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Titanite in situ SIMS U–Pb geochronology, elemental and Nd isotopic signatures record mineralization and fluid characteristics at the Pusangguo skarn deposit, Tibet

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Abstract

The Pusangguo skarn is a newly discovered Cu-Pb-Zn deposit in the Gangdese metallogenic belt, Tibet. In order to constrain the age of the deposit and the source of hydrothermal fluids, various types of titanite and coexisting minerals in the Pusangguo deposit were studied. The titanite occurring interstitially in fresh granodiorite is magmatic and characterized by high REE, Y, Mn, and Lu/Hf ratios, and high crystallization temperatures (700 to 750 °C). The titanite growing with, or included in, diopside in the prograde endoskarn, or occurring with epidote, calcite, and quartz in the retrograde exoskarn, is hydrothermal titanite characterized by low REE, Y, Mn, and Lu/Hf ratios. The titanite in the retrograde exoskarn typically contains a REE-enriched early core characterized by a negative Eu anomaly, and an overgrowth REE-depleted rim with a positive Eu anomaly. The secondary-ion mass spectrometry U-Pb dating of titanite drilled from thin sections of retrograde exoskarn shows intercept ages of 14.91 ± 0.31 Ma, which are consistent with the granodiorite age (14.63 ± 0.30 Ma), indicating coeval emplacement of granodiorite and skarn mineralization at ~ 14.7 Ma. In addition, in situ epidote and calcite Sr isotopes and titanite Nd isotopes, all analyzed in the same retrograde exoskarn thin section, show similar Sr-Nd isotopic compositions to magmatic plagioclase and granodiorite (whole rock), indicating that the retrograde hydrothermal fluids were directly derived from, or had the same origin as, the granodiorite.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Di Zhang for assistance with major element analysis at IGGCAS, Xin Yan for assistance with BSE and CL images, Brad McDonald for assistance with LA-ICP-MS analysis at Curtin University, YueHeng Yang for assistance with Sr-Nd isotopic analyses at IGGCAS, QiuLi Li for assistance with SIMS U-Pb dating at IGGCAS. We thank two anonymous reviewers, associate Editor Rolf Romer and Editor Bernd Lehmann, for their constructive comments and excellent suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (2019QZKK0801) and Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (2018086) to Mingjian Cao, and the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 41773047) to Xiaoxiao Ling. Analysis in the JdLC GeoHistory Facility was enabled by AuScope (auscope.org.au) and the Australian Government via the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    MingJian Cao, KeZhang Qin, GuangMing Li & JunXing Zhao

  2. Innovation Academy for Earth Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    MingJian Cao, KeZhang Qin, GuangMing Li, XiaoXiao Ling & JunXing Zhao

  3. College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    KeZhang Qin & GuangMing Li

  4. School of Earth and Planetary Sciences/John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6945, Australia

    Noreen J. Evans & Brent I. A. McInnes

  5. State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    XiaoXiao Ling

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Cao, M., Qin, K., Evans, N.J. et al. Titanite in situ SIMS U–Pb geochronology, elemental and Nd isotopic signatures record mineralization and fluid characteristics at the Pusangguo skarn deposit, Tibet. Miner Deposita 56, 907–916 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00126-020-01021-4

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