The early Vendian microfossils first found in the Russian plate: Taxonomic composition and biostratigraphic significance

The microfossils studied are discovered for the first time in the Riphean-Lower Vendian deposits, which have been recovered in 2002 by the Kel’tminskaya-1 deep parametric borehole in the Vychegda depression, the northeastern margin of the East European platform. The sampled interval of core section (4825–2347 m) consists of three units: the lower (depth range 4825–3995 m, 5 samples) and middle (depth range 3687–2961 m, 17 samples) carbonate successions overlain by sandstone-siltstone beds (depth range 2907–2347 m, 58 samples). Based on lithological criteria and/or composition of stromatolites, the carbonate successions are correlative with the Yshkemes and Vapol formations of the Upper Riphean of the Timan ridge succession, while the overlying, mostly siltstone succession was correlated with the Vychegda Formation of the southern Timan according to similarity in lithology and mineral composition. Microfossils found in 56 samples occur at 20 microphytological levels and represent different microbiotas. The Yshkemes and Vapol microbiotas of low diversity characterize six lower levels and represent one assemblage, while the diverse and abundant Vychegda microbiota typical of fourteen upper levels is divisible into three successive assemblages. The Vapol stromatolites Inzeria djejimii and Poludia polymorpha along with giant Chuaria and Navifusa present in the Yshkemes-Vapol assemblage suggest that their host deposits correspond to the upper Upper Riphean. The Vychegda assemblages, each of peculiar biostratigraphic specifics and unique in composition, consist of different morphotypes, primarily of large acanthomorphic acritarchs Cavaspina, Polyhedrosphaeridium, Cymatiosphaeridium, Asterocapsoides, and Tanarium, which are known in Scandinavia, Siberia, China, Australia, and India only in the Lower Vendian microbiotas of the Perthatataka type. The comprehensive microphytological characterization of the Lower Vendian in the Vychegda depression and earlier data on the Middle-Upper Riphean microbiotas from the adjacent Mezen syneclise enable a high-resolution biostratigraphic subdivision of the Riphean and Vendian successions in the vast region under consideration.     

First results of U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from the Upper Ordovician sandstones of the Bashkir uplift (Southern Urals)

The first results of U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from Upper Ordovician sandstones of the Bashkir uplift in the Southern Urals and U–Pb isotopic ages available for detrital zircons from six stratigraphic levels of the Riphean–Paleozoic section of this region are discussed. It is established that the long (approximately 1.5 Ga) depositional history of sedimentary sequences of the Bashkir uplift includes a peculiar period lasting from the Late Vendian to the Emsian Age of the Early Devonian (0.55–0.41 Ga). This period is characterized by the following features: (1) prevalence of material from eroded Mesoproterozoic and Early Neoproterozoic crystalline complexes among clastics with ages atypical of the Volga–Urals segment of the East European Platform basement; (2) similarity of age spectra obtained for detrital zircons from different rocks of the period: Upper Vendian–Lower Cambrian lithic sandstones and Middle Ordovician substantially quartzose sandstones.     

U–Pb LA–ICP–MS Age of Detrital Zircons from the Lower Riphean and Upper Vendian Deposits of the Luga–Ladoga Monocline

The results of LA–ICP–MS U–Pb analyses of detrital zircons from the Precambrian deposits of Luga–Ladoga monocline are discussed. The age spectra of the zircons separated from the Riphean to Upper Vendian sandstones from the Shotkusa-1 well demonstrate dominance of the Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic grains while the Archaean zircons are subordinate. The Riphean debris sources were local swells of the Northern Ladoga basement. The sequence interval presumably corresponding to the Vasilieostrov Formation (Upper Vendian) has yielded not only Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic zircon ages, but Neoproterozoic as well, implying a Timanide provenance: these zircons (527 ± 9 and 516 ± 13 Ma) allow deposition of a significant part of the Shotkusa-1 sequence at the very beginning of the Cambrian.     

南乌拉尔地区中—新元古代地层序列及碳酸盐岩和碎屑岩发现臼齿构造的地质意义

中—新元古代地层在南乌拉尔海槽中极为发育,地层厚度巨大,几个阶段的构造演化和沉积特征清晰可见。新太古代和下里菲是俄罗斯重要的大型层状铁矿和菱镁矿的宿主地层,中里菲群(元古宙地层)地层厚度极大,伴随了几次沉积旋回,发育了从深海相到大陆缓坡的碳酸盐岩沉积;随着新元古代末次冰期之后,文德系发育了可全球对比的白海动物群(伊迪卡拉动物群)。笔者首次确认了南乌拉尔地区中—新元古代地层3套臼齿构造,其中巴卡尔组(Bakal)碳酸盐岩臼齿构造与碎屑岩地震液化脉互层共生,特别是大量臼齿构造也发育在大型叠层石中。从臼齿构造与碎屑岩液化脉互层的共生特征,说明发育在碳酸盐岩中臼齿构造与地震机理的液化作用有关。该3套臼齿构造与中国华北地台中—新元古代地层中发现的臼齿构造(液化脉)时代大体接近。     

The metamorphic complex of Beloretzk, SW Urals, Russia — a terrane with a polyphase Meso- to Neoproterozoic thermo-dynamic evolution

An integrated geological study of the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the metamorphic complex of Beloretzk (MCB) which is part of the eastern Bashkirian mega-anticlinorium (BMA), SW Urals, Russia shows that the main lithological units are Neoproterozoic (Riphean and Vendian age) siliciclastic to carbonate successions. Granitic, syenitic and mafic intrusions together with subaerial equivalents comprise the Neo- and Mesoproterozoic magmatic rocks. The metamorphic grade ranges from diagenetic and very low grade in the western BMA to high-grade in the MCB. The N–S trending Zuratkul fault marks the change in metamorphic grade and structural evolution between the central and eastern BMA. Structural data, Pb/Pb-single zircon ages, ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling ages and the provenance signature of Riphean and Vendian siliciclastic rocks in the western BMA give evidence of Mesoproterozoic (Grenvillian) rifting, deformation and eclogite-facies metamorphism in the MCB and a Neoproterozoic (Cadomian) orogenic event in the SW Urals. Three pre-Ordovician deformation phases can be identified in the MCB. The first SSE-vergent, isoclinal folding phase (D₁) is younger than the intrusion of mafic dykes (Pb/Pb-single zircon: 1350 Ma) and older than the eclogite-facies metamorphism. High P/low T eclogite-facies metamorphism is bracketed by D₁ and the intrusion of the Achmerovo granite (Pb/Pb-single zircon: ≤970 Ma). An extensional, sinistral, top-down-to-NW directed shearing (D₂) is correlated with the first exhumation of the MCB. E-vergent folding and thrusting (D₃) occurred at retrograde greenschist-facies metamorphic conditions. The tremolite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling age (718±5 Ma) of amphibolitic eclogite and muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar cooling ages (about 550 Ma) of mica schists indicate that a maximum temperature of 500±50 °C was not reached during the Neoproterozoic orogeny. The style and timing of the Neoproterozoic orogeny show similarities to the Cadomian-aged Timan Range NW of the Polar Urals. Geochronological and thermochronological data together with the abrupt change in structural style and metamorphism east of the Zuratkul fault, suggest that the MCB is exotic with respect to the SE-margin of the East European Platform. Thus, the MCB is named the ‘Beloretzk Terrane’. Recognition of the ‘Beloretzk Terrane’ and the Neoproterozoic orogeny at the eastern margin of Baltica has important implications for Neoproterozoic plate reconstruction and suggests that the eastern margin of Baltica might have lain close to the Avalonian–Cadomian belt.     

