SHRIMP U–Pb zircon geochronology of granitoids from Dongping area, Hebei Province, China: constraints on tectonic evolution and geodynamic setting for gold metallogeny

Abstract The Dongping area in the central part of the northern marginal zone of the North China Craton (NCC) is one of the most important gold-producing areas in China, and has been intruded by a number of alkaline and granitic batholiths or plutons spatially associated with gold deposits. Previous dates on these intrusions yield contradictory data, depending on the isotopic methodology used, and have led to ambiguity in understanding magmatic evolution and gold mineralization of the region. Detailed SHRIMP U–Pb zircon geochronology of the alkaline and granitic rocks in the study area now reveals details of its tectono-magmatic history. Zircons from a granitic gneiss hosting the Xiaoyingpan gold deposit yielded concordant ages of ca. 2.5 Ga. This constrains regional metamorphism of the Archaean basement to late Archaean time. A second magmatic event at ca. 1.8 Ga is revealed by xenocrystic/inherited zircons with this age. These two Precambrian events are coeval with those in other parts of the NCC. The largest igneous intrusion in the region, the Shuiquangou syenite–monzonite complex, was emplaced at ca. 390 Ma, as indicated by the magmatic zircon populations of the two samples from the central and eastern parts of the complex. The accretion of a volcanic arc onto the northern margin of the NCC is considered as a plausible cause of this alkaline magmatism. The emplacement of the Guzuizi porphyritic granite pluton at 236±2 Ma represents another major magmatic event in the region, probably a response to postcollisional orogeny following amalgamation of the North China and Angara cratons. Latest magmatism is marked by the emplacement of the Shangshuiquan monzogranite at 142.2±1.3 Ma, which is most likely related to an underplating event that took place in the Dongping and its adjacent areas at ca. 140 Ma. More importantly, these results suggest that gold mineralization in the area, essentially a single event as indicated by similar deposit characteristics, is broadly coeval with this latest granite magmatism. Hence, this mineralization is about 250 Ma later than the emplacement of the Shuiquangou alkaline complex and, thus, is interpreted to preclude the widely accepted model that suggests gold deposits have genetic relationships with alkaline magmatism. The late timing of gold mineralization with respect to felsic magmatism in the area is similar to those observed in other major gold-producing provinces in the NCC. In all these major gold provinces, we suggest that gold mineralization is coeval with the latest granite magmatic event at about 140–120 Ma. This farther suggests that these mesothermal gold deposits were formed from similar tectono-magmatic environments.