Zircon U-Pb geochronology, Hf isotopic composition and geological implications of the rhyodacite and rhyodacitic porphyry in the Xiangshan uranium ore field, Jiangxi Province, China

The Xiangshan uranium ore field is the largest volcanic rock hosted uranium deposit in China. The host rock is a volcanic intrusive complex, including rhyodacite, porphyroclastic lava and late stage sub-volcanic rocks. In this study, zircons from an early stage rhyodacite and a late stage rhyodacite porphyry were dated by SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS U-Pb methods, and their Hf isotopic compositions were measured by LA-MC-ICP-MS. Pb-206/U-238 ages of 135.1 +/- 1.7 and 134.8 +/- 1.1 Ma were obtained for the rhyodacite and rhyodacitic porphyry, respectively. These accurate ages indicate that the Xiangshan volcanic-intrusive complex formed in the Early Cretaceous rather than in the Late Jurassic, as concluded in some previous studies. By the Early Cretaceous, the tectonic setting of the area has evolved into a back-arc extensional setting, possibly related to subduction of the paleo-Pacific plate. The close ages of the (early) eruptive rhyodacite and the (late) hypabyssal rhyodacitic porphyry shows that the Xiangshan volcanism was intensive and concentrated in a short time. Zircons from the rhyodacite show negative epsilon(Hf)(t) values of -5.7 to -8.5, with Hf depleted mantle model ages between 1550 and 1720 Ma, whereas zircons from the rhyodacitic porphyry yield epsilon(Hf)(t) values of -6.9 to -10.1 and Hf model ages between 1621 and 1823 Ma. These zircon Hf model ages are similar to the whole rock Nd model ages (1486 to 1911 Ma). Combined with other geochemical characteristics, the Xiangshan rhyodacite and rhyodacitic porphyry may have been derived from partial melting of the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic metamorphic rocks from the Xiangshan basement, without any significant addition of mantle-derived magma. Contribution of basement of this age is also supported by finding a Paleoproterozoic xenocrystic zircon core in the rhyodacite sample.