Exhumation and Preservation of the Jinchuan Ni-Cu-PGE Deposit under the East Longshou Mountain Thermal Evolution,Revealed by Apatite Fission Track Thermochronology

Uplift and exhumation are important factors affecting the preservation of deposits.The anatomy of uplift-cooling evolution and exhumation in the East Longshou Mountain is of significant research value in understanding changes in the Jinchuan Ni-Cu-PGE deposit since its formation.This study uses apatite fission track(AFT)thermochronology to reconstruct the thermal history of the East Longshou Mountain,including the Jinchuan mine,revealing the uplift and exhumation history of the East Longshou Mountain and elucidating the preservation status of the Jinchuan deposit.The AFT ages in the East Longshou Mountain are distributed from 62.3±3.0 Ma to 214.7±14 Ma,with significant differences in ages in distinct areas,the central and pooled ages being consistent within the margin of error.Inverse thermal history models reveal two rapid cooling events associated with exhumation from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous(200–100 Ma)and since the Miocene(15–0 Ma),the former attributable to the far-afield response to the closure of the PaleoTethys Ocean and plate assembly at the southern margin of Eurasia,the latter associated with the initial India-Eurasia plate collision.A slow cooling event from the Early Cretaceous to the Miocene(100–15 Ma)is thought to be related to the arid environment in northwest China since the Cretaceous.These cooling events have diverse responses and cooling rates in different blocks of the East Longshou Mountain:the southwest and centre of which are mainly cooled over 200–120 Ma and 120–0 Ma,with cooling rates of~0.25 and~0.33°C/Ma(~1.25 and~0.33°C/Ma in the centre);the Jinchuan mine primarily cooled over 160–100 Ma,100–15 Ma and 15–0 Ma,with cooling rates of~1.33,~0.25 and~2.00°C/Ma.These differentiated coolings imply that the uplift of the East Longshou Mountain before the Miocene(~15 Ma)was integral.Strong uplift then occurred in the vicinity of the mining area,which is a critical period for the uplift of the Jinchuan deposit to the surface,meaning that the Jinchuan deposit was exposed no earlier than the Miocene(~15 Ma).Based on mineralization depth information obtained by previous researchers,in conjunction with the calculation and simulation results of this study,it can be seen that the bulk of the Jinchuan intrusion may still be preserved at depth.

Post-ore Modification and Preservation of the Indosinian Porphyry Copper Deposit in Geza Arc, Yunnan, SW China

Objective The post-ore modification and preservation of porphyry copper deposits is controlled and influenced by various geological processes, and the regional uplift and denudation is the most important factors. This study used biotite mineral geobarometer and Apatite Fission Track （AFT） to restore the uplift evolution of the granitic porphyries in the Geza arc and to obtain quantitative data of rock erosion degree and denudation rate.

Application of low-temperature thermochronology on ore deposits preservation framework in South China:a review

South China can be divided into four metallogenic belts:The Middle-Lower Yangtze Metallogenic Belt(MLYB),Qinzhou-Hangzhou Metallogenic Belt(QHMB),Nanling Metallogenic Belt(NLMB),and Wuyi Metallogenic Belt(WYMB).The major mineralization in the four metallogenic belts is granite-related Cu–Au–Mo and porphyrite Fe-apatite,porphyry Cu(Au),and epithermal Pb–Zn–Ag,hydrothermal Cu–Au–Pb–Zn–Ag,and granite-related skarn-type and quartz-veins W–Sn,respectively.Low-temperature thermochronology,including fissiontrack and U-Th/He dating,has been widely used to constrain tectonic thermal evolution and ore deposits preservation.Understanding fission-track annealing and He diffusion kinetics in accessory minerals,such as zircon and apatite,is essential for dating and applications.In this study,previous zircon fission-track(ZFT)and apatite fission-track(AFT)ages in South China were collected.The result shows that the ZFT ages are mainly concentrated at140–90 Ma,and the AFT ages are mainly distributed at70–40 Ma.The age distribution and inversion temperature–time paths reveal heterogeneous exhumation histories in South China.The MLYB experienced Late CretaceousCenozoic extremely slow exhumation after rapid cooling in the Early Cretaceous.The northern QHMB(i.e.from southern Anhui province to the Hangzhou Bay)had a relatively faster rate of uplifting and denudation than the southern QHMB in the Cretaceous.Subsequently,the northern QHMB rapidly exhumed,while the continuously slow exhumation operated the southern QHMB in the Cenozoic.The southern NLMB had a more rapid cooling rate than the northern NLMB during the Cretaceous time,and the whole NLMB experienced rapid cooling in the Cenozoic,except that the southern Hunan province had the most rapid cooling rate.The WYMB possibly had experienced slow exhumation since the Late Cretaceous.The exhumation thickness of the four metallogenic belts since90 Ma is approximately calculated as follows:the MLYB≤3.5 km,the northern QHMB concentrated at3.5–5.5 km,and the southern QHMB usually less than3.5 km,the NLMB 4.5–6.5 km and the WYMB<3.5 km.The exhumation thickness of the NLMB is corresponding to the occurrence of the world-class W deposits,which were emplaced into a deeper depth of 1.5–8 km.As such,we infer that the uplifting and denudation processes of the four metallogenic belts have also played an important role in dominated ore deposits.

