Metallogenic epoch and genesis of the gold deposits in Jiaodong Peninsula, Eastern China: a regional review

Gold deposits are characterized by multi-sources, superimposition, large scale and temporal-spatial concentration in Jiaodong Peninsula, Eastern China. In this paper, we review the history and the development of the study on metallogenic chronology and genesis of gold deposits, summarize the main features of superimposed metallogenesis, provide evidence of the Mesozoic complex metallogenic system, and point out some problems for further research of Jiaodong gold deposit cluster from a regional view. Although gold deposits are different in genetic types, ore-forming materials and geological settings, our research indicates that the accumulation and emplacement of the ore-forming materials are temporally-spatially concentrated on a large scale, and the main metallogenic epoch of Jiaodong gold deposits was concentrated in Mesozoic. Metallogenic chronology and geological-geochemical data indicate that there are two periods of gold mineralizations occurred in 130-110 Ma and 90-80 Ma respectively in Jiaodong ore cluster. The gold deposit cluster results from the superimposition of the polygenetic mineralization, and further study is needed to investigate the formation and evolution of the Mesozoic complex metallogenic system.