Discovery of the Jiawengmen Stromatolite Assemblage in the Southern Belt of Eastern Kunlun, NW China and Its Significance

1 Introduction The stromatolites of the Jiawengmen area in the southern belt of the Eastern Kunlun orogen were initially interpreted as vortex structures by the Regional Geological Survey Team, Qinghai Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in 1973; these samples were then identified as algal fossils of Sinian age by the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology (Qinghai Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, 1973). In 1994, Chen and Luo (1998) discovered some stromatolites, i…     

Rb-Sr and K-Ar indicators of the transformation of precambrian clayey rocks in the East European Platform

Rb-Sr and K-Ar characteristics of Vendian and Upper Riphean sections in various structural units of the East European Platform are studied. It is shown that Neoproterozoic clayey rocks of the platform underwent postsedimentary transformations, primarily owing to processes of K accumulation (illitization). Their intensity decreases with depth and isotopic signatures of provenance rocks are partly retained in Riphean rocks. Stages of the most active transformations approximately 400 and 600 Ma ago are manifested in the Vendian clayey rocks. Events of approximately 1000 Ma ago are recorded in Riphean rocks of the East European Platform. The least altered rocks of the Pachelma aulacogen can retain ancient hydrocarbon pools.     

东昆仑南带中元古代晚期-新元古代早期叠层石组合的发现

东昆仑南带加嗡门地区碳酸盐岩地层中发现的中元古代晚期-新元古代早期叠层石组合以大型锥叠层石及其相关的分子Conophyton garganicus var. inkeni,C. cf. ressoti Menchikov, Jacutophyton f. 和Conicodomenia cf. longotenuia等最丰富, 并与Baicalia共生, 故可视之为Conophyton-Baicalia组合.这叠层石组合可以与天山、华北等地蓟县系中部-青白口系中部叠层石组合对比,尤其酷似于天山地区蓟县系的爱尔基干组合和华北蓟县系的闪坡岭叠层石组合,而显著有别于华南地块.它还可以与南乌拉尔、西伯利亚、北美、北非和阿拉斯加半岛等地区的中里菲界上部--上里菲界下部层位中的叠层石组合对比.加嗡门叠层石组合的时限为距今1 300～850 Ma,大致为蓟县纪中期-青白口纪中期或中里菲晚期-晚里菲早期.东昆仑南带存在前寒武纪微地块,当时此微地块的古地理和古环境与天山、华北、西伯利亚和阿拉斯加半岛等地区的前寒武纪地块相似,均位于低纬度区,其上均广泛发育适宜叠层石繁育的温暖陆表海,它们可能共同处于罗迪尼亚超大陆的低纬度大陆边缘部位,与华南地块的不同.这对本区和东昆仑地层和大地构造研究,以及对罗迪尼亚超大陆重建提供了新的古生物约束.     

Mesoproterozoic–Neoproterozoic transition: Geochemistry, provenance and tectonic setting of clastic sedimentary rocks on the SE margin of the Yangtze Block, South China

The SE margin of the Yangtze Block, South China is composed of the Mesoproterozoic Lengjiaxi Group and the Neoproterozoic Banxi Group, with Sinian- and post-Sinian-cover. A geochemical study was undertaken on the Mesoproterozoic–Neoproterozoic clastic sediments in order to delineate the characteristics of the sediment source and to constrain the tectonic development and crustal evolution of South China.Our results show that the Mesoproterozoic clastic sediments have a dominant component derived from a metavolcanic-plutonic terrane, with a large of mafic component. There is a minor contribution of mafic rocks and older upper crustal rocks to the provenance. Strong chemical weathering in the source area occurred before transport and deposition. The provenance for the Neoproterozoic clastic sediments was most likely old upper continental crust composed of tonalite–granodiorite-dominated, tonalite–granodiorite–granite source rocks, which had undergone strong weathering and/or recycling. A minor component of older K-rich granitic plutonic rocks and younger volcanogenic bimodal rocks is also indicated.Based on the regional geology, the geochemical data and the inferred provenance, the Mesoproterozoic Group is interpreted as a successive sedimentary sequence, deposited in an extensional/rifting back-arc basin, adjacent to a >1.80 Ga continental margin arc-terrane. The progressive extension/rifting of the back-arc basin was followed by increasing subsidence and regional uplift during continental marginal arc-continent (the Cathaysian Block) collision at 1.0 Ga caused the deposition of the Neoproterozoic Group into back-arc to retro-arc foreland basin. Therefore, the depositional setting of the Proterozoic clastic sediments and associated volcanic rocks within the back-arc basin reflected basin development from an active continental margin (back-arc basin), with extension or rifting of the back-arc basin, to a passive continental margin.     

