Lithofacies features and mechanism of formation of “Zihe-type” time- and strata-bound iron ore deposits in central Shandong province

The Lower Palaeozoic system is a series of iron-bearing rocks consisting mainly of shallow sea-fades carbonates. On the basis of microfacies analysis of the carbonate rocks, the Lower Palaeozoic sedimentary sea basin is divided into two broad sedimentary-tectonic regions of four sedimentary facies and eight subfacies. The original iron-rich carbonates were deposited in saltlakes, lagoons, etc. of the restricted basins. Over the long geological history, the original iron formations were reconstructed to various extents by late tectonic processes. Geological observations and studies on the equilibrium mechanism of oxygen/sulfur isotopic fractionation and the composition and temperature of fluid inclusions in the minerals indicate that thermal brines played an important role in reworking of the original iron-rich carbonate rocks, which led to the formation of sedimentary-reworked strata-bound ore deposit.