Large and superlarge silver deposits associated with volcanic rocks in China

This paper deals with the geology and geochemistry of the Gacun and Laochang large-sized marine volcanic rock-type Ag deposits in the Sanjiang (Tri-River) area of southwestern China and of the continental volcanic-subvolcanic rock-type Ag deposits in the Tianshan area of Xinjiang, and in the East area, China. It is considered that the marine volcanic rock-type Ag deposits occur mainly in the second-ordered volcano-sedimentary basins developed in island-arc and rift tectonic environments. The Ag deposits show an obvious zonation, with vein-network mineralization in the lower parts and hot water sedimentary rock-hosted stratified mineralization in the upper parts. From the Earth's surface downwards the ore-forming elements follows the order of As(Au))→Ag, Pb, Zn→Cu. The whole rock Rb-Sr isotopic isochron age of layered orebodies in the Gacun deposit is 204±14 Ma, indicating that the main stage of mineralization is Late Triassic in age. The continental volcanic-subvolcanic (porphyry) rock-type Ag deposits were formed later than the country rocks. The ores exhibit disseminated, veinlet disseminated, network and lumped structures. In addition, this study also deals with the geochemical characteristics of the continental volcanic-subvolcanic rock-type Ag deposits and the relations between Ag deposits or silver itself and fluorite, halogen-family elements and manganese.     

浙江庆元苍岱银多金属矿成矿模式探讨与找矿方向

作者通过对浙江庆元苍岱矿区成矿地质背景和矿床地质特征的分析,参照区域典型矿床的勘查研究成果,建立了适合本区的受中生代火山机构控制的火山-次火山热液型银铅锌多金属矿成矿模式,对指导矿区下一步找矿具有重要意义。通过深入研究,指出放弃浅部金银,主攻深部铅锌多金属的找矿思路。提出在物探、化探和地质高精度综合剖面测量基础上,采用钻探进行深部验证的工作方法,对于指导矿区及区域内火山岩覆盖区的矿产勘查具用重要意义。     

Quaternary integrative stratigraphy and timescale of China

Quaternary strata in China mainly comprise continental deposits in a variety of depositional settings. The continental Quaternary in temperate northern China consists mainly of eolian and fluvio-lacustrine deposits; that in subtropical southern China, mainly of vermiculated red soils, cave/fissure deposits, and fluvio-lacustrine deposits; and that in the alpine Tibetan Plateau, mainly of fluvio-lacustrine and piedmont deposits. The marine Quaternary in China consists of detrital deposits and biogenic reef deposits. The integration of biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, climatostratigraphy and an astronomically calibrated chronology has led to the establishment of high-precision climatochronostratigraphic timescales for the detrital marine Quaternary in the South China Sea and the loess-paleosol sequence in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Extremely high-precision230 Th dating has provided a high-precision absolute age model for cave stalagmites over the past 640000 years as well as highresolution oxygen isotope records representing orbital-to suborbital-scale climate changes. By combining magnetic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy, robust chronostratigraphic frameworks for non-eolian continental Quaternary deposits on the scale of Quaternary geomagnetic polarities have been established. The continental Pleistocene Series consists, from oldest to youngest,of the Nihewanian Stage of the Lower Pleistocene, the Zhoukoudianian Stage of the Middle Pleistocene, and the Salawusuan Stage of the Upper Pleistocene. Stages of the continental Holocene Series have not yet been established. This review summarizes recent developments in the Quaternary chronostratigraphy of representative Quaternary strata and associated faunas, and then proposes an integrative chronostratigraphic framework and a stratigraphic correlation scheme for Quaternary continental strata in China. In the near-future, it is hoped to establish not only a Chinese continental Quaternary climatochronostratigraphic chart on the scale of glacial-interglacial cycles but also a Quaternary integrative chronostratigraphic chart including both continental and marine strata in China.     

