Basites of the polychronous magmatic center with the Erdenetiyn-Ovoo porphyry Cu-Mo deposit (northern Mongolia): petrogeochemistry, 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, geodynamic position, and related ore formation
Authors: Berzina A.P. , Gimon V.O. , Nikolaeva I.V. , Palesskii S.V. , Travin A.V. 
Published: September 2009

The Erdenetiyn-Ovoo magmatic center (EMC) with a porphyry Cu-Mo deposit includes the following intrusive complexes: Selenga, Shivota, ore-bearing porphyry, and post-ore dike. The EMC formed at 260–200 Ma. The geologic evolution of northern Mongolia in that period was much determined by the effect of a mantle plume, which showed two periods of activity: Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic. The long multistage evolution of the EMC was due to its localization on the periphery of the Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic areas of the plume’s influence. The Shivota and post-ore basites are considered to be comagmatic to the Late Permian–Early Triassic trachyandesite-basalt and Late Triassic–Early Jurassic trachyandesite series, respectively, which are similar to the products of Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic within-plate magmatism in northern Mongolia. The Selenga complex, which formed before the Shivota one, and the porphyry complex, which formed before the post-ore dike one, are differentiated gabbro-granite series. Gabbro-granitoid magmatism was initiated by the melting of rocks of continental lithosphere under the action of a plume. Later on, as the plume ascended to the surface and the lithosphere became thinner, the conditions were created favoring the lithosphere breakthrough and within-plate basaltoid magmatism.

In geochemical features (high contents of LILE and LREE, low contents of HFSE and HREE) the studied basites are similar to the products of subduction magmatism. But this contradicts the geologic position of basites formed after the completion of subduction during the transition of the region to the rifting stage and during the rifting. The mantle metasomatized during the preceding subduction is regarded as the main source of basites. The high contents of alkalies and LREE in the volcanics of the post-ore dike complex and the REE patterns similar to the OIB ones evidence the influence of the plume on the magma formation. The high contents of incompatible trace elements and the Nd isotope composition corresponding to the weakly depleted mantle do not exclude a possible plume effect during the formation of the Selenga complex gabbroids. The geochemical features of the Shivota gabbros, comagmatic to volcanics produced during the Late Paleozoic within-plate activity, are partly transformed during the melt evolution in crustal chambers.

The REE patterns of the EMC basites evidence that the evolution of ascending magma was accompanied by the fractionation of amphibole. During this process, ore elements were redistributed into mineral and concentrated in amphibole-containing rocks, from which metals were later mobilized by late melts and fluids. The evolution of basaltoid magmatism of the Selenga, Shivota, and porphyry complexes is regarded as a preliminary stage of ore formation, which was considerably responsible for the EMC productivity.