Correlations between the North China Craton and the Indian Shield: Constraints from regional metallogeny

•First application of metallogenesis to prove the tectonic affinity of cratons.•Establish continental assembly for North China Craton and Indian Shield.•New insight and method to study the tectonic affinity of cratons and the reconstruction of supercontinent.

The correlation between the North China Craton (NCC) and the Indian Shield (IND) has been a hot topic in recent years. On the basis of ore deposit databases, the NCC and IND have shown broad similarity in metallogenesis from the middle Archaean to the Mesoproterozoic. The two blocks both have three major metallogenic systems: (1) the Archaean BIF metallogenic system; (2) the Paleoproterozoic Cu-Pb-Zn metallogenic system; and (3) the Mesoproterozoic Fe-Pb-Zn system. In the north margin of the NCC and the west margin of the IND, the Archaean BIF-Au-Cu-Pb-Zn deposits had the same petrogenesis and host rocks, the Paleoproterozoic Cu-Pb-Zn deposits were controlled by active belts, and the Mesoproterozoic Fe-Pb-Zn deposits were mainly related to multi-stage rifting. Matching regional mineralization patterns and geological features has established the continental assembly referred to as “NCWI”, an acronym for the north margin of the NCC (NC) and the west margin of the IND (WI) during the middle Archaean to the Mesoproterozoic. In this assembly, the available geological and metallogenic data from the Eastern Block and active belts of NC fit those from the Dharwar craton and the Aravalli–Delhi–Vindhyan belt of WI, respectively. Moreover, the depositional model and environment of Paleoproterozoic metasedimentary manganese deposits in NCWI implied that the assembly may be located at low latitudes, where the conditions were favorable for dissolving ice and precipitating manganese deposits.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide