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Hydrothermal ore deposits in collisional orogens

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 Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205–212

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Review

Hydrothermal ore deposits in collisional orogens

Yongfei Zheng a,⇑, Jingwen Mao b, Yanjing Chen c, Weidong Sun d, Pei Ni e, Xiaoyong Yang a
a
Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, Chinese Academy of Sciences, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China,
Hefei 230026, China
b
Key Laboratory of Metallogeny and Mineral Assessment, Ministry of Natural Rescources, Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China
c
Key Laboratory of Orogen and Crustal Evolution, Ministry of Education, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
d
Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Environment, Center of Deep-Sea Research, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China
e
State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, Institute of Geo-Fluids, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Hydrothermal ore deposits at convergent plate boundaries represent extraordinary metal enrichment in
Received 24 December 2018 the continental crust. They are generally associated with felsic magmatism in extensional settings at high
Received in revised form 4 January 2019 thermal gradients. Although their formation is common during accretionary orogeny, more and more ore
Accepted 7 January 2019
deposits have been discovered recently in the collisional orogens of China. Because collisional orogeny
Available online 11 January 2019
was operated in a compressional regime at low thermal gradients, it is not favorable for mobilization
of ore-forming elements and thus for the production of hydrothermal ore deposits. Nevertheless, conti-
Keywords:
nental collision is generally preceded by oceanic subduction, which enables the preliminary enrichment
Ore deposits
Hydrothermal fluid
of ore-forming elements in the mantle wedge due to chemical metasomatism by subducting slab-derived
Accretionary orogen fluids. This gave rise to metal pre-enriched domains in the overriding lithosphere, which may be reacti-
Collisional orogen vated by extensional tectonism for hydrothermal mineralization either immediately during accretionary
Rifting orogen orogeny or at a later time during and after collisional orogeny. It is these tectonic processes that have
Tectonic reactivation resulted in the progressive enrichment of ore-forming elements through the geochemical differentiation
of the subducting oceanic crust, the metasomatic mantle domains and the mafic juvenile crust, respec-
tively, at different depths. Finally, the reactivation of metal pre-enriched domains by continental rifting
in the orogenic lithosphere is the key to the metallogenesis of collisional orogens.
Ó 2019 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction as Pyrenees, Alps, Zagros and Himalaya, which are all associated
with northward subduction of Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab in the
Collisional orogeny generally shows a low potential for the for- Mesozoic. The authors find a significant difference in their metallo-
mation of hydrothermal ore deposits [1,2]. In contrast, a large genic endowment between the four orogens. They found that sim-
number of hydrothermal ore deposits occur in accretionary oro- ple collisional orogens in Pyrenees and Alps, in which there is no
gens such as the Tethyan orogen [3] and the circum-Pacific orogens intervened arc between two collided continents (Fig. 1a), only con-
[4,5], including porphyry Cu–Au–Mo [6], epithermal Au–Ag [7], tain hydrothermal Pb-Zn and Au deposits. In contrast, composite
and volcanogenic massive sulfides [8]. For this reason, collisional collisional orogens in Zagros-Iranian and Himalayan-Tibetan Pla-
orogens are usually considered the unfavorable sites for significant teaus, in which Mesozoic arc terranes were present between two
metallogenesis relative to accretionary orogens [9,10]. As a conse- collisional continents (Fig. 1b), contain abundances of ore deposits
quence, it has been enigmatic why there is the big difference in such as hydrothermal Cu-Mo, Au, REE, Pb-Zn, and polymetallic
metallogenic capacity between accretionary and collisional deposits. It appears that these hydrothermal ore deposits were
orogens. produced by reworking of the Mesozoic arc lithosphere in the
Our understanding of metallogenesis in collisional orogens has Cenozoic. This has advanced our understanding of metallogenesis
dramatically changed since the finding of large ore deposits in in collisional orogens. This essay aims to provide further insights
southern Tibet [11–13]. Zhang and Hou [14] make a systematic into the relationship in both time and space between metallogen-
comparison of metallogenesis in Cenozoic collisional orogens such esis and orogenesis at convergent plate boundaries.

