of 1 334 wo 3 is located in the convergent zone of the eastern nanling e w trending tectono magmatic belt and the western wuyishan nne ssw trending tectono magmatic belt in southern jiangxi province china the tungsten mineralization in this deposit is mainly found in quartz wolframite veins with most orebodies distributed at the outer contact zone between concealed late jurassic granitic stocks and sinian weakly metamorphosed sandstones and phyllites zircons collected from medium to fine grained biotite granite in a diamond drill hole at a sea level of ca 10 m yield a crystallization age of 159 9 1 2 ma through laser ablation multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la mc icp ms u pb dating molybdenite and muscovite that were both separated from quartz wolframite veins yield a re os isochron age of 158 5 3 3 ma and an 40 ar 39 ar weighted plateau age of 157 9 1 1 ma respectively these dates obtained via three independent geochronological techniques constrain the ore forming age of the huamei ao deposit and link the genesis of the ore and the underlying granite analyses of available high precision zircon u pb molybdenite re os and muscovite 40 ar 39 ar radiometric ages of major w sn deposits in southern jiangxi province indicate that there is no significant time interval between w sn mineralization and its intimately associated parent granite emplacement interval of 0 6 ma these deposits formed over three intervals during the mesozoic 240 210 170 150 and 130 90 ma with large scale w sn mineralization occurring mainly between 160 and 150 ma the majority of w sn deposits in this region are located in southern jiangxi and southern hunan provinces

cenozoic multiple phase tectonic evolution of the northern tibetan plateau constraints from sedimentary records from qaidam basin hexi corridor and subei basin northwest china an integrated research of sedimentology stratigraphy and provenance analysis on eleven sedimentary sections from the qaidam basin hexi corridor and subei basin representing 36 km cenozoic strata provides a detailed record of the northern tibetan plateau growth since the early eocene sections are divided into three groups based on age geological similarities and geographical locations group one includes three early eocene late miocene sections from the northern qaidam basin group two contains four sections along the altyn tagh fault atf which preserve a complete stratigraphic record from the oligocene to late miocene group three contains the four youngest sections investigated from the northeastern qaidam basin and hexi corridor which preserve a record since the middle miocene to quaternary together the sections reveal a multiple phase tectonic history of the northern tibetan plateau the punctuated history can be divided into four phases 1 the eocene lulehe formation from the northern qaidam basin is interpreted as a synorogenic conglomerate deposited by high gradient depositional systems strong unimodal paleocurrent towards the southwest coarse lithology and distinct recognizable clast types constrain the sediment source within the north qaidam and south qilian terranes indicating activity on inferred thrust faults within the north qaidam and south qilian terranes in response to the initial india eurasia collision the activity on these thrust faults continued through the late eocene 2 the early oligocene conglomerate from group two formed in response to the sinistral transpression related to motion on the atf suggesting inception of substantial slip on the atf in the early oligocene in order to accommodate the continuing indentation of india into eurasia 3 oligocene early miocene fine grained fluvio lacustrine sediments from groups one and two formed as the result of development of internal drainage systems in the qaidam basin in response to the large amplitude slip motion on the atf paleocurrents collected from the oligocene early miocene strata of group one are northwest directed pointing towards the atf consistent with the pre existing subsurface data showing the shift of depocenter from along north qaidam and south qilian terranes toward the atf 4 all eleven sections preserve a post early miocene upward coarsening sequence consistent with the extensive crustal shortening and topographic growth across the northern tibetan plateau

