Structure,Age, and Settings of Formation of Ordovician Complexes of the Northwestern Frame of the Kokchetav Massif,Northern Kazakhstan

This work presents the data on the structure, geochronology, and formation settings of the Ordovician sedimentary and volcanogenic-sedimentary complexes of the Sterlitamak, Mariev, and Imanburluk structural and formational zones located in the western and northwestern frames of the Kokchetav massif (Northern Kazakhstan). In addition, the results of detailed stratigraphic, geochemical, and geochronological studies of the reference section of the Ordovician deposits of the Mariev Zone are given. The studied section is composed of carbonate, terrigenous, and less commonly volcanogenic-sedimentary deposits, confined to a wide stratigraphic interval from Tremadocian Stage of the Lower Ordovician to the lower Sandbian Stage of the Upper Ordovician. For the first time, the study of conodont assemblages made it possible to establish the Early to Middle Ordovician age of the most ancient limestone–dolomite sequence, which was previously conventionally attributed to the Cambrian. The above-lying tuffaceous–terrigenous Kupriyanovka Formation is now attributed to the Middle Ordovician. On the basis of compositional features of the lithoclastic tuffs composing the middle part of the formation, we assume that it was formed within the island arc zone. Limestones from the base of the youngest terrigenous–carbonate Kreshchenovka Formation are attributed to the lower part of the Sandbian Stage of the Upper Ordovician. The study of the geochronology of detrital zircons from terrigenous rocks of the limestone–dolomite sequence has shown that the Early Neoproterozoic quartzite–schist sequences of the Kokchetav massif were the most probable provenance area during its deposition. It was established that there was the change of sedimentation environments from closed lagoons to a relatively deep sea basin with normal salinity and intense circulation of water masses in the northwestern frame of the Kokchetav massif during the Ordovician. During this period of time, there was a sufficiently high level of erosion of provenance areas that resulted in the deposition of thick strata of terrigenous material. A general tendency of the deepening of sedimentation environments from the Early to Late Ordovician was interrupted by sea level rises in the Dapingian and early Darriwilian ages.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987113001606

The paper reviews previous and recently obtained geological, stratigraphic and geochronological data on the Russian-Kazakh Altai orogen, which is located in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt （CAOB）, between the Kazakhstan and Siberian continental blocks. The Russian-Kazakh Altai is a typical Pacific-type orogen, which represents a collage of oceanic, accretionary, fore-arc, island-arc and continental margin terranes of different ages separated by strike-slip faults and thrusts. Evidence for this comes from key indicative rock associations, such as boninite- and turbidite （graywacke）-bearing volcanogenic-sedimentary units, accreted pelagic chert, oceanic islands and plateaus, MORB-OIB-protolith blueschists. The three major tectonic domains of the Russian-Kazakh Altai are： （1） Altai-Mongolian terrane （AMT）; （2） subduction-accretionary （Rudny Altai, Gorny Altai） and collisional （Kalba-Narym） terranes; （3） Kurai, Charysh-Terekta, North-East, Irtysh and Char suture-shear zones （SSZ）. The evolution of this orogen proceeded in five major stages： （i） late Neoproterozoic-early Paleozoic subduction-accretion in the Paleo-Asian Ocean; （ii） Ordovician-Silurian passive margin; （iii） Devonian-Carboniferous active margin and collision of AMT with the Siberian conti- nent; （iv） late Paleozoic closure of the PAO and coeval collisional magmatism; （v） Mesozoic post-collisional deformation and anarogenic magmatism, which created the modern structural collage of the Russian- Kazakh Altai orogen. The major still unsolved problem of Altai geology is origin of the Altai-Mongolian terrane （continental versus active margin）, age of Altai basement, proportion of juvenile and recycled crust and origin of the middle Paleozoic units of the Gorny Altai and Rudny Altai terranes.     

