Cambrian mercury mineralization event in South China: Insights from U-Pb dating of hydrothermal dolomite in the large Chatian Hg district

IF 3.2 2区地球科学 Q2 GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Precambrian Research Pub Date : 2024-08-15 DOI:10.1016/j.precamres.2024.107542

Fanyan Zhou , Dengfei Duan , Yan Liu , Junqin Wang , Haobo Jia , Mathias Burisch , Yi Zheng , Yue Wu

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Abstract

The genesis of many giant mercury (Hg) deposits/belts is widely debated largely because of a lack of reliable ore-forming age constraints. The LA-ICP-MS/MS dolomite U-Pb were employed to date the large Chatian Hg district in Xiangxi-Qiandong Hg belt of South China. The mineralization of this district can be divided into three stages: an initial Pyrite-Quartz stage before mercury deposition, a main Cinnabar-Sphalerite-Dolomite (Dol I) stage, and a subsequent Dolomite vein (Dol II) stage after ore formation. Three Dol I samples from the Chashula and Touponao Hg deposits were chosen for U-Pb dating, yielding ages of 509.8 ± 7.4 Ma, 509.4 ± 4.7 Ma and 507.4 ± 4.0 Ma respectively, indicating the mineralization occurred in the Cambrian Miaolingian, concurrent with or shortly after the deposition of the host-rock. These ages correspond with the emplacement periods of two Large Igneous Provinces (LIP) (the Pinghe silicic SLIP and the Kalkarindji LIP) in northeastern Gondwana, as well as the mantle-derived rocks in the study region. Combined with previous mercury isotopic data, our study proposes that the large-scale Hg mineralization in the area most likely resulted from the mantle-derived fluids, which would have directly contributed a significant amount of Hg for ore formation. Furthermore, the close timeframe between the Cambrian Series 2-Miaolingian trilobite extinction events and Hg mineralization in South China, may suggests a potential direct connection between the widespread mercury release and mineralization and the Cambrian Series 2-Miaolingian trilobite crisis in the region.

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华南寒武纪汞成矿事件：从大夏田汞矿区热液白云岩的U-Pb年代测定中获得的启示

由于缺乏可靠的成矿年龄约束，许多巨型汞（Hg）矿床/带的成因受到广泛争议。我们采用 LA-ICP-MS/MS 白云岩 U-Pb 测定了华南湘西黔东汞矿带大茶田汞矿区的成矿年代。该区的成矿作用可分为三个阶段：汞沉积前的黄铁矿-石英初始阶段、主要的朱砂-闪锌矿-白云石（Dol I）阶段和成矿后的白云石脉（Dol II）阶段。从查舒拉和头坡瑙汞矿床选取了三个 Dol I 样品进行 U-Pb 测定，得出的年龄分别为 509.8 ± 7.4 Ma、509.4 ± 4.7 Ma 和 507.4 ± 4.0 Ma，表明矿化发生在寒武纪庙岭期，与主岩沉积同时或不久。这些年龄与冈瓦纳东北部的两个大火成岩带（平和硅质大火成岩带和卡尔卡林吉大火成岩带）以及研究区域的地幔衍生岩的成岩期相吻合。结合以往的汞同位素数据，我们的研究提出，该地区大规模的汞矿化很可能来自地幔流体，而地幔流体会直接为矿石的形成提供大量的汞。此外，华南地区寒武纪2系-妙龄三叶虫灭绝事件与汞矿化之间的时间间隔很近，这可能表明汞的大范围释放和矿化与该地区寒武纪2系-妙龄三叶虫危机之间存在潜在的直接联系。

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来源期刊

Precambrian Research 地学-地球科学综合

CiteScore

7.20

自引率

28.90%

发文量

325

审稿时长

12 months

期刊介绍： Precambrian Research publishes studies on all aspects of the early stages of the composition, structure and evolution of the Earth and its planetary neighbours. With a focus on process-oriented and comparative studies, it covers, but is not restricted to, subjects such as: (1) Chemical, biological, biochemical and cosmochemical evolution; the origin of life; the evolution of the oceans and atmosphere; the early fossil record; palaeobiology; (2) Geochronology and isotope and elemental geochemistry; (3) Precambrian mineral deposits; (4) Geophysical aspects of the early Earth and Precambrian terrains; (5) Nature, formation and evolution of the Precambrian lithosphere and mantle including magmatic, depositional, metamorphic and tectonic processes. In addition, the editors particularly welcome integrated process-oriented studies that involve a combination of the above fields and comparative studies that demonstrate the effect of Precambrian evolution on Phanerozoic earth system processes. Regional and localised studies of Precambrian phenomena are considered appropriate only when the detail and quality allow illustration of a wider process, or when significant gaps in basic knowledge of a particular area can be filled.