thermochronology of economic mineral deposits dating the stages of mineralization at panasqueira portugal by high precision 40 39 ar age spectrum techniques on muscovite 40 ar 39 ar age spectrum dates for 13 muscovites have been used to reconstruct the thermal history thermochronology of the panasqueira portugal tin tungsten deposit a deposit spatially associated with a belt of hercynian plutons muscovite samples with an age difference as small as 2 2 m y 0 7 of the age are statistically distinct statistics are even better for comparison of multiple samples from separate events that is a difference of 0 9 m y 0 3 can be resolved in this approximately 300 m y old deposit the major tin and tungsten ore forming stages which are the oxide silicate stage the main sulfide stage and greisenization occurred between 296 3 or 0 8 1 sigma and 291 6 or 0 8 m y 1 sigma the first substage of the oxide silicate stage was a short lived thermal pulse at 296 3 or 0 6 m y the fluids responsible may have emanated from the known granite cupola the main sulfide stage was active at 294 5 or 0 9 m y as a slightly longer lived pulse with oldest evidence for this stage 295 8 or 0 6 m y coming from areas farthest away from the known cupola and youngest evidence 293 5 or 0 8 m y closest to the cupola a second substage of the oxide silicate stage occurred as a short lived thermal pulse at 292 9 or 0 7 m y synchronous with greisenization of the cupola and alteration of the silica cap at 292 1 or 0 4 m y the duration of activity of the oxide silicate stage the main sulfide stage greisenization and alteration of the silica cap based on the ages of all 13 muscovites was greater than 4 2 or 0 5 m y 1 sigma minor argon loss from all dated muscovites occurred during later reheating probably during the longer lived pyrrhotite alteration stage a single center the known cupola had a prolonged role and was the source for main sulfide stage oxide silicate stage ii greisenization and alteration of the silica cap and possibly oxide silicate stage i and the pyrrhotite alteration stage however a separate source for these latter two stages cannot be ruled out this study is an example of a new and powerful application of 40 ar 39 ar age spectrum dating of muscovite because of the high precision demonstrated in this study it is now possible to establish time constraints necessary for solving some of the long standing problems in economic geology beyond this the unique geologic situation of panasqueira has allowed us to quantify the thermal characteristics of muscovite published fluid inclusion data have been used to estimate a muscovite argon closure temperature of approximately 325 degrees c during rapid cooling or short reheating and a temperature of approximately 270 degrees c during slow cooling or extended reheating argon loss patterns displayed by all dated muscovites resulted from reheating after original closure the mechanism for this argon loss appears to have been argon transport by volume diffusion thus 40 ar 39 ar age spectrum dating of muscovite can be used to evaluate thermal conditions controlling argon diffusion as well as age duration and number of episodes of mineralization

the origins of granulites a metamorphic perspective although many recent reviews emphasize a uniformity in granulite pressure temperature p t conditions and paths granulites in reality preserve a spectrum of important petrogenetic features which indicate diversity in their modes of formation a thorough survey of over 90 granulite terranes or occurrences reveals that over 50 of them record p t conditions outside the 7 5 1 kbar and 800 50 c average granulite regime preferred by many authors in particular an increasing number of very high temperature 900 1000 c terranes are being recognized both on the basis of distinctive mineral assemblages and geothermobarometry petrogenetic grid and geothermobarometric approaches to the determination and interpretation of p t histories are both evaluated within the context of reaction textures to demonstrate that the large range in p t conditions is indeed real and that both near isothermal decompression itd and near isobaric cooling ibc p t paths are important amphibolite granulite transitions promoted by the passage of co 2 rich fluids as observed in southern india and sri lanka are exceptional and not representative of fluid related processes in the majority of terranes it is considered on the contrary that fluid absent conditions are typical of most granulites at or near the time of their recorded thermal maxima itd granulites are interpreted to have formed in crust thickened by collision with magmatic additions being an important extra heat source erosion alone is not however considered to be the dominant post collisional thinning process instead the itd paths are generated during more rapid thinning 1 2 mm yr exposure related to tectonic exhumation during moderate rate or waning extension ibc granulites may have formed in a variety of settings those which show anticlockwise p t histories are interpreted to have formed in and beneath areas of voluminous magmatic accretion with or without additional crustal extension ibc granulites at shallow levels very rapid 5 mm yr extensional thinning subsequent to collision it is suggested that the preservation of ibc paths rather than itd paths in many granulites is primarily related to the rate and timescale of extensional thinning of thickened crust and that hybrid itd to ibc paths should also be observed most ibc granulites and probably many itd granulites have not been exposed at the earth s surface as a result of the tectonic episodes which produced them but have resided in the middle and lower crust for long periods of time 100 2000 ma following these events the eventual exhumation of most granulite terranes only occur through their incorporation in later tectonic and magmatic events unrelated to their formation

raman microspectrometry of fluid inclusions abstract for many kinds of fluid inclusions the coupling of microthermometry and raman microspectrometry is still the only viable option to obtain compositions of single fluid inclusions a review is given on the basis of 16 years of experience and helped with about 120 references of the instrumentation analytical conditions and methodology of the application of raman microspectrometry to gaseous aqueous and hydrocarbon inclusions and their daughter minerals

