The metal source and genesis of hydrothermal mercury-rich gold metallogenic systems occurring far away from active continental margins remain puzzling. The Youjiang Basin of South China, where exists numerous Carlin-type gold deposits and some synmineralization hidden intrusions, is a natural laboratory to address this issue due to it was up to 1000 km inward from the active continental margins of South China when mineralization. Here, we use mass-independent fractionation of mercury isotope ratios (reported as ∆199Hg), which is predominantly generated during Hg photochemical reactions on Earth’s surface and has superiority of isotopic inheritance during hydrothermal processes, to address the metal source of the Youjiang Carlin-type gold deposits. Ore-associated sulfides from seven representative deposits display negative to near-zero ∆199Hg values (−0.29‰ to 0.04‰), which fall in between that of the regional Precambrian basement rocks (−0.21‰ to 0.06‰) and deep magmatic-hydrothermal systems (∼0‰), suggesting a binary mixing of Hg from these two sources. An isotope mixing model and mass balance calculations demonstrate that ∼1000 km3 of the basement rocks, which contributed to 86% of Hg budget, were leached and remobilized by magmatic-hydrothermal fluids and deep-circulating crustal fluids to endow the gold reserves of these deposits. Given that traditional S, Pb, C, and O isotopic data yielded indirect and ambiguous constraints on metal source due to their complex evolution processes and isotope fractionation during the fluids ascended. Our results, therefore, highlight the great advantage of using Hg isotope as a new tracer to understand metal sources of hydrothermal deposits.
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Research Article|
March 16, 2023
Large-scale basement mobilization endows the giant Carlin-type gold mineralization in the Youjiang Basin, South China: Insights from mercury isotopes
Wei Gao;
Wei Gao
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
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Ruizhong Hu;
Ruizhong Hu
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China2
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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Xueyun Wang;
Xueyun Wang
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China2
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
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Runsheng Yin;
Runsheng Yin
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
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Xianwu Bi;
Xianwu Bi
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
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Zhuojun Xie;
Zhuojun Xie
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
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Shanling Fu;
Shanling Fu
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
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Jun Yan
Jun Yan
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
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Wei Gao
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Ruizhong Hu
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China2
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Xueyun Wang
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China2
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Runsheng Yin
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Xianwu Bi
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Zhuojun Xie
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Shanling Fu
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Jun Yan
1
State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Received:
12 Jun 2022
Revision Received:
11 Oct 2022
Accepted:
04 Dec 2022
First Online:
16 Mar 2023
Online ISSN: 1943-2674
Print ISSN: 0016-7606
© 2023 Geological Society of America
GSA Bulletin (2023)
Article history
Received:
12 Jun 2022
Revision Received:
11 Oct 2022
Accepted:
04 Dec 2022
First Online:
16 Mar 2023
Citation
Wei Gao, Ruizhong Hu, Xueyun Wang, Runsheng Yin, Xianwu Bi, Zhuojun Xie, Shanling Fu, Jun Yan; Large-scale basement mobilization endows the giant Carlin-type gold mineralization in the Youjiang Basin, South China: Insights from mercury isotopes. GSA Bulletin 2023; doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B36636.1
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