INVESTIGATION OF THE PALEOGEOTHERMAL TECTONIC HISTORY ON DONGPU DEPRESSION AND OIL/GAS FORMATION BY FISSION-TRACK METHOD

Dongpu depression is a fault basin at residual-mobility period of Diwa stage, it developed on the strata of the Mesozoie and Pre-Mesozoie. It is one of the important oil/gas- bearing basin during Cenozoie era along the East China. The strueture in Dongpu geodepression is very complex. There exists a strueture pattern with east- and west-depression belts and one central swell belt, it is divided into the southern- and northern-division by Gaopingji (orMeng Ju ) -Xieheng fault.

Structural geometry of orogenic gold deposits： Implications for exploration of world-class and giant deposits

With very few exceptions, orogenic gold deposits formed in subduction-related tectonic settings in accretionary to collisional orogenic belts from Archean to Tertiary times. Their genesis, including metal and fluid source, fluid pathways, depositional mechanisms, and timing relative to regional structural and metamorphic events, continues to be controversial. However, there is now general agreement that these deposits formed from metamorphic fluids, either from metamorphism of intra-basinal rock sequences or de-volatilization of a subducted sediment wedge, during a change from a compressional to transpressional, less commonly transtensional, stress regime, prior to orogenic collapse. In the case of Archean and Paleoproterozoic deposits, the formation of orogenic gold deposits was one of the last events prior to cratonization. The late timing of orogenic gold deposits within the structural evolution of the host orogen implies that any earlier structures may be mineralized and that the current structural geometry of the gold deposits is equivalent to that at the time of their formation provided that there has been no significant post-gold orogenic overprint. Within the host volcano-sedimentary sequences at the province scale, world-class orogenic gold deposits are most commonly located in second-order structures adjacent to crustal scale faults and shear zones, representing the first-order ore-forming fluid pathways, and whose deep lithospheric connection is marked by lamprophyre intrusions which, however, have no direct genetic association with gold deposition. More specifically, the gold deposits are located adjacent to ～10°-25° district-scale jogs in these crustal-scale faults. These jogs are commonly the site of arrays of ～70° cross faults that accommodate the bending of the more rigid components, for example volcanic rocks and intrusive sills, of the host belts. Rotation of blocks between these accommodation faults causes failure of more competent units and/or reactivation and dilation of pre-existing structures, leading to deposit-scale focussing of ore-fluid and gold deposition.Anticlinal or antiformal fold hinges, particularly those of ＇locked-up＇ folds with ～30° apical angles and overturned back limbs, represent sites of brittle-ductile rock failure and provide one of the more robust parameters for location of orogenic gold deposits.In orogenic belts with abundant pre-gold granitic intrusions, particularly Precambrian granitegreenstone terranes, the boundaries between the rigid granitic bodies and more ductile greenstone sequences are commonly sites of heterogeneous stress and inhomogeneous strain. Thus, contacts between granitic intrusions and volcano-sedimentary sequences are common sites of ore-fluid infiltration and gold deposition. For orogenic gold deposits at deeper crustal levels, ore-forming fluids are commonly focused along strain gradients between more compressional zones where volcano-sedimentary sequences are thinned and relatively more extensional zones where they are thickened. World-class orogenic gold deposits are commonly located in the deformed volcano-sedimentary sequences in such strain gradients adjacent to triple-point junctions defined by the granitic intrusions, or along the zones of assembly of micro-blocks on a regional scale. These repetitive province to district-scale geometrical patterns of structures within the orogenic belts are clearly critical parameters in geology-based exploration targeting for orogenic gold deposits.

Genesis of sandstone-type uranium deposits along the northern margin of the Ordos Basin,China

Sandstone-type U mineral resources are among the important sources for nuclear energy.The U deposits in the Ordos Basin in China form part of the northern segment of the sandstone-hosted Central Asian Uranium MegaProvince.Two types of mineralizations are recognized in this basin:"phreatic permeable type"and"interlayer permeable type",both exhibiting features equivalent to roll-front subtypes.The"interlayer permeable type"is widely accepted as the dominant mineralization type for sandstone-type uranium deposits within large-scale basins,also designated as the"interlayer oxidation zone type",based on the horizontal color zoning model representing changing redox conditions.Here we synthesize data from several drill holes within the Ordos Basin,which suggest that major Mesozoic tectonic movements controlled the evolution of the sedimentary system in the basin.These tectonic movements contributed to the formation of three angular unconformities and four parallel unconformities as inferred from the stratigraphic relationships.In addition,other features such as vertical color zoning,paleo-channel controlled tabular or lentoid ore bodies(without roll-type)and a group interlayer horizontal zoning of altered minerals are also documented.Sequence stratigraphic analysis indicates that the Ordos Basin generally witnessed four cycles of water level variations during Mesozoic.During the variations,three high water level and three low water level events were recorded.Biological characteristics imply that the Ordos Basin went through multiple arid to humid climatic evolutions during Mesozoic.Combining the newly documented features with some novel concepts on the hydrodynamic mechanism for supergene ore-forming fluids,we propose a metallogenic model which invokes the importance of tectonic movements and water level fluctuations to explain the genesis of uranium deposits along the northern margin of the Ordos Basin.

Insight of enriched basalts into the nature and evolution of mantle lithosphere beneath craton margins

Refractory lithospheric deep roots are the cornerstone for the prolonged stability of cratons and mantle xenoliths are normally the key targets for study on the evolution of such deep roots. In regions with few mantle xenoliths, the basalts enriched in radiogenic isotopic compositions due to marked lithospheric mantle contribution are crucial to unmask the lithospheric mantle evolution based on a comprehensive study involving petrology, geochemistry and thermodynamic modelling. Here, the Early Cretaceous basalts from the northwest North China Craton with few mantle xenoliths are taken as an example to show the significance of enriched basalts on the study of lithospheric mantle. These basalts are characterized by high silica and alkali contents(SiO_(2)=45.8–59.8 wt.%, K_(2)O+Na_(2)O=4.81–9.88 wt.%), arc-type trace-element patterns and enriched radiogenic isotope compositions(e.g., ε_(Nd)=-2.64–-12.88,^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr=0.7063–0.7093). The TiO_(2) and FeO(total) contents are higher than those of natural and experimental melts from refractory mantle peridotite but comparable to those of partial melts of fertile mantle rocks.The high contents of fluid-loving elements(e.g., Rb and Ba) suggest source metasomatism by aqueous fluids. Combined with thermodynamic modelling and regional tectonic history, these enriched basalts likely record simultaneous decompression melting of asthenosphere and low-extent melting of thin and fertile lithospheric mantle fluxed by aqueous fluids from the subducted Paleo-Asian oceanic slab. The newly unmasked lithospheric mantle under the western NCC contrasts with the coeval thick and refractory one supporting the eastern NCC, and highlights that the craton destruction, especially the loss of its ancient refractory mantle root, should take place in a diachronous manner related to the craton-girded subduction episodes. Our study illustrates the potential of enriched basalts to recover the nature and evolution of mantle lithosphere beneath craton margins and associated tectonic histories.