Relationships between mineralization and silicic volcanism in the Central Andes

Studies of late Tertiary silicic volcanic centres in the Western and Eastern Cordilleras of the Central Andes show that three volcanic environments are appropriate sites for mineralization: (1) ring-fracture extrusions post-dating large calderas; (2) similar extrusions within ignimbrite shields; and (3) isolated, small silicic volcanoes. Subvolcanic tin mineralization in the Eastern Cordillera is located in silicic stocks and associated breccias of Miocene age. The Cerro Rico stock, Potosi, Bolivia, contains tin and silver mineralization and has an intrusion age apparently millions of years younger than that of the associated Kari Kari caldera. Similar age relationships between mineralization and caldera formation have been described from the San Juan province, Colorado. The vein deposits of Chocaya, southern Bolivia, were emplaced in the lower part of an ignimbrite shield, a type of volcanic edifice as yet unrecognized in comparable areas of silicic volcanism. The El Salvador porphyry copper deposit, Chile, is related to silicic stocks which may have been intruded along a caldera ring fracture. Cerro Bonete, Chile, provides a modern example of the volcanic superstructure which may have overlain isolated mineralized stocks and breccia pipes such as that of Salvadora at Llallagua, Bolivia.Existing models for the genesis of porphyry copper deposits suggest that they formed in granodioritic stocks located in the infrastructure of andesitic stratovolcanoes. Sites of porphyry-type subvolcanic tin mineralization in the Eastern Cordillera of Bolivia are distinguished by the absence of such andesitic structures. The surface expression of a typical subvolcanic porphyry tin deposit was probably an extrusive dome of quartz latite porphyry, sometimes related to a larger caldera structure. Evidence from the El Salvador porphyry copper deposit in the Eocene magmatic belt in Chile suggests that it too may be more closely related to a silicic volcanic structure than to an andesitic stratovolcano.The dome of La Soufriere, Guadeloupe is proposed as a modern analog for the surface expression of subvolcanic mineralization processes, the phreatic eruptions there suggesting the formation of hydrothermal breccia bodies in depth. Occurrence of mineralized porphyries, millions of years after caldera formation, does not necessarily indicate that intrusions and mineralization are not genetically related to the sub-caldera pluton, but may be a consequence of the long thermal histories (1–10 million years) of the lowermost parts of large plutons. Caldera formation can only inhibit mineralization by dispersal of ore metals when these are of magmatic origin, and ignimbrites should not be taken as being unlikely to be associated with porphyry mineralization. Whether ore metals are of wall rock or magmatic origin, the key to understanding the relationships between silicic volcanism and mineralization lies in the fractionation of trace elements within large zoned magma chambers during their igneous history, and their subsequent hydrothermal migration. Small, highly mineralized intrusions formed late in a caldera cycle (such as the Cerro Rico) may be due to the introduction of fresh supplies of mafic magma into the lower parts of the main pluton.     

安徽省霍山县东溪-南关岭金矿地质特征与成矿条件

东溪-南关岭金矿为北淮阳东段发现的第一个原生金矿,产于磨子潭-晓天中生代火山盆地边缘,容矿围岩为安山质-英安质火山岩,矿化和蚀变受桐柏-桐城深大断裂带的次级构造带控制。该金矿发育陡倾斜的脉状矿体和缓倾斜的似层状矿体,成因类型为冰长石-绢云母型浅成低温热液金矿。火山岩盆地之下的变质基底可能起到了初始矿源层作用,桐柏-桐城断裂带及其次级构造破碎带为重要的导岩导矿构造,早白垩世强烈的岩浆活动提供了热源、动力源和部分矿源。参照国内外类似金矿的特征,认为本区成矿地质条件良好,有可能隐伏着与石英正长岩体有关的细脉浸染型矿化,晓天火山盆地具有良好的找矿前景。     

