D. S. Yudin

Age and thermal history of the Maksyutov metamorphic complex: 40Ar/39Ar evidence

The 40Ar/39Ar method with stepwise heating was used to date phengite and glaucophane in the contact zone of garnet glaucophanite an omphacite-garnet rock (eclogite) from the lower unit of the Maksyutov metamorphic complex. The correlation of the measured age and the sizes of the phengite flakes indicates that the behavior of radiogenic Ar in them was controlled by the mechanisms of volumetric diffusion. Taking into account the fact that all of the rocks have the same thermal history, the dates most close to the age of metamorphism are those of the largest phengite flakes from garnet glaucophanite: 392 Ma. The age values obtained on phengite from an omphacite-garnet rock sampled at the maximum distance from the contact are equal to 378 Ma and correspond to the time when the rocks cooled to temperatures below 350°C. The results of numerical simulations indicate that the metamorphic age is no younger than 400 Ma, and the linear cooling rate can be estimated at 3.40 −0.75/+1.24°C/m.y. The maximum values of the phengite ages are consistent with the dates of glaucophane from three rock samples: 389–411 Ma.

Neoproterozoic carbonatite magmatism of the Yenisei Ridge, Central Siberia: 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Penchenga rock complex

Abstract40Ar/39Ar isotopic ages of magnesioarfvedsonite (725.9 ± 6.3 myr) and phlogopite (637.6 ± 5.7 myr) from carbonatites of the Penchenga rock complex located in the South Trans Angara segment of the Yenisei Ridge have been determined. Based on this, the formation of the rock complex is associated with the start of the period of Neoproterozoic (725–700 Ma) rifting and alkaline magmatism in the region, the latter being associated with the former. The appearance of zones penetrable for magma of the “disseminated” rifting type is associated with the development of late collision shear dislocations in a consolidated marginal continental crust. The primary melts had a plume nature, but matter from different mantle sources intermixed in the environment of the changing geodynamic regime. The younger age of the mica was apparently caused by partial remelting of carbonatites under the influence of heat and fluids generated during the formation of the adjacent large granite massif of a younger age.

Gabbro-granite intrusive series and their indicator importance for geodynamic reconstructions

One of the problems faced by researchers when paleogeodynamic reconstructions are carried out for deeply eroded orogenic terranes is the limited usage of geological and isotopic geochemical data on volcanic associations. The utilization of information on gabbroids and granitoids considered separately also fails to resolve this problem. The convergence of features of arc, collisional, and within-plate magmatic processes leads the researcher to search for indicator plutonic associations, such as paired gabbrogranite intrusive series. The latter were distinguished using geoinformation databases (including those compiled by the authors of this paper), which were composed for the Early Caledonides in the Altai-Sayan folded area and adjacent territories. This makes it possible to characterize mantle-crustal magmatism in suprasubductional and collisional environments and the conditions under which these geodynamic regimes (plate- and plume-tectonic factors) interact. This paper presents estimates of the composition of the parental basic magmas, distinctive features of their differentiation, and the compositional specifics of the accompanying extensive granite-forming processes. The example of the Altai-Sayan folded area and adjacent territories is employed to correlate the composition of the basic-ultrabasic and granitoid magmas and, on this basis, distinguish (a) differentiated gabbro-tonalite-plagiogranite intrusive series corresponding to accretionary-collisional geodynamic environments, and (b) gabbro-monzonite-granosyenite-potassic granite intrusive series, which were produced when the accretionary-collisional system was affected by a plume.

U-Pb Isotopic Dating of Zircons (SHRIMPII) from Granulites of the Ol'khon Region of Western Baikal Area

Based on the first isotopic geochronological data obtained by the classic U–Pb method by zircons [1–3], it was established that magmatic and metamorphic rocks of the Ol’khon region are of Early Paleozoic age. The age of granulite metamorphism of the Chernor� udskaya zone rocks spreading as a narrow band (with a width of <1 km) along the boundary of the Siberian Craton was 485 ± 5 Ma. Data of the SHRIMP ion microprobe for U–Pb isotopic dating of zircons [4, 5] confirmed previously obtained results: age estimations were 507 ± 8 Ma, for granulites in the northeastern part of the Chernorudskaya zone (Khadarta Penin� sula) and 498 ± 7 Ma, for the Khoboi Cape (Ol’khon Island). However, problems concerning age estima� tions for the protolith of these rocks remained unsolved. Our study is aimed at solution of these prob� lems.

Kimberlite age in the Arkhangelsk Province, Russia: Isotopic geochronologic Rb–Sr and 40Ar/39Ar and mineralogical data on phlogopite

The paper reports detailed data on phlogopite from kimberlite of three facies types in the Arkhangelsk Diamondiferous Province (ADP): (i) massive magmatic kimberlite (Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe), (ii) transitional type between massive volcaniclastic and magmatic kimberlite (Grib Pipe), and (iii) volcanic kimberlite (Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes). Kimberlite from the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe contains only groundmass phlogopite. Kimberlite from the Grib Pipe contains a number of phlogopite populations: megacrysts, macrocrysts, matrix phlogopite, and this mineral in xenoliths. Phlogopite macrocrysts and matrix phlogopite define a single compositional trend reflecting the evolution of the kimberlite melt. The composition points of phlogopite from the xenoliths lie on a single crystallization trend, i.e., the mineral also crystallized from kimberlite melt, which likely actively metasomatized the host rocks from which the xenoliths were captured. Phlogopite from volcaniclastic kimberlite from the Karpinskii-1 and Karpinskii-2 pipes does not show either any clearly distinct petrographic setting or compositional differentiation. The kimberlite was dated by the Rb–Sr technique on phlogopite and additionally by the 40Ar/39Ar method. Because it is highly probable that phlogopite from all pipes crystallized from kimberlite melt, the crystallization age of the kimberlite can be defined as 376 ± 3 Ma for the Grib Pipe, 380 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-1 pipe, 375 ± 2 Ma for the Karpinskii-2 Pipe, and 377 ± 0.4 Ma for the Ermakovskaya-7 Pipe. The age of the pipes coincides within the error and suggests that the melts of the pipes were emplaced almost simultaneously. Our geochronologic data on kimberlite emplacement in ADP lie within the range of 380 ± 2 to 375 ± Ma and coincide with most age values for Devonian alkaline–ultramafic complexes in the Kola Province: 379 ± 5 Ma; Arzamastsev and Wu, 2014). These data indicate that the kimberlite was formed during the early evolution of the Kola Province, when alkaline–ultramafic complexes (including those with carbonatite) were emplaced.