Tectonics and geodynamics of Gorny Altai and adjacent structures of the Altai–Sayan folded area

Packages of Late Paleozoic tectonic nappes and associated major NE-trending strike-slip faults are widely developed in the Altai–Sayan folded area. Fragments of early deformational phases are preserved within the Late Paleozoic allochthons and autochthons. Caledonian fold-nappe and strike-slip structures, as well as accompanying metamorphism and granitization in the region, are typical of the EW-trending suture-shear zone separating the composite Kazakhstan–Baikal continent and Siberia. In the Gorny Altai region, the Late Paleozoic nappes envelop the autochthon, which contains a fragment of the Vendian–Cambrian Kuznetsk–Altai island arc with accretionary wedges of the Biya–Katun’ and Kurai zones. The fold-nappe deformations within the latter zones occurred during the Late Cambrian (Salairian) and can thus be considered Salairian orogenic phases. The Salairian fold-nappe structure is stratigraphically overlain by a thick (up to 15 km) well-stratified rock unit of the Anyui–Chuya zone, which is composed of Middle Cambrian–Early Ordovician fore-arc basin rocks unconformably overlain by Ordovician–Early Devonian carbonate-terrigenous passive-margin sequences. These rocks are crosscut by intrusions and overlain by a volcanosedimentary unit of the Devonian active margin. The top of the section is marked by Famennian–Visean molasse deposits onlapping onto Devonian rocks. The molasse deposits accumulated above a major unconformity reflects a major Late Paleozoic phase of folding, which is most pronounced in deformations at the edges of the autochthon, nearby the Kaim, Charysh–Terekta, and Teletskoe–Kurai fault nappe zones. Upper Carboniferous coal-bearing molasse deposits are preserved as tectonic wedges within the Charysh–Terekta and Teletskoe–Kurai fault nappe zones.Detrital zircon ages from Middle Cambrian–Early Ordovician rocks of the Anyui–Chuya fore-arc zone indicate that they were primarily derived from Upper Neoproterozoic–Cambrian igneous rocks of the Kuznetsk–Altai island arc or, to a lesser extent, from an Ordovician–Early Devonian passive margin. A minor age population is represented by Paleoproterozoic grains, which was probably sourced from the Siberian craton. Zircons from the Late Carboniferous molasse deposits have much wider age spectra, ranging from Middle Devonian–Early Carboniferous to Late Ordovician–Early Silurian, Cambrian–Early Ordovician, Mesoproterozoic, Early–Middle Proterozoic, and early Paleoproterozoic. These ages are consistent with the ages of igneous and metamorphic rocks of the composite Kazakhstan–Baikal continent, which includes the Tuva-Mongolian island arc with accreted Gondwanan blocks, and a Caledonian suture-shear zone in the north. Our results suggest that the Altai–Sayan region is represented by a complex aggregate of units of different geodynamic affinity. On the one hand, these are continental margin rocks of western Siberia, containing only remnants of oceanic crust embedded in accretionary structures. On the other hand, they are represented by the Kazakhstan–Baikal continent composed of fragments of Gondwanan continental blocks. In the Early–Middle Paleozoic, they were separated by the Ob’–Zaisan oceanic basin, whose fragments are preserved in the Caledonian suture-shear zone. The movements during the Late Paleozoic occurred along older, reactivated structures and produced the large intracontinental Central Asian orogen, which is interpreted to be a far-field effect of the colliding East European, Siberian, and Kazakhstan–Baikal continents.     

黔东北地区晚奥陶世岩相古地理

黔东北地区上奥陶统出露宝塔组、临湘组、五峰组和观音桥组.根据沉积物、沉积相特征变化,将黔东北地区上奥陶统划分为有障壁碳酸盐岩台地沉积、无障壁碳酸盐岩缓坡沉积和浅海陆棚沉积.板块构造运动在晚奥陶世开始变得剧烈,黔东北大部分地区因华夏板块挤压而隆起.宝塔期,黔东北地区发育碳酸盐岩缓坡模式,碳酸盐岩台地逐渐淹没,形成由古隆起...     