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (Y. Zheng).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2019.01.007
2095-9273/Ó 2019 Science China Press. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science China Press. All rights reserved.
206 Y. Zheng et al. / Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205–212

porphyry intrusions, some of porphyry Cu-Au and epithermal Au

deposits were generated in the stage of post-subduction at fossil
convergent plate boundaries [20,21]. So are Miocene porphyry
Cu-Mo deposits in southern Tibet [3]. In addition, a diverse array
of deposit types may form as part of a broad porphyry-related sys-
tem with locations that vary in vertical position and/or distance
from the central driving intrusion [22].
Tectonically, the accretionary orogeny means not only the ver-
tical accretion of juvenile crust through mafic arc magmatism
(Fig. 2a) but also the lateral accretion of juvenile arc terranes to
continental margins (Fig. 2b). In either case, there are variable dif-
ferences in time between the vertical and lateral accretions during
the subduction of oceanic lithosphere. More importantly, porphyry
ore deposits in the eastern Pacific rim are generally associated with
felsic rather than mafic intrusives [23]. This lithochemical differ-
ence indicates that ore-forming magmas underwent significant dif-
ferentiation, which may be realized through either the fractional
crystallization of primary mafic arc melts or the partial melting
of crystalline arc intrusives. Furthermore, these ore deposits were
generally produced in extensional rather than compressional
Fig. 1. Schematic diagrams for two types of collisional orogeny at convergent regimes, indicating that the metallogenesis postdates metamor-
continental boundaries. phic dehydration of the subducting oceanic slab during its thermal
coupling with the mantle wedge at subarc depths. In addition, the
tectonic processes for arc magmatism above oceanic subduction
2. Metallogenesis of accretionary orogens zones would generally proceed in two stages [24]. The first is the
generation of fertile, enriched mantle domains through chemical
It is known that arc magmatism is caused by subduction of metasomatism of the mantle wedge by liquid phases such as aque-
oceanic lithosphere, leading to accretionary orogeny along conti- ous solutions and hydrous melts from the subducting oceanic slab,
nental margins [15,16]. In view of the compositional difference and the second is partial melting of these mantle domains for mafic
between the two types of collisional orogen in Pyrenees, Alps, arc magmatism (Fig. 3). The two stages may be either continuous
Zagros and Himalaya [14], accretionary orogens are absent in the or discontinuous, depending on the geodynamics of convergent
simple collision orogens by the direct continent–continent colli- plate boundaries [25,26].
sion for mountain building. In contrast, accretionary orogens are It is known that subduction zones would have low thermal gra-
present in the composite collision orogens, but they were superim- dients of <10 °C/km if the subducting oceanic slab was thermally
posed by collisional orogeny [17]. The accretionary orogen in coupled with the overlying mantle wedge [26,27]. This stage may
Zagros-Iranian Plateau is the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone and that in be responsible for metamorphic dehydration and partial melting
Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau is the Gangdese zone [14]. Both accre- of the subducting oceanic crust (composed of seafloor sediment
tionary orogens were generated by subduction of the Neo-Tethyan and mafic igneous rocks) at subarc depths, providing the liquid
oceanic lithosphere in the Mesozoic, and both were located in the phases for the chemical metasomatism. However, the temperature
hangwall of continental subduction zones during the collisional of subduction zones was low in this stage of compression, so that
orogeny in the Cenozoic [18]. In this regard, the formation of these the mantle domains have very low potential for partial melting
hydrothermal ore deposits in the collisional orogens is caused by to produce arc magmatism. As soon as the subducting oceanic slab
reworking of the Mesozoic accretionary orogens in the Cenozoic. was thermally decoupled with the overlying mantle wedge at sub-
It is this reworking that is a key to the production of hydrothermal arc depths, its base can be heated by laterally flowing astheno-
ore deposits at the convergent continental boundaries. spheric mantle [26]. As a consequence, the mantle domains can
Although accretionary orogens are regarded as the favorite sites become partially melted for arc magmatism in the stage of exten-
for the production of hydrothermal ore deposits, a variety of tec- sion. Duration for the thermal transition from coupling to decou-
tonic settings are cited in the literature for metallogenesis [9,10]. pling between the subducting slab and mantle wedge may be
Inspection of these settings with reference to their temporal rela- short (<1 Ma) or long (>100 Ma), depending on the geodynamics
tionship to the subduction of oceanic lithosphere indicates that of subduction zones [28]. The short duration is typical of arc mag-
most of the hydrothermal ore deposits are not associated with matism above the circum-Pacific subduction zones, whereas the
mafic arc magmatism. Instead, they are associated with hydrous long duration is common for post-collisional arc-like magmatism
felsic magmatism. Nevertheless, these ore deposits were generally in intracontinental regions. The intracontinental reactivation is
produced in extensional regimes, and they were substantially common due to continental rifting along preexisting accretionary
formed at a time variably later than the accretionary orogeny. Fur- and collisional orogens, often showing superimposition of eclogite
thermore, there is the spatial superimposition of continental rifting facies metamorphic rocks by granulite facies metamorphism at
on convergent continental boundaries where the collision- fossil convergent boundaries [27].
thickened orogenic lithosphere was thinned and then impinged In accretionary orogens, hydrothermal ore deposits represent
by hot mantle upwellings. Thus the metallogenesis in many accre- extraordinary metal concentrations that form by geological pro-
tionary orogens would have occurred at a time significantly later cesses in tectonic environments typified by high thermal gradients
than the cessation of active convergence by the subduction of ocea- at convergent plate boundaries. Although they require the con-
nic lithosphere. Typically, orogenic Au deposits were generated at junction of specific geological environments to form, the pre-
suture zones after terrane accretion [19]. The other examples enrichment of metals in their sources is the key to the formation
include those hydrothermal Au and W–Sn deposits that develop of ore deposits. After examining the characteristics of some por-
at cratonic margins. Although hydrothermal ore deposits above phyry Cu-Au, epithermal Au, iron oxide Cu-Au and orogenic Au
active oceanic subduction zones are closely associated with deposits worldwide, Griffin et al. [29] argue that the origin of such
 Y. Zheng et al. / Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205–212 207

