Early Palaeozoic high-Mg basalt-andesite suite in the Duobaoshan Porphyry Cu deposit, NE China: Constraints on petrogenesis, mineralization, and tectonic setting

Abstract

High-Mg basalt-andesite suites are extremely rare in the modern Earth but genetically important for indicating essential crust-mantle interactions, ascertaining critical geodynamic settings, and understanding the formation of porphyry copper deposits. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) zircon U-Pb dating and geochemistry document an early Palaeozoic high-Mg basalt-andesite suite from the Duobaoshan porphyry Cu deposit, eastern Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Dating results reveal that the Duobaoshan high-Mg basalt and andesite erupted ca. 506 Ma and ca. 485 Ma, respectively. These high-Mg samples are typical subduction-related volcanic rocks with SiO2 contents of 47.73 to 55.16 wt%, high MgO (6.08 to 10.82 wt%), and high Mg# (58 to 67) and feature enrichments in large ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and depletions in high field strength elements (HFSEs). The samples have juvenile whole-rock initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.70272 to 0.70451, ɛNd(t) of 4.8 to 8.7 (average 7.23), and zircon ɛHf(t) of 7.3 to 15.9. Additionally, they have high Sr (average 619.36 ppm) and low Y (average 11.92 ppm) and Yb (average 1.21 ppm) contents that show affinity with adakitic high-Mg basalts and andesites worldwide. These high-Mg, depleted mantle-like isotopic and adakitic geochemical features imply a depleted mantle source variably assimilated by slab-derived melts under a sustained subduction tectonic setting. We also propose that the Duobaoshan high-Mg basalt-andesite suite, as the parental source magma, fertilized the overlying Duobaoshan porphyry Cu deposit by providing water, copper, and sulphur and high oxygen fugacity. A comprehensive comparison of the post-ore volcanic rocks shows that they might have originated from the slab-derived fluid metasomatized depleted mantle wedge, which had different properties from the mantle that produced the pre- and syn-ore volcanic intrusive rocks. The post-ore volcanic rocks underwent little crustal evolution en route to the surface during a reworked subduction event, which indicates a relatively immature island arc environment.