Geochemical behaviors of REE and other trace elements during the formation of strata-bound skarns and related deposits: A case study of the Dongguashan Cu (Au) deposit, Anhui Province, China

REE and other trace elements in the altered marbles, massive skarns and ores, as well as garnet and quartz were determined in order to examine the behaviors of trace elements during hydrothermal alteration. It is demonstrated that the high-field-strength (HFS) elements Zr, Hf, Th and Nb were immobile while other trace elements were mobile during the formation of skarns and related deposits. REE and ore-forming elements such as Cu and Ag in hydrothermally-altered marbles and skarns were provided primarily by hydrothermal fluids. In the direction transverse of the strata, the more deeply the marbles were altered, the higher the total REE abundance and the larger the negative Eu anomalies would be. The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of skarns are similar to those of the marbles, but the former are distinguished by much higher REE contents and more remarkable negative Eu anomalies. Those patterns were apparently not inherited from the marble protolith, but were controlled by garnets, which were determined by the hydrothermal solutions involved in the infiltration metasomatism. The hydrothermal fluids are characterized by having slightly right-hand dipping REE patterns, being enriched in LREE and having strongly negative Eu anomalies. The uptake of REE from hydrothermal fluids during the growth of garnet crystals resulted in the garnets having similar REE patterns to the hydrothermal fluids. Based on the spatial variation of REE in skarns and the structures of the hosting strata, we can get a better understanding of the transport path and pattern of the fluids involved in the formation of skarns and their related deposits. REE geochemistry investigation can help elucidate the genesis of skarns and skarn-related deposits.