Aragonite depositional facies in a Late Ordovician calcite sea,Eastern Laurentia

The Black River (Upper Ordovician – Sandbian) and Trenton (Upper Ordovician – Katian) groups are traditionally interpreted as a deepening-upward succession deposited in a progressively subsiding Appalachian Basin margin that contained warm-water, marine, photozoan deposits that pass upward into cool-water, marine, heterozoan carbonates. This succession is customarily interpreted to reflect an incursion of cold, high-latitude ocean waters into the area. This view is herein confirmed for coeval carbonates in the northern part of the basin, particularly the St. Lawrence Platform. They are now well explained in this study on the basis of recent studies of cool-water carbonates and calcite–aragonite seas. Overall the succession is one of Sandbian photozoan ramp deposits succeeded by Katian heterozoan ramp carbonates that changed back to photozoan ramp deposits prior to the Hirnantian glaciation. The current interpretation, that deposition took place throughout a calcite sea time, seems at odds with this series of strata. Instead it is herein proposed that deposition took place during an aragonite sea time wherein calcite sea-like sediments accumulated under cold ocean-water temperatures. Such an interpretation is supported by recent experimental data that supports the importance of seawater temperature on CaCO₃ polymorph precipitation. If correct, this means that some of the evidence for calcite sea deposition through time brought about by global tectonics, should be re-evaluated to make sure it was not simply cool-water carbonate production.     

The new Ordovician stage standard as applied to the stratigraphic units of the western Altai–Sayan Folded Area

Data are provided on the new Ordovician stage standard of the International Stratigraphic Chart: Tremadocian, Floian, Dapingian, Darriwilian, Sandbian, Katian, and Hirnantian. Graptolite and conodont zonal and infrazonal successions are used for a precise estimation of the chrono- stratigraphic position of the boundaries of the previous and newly proposed Ordovician regional stratigraphic units (horizons) in the western Altai–Sayan Folded Area. The chronostratigraphic position of the boundaries of most of the Ordovician formations showing a wide lateral distribution in southern Siberia has been described in detail in terms of the new stage standard of the General Stratigraphic Scale of Russia.     

新疆巴楚中—晚奥陶世牙形刺生物地层和沉积环境研究

塔里木盆地中央隆起区的中—上奥陶统灰岩相地层露头分布在巴楚良里塔格地区的一间房—唐王城。以牙形刺动物群为依据厘定3个组的时代,从下至上为一间房组(Periodus flabellum层、Pygodus serra层,属达瑞威尔阶)、吐木休克组(Pygodus anserinus层、Baltoniodus alobatus带,属桑比阶)和良里塔格组(含B.confluens动物群层,属凯迪阶下部)。一间房组的开始标志了新一期的海进,此组下段发育1期藻丘,中段发育1期藻丘、1期瓶筐石礁丘和3—4期瓶筐石—棘屑滩,上段代表了海水加深至浪基面之下的过程;吐木休克组沉积过程中达到了海进最大值,为凝缩沉积;良里塔格组代表了逐渐海退的过程,由浅滩和3期藻丘建造组成。     

Trace elements indicating humid climatic events in the Ordovician–early Silurian

The chemical composition of the clay fraction separated from the carbonate rock of the north-eastern Baltoscandian Basin was analysed and interpreted. Increased contents of Rb, Zr, Nb, Ti and their Al₂O₃-normalised ratios were detected at several stratigraphical levels in the geological sections of the Middle Ordovician–Upper Llandovery. In the weathering areas, Rb, Zr, Nb, Ti and Al are sensitive to moist conditions in the clay-forming process. In the sedimentary basin, the contents of these elements in clay are preserved and allow to infer past climates. Humid events occurred in the Dapingian, Sandbian, early Katian and Hirnantian (Ordovician) and in the Middle and Late Llandovery (Silurian). Juxtaposition with the sea-level curve shows correlation of five humid climate intervals with eustatic transgressions, suggesting global causes for these climatic changes. The warm and humid events, lasting one to two million years, occurred as climaxes between ice ages. An exceptional humid event within the Hirnantian glacial time occurs during mid-Hirnantian transgression, i.e. at a time of relative warming, as well.     

Polychronous formation of the ophiolite association in the Tekturmas zone of Central Kazakhstan inferred from geochronological and biostratigraphic data

Plagiogranites and conodonts from chert intercalations in basalts of the ophiolite association in the Tekturmas zone of Central Kazakhstan were subjected to the U?Pb geochronological and stratigraphic investigations, respectively. The age of plagiogranite crystallization is estimated to be 489 ± 8 Ma corresponding to the stratigraphic interval spanning from the uppermost Upper Cambrian to the lower Tremadocian. Conodonts from cherts of the Kuzek Formation are distributed along the section interval from the uppermost part of the Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) to the lower part of the Sandbian (Upper Ordovician), which corresponds to the period of 457?460 Ma. It is revealed that the formation of the ophiolite section in the Tekturmas zone was a multistage process lasting from the Late Cambrian to the initial Late Ordovician.     

