V. N. Podkovyrov

Mudrocks from the Siberian Hypostratotype of the Riphean and Vendian: Chemistry, Sm–Nd Isotope Systematics of Sources, and Formation Stages

The chemical composition and Nd isotope systematics were obtained for mudrocks (mudstones) from sections of the Siberian hypostratotype of the Riphean and Vendian (Uchur–Maya region), which reflect the prolonged evolution of sedimentary basins at the southeastern margin of the Siberian Platform. The mudstones are divided into three major types: high-K type (Lower Riphean Uchur Group), K–Na hydromica type (Middle Riphean Kerpyl, Upper Riphean Ui, and Vendian Yudoma groups), and high-Al kaolinite–hydromica type (Lakhanda Group at the Upper Riphean). They reflect changes in the provenance composition and sedimentation setting. The model Nd age of source rocks reveals a subsequent increase from the Uchur Group (about 1.9–2.1 Ga) to Aimchan rocks of the lowermost Middle Riphean (2.1–2.3 Ga) and then a slight decrease within the Early Proterozoic range for the clayey material of the Totta Formation of the Kerpyl Group. Mudstones of the Neruen Formation of the Lakhanda Group (1030–1010? Ma) show an upsection decrease in the Nd model age to TNd(DM) = 1.4 Ga. This indicates the involvement of Riphean material, whose amount increases in rock successions of the Yudoma–Maya trough. Mudstones of the Upper Riphean Ui Group (< 1010–970? Ma) were mainly derived from the pre-Riphean source with the Nd model age of about 2.1–1.8 Ga. Mudstones of the Vendian Yudoma Group (< 570–543 Ma) of the Yudoma–Maya trough have the Nd model age of about 1.3 Ga and εNd(T) = –0.3, suggesting an input of both pre-Riphean and Riphean juvenile sources. The obtained geochemical and isotope–geochemical data support the predominance of intracratonic provenances during the Riphean and Vendian and are consistent with models of the incorporation of Siberia into the Late Proterozoic Rodinia supercontinent with short-term episodes of the influx of magmatic and sedimentary material from external orogenic sources only in the early Upper Riphean and Upper Vendian (Yudomian).

Composition of sediment provenances and patterns in geological history of the Late Vendian Mezen Basin

Formation conditions of sedimentary successions in the Mezen Basin are considered on the basis of Cr, Th, Sc, Ni, Hf, and REE distribution and model Nd age of the Upper Vendian fine-grained terrigenous rocks. Geochemistry of mudstones and shales of the Lyamitsa, Verkhovka, Zimnie Gory, and Erga formations in the Belomorian-Kuloi Plateau, as well as the Ust-Pinega and Mezen formations in the Vychegda Trough, does not allow us to consider these stratigraphic units as erosion products of the primitive Archean basement of the Baltic Shield or the central segment of the East European Craton (EEC) basement. Taking into account sedimentological data on the direction of paleoflows in the basin and the model Nd age of the fine-grained terrigenous rocks, we suggest that the Mezen Basin was filled in the Late Vendian mainly with erosion products of the Riphean igneous and metasedimentary complexes of the Timan-Pechora region. These conclusions are consistent with the sequence-stratigraphic architecture of sediments in the basin. According to the new model proposed, the Late Vendian Mezen Basin was a foredeep formed as a result of subsidence of the northeastern margin of the EEC under the load of overthrusted rock masses of the Timan-Pechora Foldbelt. The clastic material was derived from the emerging orogen.

Synorogenic psammites: Major lithochemical features

Some lithochemical features of sandstone associations formed at the orogenic stage of the evolution of mobile belts are analyzed on the basis of literature and original data along with the wide application of discrimination diagrams. Psammites of the flysch and molasse formations of foreland basins, as well as sand-stones from intermontane troughs and postcollisonal grabens, are considered synorogenic sediments. Analysis of the chemical composition showed that sandstones were formed by the mixing of clastic material from heterogeneous (proximal included) source areas. In discrimination diagrams, the compositional fields of sandstones are variable, because they were derived from diverse igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks of different geodynamic settings. Hence, data based on the generally accepted discrimination diagrams cannot be considered as the single (decisive) argument for establishing the geodynamic nature of sandstones without the consideration of textural-structural features of rocks and the analysis of geological structure of sedimentary associations therein.