40Ar/39Ar-dating of phlogopite from mantle xenoliths: Evidence for deep ancient metasomatism of the Siberian craton lithosphere

By applying the 40Ar/39Ar-dating method, age estimates for phlogopites of mantle xenoliths with different parageneses from the Udachnaya and Mir kimberlite pipes (Yakutia, Russia) were obtained. The oldest ages determined are 2.6–2.3 Ga, which far transcends the Paleozoic age of kimberlite entrainment. The phlogopite formation of these ages reflects ancient metasomatic events following rearrangement processes in the mantle in the Archean-Early Proterozoic, particularly during and after accretion of the Pangea-0 super-continent. A multistep age spectrum of UV162/09 was obtained from several generations of phlogopite and indicates a later multistage metasomatic process taking place in the mantle under Udachnaya pipe. Several stages of mantle metasomatism of various ages and scales are detected within the Siberian platform.

Kimberlites and megacrystic suite: Isotope-geochemical studies

Major and rare-earth element data on Cr-poor megacrystic suite from Yakutian kimberlites were generalized. Sr-Nd isotopes were studied in garnet, clinopyroxene, and phlogopite megacrysts as well as in garnet and clinopyroxene from deformed xenoliths. It was shown that Sr-Nd composition of these minerals is similar to that in the least altered diamondiferous kimberlites. The crystallization age of megacrystic minerals was determined by Rb-Sr isochron and Ar-Ar (for phlogopite megacrysts) methods. Obtained data indicate that crystallization of Cr-poor megacrystic suite began at the prekimberlitic stage and continued to the pipe emplacement. It was established that garnets from coarse-porphyric deformed lherzolites and megacrysts are similar in major and rare-earth element compositions and were derived from a common asthenospheric source. However, the distribution of incompatible elements and P-T estimates of crystallization cannot be explained by hypothesis of fractional crystallization of garnet megacrysts. It is suggested that megacrystic assemblage crystallized directly in asthenospheric melt. En route to the surface, this melt caused a metasomatic reworking of lithospheric mantle, on the one hand, and was enriched in Mg and Cr owing to the contamination by lithospheric material, on the other hand.

Paleozoic tholeiitic magmatism of the Kola province: Spatial distribution, age, and relation to alkaline magmatism

This paper focuses on the occurrences of tholeiitic magmatism in the northeastern Fennoscandian shield. It was found that numerous dolerite dikes of the Pechenga, Barents Sea, and Eastern Kola swarms were formed 380–390 Ma ago, i.e., directly before the main stage of the Paleozoic alkaline magmatism of the Kola province. The isotope geochemical characteristics of the dolerites suggest that their primary melts were derived from the mantle under the conditions of the spinel lherzolite facies. The depleted mantle material from which the tholeiites were derived shows no evidence for metasomatism and enrichment in high fieldstrength and rare earth elements, whereas melanephelinite melts postdating the tholeiites were generated in an enriched source. It was shown that the relatively short stage of mantle metasomatism directly after the emplacement of tholeiitic magmas was accompanied by significant mantle fertilization. In contrast to other large igneous provinces, where pulsed intrusion of large volumes of tholeiitic magmas coinciding or alternating with phases of alkaline magmatism was documented, the Kola province is characterized by systematic evolution of the Paleozoic plume–lithosphere process with monotonous deepening of the level of magma generation, development of mantle metasomatism and accompanying fertilization of mantle materials, and systematic changes in the composition of melts reaching the surface.

Eclogites in the Chara zone, NE Kazakhstan: New geochemical and geochronological data

N. I. Volkovaa, b, V. A. Simonova, c, A. V. Travina, b, c, S. I. Stupakova, and D. S. Yudina, c a Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Akademika Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090 Russia b National Research Center Tomsk State University, pr. Lenina 36, Tomsk, 634050 Russia c Department of Geology and Geophysics, Novosibirsk State University, ul. Pirogova 2, Novosibirsk, 630090 Russia e-mail: nvolkova@igm.nsc.ru Received July 28, 2014; in final form, November 24, 2014

Results of 40Ar/39Ar dating of phlogopites from kelyphitic rims around garnet grains (Udachnaya-Vostochnaya kimberlite pipe)

Abstract40Ar/39Ar dating of phlogopite from kelyphitic rims around garnet grains from the Udachnaya–Vostochnaya kimberlite pipe in the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic (Russia) revealed that when this mineral has contact with a kimberlite melt its age corresponds (within error limits) to that of the formation of the kimberlite pipe, thus indicating that the method may be used for dating kimberlites and related rocks. In mantle xenoliths, kelyphitic phlogopites rimming garnet grains partially lose radiogenic Ar, which results in a complex age spectrum. Rejuvenation of the K/Ar system in them is determined by the thermal impact of the kimberlite melt on captured rocks.