Uranium in saline lakes of Northwestern Mongolia

Analysis of major- and trace-element compositions of water in hypersaline soda closed basin lakes of Northwestern Mongolia and Chuya basin (Gorny Altai) shows high enrichment in ²³⁸U (up to 1 mg/l). Proceeding from new data, uranium accumulation in water has been attributed to (i) location of the lakes and their watersheds in potential provinces of U-bearing rocks and (ii) uranium complexing with carbonate in presence of carbonate (bicarbonate) anions. Among the explored hypersaline soda lakes of the area, the greatest uranium resources are stored in Lake Hyargas Nuur (about 6000 ton).     

鄂尔多斯盆地奥陶系层序地层格架

通过大量露头、钻井与地震层序地层学综合分析,建立了全盆地奥陶系层序地层格架。研究提出了“碳酸盐岩层序地层划分与对比五要素”分析方法。应用该分析方法在奥陶系识别出3个二级层序界面、6个三级层序界面,将奥陶系划分为2个二级层序和8个三级层序。盆地不同构造环境形成不同的层序地层格架:在盆地西部窄大陆边缘北部奥陶系发育层序 Osq3-层序Osq7五套地层,持续时间从早奥陶世弗洛阶到晚奥陶世桑比阶末,南部发育层序Osq1-层序Osq7七套地层,持续时间从早奥陶世特马道克阶到晚奥陶世桑比阶末,总体上西部地层西厚东薄,南北向条带状展布,向伊盟隆起-庆阳古隆起上超覆尖灭;在盆地南部宽大陆边缘奥陶系发育盆地所发现的8个层序,持续时间从早奥陶世弗洛阶到晚奥陶世凯特阶早期,地层南厚北薄,向庆阳古隆起上超覆尖灭;在盆地中东部台内洼陷奥陶系仅发育层序Osq3-层序Osq5 TST,以盆地东部洼陷东侧最厚向伊盟隆起-庆阳古隆起上超覆尖灭;盆地北部伊盟古隆起、西南部庆阳古隆起主体一直处于隆起剥蚀状态,二者的鞍部仅发育Osq4 TST层序,表明盆地西部的祁连海槽与盆地东部的华北海在中奥陶世晚期有过短暂连通。     

Geology of the Gorny Altai subduction–accretion complex, southern Siberia: Tectonic evolution of an Ediacaran–Cambrian intra-oceanic arc-trench system

The Gorny Altai region in southern Siberia is one of the key areas in reconstructing the tectonic evolution of the western segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This region features various orogenic elements of Late Neoproterozoic–Early Paleozoic age, such as an accretionary complex (AC), high-P/T metamorphic (HP) rocks, and ophiolite (OP), all formed by ancient subduction–accretion processes. This study investigated the detailed geology of the Upper Neoproterozoic to Lower Paleozoic rocks in a traverse between Gorno-Altaisk city and Lake Teletskoy in the northern part of the region, and in the Kurai to Chagan-Uzun area in the southern part. The tectonic units of the studied areas consist of (1) the Ediacaran (=Vendian)–Early Cambrian AC, (2) ca. 630 Ma HP complex, (3) the Ediacaran–Early Cambrian OP complex, (4) the Cryogenian–Cambrian island arc complex, and (5) the Middle Paleozoic fore-arc sedimentary rocks. The AC consists mostly of paleo-atoll limestone and underlying oceanic island basalt with minor amount of chert and serpentinite. The basaltic lavas show petrochemistry similar to modern oceanic plateau basalt. The 630 Ma HP complex records a maximum peak metamorphism at 660 °C and 2.0 GPa that corresponds to 60 km-deep burial in a subduction zone, and exhumation at ca. 570 Ma. The Cryogenian island arc complex includes boninitic rocks that suggest an incipient stage of arc development. The Upper Neoproterozoic–Lower Paleozoic complexes in the Gorno-Altaisk city to Lake Teletskoy and the Kurai to Chagan-Uzun areas are totally involved in a subhorizontal piled-nappe structure, and overprinted by Late Paleozoic strike-slip faulting. The HP complex occurs as a nappe tectonically sandwiched between the non- to weakly metamorphosed AC and the OP complex. These lithologic assemblages and geologic structure newly documented in the Gorny Altai region are essentially similar to those of the circum-Pacific (Miyashiro-type) orogenic belts, such as the Japan Islands in East Asia and the Cordillera in western North America. The Cryogenian boninite-bearing arc volcanism indicates that the initial stage of arc development occurred in a transient setting from a transform zone to an incipient subduction zone. The less abundant of terrigenous clastics from mature continental crust and thick deep-sea chert in the Ediacaran–Early Cambrian AC may suggest that the southern Gorny Altai region evolved in an intra-oceanic arc-trench setting like the modern Mariana arc, rather than along the continental arc of a major continental margin. Based on geological, petrochemical, and geochronological data, we synthesize the Late Neoproterozoic to Early Paleozoic tectonic history of the Gorny Altai region in the western CAOB.     

