Early Cretaceous diorites in the Kenbale Cu mineralization occurrence, Tibet, China, and its geological significance

Abstract

The Kenbale Cu mineralization occurrence related to the diorite is a newly discovered Cu mineralization event in the Bangong-Nujiang metallogenic belt, Tibet, China. The Cu mineralization is hosted in the contact between the monzogranite or biotite quartz diorite and the fine-grained diorite, which is the mineralization related intrusion. In order to constrain the Kenbale mineralization age, petrogenesis and tectonic setting, we conducted LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating and Hf isotopic analyses of the biotite quartz diorite and fine-grained diorite and also the whole-rock geochemical study of the biotite quartz diorite. Zircon UPb dating show that weighted mean 206Pb/238U ages of the biotite quartz diorite and fine-grained diorite are 123.5 ± 1.9 Ma (MSWD = 2.3, n = 16) and 118.9 ± 1.3 Ma (MSWD = 2.5, n = 18), respectively. The biotite quartz diorite is a high-K calc-alkaline I-type magma rock and was controlled mainly by partial melting process during the magma formation and evolution. This intrusion is characterized by positive eHf(t) values (2.6 to 5.8) and old Hf crustal model ages (813 to 1016 Ma), indicating that the magma was sourced from partial melting of the Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic juvenile crust of the northern Lhasa Terrane. Compared with the biotite quartz diorite, the mineralization associated fine-grained diorite has much higher zircon eHf(t) values (8.2 to 11.4) and younger Hf crustal model ages (450 to 650 Ma). These characteristics are similar with those of the coeval magmatic rocks induced by slab break-off of the southward subducted Bangong-Nujiang Ocean. The geochronology and geochemical results show that the Kenbale Cu mineralization was controlled by the slab break-off of the southward subducted Bangong-Nujiang Ocean.