Exhumation history and preservation of the Jiaojia giant gold deposit, Jiaodong Peninsula

The Jiaojia giant gold deposit is the largest gold deposit in China, with a total gold reserve of approximately 1200 t.Until now, the knowledge of the exhumation history of post-mineralization period is limited, in particular for the low-temperature thermochronology studies of samples below-1000 m. In this work, we combined zircon fission-track(ZFT) and apatite fission-track(AFT) dating of samples between-1100 and-2000 m to determine the post-mineralization cooling and exhumation history of the Jiaojia giant gold deposit. The ZFT ages ranged from 144.2±6.3 to 124.4±5.5 Ma, representing the cooling period and the disturbance of ore-forming fluid. The AFT ages ranged from 28.1±2.6 to 16.2±1.0 Ma, recording the exhumation and cooling processes. With reference to previous low-temperature thermochronology studies in the Jiaojia goldfield, we estimated the exhumation rate and amount of the Jiaojia giant gold deposit and reconstructed its exhumation and preservation history. The exhumation history was divided into four stages, rapid exhumation(~120–95 Ma), relatively slow exhumation(~95–50 Ma),slow exhumation(~50–30 Ma) and relatively rapid exhumation(since 30 Ma). Each stage corresponds to geological events related to the basin-mountain coupling that have occurred since the Cretaceous in the Jiaodong area, namely, a strong tectonic extension and volcanic eruption in the Jiaolai Basin, subsidence of the Jiaolai Basin and Wangshi Group molasse sedimentary,tectonic quiescence, and the Linqu Group basalt eruption of the Jiaobei uplift. Our results show that the exhumation of the Jiaojia giant gold deposit is ~5.2±1.2 km and the orebody erosion degree is relatively low, indicating huge prospecting potential deep in the Jiaojia giant gold deposit. These findings have significance and practical value for deep prospecting in the Jiaodong area.

The Influx of the Tsushima Current into the Central Ulleung Basin of East Sea (Sea of Japan), Korea

A total of 85 samples, collected from the UBGH1-9 core taken from the Ulleung Basin, East Sea, Korea, were analyzed using diatom assemblages. 111 diatom species belonging to 46 genera were identified, and three diatom assemblage zones were established on the basis of occurrence and distribution pattern of diatoms. Diatom assemblage zone I（134.10–174 m） is characterized by a relatively high abundance of marine species, while the increased number of the brackish species is recorded in diatom assemblage zone II（75–125 m）. The assemblage zones IIIa became drastic drop of valve abundances and brackish planktons, whereas it became increase during the IIIb. High Td values which indicate an influence of warm current are recorded both in diatom assemblage zone I and III, and low Td values in diatom assemblage zone II. Analysis of diatom assemblages indicating that the depositional condition moved from oceanic to littoral-neritic environments and that paleotemperature underwent a shift from warm to cold condition at the middle interval, and from cold to warm condition in the upper interval of the UBGH1-9 core. This suggests that the lower（130–162 m） and upper intervals（0–20 m） of the UBGH1-9 core were deposited in the warm current condition（Tsushima Warm Current）.