Tectonics and metallogenesis of Proterozoic rocks of the Reading Prong

Detailed geologic mapping, petrography, and major and trace-element analyses of Proterozoic rocks from the Greenwood Lake Quadrangle, New York are compared with chemical analyses and stratigraphic information compiled for the entire Reading Prong. A persistent regional stratigraphy is evident in the mapped area whose geochemistry indicates protoliths consistent with a back-arc marginal basin sequence. The proposed marginal basin may have been floored by an older sialic basement and overlain by a basin-fill sequence consisting of a basal tholeiitic basalt, basic to intermediate volcanic or volcaniclastic rocks and carbonate sediments, a bimodal calc-alkaline volcanic sequence, and finally volcaniclastic, marine, and continental sediments. The presence of high-chlorine biotite and scapolite may indicate circulation of brine fluids or the presence of evaporite layers in the sequence. Abundant, stratabound magnetite deposits with a geologic setting very unlike that of cratonic, Proterozoic banded-iron formations are found throughout the proposed basin sequence. Associated with many of the magnetite deposits is unusual uranium and rare-earth element mineralization. It is proposed here that these deposits formed in an exhalative, volcanogenic, depositional environment within an extensional back-arc marginal basin. Such a tectonic setting is consistent with interpretations of protoliths in other portions of the Reading Prong, the Central Metasedimentary Belt of the Canadian Grenville Province, and recent interpretation of the origin of the Franklin lead-zinc deposits, suggesting a more cohesive evolving arc/back-arc tectonic model for the entire Proterozoic margin of the north-eastern portion of the North American craton.     

江西武夷成矿带铜多金属矿产资源远景评价与展望

华南武夷山地区处于扬子、华夏两大构造单元交接叠加地段,构造变形复杂,中生代岩浆活动强烈,具有十分优越的成矿条件,矿产资源潜力巨大。本文以正在武夷山成矿带开展的矿产远景调查工作和资源评价工作所取得的阶段性成果为基础,分析了武夷山成矿带的成矿地质背景、主要矿床类型及近几年的找矿勘查成果,并对武夷成矿带江西省境内铜多金属矿产资源潜力进行了初步评价,划分了十七个找矿远景区。     

Structural control on uranium mineralization in South China: Implications for fluid flow in continental strike-slip faults

South China is the most important uranium producer in the country. Much of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic geology of this area was dominated by NNE-trending intracontinental strike-slip faulting that resulted from oblique subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate underneath the eastern China continent. This strike-slip fault system was characterized by transpression in the early-mid Jurassic and by transtension from the latest Jurassic through Cretaceous to early Tertiary. Most uranium ore deposits in South China are strictly fault-hosted and associated with mid-late Mesozoic granitic intrusions and volcanic rocks, which formed under transpression and transtension regimes, respectively. Various data demonstrate that the NNE-trending strike-slip faults have played critical roles in the formation and distribution of hydrothermal uranium deposits. Extensive geochronological studies show that a majority of uranium deposits in South China formed during the time period of 140–40 Ma with peak ages between 87–48 Ma, coinciding well with the time interval of transtension. However, hydrothermal uranium deposits are not uniformly distributed along individual strike-slip fault. The most important ore-hosting segments are pull-apart stepovers, splay structures, extensional strike-slip duplexes, releasing bends and fault intersections. This non-uniform distribution of ore occurrences in individual fault zone reflects localization of hydrothermal fluids within those segments that were highly dilational and thus extremely permeable. The unique geometric patterns and structural styles of strike-slip faults may have facilitated mixing of deeply derived and near-surface fluids, as evidenced by stable isotopic data from many uranium deposits in South China. The identification of fault segments favorable for uranium mineralization in South China is important for understanding the genesis of hydrothermal ore deposits within continental strike-slip faults, and therefore has great implications for exploration strategies.     

A preliminary study on ore-forming environments of Xianglushan-type iron deposit and the weathering mineralization of Emeishan basalt in Guizhou Province,China

Xianglushan-type iron deposits are one of the new types of iron deposits found in the Weining Area of Western Guizhou. The iron-bearing rock system is a paleo-weathered crustal sedimentary(or accumulating) stratum between the top of the Middle-Late Permian Emeishan basalt formation and the Late Permian Xuanwei formation. Iron ore is hosted in the Lower-Middle part of the rock system. In terms of the genesis of mineral deposit, this type of deposit should be a basalt paleo-weathering crustal redeposit type, very different from marine sedimentary iron deposits or continental weathering crust iron deposits. Based on field work and the analytical results of XRD Powder Diffraction, Electron Probe, Scanner Electron Microscope, etc., the geological setting of the ore-forming processes and the deposit features are illustrated in this paper. The ore-forming environment of the deposit and the Emeishan basalt weathering mineralization are also discussed in order to enhance the knowledge of the universality and diversity of mineralization of the Emeishan Large Igneous Province(ELIP), which may be a considerable reference to further research for ELIP metallogenic theories, and geological research for iron deposits in the paleo-weathering crust areas of the Emeishan basalt,Southwestern, China.     

