Abstract:
The metallogenic belt in Northern Hebei-Western Liaoning is rich in fluorite mineral resources, but its metallogenic regularities and genesis cannot fully explain by the single theory of hydrothermal filling genesis. Based on systematic investigations of representative ore deposits, this study summarizes the spatial distribution patterns, diagenetic-metallogenic ages, rare earth element (REE) compositions, fluid inclusions, and H-O isotopic characteristics of fluorite deposits in the region. These fluorite deposits can be categorized into three genetic types: volcanic-subvolcanic hydrothermal vein type hosted in volcanic rocks, post-magmatic hydrothermal vein type occurring in granitoids, and hydrothermal replacement-vein type developed in carbonate formations. Moreover, the fluorite deposits hosted in volcanic rock areas were controlled by marginal faults of volcanic basins or volcanic-related fractures under an extensional tectonic setting during the middle Early Cretaceous. These faults served as pathways where deep-source F-rich alkaline magmas underwent liquid immiscibility to generate F-bearing hydrothermal fluids. The fluids ascended to shallow levels, mixed with meteoric water, and subsequently cooled and precipitated to form ore deposits. The fluorite deposits hosted in granitic areas were formed in fault-uplift structures under tectonic transition setting during the Early Cretaceous. Mineralization occurred through isothermal mixing of meteoric water and formation water that leached ore-forming elements from granitic intrusions and deep basement rocks, followed by precipitation and enrichment with diverse metallogenic fluids or meteoric water. The fluorite deposits hosted in carbonate rock areas were controlled by anticline structures formed under the compressional orogeny during the Late Jurassic. Basin-derived hydrothermal brines, thermally driven, ascended and leached ore-forming elements, subsequently accumulating through water-rock interactions in interlayer fracture zones of anticlinal cores where they were blocked by mudshale. Later tectonic reactivation might have remobilized the mineralization, forming discontinuous fluorite veins along fractures.