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Geochemistry and zircon U–Pb geochronology of the Pulang complex, Yunnan province, China

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Abstract

The Pulang complex is located tectonically at the southern margin of the Yidun–Zhongdian island arc belt in Yunnan province, China, and is closely related to formation of the Pulang copper deposit, which is the largest copper deposit in Asia. The Pulang complex can be divided into three intrusion stages based on contact relationships and petrological characteristics: (1) a first stage of quartz dioritic porphyry; (2) a second stage of quartz monzonitic porphyry; and (3) a third stage of granodioritic porphyry. The crystallization ages of these intrusion stages were determined by single-zircon U–Pb dating, yielding ages of 221.0 ± 1.0, 211.8 ± 0.5, and 206.3 ± 0.7 Ma for the first, second, and third stages, respectively. These dates, integrated with previous geochronological data and field investigations, indicate that the second-stage quartz monzonitic porphyry has a close spatial and temporal relationship with the large Pulang porphyry copper deposit. These age data, geochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic results suggest that the Pulang complex formed in the Indo-Chinese epoch (257 ∼ 205 Ma) by multiphase intrusion of a mixture of mantle- and crust-derived magmas.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 40672045) and the China Geological Survey (Grant 20089938). Senior Engineers Yuan-sheng Guo, Yu-hua Fan, Zhong-hua He and Wen-hui Li provided valuable assistance in the field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Development and Research Center, China Geological Survey, Beijing, 100120, China

    Zhenshan Pang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Zhenshan Pang, Yangsong Du, Yi Cao, Fuping Gao, Gongwen Wang & Qian Dong

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  1. Zhenshan Pang
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Correspondence to Yi Cao.

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Pang, Z., Du, Y., Cao, Y. et al. Geochemistry and zircon U–Pb geochronology of the Pulang complex, Yunnan province, China. J Earth Syst Sci 123, 875–885 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-014-0429-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-014-0429-9

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