Characteristics of the genetic mineralogy of pyrite and its significance for prospecting in the Denggezhuang gold deposit,Jiaodong Peninsula,China

This paper reports the variation rules for the typomorphic parameters of the pyrite and the gold enrichment rules of the Denggezhuang quartz vein gold deposit at a large-depth scale,providing the mineral signs for deep prospecting prediction through detailed study of the characteristics of crystal' habits,chemical composition,the thermoelectricity of pyrites,and mineralogical mapping.This paper primarily discusses the correlation between the mineralization intensity and the space-time evolution of the mineralogical parameters,clarifies the physicochemical conditions during gold mineralization,and provides information useful for deep mineralization prediction.We demonstrate that the crystal habits of the pyrites are very complex,primarily occurring as {100},{210},and their combinate form.{210} and {100}+{210} have positive correlations with gold mineralization,and {100}+{210} therefore can be useful for locating rich ore segments.The composition of pyrites is characteristically poor in S and rich in As.Their typical trace elements are composed of Mo,As,Pb,Cu,Bi,Zn,Au,Co,Se,Sb,Ag,Ni,Cr,and Te.The average contents of trace elements in pyrites from various stages show that the crystallizing temperature gradually decreased from an early stage to the metallogenic episodes.The precipitation and accumulation of Au and Ag occur primarily in the quartz-pyrite stage(III) and the polymetal minerals stage(IV).The occurrence rate of P-type pyrites(P(%)) is 83.52%.There is a larger dispersion of the thermoelectrical coefficient of pyrite(α) in the Denggezhuang gold deposit than in other deposits in the Jiaodong Peninsula.The electrical conductivity assemblage of pyrites from I to V is characterized by P≥N→PN→PN→PN→P≥N,which is usually considered beneficial for mineralization.The relative contents of As+Sb+Se+Te and Co+Ni are closely correlated to P-type and N-type average values and their occurrence rates.According to the crystallizing temperature of pyrite,the mineralization intensity,and the denudation degree,the mineralization temperature of the Denggezhuang gold deposit is in the range of 150–322℃ and is of a medium-low temperature.The orebody has already become denuded to the top-middle of the orebody,and the size of the orebody is larger than 900 m.Based on the vertical zoning of the thermoelectrical coefficients of pyrites and P-type pyrite mapping,it is suggested that the segment between ?425 and ?800 m may have exploration potential to the northeast of line 94 of the No.I2-2 orebody.     

斑岩铜矿与陆相火山活动

斑岩铜矿主要产于聚合板块的上盘 ,是岛弧和活动大陆边缘花岗岩质岩浆 -热液系统 (其中包括火山作用 )演化的产物 ,从斑岩铜矿带与近同期陆相火山岩的关系来看 ,可以归纳为 2种 :一种是斑岩铜矿床或矿田内有同期或稍早期的陆相火山活动 ,例如江西银山、内蒙古乌努格吐山和安徽沙溪等 ;另一种是斑岩铜矿床或矿田内缺少同期陆相火山活动 ,仅见到浅成 -超浅成侵入活动 ,例如江西德兴和西藏玉龙等。斑岩铜矿与陆相火山岩有关的矿床之间具有一定的联系 ,例如有时二者晚期都常发育浊沸石化和硅化 ,常与金等矿化伴生 ,以及常伴随爆破角砾岩和火山口陷落等。环太平洋带、古特提斯带和中亚 -蒙古带为世界斑岩铜矿最发育 ,地质工作最为活跃的地区。中国北部相当于中亚 -蒙古带的一部分 ,东部相当于环太平洋带的一部分 ,西南部相当于特提斯带的一部分 ,集中了许多聚合板块 ,随着洋盆的消减和陆 -陆碰撞的造山作用具有很长的构造 -岩浆 -热液活动的历史(其中包括陆相和海陆交互相火山活动 ) ,故找寻评价斑岩铜矿很有前景。文中重点讨论了东天山、德兴和冈底斯地区同时代的陆相火山活动与斑岩铜矿的关系 ,通过这一讨论 ,为斑岩铜矿的找寻与评价提供了依     

