Geological characteristics and tectonic setting of the epithermal deposits in northeast China

Abstract

This paper documents epithermal deposits in northeast China and proposes a geological map showing their spatial distribution. The map outlines four ore-concentrated districts of Derbugan, Huma, Lesser Hingan and Eastern Jilin. In this paper we also summarize the geological and geochemical characteristics of the epithermal deposits and preliminarily get a series of understandings including:the ore-forming fluid-systems were dominated by meteoric water, occasionally with input of magmatic fluid; ore components were mainly sourced from the host-rocks and metallogenic magma-fluid systems; most deposits were formed in epithermal system, and a few in epithermal-to-mesothermal conditions, suggesting a continuum between porphyry/mesothermal and epithermal systems; large-scale metallogenesis and magmatism occurred at ca. 130 Ma, coeval with the tectonic transition from continental-collisional compression to extension. Finally, we interpret the development of the metallogenic magma-fluid systems in NE China using the CMF model at orogen-scale.