Fig. 2. Schematic diagrams showing the tectonic evolution of orogens from oceanic subduction for accretionary orogeny through continental subduction for collisional
orogeny to continental rifting for rifting orogeny along convergent plate boundaries (for terminology see Supplementary Information).

In view of the tectonic processes above oceanic subduction

zones, their metallogenesis would experience at least three steps
of geochemical differentiation (Fig. 4). The first is the preliminary
enrichment of incompatible elements, including ore-forming ele-
ments, in the liquid phases by metamorphic dehydration and/or
partial melting of the subducting oceanic crust at subarc depths
(Fig. 4a). The second is the further enrichment of the ore-forming
elements in mafic melts by partial melting of the metasomatic
domains in the mantle wedge (Fig. 4b). This leads to mafic arc mag-
matism that is either modal for volcanic eruption on the surface or

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram showing the generation of metal pre-enriched domains

in the mantle wedge at first above oceanic subduction zones and then further
enrichment of ore-forming elements in mafic and felsic melts through geochemical
differentiation.

ore deposits is related to enrichment of these ore-forming ele-

ments in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle that underwent
metasomatism by liquid phases from subducting oceanic slabs.
For porphyry Cu deposits in the Gangdese orogen, Hou et al.
[30,31] link metallogenesis to pre-enrichment of the ore-forming
element in the mantle wedge above the Neo-Tethyan oceanic sub-
duction zone. Similar arguments are also shared for the genesis of
REE-rich carbonatite at Mianning-Dechang in Southwest China
[32] and Au-rich porphyry deposits at Beiya along the western
margin of the South China Block [33]. In this regard, the temporal
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram showing the conjunction of three independent steps for
and spatial distributions of hydrothermal ore deposits at conver- progressive enrichment of ore-forming elements in the mantle wedge, the mafic
gent plate boundaries are the result of spectacular metallogenic melt and the felsic melt, respectively, with the final mineralization at convergent
processes. plate boundaries.
208 Y. Zheng et al. / Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205–212

