Mesozoic Magmatic and Geodynamic Evolution in the Jiaodong Peninsula, China: Implications for the Gold and Polymetallic Mineralization

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Some improvements should be made on some aspects in the figure, grammar and terminology before publication.

This manuscript, in addition to its own data, also relies on many previous works of the research team that need to be properly referenced.

Line 63-64: the formation ages of the Linglong and Guojialing granites are different with “line 410”. Although the two are not contradictory, please unify the language and reference.

Line 103: “Seven fault, Sanshandao, Jiaojia, Zhaoping, Qixia, Muji, Jinniushan and Mishan,…”. It is not marked in Figure 1, which is easy to confuse scholars unfamiliar with this region and is not conducive to international communication.

Line 119: Figure 1 does not indicate the location of Be deposite associated with the Late Triassic Shidao granite. The figure are appropriate but should be revised due to lack of information. The author needs to check the map thoroughly to make sure there are no mistakes.

Line 137: “225-200Ma”. Line 383: “from 227 Ma to 200 Ma”. It needs to confirm. A space is required between the number and the unit. Need full text review.

Line 147: for more readability write 4,230 instead.

Line 199: for more readability write 2,662 instead.

Line 220: for more readability write 1,327 instead.

Line 256: for more readability write 1,000 instead. Need full text review.

Line 427: its -> it’s.

Line 627-636: “By summarizing and analyzing the geological background of Jiaodong gold and polymetallic metallogenesis and metallogenic characteristics, the mineralization can occur when the geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and other mineralization factors are coupled. To this, we draw lessons from the remote sensing multispectral key information extraction in the concept of "end member", focused on the control mechanism of ore-forming substances concentration factors, put forward the concept of “End member metallogenic theory”. In summary, through the study of the geological, geophysical, and geochemical conditions of the ore-bearing position controlling the mineralization, it can explain the mineralization enrichment process, predict mineralization concentration areas, and further guide prospecting practice.”This is a new concept of metallogenic theory and should be described more concretely. What is the scale of this theory? Region, metallogenic belt or deposit? The authors said “the mineralization can occur when the geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and other mineralization factors are coupled.”, so can these indicators be quantified?

Line 650-656: The conclusions are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented in the manuscript. However, it is necessary to revise the manuscript according to the above comment.

The manuscript is clearly structured, reasonably well-written and understandable. There is room for improvement to the English language and specific terms are sometimes used incorrectly.

Author Response

Revision Notes

Re: Manuscript ID: minerals- 1837975

Responses to the comments by Reviewer #1:

Point 1: Some improvements should be made on some aspects in the figure, grammar and terminology before publication.

Response 1: Thanks for your comment. We have revised some figures, grammar and terminology in the manuscript to make it more complete and understandable.

Point 2: This manuscript, in addition to its own data, also relies on many previous works of the research team that need to be properly referenced.

Response 2: Thanks for your comment. Previous work cited in the manuscript has been noted or listed.

Point 3: Line 63-64: the formation ages of the Linglong and Guojialing granites are different with “line 410”. Although the two are not contradictory, please unify the language and reference.

Response 3: Thanks for your comment. We have provided a unified description of the two and added references.

Point 4: Line 103: “Seven fault, Sanshandao, Jiaojia, Zhaoping, Qixia, Muji, Jinniushan and Mishan,…”. It is not marked in Figure 1, which is easy to confuse scholars unfamiliar with this region and is not conducive to international communication.

Response 4: Thanks for your comment. The authors have carefully modified Figure 1 to make its elements more perfect.

Point 5: Line 119: Figure 1 does not indicate the location of Be deposite associated with the Late Triassic Shidao granite. The figure are appropriate but should be revised due to lack of information. The author needs to check the map thoroughly to make sure there are no mistakes.

Response 5: Thanks for your comment. The authors have carefully modified Figure 1 to make its elements more perfect.

Point 6: Line 137: “225-200Ma”. Line 383: “from 227 Ma to 200 Ma”. It needs to confirm. A space is required between the number and the unit. Need full text review.

Response 6: Thanks for your comment. We have carefully checked the references and confirmed that the age of the Shidao granite is 227-205 Ma. The full text has been uniformly revised.

Point 7: Line 147: for more readability write 4,230 instead.

Response 7: Thanks for your comment. The manuscript has been revised and checked as suggested by the reviewer.

Point 8: Line 199: for more readability write 2,662 instead.

Response 8: Thanks for your comment. Done as the reviewer suggested.

Point 9: Line 220: for more readability write 1,327 instead.

Response 9: Thanks for your comment. Done as the reviewer suggested.

Point 10: Line 256: for more readability write 1,000 instead. Need full text review.

Response 10: Thanks for your comment. The manuscript has been revised and checked as suggested by the reviewer.

Point 11: Line 427: its -> it’s.

Response 11: Thanks for your comment. However, we have verified that there is a grammatical error here and have not modified it according to the opinions of reviewers.

Point 12: Line 627-636: “By summarizing and analyzing the geological background of Jiaodong gold and polymetallic metallogenesis and metallogenic characteristics, the mineralization can occur when the geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and other mineralization factors are coupled. To this, we draw lessons from the remote sensing multispectral key information extraction in the concept of "end member", focused on the control mechanism of ore-forming substances concentration factors, put forward the concept of “End member metallogenic theory”. In summary, through the study of the geological, geophysical, and geochemical conditions of the ore-bearing position controlling the mineralization, it can explain the mineralization enrichment process, predict mineralization concentration areas, and further guide prospecting practice.”This is a new concept of metallogenic theory and should be described more concretely. What is the scale of this theory? Region, metallogenic belt or deposit? The authors said “the mineralization can occur when the geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and other mineralization factors are coupled.”, so can these indicators be quantified?