Pre-accretionary mineralization of Japan

Abstract The metallogeny of Japan can be grouped into four environments: (1) Paleozoic-Mesozoic stratiform Cu and Mn deposits within accretionary complexes, (2) Cretaceous-Paleogene post-accretionary deposits related to felsic magmatism in a continental-margin are environment, (3) Miocene epigenetic and syngenetic deposits related to felsic magmatism during back-arc opening, and (4) late Miocene-Quaternary volcanogenic deposits in an island-are environment. Group (1) deposits were a major source of Cu and Mn for the Japanese mining industry, and this style of mineralization is reviewed here. The stratiform Cu and Mn deposits were formed on the sea floor during the late Paleozoic to Mesozoic, and were subsequently accreted to active continental margins mainly in Jurassic to Cretaceous age. The Cu sulfide deposits, termed Besshi type, are classified into two subtypes: the Besshi-subtype deposit is related to basaltic volcanism, probably at a mid-oceanic ridge or rise; the Hitachi subtype is related to bimodal volcanism, probably in a back-arc or continental rift. Most of the Besshisubtype deposits occur in the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt, with some occurrences in weakly metamorphosed Jurassic and Cretaceous accretionary terrains. This subtype is divided into two groups: the sediment-barren group is hosted by basalt-chert sequences; whereas the sedimentcovered group is hosted by basalt-shale sequences. Both subtypes are characterized by S isotope trends similar to those of sea-floor sulfide deposits now forming at mid-oceanic ridges. The Hitachi-subtype deposits occur in late Paleozoic volcanic-sedimentary sequences and lack pelagic sediments. These deposits are characterized by association of sphalerite- and barite-rich ores. The Mn deposits occur mainly in Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous accretionary complexes containing abundant chert beds of Triassic to Jurassic age. Their locations are well separated from those of the Cu sulfide deposits. The Mn deposits are divided into two types: the Mn type, hosted by chert, and the Fe-Mn type, sandwiched between chert and basaltic volcanic rocks. The Mn-type ores appear to have deposited on the deep-sea floor further from the site of hydrothermal activity than the Fe-Mn type. Primary Mn precipitates may have been transformed to rhodochrosite and other Mn-minerals during diagenesis. Many of the Mn deposits were significantly metamorphosed during intrusion of Cretaceous granitoids, resulting in a very complex mineralogy.     

浙闽裂谷带的成矿意义

浙闽裂谷带为金银铅锌铜钼金属矿床及萤石、高岭土等非金属矿床的重要成矿域,其代表性矿床有治岭头金银矿床、梅仙式块状硫化物多金属矿床、银坑斑岩型钼矿床、湖山萤石矿田、武义萤石矿田等。裂谷带活动具两个旋回,第一旋回与超大陆解体相当,始于新元古代,闭合于加里东期,代表性地层标志为中元古代地层。第二旋回始于燕山早期,止于燕山晚期,代表性地层标志为下侏罗统枫坪组地层及白垩纪断陷盆地沉积地层。第一旋回相对应区域变质、混合岩化、韧性剪切活动及岩浆岩侵位等地质作用。第二旋回相对应大规模火山喷发、岩浆侵位、断陷盆地等地质作用。第一旋回裂谷环境中,形成治岭头式金银矿和梅仙式铅锌多金属矿床的初胚或金属矿床的初始矿体;在第二旋回后期大规模火山热液的成矿作用中,使前者叠加富集,形成了巨大资源量的工业矿体,而岩体侵位形成了一系列斑岩铜矿和浙闽地区极富特色非金属矿、萤石矿成矿带。     

Ore-forming fluid and mineralization of Caijiaying and Dajing polymetallic ore deposits

Fluid inclusions from the Dajing and Caijiaying deposits have nearly the same ho-mogenization temperature. Correlation between temperature and salinity shows that both Sn-and Cu-bearing fluids Sn and Cu were present in the Dajing deposit but only one kind of fluids continuously evolved in the Caijiaying deposit. Study on rare earth elements (REE) in ancient fluid from the inclusions indicates that the fluid of Sn mineralizing stage in Dajing was derived from remelting magma of the continental crust, and the fluid of Cu-Pb-Zn mineralizing stage in the Dajing deposit and the fluid of Cu-Pb-Zn mineralization in the Caijiaying deposit were derived from the mantle. It is concluded that the Cu-Pb-Zn mineralizations in the Dajing and Caijiaying deposits resulted from the identical tectono-thermal event of magma-fluids induced by Mesozoic tectonic transition and extension in the eastern part of North China Craton.     

Exhalative supergenic uranium,thorium and marcasite occurrences in quaternary volcanites of central Italy

In the Quaternary alkali-potassic volcanites of Northern Latium, there are classical solfataras related to volcanic structures, and very large kaolinized fields, at the borders of the volcanic systems (perivolcanic), related to pre-volcanic tectonic structures. In the solfataric type of mineralization thorium and sulphur ores in an opaline matrix are prevailing; in the perivolcanic type of deposit are prevailing uranium ores in very regular layers associated with kaolin. Marcasite-pyrite beds and lenses are common in both of them. The mineralization processes start with the oxidation of H₂S coming out from volcanic edilices or from large faults. The origin of U and Th concentrations is to be seen in the anomalous high content of radioactive elements in the alkaline rocks, and in their enrichment in ground waters. The perivolcanic uranium mineralizations are of some economic interest: the ore deposition is controlled by ground water level in reducing conditions determined by H₂S, not unlike to the principal sedimentary uranium ores known in the continental environment.     

Late Carboniferous – Middle Permian arc/forearc‐related basin in Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Insights from the petrology and geochemistry of the Shuangjing Schist in Inner Mongolia,China

The Solonker Suture Zone is thought to record the terminal evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) in Inner Mongolia. However, two contrasting interpretations of the timing of suturing of the Solonker Suture Zone exist: (i) Permian to Early Triassic; and (ii) Middle Devonian or Late Devonian to Carboniferous. The Shuangjing Schist is exposed in the Linxi area along the Xar Moron Fault Zone, which marks the southern boundary of the Solonker Suture Zone in the eastern section of the CAOB, and thus provides insight into the timing of suturing of the Solonker Suture Zone. Detailed and systematic analysis of the petrology and geochemistry of the Shuangjing Schist shows that the Shuangjing Schist developed by greenschist facies prograde metamorphism of a volcanisedimentary rock series protolith. The volcanic parts of the Shuangjing Schist are a calc‐alkaline series with large volumes of intermediate members and subordinate acidic members. Volcanism occurred in a magmatic arc on the continental margin and was induced by subduction‐related magmatism resulting from mantle metasomatism. The sedimentary parts of the Shuangjing Schist reflect a transition from continental shelf to abyssal plain sedimentation. The formation of the Shuangjing Schist is suggested to be related to closure of an arc/forearc‐related ocean basin. The timing is constrained by a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP–MS) U–Pb magmatic zircon age of 298 ± 2 Ma from a carbonaceous biotite–plagioclase schist that was intruded by granite at 272 ± 2 Ma. In the Linxi area, southward subduction of the arc/forearc basin led to uplift, thickening, collapse, and erosion of the overriding continental crust. Collapse induced extension and widespread magmatism along the volcanic arc at the northern margin of the North China Craton. The closure of the arc/forearc‐related oceanic basin led to the formation of Late Permian to Middle Triassic collisional granites and the subsequent end of the collision of the Solonker Suture Zone.     

A case study of the influx of upper mantle fluids into the crust

Geochemical and geophysical investigations in the Bohai Gulf and adjacent areas, China, indicate that uplift of the high-conductivity layer in the lithosphere coincides with the area of high heat flow. In this area are distributed abundant oil and gas fields in a Tertiary fault basin and also large quantities of basaltic rocks. Gas fields, mostly CO₂ bearing, occur at the basin margins, where a widespread alkaline olivine basalt has high contents of gold. Geochemical prospecting of the surface (soil and soil gas) in the area indicates that there is an anomaly zone of large-scale gold mineralization, and large gold deposits have been found in this area. Isotopic study demonstrates that CO₂ in the volcanic rocks and in the CO₂-bearing gas deposits are all derived from the mantle. Experiments show that Au- and CO₂-bearing hydrothermal fluids separated into vapor phase and liquid phases respectively due to a reduction of pressure and temperature over the temperature range from 250 to 290°C and at 22 M Pa. Au appears in the vapor phase rich in CO₂. That proves that it is possible that CO₂-bearing aqueous fluids (in gas phase) can carry gold and transport it from deeper parts of lithosphere to the surface.     

Geochemistry and chronology of the Jiehekou Group metamorphic basic volcanic rocks in the Lüliang Mountain area,Shanxi, China

Samples were systematically collected from metamorphic basic volcanic rocks in the Jiehekou and Xiyupi areas on both sides of the Lüliang Mountains, Shanxi Province and analyzed for their major elements, trace elements and rare earth elements (REE). The geochemical characteristics of their major, trace and rare-earth elements indicated that the metamorphic basic volcanic rocks in this area were emplaced in the tectonic environment like a modern continental rift. Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotope chronological studies demonstrated that the Jiehekou Group metamorphic basic volcanic rocks were formed during the 2600-Ma crust/mantle differentiation event, and were transformed by granulite facies metamorphism during the late Neo-Archaean period (2500 Ma ±), making the Sm-Nd systematics of the rocks reset. During the late Paleoproterozoic period (1800 Ma ±) the Rb-Sr systematics of the rocks were disturbed again in response to the Lüliang movement. Since the extent of disturbance was so weak that the Sm-Nd systematics was not affected, the age of 1600 Ma ± obtained from this area seems to be related to local magmatic activities within the craton. Research results lend no support to the idea that the Lüliang Group was formed during the Archaean. Instead, it should be formed during the Proterozoic.     

Discovery of the copper deposits with features of the Keweenawan type in the border area of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces

There existed intense Cu anomaly on the northeastern side of the geochemical boundary with NW strike in the border area between the Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Through field observation, ore bodies of high-grade native coppers have been found. The copper mineralization was constrained by the ancient volcanic vents of Permian basalt eruption and the overlain strata of carbonaceous argillites. Native coppers with flaky, net veined and impregnated occurrences, fine-grained tenorites and massive chalcocites widely occur in volcanic breccias, tuffs, carbonaceous-siliceous argillites and siliceous bitumen rocks with bed thickness of about 15–80 m. Cu contents vary from 0.5% to 20%. The copper mineralization was tightly related to actino-lite-tremolitization, zeolitization and bituminization and involved in extensive reduction environments. Continental flood basalts erupted in mantle plume environments usually have high Cu concentrations (～170 ×10^?6 in the Emeishan basalts), which provided a copper source of mineralization. Thus, metallogenesis of the native copper deposits in the Yunnan-Guizhou border area is tightly associated with intensive crust-mantle and organic-inorganic interactions. The tremolitization and chalcocitization indicate that the metallogenic temperatures are in a range of 400–100°C. The geologic background and characteristics of ore and alteration for the native copper deposits in this area are somewhat similar to those of the Keweenawan native copper deposit in Michigan, USA.     

大同地区玄武岩的岩石学特征

大同盆地第四纪的火山可以划分为两部分:西北区(通常称大同火山群)和东南区。西北区的火山群属典型的中心式喷发,其玄武熔岩是碱性橄榄玄武岩。东南区的火山岩属裂隙式喷溢,其玄武岩流主要是由橄榄拉斑玄武岩组成。本文概括了这两个地区的玄武岩类在岩石学、地球化学、稀土和微量元素等方面的差别和各自的特点