cryptic for igneous intrusion below the surface. The third is the values of 1.8 to 4.5 and low (87Sr/86Sr)i ratios of 0.7040 to
extraordinary enrichment of those metals in hydrothermal fluids 0.7050 [45]. In view of the known tectonism for subduction of
for ore deposition during felsic magmatism (Fig. 4c), which may the Paleo-Tethyan oceanic slab beneath the southern margin of
be realized either through the fractional crystallization of mafic the North South Block in the Late Paleozoic [46], it is inferred that
arc melts during their ascent or through the partial melting of these mafic dykes have their mantle source to be generated by
mafic arc intrusives in the lower crustal level. While there may metasomatic reaction of the mantle wedge peridotite with hydrous
be variable differences in time between the first and second steps, melts derived from dehydration melting of the subducting Paleo-
it is generally short between the second and third steps. Because Tethys oceanic crust [45]. This period of oceanic subduction would
the second step would be caused by lithospheric rifting, the exten- have also given rise to a fertile, Mo pre-enriched domain in the
sional regime prevails for metallogenesis at convergent plate mantle wedge. During the collisional orogeny in the Triassic, nev-
boundaries. In other words, the rifting orogeny is responsible for ertheless, the domain was not reactivated for the porphyry Mo
reactivation of both accretionary and collisional orogens [27] and mineralization. In the Early Cretaceous, however, the collision-
thus for the final deposition of ore minerals. thickened orogenic root was foundered for underplating of the
asthenospheric mantle due to the continental rifting [47]. It is this
episode of rifting orogeny that would have resulted in reactivation
3. Metallogenesis of collisional orogens of the Mo pre-enriched domain for the porphyry Mo mineralization
at the collisional continental boundary (Fig. 5).
In order to produce numerous giant or large ore deposits at con- The Jiaodong Au ore district is located in the southeastern mar-
vergent plate boundaries, it is necessary to have the reactivation of gin of the North China Block. It consists of >100 gold deposits,
metal pre-enriched domains by later tectonism. It is known that including seven world-class giants [48–52]. These deposits have
subduction of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab beneath the Asian con- a total gold reserve of >4,000 t, making Jiaodong the largest gold
tinent for accretionary orogeny in the Mesozoic was followed by producer of China. The Jiaodong Au deposits are hosted by
the collisional orogeny between the Indian and Asian continents Neoarchean to Paleoproterozoic amphibolite facies metamorphic
in the Cenozoic [18]. With respect to the age of 55 ± 10 Ma for rocks, which were intruded by a large volume of Mesozoic grani-
the continental collision between India and Asia [17,34], the toids with a small volume of mafic igneous rocks. All these rocks
majority of hydrothermal ore deposits in the Gangdese orogen of are located in a lithotectonic unit north of the Sulu orogen and east
southern Tibet would have formed in the syn- and post- of the Tanlu Fault. This unit is part of the Paleoproterozoic
collisional stages [14]. In this regard, their formation can be attrib- Jiao-Liao-Ji orogen and served as the hangwall of the Triassic
uted to reactivation of the Mesozoic accretionary orogens not only continental subduction zone [53,54]. The majority of Au deposits
by the collisional orogeny in the Early Cenozoic (Fig. 2c) but also by there are hosted by the NE-trending ductile–brittle faults
the rifting orogeny in the Late Cenozoic (Fig. 2d). Therefore, the traversing some granitoids and, less commonly, the basement
metallogenesis of collisional orogens would be generally achieved rocks. The ore-bearing granitoids were emplaced episodically at
by reactivation of the metal pre-enriched domains in the hangwall ca. 160–150 Ma, 130–126 Ma, and 125–90 Ma, respectively. Gold
of continental subduction zones. This provides a generic model for mineralization occurs either as extensional massive gold–quartz–
the origin of hydrothermal ore deposits in collisional orogens pyrite veins that can continue for >1 km along strike or as shear
(Fig. 4). It is applicable to the metallogenesis of collisional orogens zone-hosted disseminated sulfides in fractured granitoids. Various
elsewhere in the world, which is illustrated below by Mesozoic ore geochronological approaches were used to date the hydrothermal
deposits in the Central Orogenic Belt of China, such as hydrother- Au mineralization at Jiaodong, yielding a range of ages from 100
mal Mo deposits at Shapinggou in the Dabie-Hong’an orogen, and to 138 Ma [55]. After examination of all available dates for Au
hydrothermal Au deposits at Jiaodong and Xiaoqinling in the ore bodies and their host rocks, Goldfarb and Santosh [49]
southern margin of the North China Block. conclude that the vast majority of the gold ore was deposited
The Shapinggou Mo deposit is located in the Shang-Ma fault over a relatively short time interval between 120 and ca. 126 Ma.
zone between the Dabie and Hong’an orogens in east-central This range of metallogenic ages falls within a peak age range of
China. It is one of the largest Mo-only porphyry deposits in the
world [35–39]. It has a total reserve of approximately 2.37 Mt
Mo with ore grades of 0.14 wt% Mo in average, and Mo is present
in the form of molybdenite. Porphyry magmatism dominantly
occurred in the Early Cretaceous and can be divided into two stages
at 125–138 Ma and 111–118 Ma, respectively [40]. The Mo ore-
bodies are mainly hosted in the late-stage granitic porphyry and
syenite, whose exposure area is much smaller than the early-
stage intrusions. The ore-bearing granitoids are located in the Bei-
huaiyang zone, a lithotectonic unit that looks like the hangwall of
the Triassic continental subduction zone [41]. Molybdenite Re–Os
dating yields an isochron age of 111.1 ± 1.2 Ma for the mineraliza-
tion, and zircon U–Pb dating gives ages of 111.7 ± 0.8 Ma for the
granitic porphyry and 111.9 ± 0.6 Ma for the quartz syenite [42].
In comparison with the Triassic age of 245–215 Ma for the conti-
nental collision to build the Hong’an-Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt
between the North and South China Blocks [43,44], the porphyry
Mo mineralization postdates the collisional orogeny at least
100 Ma. Nevertheless, it is only slightly later than the emplace-
ment age of 112–115 Ma for mafic dykes, which are also located
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram showing the formation of the porphyry Mo deposit at
in the Shang-Ma fault zone but show oceanic island basalts Shapinggou in the Shang-Ma fault zone between the Dabie and Hong’an
(OIB)-like trace element geochemistry and relatively depleted orogens. SCLM, subcontinental lithospheric mantle; UHPM, ultrahigh-pressure
radiogenic isotope compositions with consistently high eNd(t) metamorphic.
 Y. Zheng et al. / Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205–212 209