Dimensional parameters of columnar stromatolites as a result of stromatolite ecosystem evolution

Columnar stromatolites representing more than a half of species described in Precambrian stromatolite assemblages reveal a regular trend of size variations during the Proterozoic and Early Paleozoic. Their dimensional parameters grew gradually during the Paleoproterozoic to attain peak values in the Early Riphean and to decline steadily afterward during the Middle-Late Riphean, Vendian, and Cambrian. Size variations are established based on statistically averaged maximum diameters of columns calculated for 230 taxa and on percentages of large, medium and small species occurring in successive units of stratigraphic scale. The units correspond to three Paleoproterozoic subdivisions (time span from 2.3 to 1.65 Ga) and to five subdivisions of the Riphean, Vendian and Early Paleozoic jointly spanning a comparable period of geologic time. The results of calculation depict a unimodal variation curve with one infliction point designating inversion of ascending and descending trends in the Early Riphean time. The inversion and cardinal changes in taxonomic composition of the entire stromatolite community across the Riphean lower boundary appear to be interrelated. Abiotic events, which certainly influenced diversity of all, especially columnar stromatolites, have no manifestation however in the size-variation curve lacking perceptible oscillations in both the ascending and descending branches. Consequently, dimension parameters of columnar stromatolites appear to be independent of direct influence of abiotic events.     

The Yudomian of Siberia,Vendian and Ediacaran systems of the International stratigraphic scale

In Russia, the terminal Neoproterozoic formally includes the Vendian of western part of the East European platform and the concurrent Yudoma Group of Siberia. As is shown in this work, the designated subdivisions correspond in the stratotypes only to the upper, Yudomian Series of the Vendian. In the Siberian platform, the Ust-Yudoma and Aim horizons of the Yudomian are tightly interrelated. The lower of them, bearing remains of Ediacaran Fauna, represents the Ediacarian Stage, whereas the upper one containing small-shelled fossils (SSF) corresponds to the Nemakit-Daldynian Stage divided into the trisulcatus and antiqua superregional zones. In more complete sections of the platform periphery, sediments of these subdivisions conformably rest on siliciclastic succession that should be ranked as basal subdivision of the Yudomian. The succession is concurrent to the Laplandian Stage of the East European platform. According to geochronological dates obtained recently, the Yudomian Series spans interval of 600–540 Ma. In the East European platform, the Upper Vendian (Yudomian) begins with the Laplandian basal tillites of synonymous stage. In the west of the platform, tillites are dated at 600 Ma like the Upper Vendian base in Siberia. The next Ediacarian Stage of the East European platform is stratigraphic equivalent of the Redkino Horizon, while summary range of the Kotlin and Rovno horizons is concurrent to that of the Nemakit-Daldynian Stage. The Vendian of Russia is conformably overlain by the Tommotian Stage of the Lower Cambrian. Intense pre-Vendian events constrained distribution areas of the Lower Vendian sediments in Russia. The Lower Vendian deposits of the East European platform are most representative and well studied in the central Urals, where they are attributed to the Serebryanka Group. In Siberia, separate subdivisions representing the Lower Vendian are the Maastakh Formation of the Olenek Uplift, two lower members of the Ushakovka Formation in the Baikal region, and the Taseeva Group of the Yenisei Range. Chronological interval of the Lower Vendian corresponds to 650–600 Ma. The Marinoan Glaciation dated in Australia at 650–635 Ma is concurrent to basal part of the pre-Yudomian interval of the Vendian in Russia, whereas the Laplandian Tillite and Gaskiers Glaciation (600–580 Ma) correspond to onset of the Yudomian Epoch. The new Ediacaran System (Knoll et al., 2004) legalized in the International Neoproterozoic scale is close in range to the entire Vendian (635–544 Ma), although without basal beds (Marinoan Tillite) it deprives the terminal Neoproterozoic of its original sense. Inferiority of the system consists also in its indivisibility into stages. Hence, it is clear that the Vendian System subdivided in detail in Russia should be retained in the rank of terminal system of the Precambrian, one of the basic in general scale of the Neoproterozoic.     