Stratotypes of Quaternary deposits of the Yaloman-Katun’ zone (Gorny Altai)

We revised geological data substantiating the unified 1983 Regional Stratigraphic Chart of Gorny Altai Quaternary deposits. Based on our own and literature data, we showed that Lower and Middle Quaternary glacial horizons are erroneously distinguished in the Yaloman-Katun’ zone of southeastern Altai. A new correlation is proposed, according to which the glacial complex of the maximum glaciation (MIS-6) corresponds to the Inya catafluvial series and the glacial complex of the first postmaximum glaciation (MIS-4 unit), to the Sal’dzhar catafluvial series. The lectostratotypes of both series are described. The event history of the second half of the Late Neopleistocene in Gorny Altai (MIS-3 and MIS-2) was less catastrophic for ancient biota and Paleolithic man than it was believed earlier.     

华南上扬子区中奥陶统十字铺组的岩相与生物相

华南上扬子区中奥陶统十字铺组是跨越达瑞威尔阶中上部到桑比阶底部的一个岩石地层单位,自命名以来,许多学者对其进行过研究报道,但迄今缺乏系统综述。通过查阅大量相关资料并结合野外观察和研究,对十字铺组的岩相和生物相进行了总结:十字铺组以发育一套钙质泥岩夹有少量泥质灰岩并产有丰富的华美正形贝动物群为特色;在靠近古陆的上扬子台地西部,十字铺组的同期地层类型多样,主要为碎屑岩;而向东,在距古陆较远的地区,发育着岩相稳定的碳酸盐岩,以牯牛潭组为主。十字铺组及其同期地层中的腕足类化石,在黔北、黔东北及川西南等地的多样性较高,而向其他方向(更近岸或更远岸)多样性都呈下降的趋势。     

华北板块奥陶纪牙形石生物地层研究回顾及在西北缘区新进展

牙形石在以碳酸盐岩为主的华北奥陶系划分对比中占有举足轻重的地位。针对华北奥陶纪牙形石的研究已持续近半个世纪,总体上可以分为两个阶段:第一阶段自20世纪70年代到21世纪初,第二阶段为最近10年(2010—2020)。第一阶段以建立牙形石生物地层序列为目标,主要为解决石油勘探过程中地层时代的确定和地层对比的需求;第二阶段的研究以修订化石带为主,目的是与国际地层研究接轨。近年来在华北板块西北缘的工作显示,该区奥陶纪牙形石在纵向上具有显著的生态变化,可分为达瑞威尔期中期、达瑞威尔期晚期—桑比期中期、桑比期晚期—凯迪期中期3个时段。第一时段以介于北美中大陆区和北大西洋区之间的热带台地边缘型牙形石为特征;第二时段以北大西洋型为主混有少量亚澳型牙形石为特征;第三时段以亚澳型和北美中大陆型牙形石混生为特征。在华北西北缘尽可能使用广布性标准牙形石属种进行化石带厘定,共识别牙形石带12个,自下而上分别是达瑞威尔期Histiodella cf. holodentata间隔带、Histiodella kristinae谱系带、Histiodella bellburnensis延限带、Dzikodus tablepointensis间隔带、Eoplacognathus suecicus间隔带、Pygodus serra间隔带和Pygodus anserinus(早期型)间隔亚带,桑比期Pygodus anserinus(晚期型)间隔亚带和Belodina compressa间隔带,凯迪期Belodina confluens间隔带、Yaoxianognathus neimengguensis间隔带和Yaoxianognathus yaoxianensis间隔带。由于部分化石带与国际同名带的对比还存在一些矛盾,尚需今后进一步解决。     