Specific features of the distribution of trace and rare earth elements in recent bottom sediments in the lower course of the Severnaya Dvina River and White Sea

The paper discusses results of the lithogeochemical examination of recent bottom sediments in the lower course of the Severnaya Dvina River and White Sea. It has been established that the average concentration of several trace elements (Hf, Sc, Co, Y, Ni, V, Cr, Zr, Ba, and others) therein correlates with the content of the silt-pelite fraction. Maximal concentrations of the majority of above elements are confined to the silty-clayey sediments at the Basin/Dvina Bay boundary. They localized near the coastal zone only for some clastophile (Zr, Cr, and others). Typical values of the hydrolyzate module, chemical index of alteration, and Al2O3/SiO2 ratio in the aleuropelitic and pelitic sediments of the Severnaya Dvina River delta, Dvina Bay, and the Dvina Bay Basin boundary suggest that these sediments are confined to sufficiently cold climate settings. Data points of sediment composition in discriminant paleotectonic diagrams are scattered over a large field probably due to high contents of the weakly weathered plagioclases, micas, and amphiboles, as well as the hydrogenic process promoting the accumulation of Fe and Mn. The PAAS-normalized spectra of rare earth elements (REE) in bottom sediments of the Pinega and Severnaya Dvina rivers, marginal filter of the latter river, Dvina Bay, and the Dvina Bay Basin boundary are similar to the REE distribution in clayey rocks of the ancient platform cover (except for a slight positive Eu anomaly). The REE systematics and distribution pattern of compositional data points of recent bottom sediments in the GdN/YbN-Eu/Eu* and Eu/Eu*-Cr/Th diagrams and values of several indicator ratios of trace elements suggest that the studied rocks were formed by the mixing of clastic materials from geochemically contrast provenances: northwestern provenance (Kola-Karelia geoblock), which is mostly composed of the Archean and Early Proterozoic crystalline complexes, and the southeastern provenance (northwestern periphery of the Mezen syncline), which is almost totally composed of Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks. The latter provenance likely played a crucial role in the geochemical signature of recent bottom sediments over a significant area of the White Sea.

Evolution of the paleogeodynamic settings of the formation of the Lower and Middle Riphean sedimentary sequences of the Uchur-Maya region and the Bashkir meganticlinorium

The possibility to use some widely known standard discrimination diagrams such as the K2O/Na2O-SiO2/Al2O3, SiO2-K2O/Na2O, (Fe2O3* + MgO)-TiO2, F1-F2, Th-La-Sc, Sc-Th-Zr/10, and Sc/Cr-La/Y for deciphering the paleogeodynamic settings of sedimentary sequences is considered with reference to the Lower and Middle Riphean (Mesoproterozoic) deposits of the Uchur-Maya region (Far East) and the Bashkir meganticlinorium (South Urals). It was shown that only some of them can be used with a certain degree of confidence for reconstructing the settings of the platform sedimentary sequences made up of both sandstones and fine-grained terrigenous rocks.

Upper Riphean and Vendian sandstones of the Bashkirian anticlinorium

The analysis of lithogeochemical data on the Upper Riphean and Vendian sandstones from the Bashkirian anticlinorium showed that sandstone associations formed in a passive sluggish tectonic regime in the middle Late Vendian were replaced by associations accumulated in the more active tectonic settings. This is well seen in the SiO2-K2O/Na2O and (Fe2O3* + MgO)-TiO2 diagrams reflecting the particular and median compositions of psammites. The lithochemical characteristics of sandstones were examined to determine the compositional variation of rock complexes eroded on paleodrainage areas. Quartz-rich sedimentary, metasedimentary, and metamorphic rocks, as well as felsic igneous rocks prevailed in the paleodrainage areas throughout the entire Late Riphean and Early Vendian, while the main sources of clastic material in the Late Vendian were igneous intermediate and basic rocks. With allowance made for the previous comparative-lithological data and some other materials, significant similarity in the position and orientation of compositional fields of psammites from the middle and upper levels of the Asha Group (Bashkirian anticlinorium) with fields of psammites from different syncollisional (flysch and molasse) basins in the SiO2-K2O/Na2O, K2O/Na2O-SiO2/Al2O3, F1–F2 and other diagrams suggests that the middle Late Vendian (beginning from the Basa level) was marked by a variation in tectonic/geodynamic settings of sandstone accumulation and in composition of the eroded paleodrainage systems. The revealed trend agrees well with concept of the existence of the Late Riphean-Vendian Pechora paleocean.