high density carbonic fluid inclusions in charnockites from eastern ghats india petrologic implications abstract charnockite rocks a significant litho unit in eastern ghats granulite belt eggb are characterized by the presence of dry mineral assemblage the anhydrous conditions required for the formation of ganulites are believed to be controlled by the lowering of water activity through the influx of co2 bearing fluids here we present the results of systematic petrographic and microthermometric studies characterizing the nature composition and density of co2 rich fluid inclusions in charnockitic rocks from gangarajumadugula in this study we have combined mineralogic thermobarometry with microthermometric data of the carbonic fluid inclusion population of high density in the charnockite samples from gangarajumadugula area to substantiate desiccation of lower crustal environment producing anhydrous conditions in the eastern ghats granulite belt close to peak pressure temperature calculations for core composition using convergence technique in present study indicate that these charnockites have experienced maximum p t around 860 c at 9 kbar which is broadly consistent with independent p t estimates inferred for gangarajumadugula area the reaction textures preserved by these charnockites and the thermobarometric data characterize decompression followed by cooling history high density carbonic fluid inclusions 1 08 g cm3 in quartz provide potential evidence for the involvement of co2 rich fluid during granulite facies metamorphism in eggb occurrence of co2 rich inclusions and elevated p t conditions open up the possibility favoring the mechanism of vapour deficient dehydration melting accompanied by co2 infiltration to account for charnockite formation from precursor crustal rocks our study documents that fluid inclusions in high grade metamorphic rocks have enormous potential in retaining worthwhile information of peak metamorphic conditions and understanding the metamorphic processes

fluid characteristics of high to ultrahigh temperature metamorphism in southern india a quantitative raman spectroscopic study abstract we report the first quantitative compositional data on fluid inclusions in late neoproterozoic to cambrian ultrahigh temperature uht granulites from major crustal blocks and shear zones in southern india fluid inclusions in various high grade minerals such as garnet orthopyroxene plagioclase cordierite and quartz from these rocks were studied in terms of petrography microthermometry and laser raman spectroscopy measured melting temperatures of the inclusions indicate that the trapped fluid phase is dominantly carbonic raman analyses confirmed a co2 rich composition with only minor dilutants such as n2 5 0 mol h2o 0 50 mol and ch4 0 47 mol the range of most co2 isochores computed from density measurements in fluid inclusions from the uht granulites pass below the peak pressure temperature conditions of metamorphism indicating considerable resetting of fluid densities during decompression in contrast garnetiferous granulites from the salem area along the palghat cauvery shear zone system which underwent high pressure prograde metamorphism contain very high density syn metamorphic pure co2 inclusions such dense carbonic fluid inclusions in garnet and plagioclase coexist with carbonate minerals calcite or dolomite indicating probable derivation from deep seated primary magmatic sources although models on the origin of co2 are debatable the ubiquitous association of carbonic fluids in the uht mineral assemblages is in favour of large scale infiltration of co2 rich fluids during extreme crustal metamorphism associated with collisional orogeny and subsequent extensional collapse at the final stage of amalgamation of the gondwana supercontinent

in situ zircon u pb and hf o isotopic results for ca 73 ma granite in hainan island implications for the termination of an andean type active continental margin in southeast china abstract we report in the paper integrated analyses of in situ zircon u pb ages hf o isotopes whole rock geochemistry and sr nd isotopes for the longlou granite in northern hainan island southeast china sims zircon u pb dating results yield a crystallization age of 73 ma for the longlou granite which is the youngest granite recognized in southeast china the granite rocks are characterized by high sio2 and k2o weakly peraluminous a cnk 1 04 1 10 depletion in sr ba and high field strength elements hfse and enrichment in lree and large ion lithophile elements lile chemical variations of the granite are dominated by fractional crystallization of feldspar biotite ti fe oxides and apatite their whole rock initial 87sr 86sr ratios 0 7073 0 7107 and end t 4 6 to 6 6 and zircon ehf t 5 0 to 0 8 values are broadly consistent with those of the late mesozoic granites in southeast china coast zircon 18o values of 6 9 8 3 suggest insignificant involvement of supracrustal materials in the granites these granites are likely generated by partial melting of medium to high k basaltic rocks in an active continental margin related to subduction of the pacific plate the ca 73 ma longlou granite is broadly coeval with the campanian ca 80 70 ma granitoid rocks in southwest japan and south korea indicating that they might be formed along a common andean type active continental margin of east southeast asia tectonic transition from the andean type to the west pacific type continental margin of southeast china likely took place at ca 70 ma rather than ca 90 85 ma as previously thought

topaz albite granites and rare metal mineralization in the limu district guangxi province southeast china the topaz albite granites of the limu district are ultra acidic peraluminous li f na rich and sn ta nb mineralized a distinct vertical zonation is developed in the granite stocks there is an upward systematic transition from leucocratic microcline albite granite through albite microcline granite topaz albite granite pegmatite stockscheider and layered pegmatite aplite dikes to k feldspar quartz veins and lepidolite fluorite stringers in the country rocks snow ball textures homogeneous distribution of rock forming and accessory minerals disseminated mineralization and melt inclusions in quartz topaz and albite are typical features indicative of their crystallization from the late stage li f na rich and sn ta nb bearing residual granitic melts at a higher intrusion level a comparison with rare metal bearing pegmatite ongonite topaz rhyolite and obsidian glass from other regions shows the worldwide existence of these specialized residual melts their emplacement and crystallization in a variety of geological environments result in the formation of a series of chemically similar rocks with different petrographic textures and mineral associations the topaz albite granites and associated mineralization in the limu district provide a good example of highly evolved magmatic fractionation in the f rich granite system and fluid melt partitioning behavior of rare metal elements during magmatic hydrothermal evolution

zircon geochronology and geochemistry of the xianghualing a type granitic rocks insights into multi stage sn polymetallic mineralization in south china abstract highly evolved sn polymetallic mineralization related granites are intensively developed in the nanling range of south china in this study two types of granitic rocks albite granite and greisenized granite from the laiziling pluton in the xianghualing area were studied to elucidate magma evolution and the genesis of mineralization the a type xianghualing granitic rocks are characterized by high sio2 69 16 85 04 rb 759 2110 ppm ta 17 2 50 8 ppm nd 2 8 82 4 ppm and 87sr 86sr 0 907275 4 181262 and low mgo 0 01 0 98 tio2 0 01 0 03 sr 1 4 70 2 ppm ba 1 4 132 5 ppm eu 0 03 0 21 ppm and 143nd 144nd 0 512283 0 512326 the whole rock end t values range from 6 3 to 6 0 with t2dm ages of 1426 1454 ma the zircon ehf t values mostly range from 10 to 5 with dominant tdmc values of 1400 1800 ma this suggests that the xianghualing granitic rocks were derived from partial melting of mesoproterozoic basement rocks in the cathaysian block in a lithospheric extension setting zircon u pb dating yielded five age clusters proterozoic 900 ma n 9 silurian 430 ma n 4 triassic 220 ma n 16 jurassic 150 ma n 62 and cretaceous 80 ma n 28 zircon internal textures trace element contents and hf isotopic compositions indicate that they formed from a range of sources including residual zircons from the magma source region detrital zircons from local sediments zircons captured from pre existing magmatic rocks with obvious mantle signatures magmatic and fluid altered zircons and late stage hydrothermal zircons this suggests significant fractional crystallization weak wall rock assimilation contamination and intense fluid differentiation metasomatism during the genesis of the xianghualing granitic rocks m type ree tetrad effects are seen not only in bulk rock compositions but also in individual zircon grains indicating that highly fractionated and reduced f rich fluids played an important role in the formation of sn polymetallic mineralization guided by the major mesozoic w sn ore forming events occurring in the cathaysian block of south china a multi stage genetic model is proposed for the xianghualing granitic minerogenic system initial enrichment of w sn in the triassic 220 ma dominant sn polymetallic metal precipitation in the jurassic 150 ma and superimposed mineralization in the cretaceous 80 ma

zircon u pb molybdenite re os and muscovite ar ar isotopic dating of the xitian w sn polymetallic deposit eastern hunan province south china and its geological significance the xitian tungsten tin w sn polymetallic deposit located in eastern hunan province south china is a recently explored region containing one of the largest w sn deposits in the nanling w sn metallogenic province the mineral zones in this deposit comprise skarn greisen structurally altered rock and quartz vein types the deposit is mainly hosted by devonian dolomitic limestone at the contact with the xitian granite complex the xitian granite complex consists of indosinian late triassic 230 215 ma and yanshanian late jurassic early cretaceous 165 141 ma granites zircons from two samples of the xitian granite dated using laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometer la icpms u pb analysis yielded two ages of 225 6 1 3 ma and 151 8 1 4 ma representing the emplacement ages of two episodic intrusions of the xitian granite complex molybdenites separated from ore bearing quartz veins yielded a re os isochron age of 149 7 0 9 ma in excellent agreement with a weighted mean age of 150 3 0 5 ma two samples of muscovites from ore bearing greisens yielded 40ar 39ar plateau ages of 149 5 1 5 ma and 149 4 1 5 ma respectively these isotopic ages obtained from hydrothermal minerals are slightly younger than the zircon u pb age of 151 8 1 4 ma of the yanshanian granite in the xitian area indicating that the w sn mineralization is genetically related to the late jurassic magmatism the xitian deposit is a good example of the early yanshanian regional w sn ore forming event 160 150 ma in the nanling region the relatively high re contents 8 7 to 44 0 ppm average of 30 5 ppm in molybdenites suggest a mixture of mantle and crustal sources in the genesis of the ore forming fluids and melts based upon previous geochemical studies of early yanshanian granite and regional geology we argue that the xitian w sn polymetallic deposit can be attributed to back arc lithosphere extension in the region which was probably triggered by the break off of the flat slab of the palae pacific plate beneath the lithosphere

very high density co2 associated with ultrahigh temperature metamorphism in the eastern ghats granulite belt india spinel bearing high mg al granulites of the vizianagram area in the eastern ghats granulite belt show textural features clearly establishing that the association spinel ss quartz fe ti oxide solid solution sillimanite porphyroblastic orthopyroxene was stable during peak metamorphic conditions pressure temperature p t conditions estimated from both mineralogical thermobarometry and phase equilibrium limitations indicate that the peak metamorphism occurred under ultrahigh t conditions 1000 c at 8 9 kbar pressure retrograde p t conditions of 750 800 c 6 7 kbar are deduced from the compositions of coronal garnet and orthopyroxene which have rims of spinel against quartz indicating significant cooling with slight lowering of pressure quartz associated with the ultrahigh t assemblage at vizianagram contains ubiquitous single phase carbonic inclusions as isolated clusters that belong to two categories group i shows extremely high density homogenization temperature 51 1 8 c density 1 15 g cm 3 and group ii trapped relatively lower density fluids homogenization temperature 18 4 2 4 c density 1 05 g cm 3 the iso chores for group i inclusions pass through the peak metamorphic p t conditions whereas those for group ii coincide with the p t conditions of the formation of coronal garnet and orthopyroxene our study is the first report of very high density co 2 associated with the eastern ghats granulite belt rocks and provides a strong case for the presence of co 2 rich fluids during ultrahigh t metamorphism at lower crustal levels

establishing an indosinian geochronological framework for episodic granitic emplacement and w sn nb ta mineralization in limu mining district south china abstract the limu mining district is located in the nanling polymetallic belt in south china the district contains a number of w sn nb ta deposits and a number of exposed and unexposed granitic stocks that are connected as a single pluton at depth referred to as limu composite pluton the deposits occur either within or above the stocks of the pluton bearing a close mutual spatial relationship two types of w sn nb ta mineralization or ores exist in the district the predominant quartz vein type and the lesser albite granite type extensive high precision u pb zircon shrimp and la icp ms and ar ar muscovite geochronological analyses on the granite stocks and the ores were performed in recent years with exception only for the quartz vein type ores this study applied ar ar muscovite dating method for the quartz vein type ores at five quartz vein type deposits and obtained five new 40ar 39ar plateau ages ranging from 210 1 5 ma to 205 5 1 6 ma new u pb zircon dating with la icp ms method was also performed for the non mineralized paoshuiling and mineralized yucai stocks which yielded weighted mean ages of 230 8 0 63 ma and 222 7 1 2 ma respectively with reliable geochronological data available for all the granites and mineralization types combining field and petrographic observations this study attempts to establish a high resolution geochronological framework for three episodic granitic stocks and two mineralization types of the limu district the first episode is represented by paoshuiling annite lepidolite granite aged at 230 8 0 63 ma the second episode granite was emplaced at 224 8 1 6 222 7 1 2 ma and the third at 218 3 2 4 212 3 1 8 ma the high temperature albite granite type mineralization began in the second episode of granitic emplacement and lasted into the third episode the quartz vein type mineralization was subsequent to the albite granite type mineralization and immediately dominated the post third episode hydrothermal ore forming process at 210 1 5 205 5 1 6 ma as revealed by new muscovite ar ar ages obtained in this study