A Middle Ordovician Drowning Unconformity on the Northeastern Flank of the Okcheon (Ogcheon) Belt, South Korea

The Maggol Limestone of Ordovician age was deposited in the Taebaeksan (Taebacksan) Basin which occupies the northeastern flank of the Okcheon (Ogcheon) Belt of South Korea. Carbonate facies analysis in conjunction with conodont biostratigraphy suggests that an overall regression toward the top of the Maggol Limestone probably culminated in subaerial exposure of platform carbonates in the early Middle Ordovician (earliest Darriwilian). Elsewhere this subaerial exposure event is manifested as a major paleokarst unconformity at the Sauk-Tippecanoe sequence boundary beneath the Middle Ordovician succession and its equivalents, most in notably North America and North China. Due to its global extent, this paleokarst unconformity has been viewed as a product of second- or third-order eustatic sea level fall during the early Middle Ordovician. The Sauk-Tippecanoe sequence boundary in South Korea, however, appears to be a discrete marine-flooding surface in the upper Maggol Limestone. Strata beneath this surface represent by a thinning-upward stack of exposure-capped tidal flat-dominated cycles that are closely associated with multiple occurrences of paleokarst-related solution-collapse breccias. This marine-flooding surface is onlapped by a thick succession of thin-bedded micritic limestone that is eventually overlain by a Middle Ordovician condensed section. This physical stratigraphic relationship suggest that second- and third-order eustatic sea level fall may have been significantly tempered by regional tectonic subsidence near the end of Maggol deposition. The tectonic subsidence is also evidenced by the occurrence of coeval off-platform lowstand siliciclastic quartzite lenses as well as debris flow carbonate breccias (i.e., the Yemi Breccia) in the basin. With continued tectonic subsidence, a subsequent rise in the eustatic cycle caused drowning and deep flooding of the carbonate platform, forming a discrete marine-flooding surface that may be referred to as a drowning unconformity. This tectonic interpretation contrasts notably with the slowly subsiding carbonate platform model for the basin as has been previously suggested. Thus, it is proposed that the Taebaeksan Basin in the northeastern flank on the Okcheon Belt evolved from a slowly subsiding carbonate platform to a rapidly subsiding intracontinental rift basin during the early Middle Ordovician.     

A Middle Ordovician Drowning Unconformity on the Northeastern Flank of the Okcheon (Ogcheon) Belt,South Korea

The Maggol Limestone of Ordovician age was deposited in the Taebaeksan (Taebacksan) Basin which occupies the northeastern flank of the Okcheon (Ogcheon) Belt of South Korea. Carbonate facies analysis in conjunction with conodont biostratigraphy suggests that an overall regression toward the top of the Maggol Limestone probably culminated in subaerial exposure of platform carbonates in the early Middle Ordovician (earliest Darriwilian). Elsewhere this subaerial exposure event is manifested as a major paleokarst unconformity at the Sauk-Tippecanoe sequence boundary beneath the Middle Ordovician succession and its equivalents, most in notably North America and North China. Due to its global extent, this paleokarst unconformity has been viewed as a product of second- or third-order eustatic sea level fall during the early Middle Ordovician. The Sauk-Tippecanoe sequence boundary in South Korea, however, appears to be a discrete marine-flooding surface in the upper Maggol Limestone. Strata beneath this surface represent by a thinning-upward stack of exposure-capped tidal flat-dominated cycles that are closely associated with multiple occurrences of paleokarst-related solution-collapse breccias. This marine-flooding surface is onlapped by a thick succession of thin-bedded micritic limestone that is eventually overlain by a Middle Ordovician condensed section. This physical stratigraphic relationship suggest that second- and third-order eustatic sea level fall may have been significantly tempered by regional tectonic subsidence near the end of Maggol deposition. The tectonic subsidence is also evidenced by the occurrence of coeval off-platform lowstand siliciclastic quartzite lenses as well as debris flow carbonate breccias (i.e., the Yemi Breccia) in the basin. With continued tectonic subsidence, a subsequent rise in the eustatic cycle caused drowning and deep flooding of the carbonate platform, forming a discrete marine-flooding surface that may be referred to as a drowning unconformity. This tectonic interpretation contrasts notably with the slowly subsiding carbonate platform model for the basin as has been previously suggested. Thus, it is proposed that the Taebaeksan Basin in the northeastern flank on the Okcheon Belt evolved from a slowly subsiding carbonate platform to a rapidly subsiding intracontinental rift basin during the early Middle Ordovician.     

Petrology of volcanic and plutonic rocks from the Uimen-Lebed’ terrain,Gorny Altai

The Uimen-Lebed’ volcanoplutonic terrane is located at the junction of the Gorny Altai, Gornaya Shoriya, and western Sayan structures and is part of the Devonian-Early Carbonaceous Salair-Altai volcanoplutonic belt. The volcanic facies of the terrane composes the contrasting Nyrnin-Sagan Group, which includes basalt-basaltic andesite and basalt-rhyolite associations. The plutonic facies makes up the multiplet Elekmonar Group, which includes two independent complexes: monzogabbro-monzodiorite-granodiorite-granite and granodiorite-granite-leucogranite. The volcanic and plutonic rocks are asymmetrically distributed: volcanic sequences fill inherited depressions in the eastern part of the terrane, whereas plutonic complexes are located in its western part at the fault system branching from the transregional Kuznetsk-Teletsk-Kurai fault zone. The basalts of the Nyrnin-Sagan Group show geochemical signatures of both suprasubduction and rift-related rocks. The evolution of basaltoid magmatism reflects the formation and development of a suprasubduction mantle wedge in the inner part of an active continental margin accompanied by the influence of an intraplate mantle source. The silicic volcanism was generated under lower crustal conditions (P > 10 kbar) at the expense of metabasic materials and was accompanied by the influx of potassium into the anatectic zones. The gabbroids of the Elekmonar Group show suprasubduction geochemical features and no signatures of rift-related structures. The composition of the Elekmonar granitoids indicates significantly shallower (compared with the silicic volcanics) depths of their generation. The Uimen-Lebed’ volcanoplutonic terrane in the northeastern part of Gorny Altai was formed in the inner part of an active continental margin of the Andean type. Its magmatic complexes were formed over a considerable time range, from the early Emsian, when the formation of the active continental margin began, to the end of the Eifelian or, more likely, the beginning of the Givetian stage.     

Features of magmatim-related metallogeny of Gorny Altai and Rudny Altai (Russia)

The Rudny Altai and Gorny Altai regions had different geologic histories and differ in metallogenic patterns. The Vendian-Early Cambrian to Permian-Triassic multistage evolution of Gorny Altai included subduction, accretion-collision, and rifting events accompanied by magmatism and related mineralization. Metallogeny evolved in discrete pulses, with especially abundant Late Paleozoic-earliest Mesozoic mineralization. The Devonian-Carboniferous pulse produced diverse mineral deposits (iron, mercury, gold, silver, molybdenum, tungsten, cobalt, polymetallic ores, and rare earths), some of considerable economic value. The territory of Gorny Altai includes several large ore districts that belong to different zones. They are the Beloretsk-Kholzun iron district in the west, the Kayancha-Sinyukha fluorine-gold district in the northeast, the Kurai gold-mercury and Yustyd rare-metal-silver districts in the southeast, and the Kalguty rare-metal-tungsten and Ulandryk U-REE-Cu districts in the south. The largest mineral deposits are Kholzun (Fe, P₂O₅), Karakul (Co, Bi), Sinyukha (Au), Aktash and Chagan-Uzun (Hg), Ozernoe and Pogranichnoe (Ag), Kalguty (Mo, W), Alakha (Li, Ta), Rudnyi Log (Y,Fe-specularite), and Urzarsai (W-scheelite). Mineralization in Rudny Altai is mainly pyritic: copper-pyrite, pyrite-polymelallic ore, and barite-polymelallic ore. It resides in suprasubduction basalts and rhyolites and in Emsian to Frasnian island-arc volcanics at different stratigraphic levels of Devonian volcanosedimentary sequences in six ore districts. The Kurchum high-grade metamorphic block hosts copper-pyrite and gold-quartz mineralization related to Hercynian volcanism.