Pb-Pb age of sedimentary phosphorite reworking in Lower Riphean carbonate sediments,the Satka Formation of Southern Urals

The mineral composition and U-Pb and Rb-Sr systematics of phosphorites from the Satka Formation of Lower Riphean carbonates, the Burzyan Group of Southern Urals, are studied. Phosphorites occurring as small lenses between stromatolite layers are composed largely of fluorapatite with admixture of detrital quartz, feldspars, illite, and chlorite. Phosphorite samples have been subjected to stepwise dissolution in 1 N (fraction L-1) and 2 N (fraction L-2) HCl. As is established, the maximum apatite content is characteristic of fraction L-1, while fraction L-2 is enriched in products of dolomite and sulfide dissolution and in elements leached from siliciclastic components. The Sr content in the Satka apatites (280–560 ppm) is substantially lower as compared with that in unaltered marine apatite. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr “initial ratio in the phosphorites studied (0.71705–0.72484) and host dolomites from the lower part of the Satka Formation is significantly higher than in the Early Riphean seawater that indicates a reset of the Rb-Sr original systems in sediments. The Pb-Pb age of 1340 ± 30 Ma (MSWD = 6.4) estimated based on 7 data points characterizing fractions L-1 and L-2 is younger than the formation time of overlying Burzyan sediments, being consistent, within the error range, with date of the Mashak rifting event recorded at the Early-Middle Riphean boundary. The comparative U-Pb characteristics of two soluble fractions (L-1 and L-2) and silicate residue of phosphorites show that epigenetic redistribution of Pb and U was characteristic of the phosphorite horizon only. The initial Pb isotope composition and μ (²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb) estimated according to model by Stacey and Kramers for the early diagenetic fluids in carbonate and phosphate sediments of the Satka Formation suggest that they were in isotopic equilibrium with erosion products of the Taratash crystalline complex.     

New data on Sr-and C-isotopic chemostratigraphy of the Upper Riphean type section (Southern Urals)

New data on Sr-and C-isotopic systematics of carbonate rocks from the Upper Riphean stratotype (Karatau Group of the southern Urals) are obtained for several southwestern sections of the Bashkirian meganticlinorium, which have not been studied before. The results obtained supplement the Sr-and C-isotopic information for the group upper horizons thus detailing chemostratigraphic characterization of the entire succession. Limestone and dolostone samples used to analyze the Sr isotope composition satisfy strict geochemical criteria of the isotopic system retentivity and have been subjected to preliminary treatment in ammonium acetate to remove secondary carbonate phases. Data on 255 samples of carbonate rocks (171 studied for the first time) show that δ¹³C value varies in the Karatau Group succession from ?2.8 to +5.9 ‰ V-PDB with several in-phase excursions from the general trend in all the sections studied in the area 90 × 130 km. The δ¹³C variation trend demarcates several levels in the carbonate succession of the Karatau Group suitable for objectives of regional stratigraphy and for C-isotope chemostratigraphic subdivision of the Upper Riphean. The results of Sr isotopic analysis of 121 samples (51 unstudied before) from the Karatau Group imply that rocks in its lower part (the Katav Formation and basal horizon of the Inzer Formation) experienced considerable secondary alterations, while limestones and dolostones of the overlying interval of the group are frequently unaltered. In the “best” samples satisfying geochemical criteria of the isotopic system retentivity, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr initial ratio increases from 0.70521–0.70532 in the lower Inzer deposits to 0.70611 in the upper Min’yar carbonates, decreasing to <0.70600 near the top of the latter. Above the regional hiatus separating the Min’yar and Uk formation, this ratio grows from 0.70533 to 0.70605–0.70609 in the limestone succession of the last formation.     

Experience of geographical typology of secularization processes in the modern world

In the modern world, seven geographical types of development of secularization processes have been identified; the level of secularization is determined not only by the maturity of social space but also by the structure of geospace. The Latin type includes some countries of Southern and Western Europe, most of the population of which confess Catholicism. The countries of the Anglo-Scandinavian type are characterized by Protestant pluralism. The polarized type combines countries and territories in which Protestants and Catholics form stable, influential and competing blocs. The countries in which the secularization processes were unable to seriously shake the influence of religion in society, because it is the institute of church that was resisting the political and cultural infringement by neighboring states over centuries, refer to the type of religious infringement. The resettlement type is characteristic for the countries whose population was being formed as a result of migration of various confessional (primarily Protestant) groups. The post-socialist type includes the countries in which an active policy of not infrequently forced “political” secularization was pursued. The Confucianistic type combines the states, most of the population of which was pursuing various religious-cultural traditions, with Confucianism predominating in general, and with a widespread occurrence of polyconfessionalism. This geographical typology of secularization embraces the countries, the communities of which have gone through the stages of secular development. The spatial boundedness of the secularization processes in the world is determined by the fact that secularization itself is the product primarily of the entire Christian European civilization.     

Strontium Isotope Stratigraphy: Principles and State of the Art

The methodical basis, development, and current state of a new method of chronostratigraphic studies, i.e., strontium isotope stratigraphy (SIS), are considered. This method makes it possible to date and correlate geographically distant sedimentary sequences without involving the biostratigraphic and isotope geochronological data. SIS is based on secular variations in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr in the paleocean, resulting from the redistribution of the roles of two global strontium flows formed in the mantle and continental reservoirs of the Earth. Isotopic homogeneity of Sr in the paleoceans and in the linked seas leads to the fact that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in the sea basins is individual for each geological time point and is inherited in marine chemogenic sediments under deposition of dissolved Sr as an isomorphic impurity. Low-Mg calcite and also fragments of fossilized paleontological remains buried in situ are the best minerals that are capable of retaining the Sr isotopic signature of the sedimentation environment. SIS is carried out with geochemical diagnostics of secondary alteration of the studied material and selective dissolution of the samples to produce a carbonate material that adequately reflects isotopic signature of the sedimentary basin. Interregional correlations of the Proterozoic and Cenozoic sea sediments and their relation to the SIS-based stratigraphic scale are given as an example.     

Pb–Pb Age of Carbonate Rocks of the Kamo Group,Baikit Anteclise of the Siberian Platform

Doklady Earth Sciences - The first direct Pb–Pb dating of carbonate rocks of the Kamo Group has been carried out. The Pb–Pb age of carbonates of the lower units (the Madra, Jurubchen,...     

Sr isotopic composition of Paleoproterozoic C-rich carbonate rocks: The Tulomozero Formation,SE Fennoscandian Shield

Rb–Sr systematics has been studied in ¹³C-rich carbonate rocks of the Paleoproterozoic (2.09 ± 0.07 Ga) Tulomozero Formation in the northern Onega Lake area, the SE Fennoscandian Shield. The formation is divided into eight members (A–F) consisting of greenschist-facies-grade, variegated sandstones, siltstones, mudstones, stromatolitic dolostones and subordinate crystalline limestones. Samples of carbonate rocks were obtained from two overlapping drillholes intersecting the entire thickness of the Tulomozero Formation. Prior to isotope analysis, the rocks powders were treated with 1N ammonium acetate for partial removal of the late epigenetic carbonate phases. Major resetting of the Rb–Sr systems in the Tulomozero carbonate rocks appears to take place during the Svecofennian regional metamorphic event, and it was screened by using Mn/Sr, Fe/Sr, Mg/Ca, and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios. High Sr content (up to 2080 μg/g in limestones, and 530 μg/g in dolostones) coupled with low Fe/Mn (<0.40) ratios in the Tulomozero carbonate rocks of Members A, B (the lower part), D, F, and E are consistent with accumulation of original carbonate sediments in evaporitic lacustrine, playa, and sabkha environments. A decrease in the Sr content with concurrent increase in the Fe/Mn ratio (>0.40) in dolostones of the upper part of Member B, and of Members G and H is indicative of seawater influxes (sea transgression) into the Tulomozero basin. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values in the least altered (Mn/Sr < 2.0) marine dolostones are 0.70418–0.70442 and 0.70343–0.70409 for the earlier and late phases of the marine transgression, respectively. The decrease in the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in ca. 2.1 Ga seawater is attributable to an increase in hydrothermal flux Sr into the Palaeoproterozoic ocean.     

U-Th-Pb systematics of precambrian carbonate rocks: Dating of the formation and transformation of carbonate sediments

The current state in the Pb-Pb dating of the formation and epigenesis of Precambrian carbonate sediments has been reviewed. The geochemistry of admixture elements (U, Th, Pb, Rb, Sr, Mn, and Fe) constituting carbonate minerals and the redistribution of the elements in the course of early diagenesis and epigenesis have been considered. The advantages of choosing samples for Pb-Pb dating on the basis of geochemical criteria similar to those applied for Sr-isotope stratigraphy and the potentialities of applying different methods of decontamination of specimens, analyzed from surface contamination and possible epigenetic carbonate phases, were illustrated. By the example of a series of carbonate formations, distinctions in susceptibility of U-Pb and Rb-Sr systems of carbonate minerals to secondary transformations have been demonstrated. The prospects for using the method of step solution allowing noncogenetic carbonate generations to be separated and thus the accuracy and reliability of Pb-Pb dates to be upgraded were considered.     

Baikal Electromagnetic Experiment

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The vertical component of the electric field Ez in the hydrosphere is not contaminated by the telluric component and therefore can effectively be used...     

U-Pb age and Sr isotope signature of cap limestones from the Neoproterozoic Tsagaan Oloom Formation, Dzabkhan River Basin, Western Mongolia

The U-Pb and Pb-Pb methods were used for determining age of cap limestones from the Neoproterozoic Tsagaan Oloom Formation corresponding to the lower part of the sedimentary cover in the Dzabkahn microcontinent of Central Asia. The weighted average age value appeared to be equal to 632 ± 14 Ma (MSWD = 0.11, probability 0.74). This value allows the following assumptions: (1) the lower boundary of the Tsagaan Oloom Formation corresponds to the beginning of the Ediacaran; (2) Dzabkhan tillites are correlative with glacial sediments of the Marinoan Epoch. The low ²³⁸U/²⁰⁴Pb and ²³²Th/²³⁸U ratios observed in initial Pb sources of limestones from the Tsagaan Oloom Formation indicate that the Dzabkhan paleobasin received at its early development stages a bulk of material from eroded upper Riphean juvenile rocks. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio in fractions of Tsagaan Oloom limestones enriched with primary carbonate material and satisfying geochemical criteria of Rb-Sr systems retentivity (Mn/Sr < 0.20 and Fe/Sr < 1) varies from 0.70676 to 0.70691 and reflects this ratio in the World Ocean approximately 630 Ma ago.