Lower activity time constraint on the ore-controlling Erdaogou fault in the Qingchengzi orefield of the Liaodong Peninsula, NE China

The Erdaogou fault, also known as the 101 fault, comprises the most important NE strike component in the ore-controlling system in the Qingchengzi orefield, Liaodong Peninsula. Due to the poor outcrop conditions in the field, the Erdaogou fault lacks activity time constraint. We demonstrate the constraint activity time of the fault since we observe a lamprophyre that was cut through by the Erdaogou fault in the Taoyuan area, central to the Qingchengzi orefield. Zircon grains from the lamprophyre dyke exhibit typical oscillatory zoning and yield weighted mean U–Pb age of 223.8 ± 1.1 Ma (MSWD = 1.5). The lower activity time limit of the Erdaogou fault is thus first constrained as 224 Ma or so and is correlated with the crystallization age of the Xinling and Shuangdinggou plutons within the orefield. Taking previous mineralization studies into consideration, a Triassic tectonic-magmatism-mineralization model is approved in the Qingchengzi orefield.