carbonic metamorphism at ultrahigh temperatures evidence from north china craton abstract the north china craton ncc constitutes one of the fundamental precambrian nuclei of asia the paleoproterozoic khondalite belt along the northern margin of the ncc shows evidence for extreme crustal metamorphism at temperatures exceeding 1000 c and pressures of 10 12 kbar with the formation of diagnostic ultrahigh temperature uht mineral assemblages including sapphirine quartz high alumina orthopyroxene sillimanite and high temperature mesoperthites here we record for the first time the common occurrence of co2 rich fluid inclusions in peak uht minerals in the mg al granulites of ncc and trace the fluid evolution history from microthermometric and laser raman spectroscopic studies we show that the syn metamorphic fluid in the uht rocks was pure co2 while very high density carbonic fluids are preserved in some cases corresponding to entrapment at peak conditions many of the inclusions underwent density modification during the rapid and near isothermal exhumation of the rocks following peak uht metamorphism and initial cooling at depth the present study area within the northern margin of the ncc defines a collisional orogenic belt where continental collision and deep subduction were possibly followed by extensional collapse of the orogen evidence for the extensional phase is provided by the several mafic magmatic intrusions of paleoproterozoic age that are seen emplaced within the granulite facies supracrustals the thermal anomaly displayed by the uht granulites may thus correlate with asthenospheric upwelling and emplacement of mafic magmas possibly associated with plume activity which provided the heat and co2 input to achieve extreme crustal metamorphism and generation of dry granulite facies assemblages our study is the first report of syn metamorphic co2 rich fluids in uht granulites from a paleoproterozoic ca 1 92 ga terrane and provide evidence for carbonic metamorphism at ultrahigh temperatures as north china craton joined the columbia supercontinent amalgam

anticlockwise evolution of ultrahigh temperature granulites within continental collision zone in southern india abstract we report three new localities of corundum and sapphirine bearing hyper aluminous mg rich and silica poor ultrahigh temperature granulites formed during late neoproterozoic cambrian times within the palghat cauvery shear zone system in southern india from petrologic characteristics mineral chemistry and petrogenetic grid considerations the peak metamorphic conditions of these rocks are inferred to lie around 950 1000 c as suggested by al in orthopyroxene thermometer at pressures above 10 kbar as indicated by the equilibrium orthopyroxene sillimanite gedrite quartz assemblage these rocks preserve several remarkable reaction textures the most prominent among which is the triple corona of spinel sapphirine cordierite on corundum with the whole textural assembly embedded within the matrix of gedrite suggesting the reaction ged crn spl spr crd the formation of sapphirine sillimanite assemblage symplectite associated with relict corundum and porphyroblasitc cordierite is explained by the reaction crd crn spr sil the association of sapphirine cordierite symplectite with gedrite sillimanite assemblage as well as with aluminosilicate boundaries indicates the gedrite consuming reaction ged sil spr crd extensive growth of sapphirine cordierite observed on the rim of gedrite porphyroblasts with spinel occurring as relict inclusions within the sapphirine indicates the reaction ged spl spr crd the pressure temperature p t path defined from the observed mineral assemblages and reaction texture is characterized by anticlockwise trajectory with a prograde segment of initial heating and subsequent deep burial followed by retrograde near isothermal decompression such an anticlockwise trajectory is being reported for the first time from southern india and has important tectonic implications since these rocks were developed at the leading edge of the crustal block that was involved in collisional orogeny and subsequent extension during the final phase of assembly of the gondwana supercontinent we propose that the rocks were subjected to deep subduction and rapid exhumation and the extreme thermal conditions were attained either through input from underplated mantle derived magmas or convective thinning or detachment of the lithospheric thermal boundary layer during or after crustal thickening

fluid assisted granulite metamorphism a continental journey abstract lower crustal granulites which constitute the base of all continents belong to two series high pressure granulites generated by crustal thickening subduction and ultra high temperature granulites associated with crustal extension fluid inclusions and metasomatic features indicate that the latter were metamorphosed in the presence of low water activity fluids high density co2 and brines which have invaded the lower crust at peak metamorphic conditions fluid assisted granulite metamorphism high pressure and ultra high temperature granulites commonly occur along elongated paired belts they were formed from the early proterozoic onwards during a small number of active periods lasting a few hundreds of m y these periods were separated from each other by longer periods of stability each period ended with the formation of a supercontinent whose amalgamation coincided with low to medium pressure ultra high temperature granulite metamorphism immediately before continental break up it is proposed that large quantities of mantle derived co2 stored in the lower crust at the final stage of supercontinent amalgamation are released into the hydro and atmosphere during breakup of the supercontinent fluid assisted granulite metamorphism therefore appears to be an important mechanism for transferring deep mantle fluids towards the earth s surface possible consequences were for example the sudden end of proterozoic glaciations as well as the post cambrian explosion of life

characterization of oxide assemblages of a suite of granulites from eastern ghats belt india implication to the evolution of c o h f fluids during retrogression abstract we document complex intergrowth involving spinel ilmenite magnetite hematite corundum rutile in various combinations from a suite of granulite facies rocks of eastern ghats belt india individual oxide phase shows considerable compositional variation among textures and samples these textures arguably developed by oxidation reaction of early spinel and ilmenite solid solution from near peak to subsequent retrogressive stages oxygen fugacity is measured at a constant pressure of 8 kbar and different temperatures estimated from geothermometric analyses involving oxide and silicate bearing equilibria in different samples the calculated f o 2 values are 2 3 log units higher than the qfm buffer except for one sample uncertainties in f o 2 calculation in some samples arise presumably due to extensive compositional readjustment of different oxide systematics at lower temperatures the persistence of high f o 2 in mineral assemblages could be inherited from an oxidized precursor but field evidence and presence of h 2 o co 2 rich fluid inclusions in the studied samples imply possible involvement of externally derived oxidizing fluid in the later part of the retrograde history recent experimental and natural data suggest co 2 charged brine solution could be suitable for oxidation of mineral assemblages presence of brine inclusions are not detected but fluorine enriched nature of biotite grains could possibly provide some indication for its presence the mixed fluid possibly has its source in the crystallizing mafic magma emplaced at the lower crust that is exposed in the adjacent area

the formation of the late cretaceous xishan sn w deposit south china geochronological and geochemical perspectives abstract the xishan sn w deposit is spatially related to k feldspar granites in the yangchun basin western guangdong province south china la icp ms zircon u pb dating for the xishan pluton defines an emplacement age of 79 ma 78 1 0 9 ma 79 0 1 2 ma 79 3 0 8 ma consistent with the mineralization age of the xishan sn w deposit constrained by molybdenite re os isochron age 79 4 4 5 ma and la icp ms cassiterite u pb ages 78 1 0 9 ma and 79 0 1 2 ma for the cassiterite quartz vein these indicate a close genetic relationship between the granite and sn w mineralization the xishan k feldspar granites have geochemical characteristics of a type granites e g high total alkali na 2 o k 2 o 7 88 10 07 wt high ga al ratios 10000 ga al 2 6 and high zr nb ce y concentrations 350 ppm they are further classified as a 2 type granites the whole rock isotopic compositions of k feldspar granites initial 87 sr 86 sr 0 705256 0 706181 e nd t 5 4 to 4 8 and zircon e hf t values 7 8 to 2 0 suggest a mixed magma source the low zircon ce 4 ce 3 ratios 12 88 of k feldspar granites suggest low oxygen fugacities which is key for enrichment of tin in primary magmas the k feldspar granites have experienced strong differentiation as indicated by their high rb sr and k rb ratios and low nb ta and zr hf ratios which play an important role in ore forming element transportation and concentration a type granite characteristics of the xishan pluton show that it formed in an extensional environment the high f and low cl characteristics of the k feldspar granite are most probably attributed to slab rollback in the late cretaceous the xishan sn w deposit was located near the interaction of the circum pacific and the tethys tectonic realms late cretaceous sn w deposits including the xishan deposit form an ew trending belt from guangdong to yunnan province in south china this belt is in accordance with the direction of the neo tethys slab rollback in the late cretaceous in addition the ns trending extension has been recognized in the late cretaceous in south china we propose that the xishan sn w deposit should be attributed to the neo tethys slab rollback in the late cretaceous