Response 12: Thanks for your comment. Thank you for your sincere comments. As a new theory, the metallogenic theory preliminarily proposed in this paper is immature and not widely accepted by peers. Its presentation blurred the idea of this article, and after discussion by all authors, it was agreed to remove this description. The authors will further improve this theory in the future work.

Point 13: Line 650-656: The conclusions are consistent with the evidence and arguments presented in the manuscript. However, it is necessary to revise the manuscript according to the above comment.

Response 13: Thanks for your comment. We have carefully revised the manuscript in light of the above comments. The relevant revisions are noted in the manuscript. Thanks again for your attention and kindly advice!

Point 14: The manuscript is clearly structured, reasonably well-written and understandable. There is room for improvement to the English language and specific terms are sometimes used incorrectly.

Response 14: Thanks for your comment. We have carefully revised the language and terminology to make it more accurate and understandable.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

The manuscript contains new data on age and composition of zircons extracted from the Mesozoic granitoids of the Jiaodong Peninsula, one of the most interesting geological areas in East Asia. These data, however, “are basically in line with the previous age test data”. In addition, the study tries to summarize the previous researches on the Mesozoic geodynamic and metallogenic evolution of the region. As a result, the authors “draw lessons from the remote sensing multispectral key information extraction in the concept of "end member", focused on the control mechanism of ore-forming substances concentration factors, put forward the concept of “End member metallogenic theory”. Unfortunately, I have not found any logical description of what is this concept.

The paper language is understandable, but some polishing seems needed. Tables and figures are of good quality, but Fig. 1 is not informative enough, while Fig. 11 does not really help to understand the authors’ concept. I also recommend to add: 1) a diagram for discrimination between S- and I-type granites among the studied rocks; 2) tables with the rock mineralogical and geochemical analyses used for Figs. 2, 9, and 10.

More specific comments may be found in the attached pdf file.

No matter how, the authors, using the available data, partially illuminated a very interesting period in the history of one of the most studied ore district in the world. And this attempt raises many questions, generating interest and stimulating further study. In this sense, the work deserves attention. Thus, I am at a loss to recommend this work for publication or not. I apologize to the editors for such an evaluation.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Thanks to the reviewer for careful reading and helpful comments. We have collated the comments in the PDF attachment and responded one by one. Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

The authors did a good work to improve the manuscript. However, some flaws still occur. I recommend the following changes to make the manuscript ready for publication.

Lines 63-66: Consider rephrasing like “The age of these gold deposits is consistent with previous age estimates of the Weideshan granite, which is associated with a few gold and many polymetallic deposits in eastern Jiaodong Peninsula”.

Line 424: Consider replacing of “further proves” with “indicates.

Lines 485-486: Consider deleting “or lithospheric to asthenospheric” because it may be from plume-related to asthenospheric.

Lines 551-554: One plot of the Laoshan granite is situated in Field I of Fig. 9d that indicates “Mantle Fractionates” in your diagram and “Mantle plagiogranite” in Batchelor et al. (1985; see Fig. 4). Anyway, one analysis of the Laoshan granite indicates a pure mantle contribution.

Lines 579-581: Consider rephrasing your text like “In the process of ascending and migrating along the fault in the late magmatic evolution, the residual magma rich in Be, as Han and Ma (2003) suggested, mixed with a CO2-rich fluid and large amount of atmospheric water”.

Lines 586-602: I ask again, where are “multiple subductions” In Fig. 14b? It is important, since subducted sediments might source a CO2-rich fluid influencing the ore-generating processes.

Lines 607-609: Consider rephrasing like “As a result, delamination the modified lithosphere initiated a strong crust–mantle interaction”. And where is a thickened crust in Fig. 14c?

Finally, I would like to introduce the authors with my ideas on the Mesozoic metallogeny and related igneous activity in East Asia (see below) not to reference in this paper, but just to consider how these ideas correspond to your knowledges.

References

Nechaev V.P., Dai S., Sutherland F.L., Graham I.T., Nechaeva E.V., 2018. The Cretaceous turn of geological evolution: Key evidence from East Asia. Acta Geologica Sinica. V. 92. No. 5, 1991–2003.

Nechaev, V. P., Sklyarov, E. V., Isozaki, Y., Kruk, N. N., Travin, A. V., Tsutsumi, Y., Nechaeva, E. V., 2021. A major change in magma sources in late Mesozoic active margin of the circum-Sea of Japan domain: Geochemical constraints from late Paleozoic to Paleogene mafic dykes in the Sergeevka belt, southern Primorye, Russia. Island Arc, 30(1), e12426. https://doi.org/10.1111/iar.12426.

Nechaev, V.P., Sutherland, F.L., Nechaeva, E.V., 2022. Metallogenic evolution of Northeast Asia related to the Cretaceous turn of geological evolution. Minerals, 12, 400. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040400.

Author Response

Thanks to the reviewer for your review and helpful comments. We have responded to the reviewer' comments one by one. Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf