Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd Isochron Ages of the Dongmozhazhua and Mohailaheng Pb-Zn Ore Deposits in the Yushu area, southern Qinghai and Their Geological Implications

Located on the northeast margin of the Qiangtang terrane between the Jinshajiang suture zone and Bangonghu-Nujiang suture zone, the Dongmozhazhua and Mohailaheng Pb-Zn deposits in the Yushu area of Qinghai Province are representative Pb-Zn deposits of the Pb-Zn-Cu polymetallic mineralization belt in the northern part of the Nujiang-Lancangjiang-Jinshajiang area, which are in the front belt of the Yushu thrust nappe system. The formed environments of these two deposits are different from those of sediment-hosted base metal deposits elsewhere in the world. The authors hold that they were formed during the Indian-Asian continental collision and developed within the foldthrust belt combined with thrust and strike-slip-related Cenozoic basins in the interior of the collisional zone. Studying on the metallogenic epochs of these two deposits is helpful to the understanding of ore-forming regularity of the regional Pb-Zn-Cu mineralization belt and also to the search for new deposits in this region. The age of the Dongmozhazhua deposit has been determined by the Rb-Sr isochron method for sphalerite residues, whereas the age of the Mohailaheng deposit has been determined by the Rb-Sr isochron method for sphalerite residues and the Sm-Nd isochron method for fluorite. The age of the Dongmozhazhua deposit is 35.0±0.0 Ma((87Sr/86Sr)0=0.708807) for sphalerite residues. The age of the Mohailaheng deposit is 32.2±0.4 Ma((87Sr/86Sr)0=0.708514) for sphalerite residues and 31.8±0.3 Ma((143Nd/144Nd)0=0.512362) for fluorite with an average of 32.0 Ma. Together with the regional geological setting during mineralization, a possible tectonic model for metallogeny of the Dongmozhazhua and Mohailaheng Pb-Zn deposits has been established. These two ages are close to the ages of the Pb-Zn deposits in the Lanping and Tuotuohe basins, indicating that it is possible that the narrow 1000-kilometer-long belt controlled by a thrust nappe system on the eastern and northern margins of the Tibetan plateau could be a giant Pb-Zn mineralized belt.