120–130 Ma for intense magmatism in the eastern part of the of the mantle wedge, which were reactivated for the final Au min-
North China Block [56,57]. Its youngest age is also close to an age eralization in the Early Cretaceous.
of 121 Ma for the geochemical transformation in the composition The above documents indicate that the formation of hydrother-
of mantle sources between two types of mafic igneous rocks [58], mal ore deposits in the hangwall of collisional orogens requires the
suggesting that the hydrothermal Au mineralization is temporally conjunction in time and space of three essential steps (Fig. 4): (1)
associated with a dramatic demarcation in mantle composition at the subduction of oceanic lithosphere before continental collision,
the fossil convergent boundary. generating the metal pre-enriched domains in the mantle wedge
There have been hot debates on the origin of hydrothermal Au (Fig. 4a), (2) the further enrichment of ore-forming elements in
deposits in the Jiaodong district [49–52]. Because these Au deposits mafic melts through partial melting of the metal pre-enriched
are hosted in the Precambrian metamorphic basement, they mantle domains (Fig. 4b), and (3) the reactivation of metal pre-
resemble many features of common orogenic Au deposits [19,59]. enriched crustal domains by continental rifting for hydrothermal
In general, typical Phanerozoic orogenic Au deposits were gener- mineralization above continental subduction zones (Fig. 4c). In this
ated by regional metamorphism of oceanic igneous rocks in accre- regard, it is necessary to have the three steps of metal enrichment
tionary orogens surrounding Precambrian cratons [60]. However, together in the orogenic lithosphere in order to make the
there was no accretionary orogen of Phanerozoic age along the hydrothermal ore deposits in either of accretionary, collisional or
convergent continental boundary between the North and China rifting orogens. However, it remains to be resolved which step
Blocks in the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt [61]. On the other hand, has played a central role in the extraordinary enrichment of metals
the Jiaodong Au deposits have their metallogenic ages consistent for orogenic metallogenesis.
with the peak age of cratonic destruction in North China, so that
they were termed as decratonic gold deposits [51]. Although they
do occur in the hangwall of the collisional orogen between the 4. Metallogenesis of granitic rocks
North and South China Blocks, the metallogenic ages of
120–126 Ma in the Early Cretaceous are significantly later than In addition to the hydrothermal ore deposits in I-type granites
the continental collision to build the Dabie-Sulu orogenic belt at of the Gangdese orogen [11–14], there are a number of potential
215–245 Ma in the Triassic [61]. This makes their formation irrel- Be, Nb-Ta and Sn mineralizations in S-type granites of the Himala-
evant to the collisional orogeny itself. Nevertheless, there was yan orogen. This is indicated by the occurrence of rare-metal bear-
northward subduction of the Paleo-Tethyan oceanic slab beneath ing minerals such as beryl, columbite-group minerals, tapiolite,
the southern margin of the North China Block in the Late Paleozoic pyrochlore-microlite, fergusonite, rutile, and cassiterite in
before the continental collision in the Triassic to build the Dabie- leucogranites [64]. These leucogranites were emplaced in the Late
Sulu orogenic belt [46,61]. This period of oceanic subduction would Cenozoic [65] and contemporaneous with adjacent migmatites and
generate a series of fertile, Au pre-enriched domains in the mantle granulites [66], indicating their petrogenetic link to rifting orogeny
wedge. Nevertheless, these domains were not reactivated for the [17]. With respect to the tectonic architecture along the conver-
hydrothermal Au mineralization during the collisional orogeny in gent continental boundary between India and Asia [18], the Hima-
the Triassic. Instead, they were reactivated by the continental layan orogen is composed of metasedimentary rocks derived from
rifting in the Early Cretaceous subsequent to foundering of the oro- the subducting Indian continent, and the leucogranites herein were
genic root [47]. This rifting orogeny would serve as the geodynamic derived from partial melting of the metasedimentary rocks [67,68].
mechanism for the hydrothermal Au mineralization in the Therefore, the extraordinary enrichment of ore-forming elements
collisional orogen. in the S-type granites has no bearing on the chemical metasoma-
The Xiaoqinling Au deposits are located in the southern margin tism of the mantle wedge during the Neo-Tethyan oceanic subduc-
of the Trans-North China Orogen in the North China Block. They tion in the Mesozoic. It may result from geochemical
constitute the second largest gold producer of China [51,62,63]. differentiation of the metasedimentary rocks through both partial
Compared with the hydrothermal Au deposits at Jiaodong, the Au melting and fractional crystallization. In contrast, the Gangdese
deposits at Xiaoqinling are mostly hosted in the Precambrian orogen is composed of igneous rocks that were produced by conti-
metamorphic rocks of the Taihua Group (2.2–2.9 Ga) and the vol- nental arc magmatism in the Mesozoic [18] and then reworked by
canic rocks of the Xiong’er Group (1.78 Ga), rather than the Meso- continental rifting in the Cenozoic for the geochemical differentia-
zoic intrusions, in the southern margin of the North China Block. tion in the syn-collisional and post-collisional stages, respectively
This ancient craton was subducted by the North Qinling microcon- [17]. As a consequence, the ore-forming elements were pre-
tinent for continental collision at 490–500 Ma in the Cambrian enriched in the mantle wedge by the chemical metasomatism in
[46]. Afterwards its southern margin was laterally grown south- the Mesozoic and then re-enriched in the I-type granitic melts that
wards through more one episodes of accretionary orogeny during underwent the geochemical differentiation for the final ore deposi-
the Paleozoic till the final collision of its newly accreted margin tion in the Conozoic. In either case, the metallogenesis at the con-
with the northern margin of the South China Block in the Triassic. vergent continental boundary is caused by continental rifting for
The Au ore bodies in the Xiaoqinling district dominantly occur in the reactivation of metal pre-enriched domains.
Au-bearing quartz veins and to a lesser extent in auriferous altered There are also very important hydrothermal ore deposits of
rocks hosted in the Taihua Group [51,62,63]. The Au mineralization Mesozoic age in South China. These include not only granite-
mostly took place at a range of ages from 135 to 120 Ma [62], related Sn, W, and Sb deposits, but also porphyry Cu–Mo, vein-
which are basically contemporaneous with those of the Jiaodong type Pb–Zn–Ag, and epithermal Au–Ag–(Cu) deposits [69,70]. As
Au deposits. However, it is significantly later than the continental one of the most important metallogenic provinces in the world,
collision between the North China Block and the North Qinling ter- South China has been the focus of research for more than a half
rane in the Cambrian. Nevertheless, the North China Block was of century [71–74]. However, the metallogenic province of South
subducted by the ancient oceanic slab in the Ediacaran before col- China did not experience either accretionary orogeny or collisional
liding with the North Qinling terrane in the Cambrian [46]. In this orogeny in the Mesozoic [61]. Nevertheless, there was the Jiangnan
regard, there would be not only chemical metasomatism of the orogen of Neoproterozoic age in South China. This is a composite
mantle wedge but also accretionary orogeny before the collisional orogen that was built through two episodes of convergent tecton-
orogeny by the continental subduction in the Cambrian. This ism. The first is subduction of the Cathaysian oceanic slab beneath
enables the preliminary Au enrichment in metasomatic domains the Yangtze Craton for accretionary orogeny in the Early Neopro-
210 Y. Zheng et al. / Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205–212

terozoic [75], resulting in the generation of metal pre-enriched

domains in the mantle wedge. It was followed by collisional oro-
geny to build a unified continent of South China. Afterwards, this
composite accretionary-collisional orogeny was superimposed by
two episodes of continental rifting in the Middle Neoproterozoic.
The first episode occurred at 800–830 Ma in response to the
attempting breakup of supercontinent Rodinia and thus was a
failed one. The second was successful to run into supercontinental
rupture for separation of South China from Rodinia at 740–780 Ma
[76,77]. As a consequence, the ore-forming elements would have
achieved sufficient enrichment in the orogenic lithosphere, which
was susceptible to reactivation for hydrothermal mineralization.
In the Paleozoic, South China was an independent continental
region till its collision with the North China Block in the Triassic
[61]. It was variably reactivated due to westward subduction of
the Paleo-Pacific slab beneath eastern Asian continent in the Juras-
sic to Cretaceous [61,70], resembling the effect on Mesozoic mag-
matism in North China [78]. For this reason, the hydrothermal ore
deposits of Mesozoic age in South China would be primarily gener-
ated by reworking of the metal pre-enriched domains in the Jiang-
nan orogen. Contemporaneous magmatism is abundant in South
China and mostly in granitic composition [79], indicating the mul-
tistages of geochemical differentiation through partial melting and
fractional crystallization since the Neoproterozoic. While the dif- Fig. 6. (Color online) A schematic flowchart illustrating the tectonic evolution of
orogens from accretionary through collisional to rifting along convergent plate
ferentiation of sedimentary rocks results in the Sn-W-Sb and Pb–
boundaries with respect to their genetic relationship to subduction zones in both
Zn–Ag deposits in S-type granites, the differentiation of igneous time and space (for terminology see Supplementary Information).
rocks leads to the Cu–Mo and Au–Ag deposits in I-type granites.
In either case, the metallogenesis is achieved by the reactivation
of metal pre-enriched domains in the crustal rocks of fossil accre- by the asthenospheric mantle through the rifting orogeny, but only
tionary orogens. volatiles are susceptible to transport together with the high heat
In view of the above arguments, it appears that the tectonic flow into orogenic crust. In this regard, ore-forming elements were
mechanism for metallogenesis of collisional orogens can be clari- not originated from the asthenospheric mantle. Instead, they
fied by linking the metal pre-enrichment to modal or cryptic arc would be derived from the subducted crustal rocks that could be
magmatism in accretionary orogens at first and then linking the locally enriched in ore-forming elements. This is indicated by the
final mineralization to hydrothermal reactivation by rifting oro- common occurrence of crust-like isotopic signatures in mafic
geny (Figs. 3 and 4). However, the problem has been encountered igneous rocks. Nevertheless, these crustal signatures were incorpo-
in distinguishing contributions not only between crustal and man- rated by recycling of crustal material at subduction zones into the
tle materials but also between material and heat from the astheno- mantle source of mafic magmas in the form of liquid rather than
spheric mantle to both petrogenesis and metallogenesis in solid phases with very small amounts [24]. Otherwise the mantle
continental regions. This has resulted in a lot of mistakes in inter- source would change its lithochemistry from ultramafic to mafic,
preting geochemical data for orebodies and their wallrocks in var- making its melting products intermediate to felsic in composition
ious types of orogens. Regardless of the composition of major [78,80]. On the other hand, the mafic magmas would undergo sig-
elements in magmatic rocks, typically, positive eNd(t) or eHf(t) val- nificant geochemical differentiation in two ways to produce felsic
ues were erratically ascribed to material contributions from the melts. One is the fractional crystallization during accretionary oro-
depleted mantle (the ordinary asthenospheric mantle), and arc- geny, and the other is that their crystalline products in the lower
like trace element distribution patterns were erratically ascribed crust underwent partial melting during collisional or rifting oroge-
to primary arc magmatism [24]. As a consequence, various nesis. In either case, the hydrothermal fluids were produced
hypotheses and models were put forward for the origin of together with the felsic melts. It is the fluids that can eventually
hydrothermal ore deposits in continental regions, leading to con- have the sufficient enrichment of ore-forming elements for ore
siderable confusion and misconception in petrogenetic and metal- deposition.
logenic studies. Because the metallogenesis requires at least the
three steps of metal enrichment in lithospheric domains (Fig. 4),
the incompatibility of ore-forming elements is the key to the geo- 5. Concluding remarks
chemical differentiation of both crustal and mantle materials
above subduction zones (Fig. 3). Collisional orogens host many of the important hydrothermal
In addition, orogens at convergent plate boundaries would have ore deposits in the world, but their building itself has the limited
evolved from accretionary through collisional to rifting with metallogenic endowment with respect to mountain building by
respect to their genetic relationship to subduction zones in both either pre-collisional accretionary orogeny or post-collisional rift-
time and space (Fig. 6). Thus, it is critical to distinguish the colli- ing orogeny. This is the reason why previous studies disfavor the
sional orogeny from both pre-collisional accretionary orogeny production of hydrothermal ore deposits by collisional orogeny.
and post-collisional rifting orogeny in given orogens However, more and more observations indicate that the metalloge-
[17,27,28,47]. While a heat supply from the asthenospheric mantle nesis of collisional orogens is pre-conditional by the pre-
is prominent during continental rifting [27,28], the proportion of enrichment of ore-forming elements in the orogenic crust and
material supply has decreased from the maximum during the mantle, respectively. Heterogeneous fertilization of the mantle
accretionary orogeny (Fig. 4a) to the minimum during the colli- wedge by the subduction of oceanic lithosphere generates the
sional orogeny (Fig. 4c). Both heat and material can be supplied metasomatic domains with variable enrichment of ore-forming
 Y. Zheng et al. / Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205–212 211