Synorogenic clay rocks: Specifics of bulk composition and paleotectonics

The paper is devoted to the specifics in the chemical composition of synorogenic clay rocks in various environments: the Ural foredeep, Olyutorskii terrane, Dnestr pericratonic trough, Indus-Gang trough, etc. The compositions of the rocks are plotted in conventionally utilized discriminant paleotectonic diagrams. It is demonstrated that the bulk composition of such rocks, which were formed under active tectonic conditions typical of the collisional evolutionary phase of mobile belts, reflects the nature of the rock assemblages produced during both the divergent and the convergent (including collisional) phases. Their mean composition is the closest to PAAS as an integrated parameter of the average composition of the continental crust. The materials presented in the publication suggest that data on the bulk composition of clay rocks shown in conventionally utilized discriminant diagrams, such as SiO2-K2O/Na2O, K2O/Na2O-SiO2/Al2O3, are insufficient to reproduce the tectonic environments in which these rocks were formed.

Lithogeochemistry of the Vendian fine-grained clastic rocks in the southern Vychegda trough

Lithogeochemical features of the Vendian mudstones and silty mudstones taken from Borehole Keltma 1 in the southern part of the Vychegda trough of the Mezen syneclise are discussed. It is shown that fine-grained clastic rocks of the Ust-Pinega, Krasavino, and Mezen formations have similar chemical compositions, suggesting their accumulation in sufficiently similar settings. The main part of the studied samples has K2O/Al2O3 < 0.4. This fact, in combination with the absence of TM-FM and NPM-HM correlations, indicates a significant contribution of recycled aluminosiliciclastics in their composition. At the same time, the absence of correlation between CIA and indicator ratios of rock composition in the paleodrainage basins, such as Th/Cr and Th/Sc, indicates that CIA and some other lithochemical indicators appropriately reflect the paleoclimatic conditions in source areas surrounding a basin. The CIA value in most of the analyzed samples is no more than 70. Thus, the Keltma section is similar to Upper Vendian sequences of the Kvarkush-Kamennogorsk anticlinorium and the Shkapovo-Shikhany depression. It has been established that felsic and intermediate magmatic rocks coupled with a significant contribution of quartz-rich sediments served as the source of fine aluminosiliciclastics for the southern Vychegda trough during the Vendian. High Ce/Cr values in the mudstones and silty mudstones suggest that the geochemically primitive Archean protoliths were not involved in the washout. In the SiO2-K2O/Na2O diagram, the Vendian mudstones and silty mudstones are plotted in the field of sediments of active continental margins. Typical low values of Mo/Mn and some other redox indices in these rocks indicate that oxidizing environment predominated in bottom waters of the sedimentation basin during the entire Vendian. Analysis of variations of the lithochemical indicators upward the Vendian sedimentary successions in borehole Keltma 1 made it possible to divide the section into three sequences of different lithofacies and paleontological compositions.

Provenance Composition and Features of Geological Evolution of the Late Vendian Foreland Basin of the Timan Orogen

The provenance composition and geological evolution of different segments in the distal zone of the Late Vendian foreland basin of the Timan orogen were deciphered on the basis of sequence stratigraphic reconstructions and precision geochemical data on the Upper Vendian fine-grained terrigenous rocks from the Southeast White Sea region, Vychegda, Verkhnekama, and Shkapovo-Shikhan basins, and the Kvarkush-Kamennogorsk and Bashkirian meganticlinoriums. The Upper Vendian of the Southeast White Sea region is subdivided into four sequences: Agma, Solza, Zimnie Gory, and Erga. The tracing of sequence boundaries and lateral facies associations from the Southeast White Sea Region to the South Urals made it possible to identify the main stages of the evolution of sedimentary filling of the foreland basin: (I) shallow water epiplatformal basin, (II) isolated basin, (III) lowstand system tract, and (IV) progradation of delta platforms. Position of data points of the Upper Vendian shales, silty mudstones, and mudstones plotted in the diagrams Th-La, Ni-Cr, GdN/YbN-Eu/Eu*, Sc-Th/Sc, La/Sm-Sc/Th, and Co/Hf-Ce/Cr, together with their REE systematics and data on Nd model ages indicates that the Proterozoic, including Neoproterozoic rocks of the Timan thrust-folded belt served as the main source for fine aluminosiliciclastic material in the distal zones of the Timan foreland basin. Obtained results are consistent with the concept that the Vendian stage of the evolution of the Eastern European platform is related to the intense input of allochthonous material in its peripheral area owing to the activation of orogenic processes in the adjacent mobile belts and allow us to significantly specify the paleogeographical reconstructions.

Tectonic setting discrimination diagrams for terrigenous rocks: a comparison

An attempt is made to compare discrimination diagrams of the first (mid-1980s) and second (early 2010s) generations compiled using data for sedimentary successions of different ages. Our results suggest that the diagrams of different generations allow more or less correct discrimination only between the platform, rift, passive margin, and island arc settings. The data for collision sediments do not form separate fields in these diagrams.