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 Y. Zheng et al. / Science Bulletin 64 (2019) 205-212

Supplementary Information
Terminology: Orogenesis and orogens along convergent plate boundaries

Mountain building is generally accomplished by tectonic processes such as subduction and collision along convergent plate
boundaries. When an oceanic plate is subducted beneath either a continental or an oceanic plate, mafic arc magmatism often takes
place for accretionary orogeny. When one continental plate is subducted beneath the other continental plate, crustal thickening takes
place for collisional orogeny. The arc magmatism takes place at high thermal gradients of >30C/km, whereas the crustal thickening
takes place at low thermal gradients of <10C/km. Mountain building is also accomplished by lithospheric rifting either along diverging
plate boundaries (i.e. mid-ocean ridge and backarc basin) or along converged plate boundaries (i.e. accretionary and collisional orogens),
which is referred to as rifting orogeny (Zheng and Chen, 2017). In view of the difference in thermal gradient between various orogens,
cold and hot orogens are often used to describe subducting and rifting orogens, respectively (e.g., Fossen et al., 2017).
Based on available observations from metamorphic differences in the orogens of Europe and North America, Zwart (1967)
proposed for the first time the following three types of orogens in relationship to tectonic setting and style: Cordillerotype, Alpinotype,
and Hercynotype. His proposal was revised by Pitcher (1979) in terms of the relationship to granite occurrences. There were also
similar proposals for accretionary orogens (e.g., Matsuda and Uyeda, 1971; Coney, 1980) and collisional orogens (e.g., Dewey and
Burke, 1973; Dewey and Kidd, 1974). Cawood et al. (2009) categorized orogenic belts into three types: accretionary, collisional, and
intracratonic. Zheng and Chen (2017) notice that both accretionary and collisional orogens developed along converging plate
boundaries. In contrast, Hercynotype orogens generally show similar features to intracratonic, intracontinental, extensional, and
ultrahot orogens, all of which developed in continental detachment systems along converged plate boundaries. They are collectively
termed as rifting orogens in the context of plate tectonics. Such orogens are characterized by abundant magmatism due to continental
rifting along previously subducted zones.
In view of the development of subduction zones in both space and time for the formation of orogens along convergent plate
boundaries, the three types of orogeny can be further outlined as follows (Zheng and Chen, 2017):
(1) Accretionary orogeny, leading to vertical growth of the juvenile crust through mafic arc volcanism dominated by calc-alkaline
composition on the one hand and lateral accretion of arc terranes to continental margins on the other hand. Typical products are the
circum-Pacific and Tehtyan orogens. The lateral accretion is associated with arc-continent collision at variable thermal gradients. If
backarc thinning takes place, it also results in high-T/low-P metamorphism at the high thermal gradients.
(2) Collisional orogeny, leading to reworking of both ancient and juvenile crust for blueschist to eclogite facies metamorphism at
the low thermal gradients. Nevertheless, the thermal gradient of subduction zones may be elevated by extensional tectonism to moderate
(10-30C/km) in the late-collisional stage and to high in the post-collisional stage. Mafic arc volcanics are absent above continental
subduction zones. Orogenic peridotites are volumetrically minor, and syn-collisional granites and migmatites are also rare or of only
minor extent. Typical products are the Alpine-Himalayan orogens and the Dabie-Sulu orogens.
(3) Rifting orogeny, leading to reworking of the orogenic lithosphere after its thinning. High heat flow is transferred from the
underlying asthenospheric mantle to the thinned orogenic crust for amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism at the high thermal
gradients. Bimodal magmatism is common but dominated by granitic one. Metamorphic core complexes are present and composed of
granite-migmatite-granulite associations. Typical products are the Hercynian orogen and the Lachlan Fold Belt.
Both accretionary and collisional orogens were often superimposed by rifting orogeny, leading to both structural and compositional
inheritance from the former two types of orogens. On the other hand, plate subduction generally proceeds in two stages, with the early
one in the compressional regime at the low thermal gradients but the late one in the extensional regime at the high thermal gradients.
The change in the thermal gradient of subduction zones is a basic cause for the observation that eclogite facies metamorphic rocks in
orogens commonly record higher temperatures than predicted from the thermal models of computational geodynamics.

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