P-T-t reconstructions of South Yenisei Ridge metamorphic history (Siberian craton): Petrological consequences and application to the supercontinental cycles

Studies of gneisses from the Yenisei regional shear zone (YRSZ) provide the first evidence for Mesoproterozoic tectonic events in the geologic history of the South Yenisei Ridge and allowed the recognition of several stages of deformation and metamorphism spanning from Late Paleoproterozoic to Vendian. The first stage (~ 1.73 Ga), corresponding to the period of granulite-amphibolite metamorphism at P = 5.9 kbar and T = 635 °C, marks the final amalgamation of the Siberian craton to the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Nuna supercontinent. During the second stage, corresponding to a hypothesized breakup of Nuna as a result of crustal extension, these rocks underwent Mesoproterozoic dynamic metamorphism (P = 7.4 kbar and T = 660 °C) with three peaks at 1.54, 1.38, and 1.25 Ga and the formation of high-pressure blastomylonite rocks in shear zones. Late-stage deformations during the Mesoproterozoic tectonic activity in the region, related to the Grenville-age collision processes and assembly of Rodinia, took place at 1.17-1.03 Ga. The latest pulse of dynamic metamorphism (615–600 Ma) marks the final stage of the Neoproterozoic evolution of the Yenisei Ridge, which is associated with the accretion of island-arc terranes to the western margin of the Siberian craton. The overall duration of identified tectonothermal processes within the South Yenisei Ridge during the Riphean (~ 650 Ma) is correlated with the duration of geodynamic cycles in the supercontinent evolution. A similar succession and style of tectonothermal events in the history of both the southern and the northern parts of the Yenisei Ridge suggest that they evolved synchronously within a single structure over a prolonged time span (1385–600 Ma). New data on coeavl events identified on the western margin of the Siberian craton contradict the hypothesis of a mantle activity lull (from 1.75 to 0.7 Ga) on the southwestern margins of the Siberian craton during the Precambrian. The synchronous sequence and similar style of tectonic events on the periphery of the large Precambrian Laurentia, Baltica, and Siberia cratons suggest their spatial proximity over a prolonged time span (1550–600 Ma). The above conclusion is consistent with the results of modern paleomagnetic reconstructions suggesting that these cratons represented the cores of Nuna and Rodinia within the above time interval.     

The Late Riphean–Paleozoic history of the Uda–Vitim island arc system in the Transbaikalian sector of the Paleoasian ocean

New structural, petrological, chemical, isotope, and paleomagnetic data have provided clues to the Late Riphean–Paleozoic history of the Uda–Vitim island arc system (UVIAS) in the Transbaikalian sector of the Paleoasian ocean, as part of the Transbaikalian zone of Paleozoids. The island arc system consists of three units corresponding to main evolution stages: (i) Upper Riphean (Late Baikalian), (ii) Vendian–Lower Paleozoic (Caledonian), and (iii) Middle–Upper Paleozoic (Hercynian). The earliest stage produced the base of the system composed of Late Riphean ophiolite (971–892 Ma, U-Pb) and volcanic (837–789 Ma, U-Pb) and sedimentary rocks (hemipelagic siliceous sediments and dolerite sills) which represent the Barguzin–Vitim oceanic basin and the Kelyana island arc. The main event of the second stage was the formation of the large UVIAS structure (over 150,000 km2) which comprised the Transbaikalian oceanic basin, the forearc and backarc basins, and the volcanic arc itself, and consisted of many volcanic-tectonic units exceeding 100 km² in area (Eravna, Oldynda, Abaga, etc.). Lithology, stratigraphy, major–element compositions, and isotope ages of Vendian–Cambrian volcanic rocks and associated sediments indicate strong differentiation of calc-alkaline series and the origin of the island arc system upon oceanic crust, in a setting similar to that of the today’s Kuriles–Kamchatka island arc system. The Middle–Upper Paleozoic stage completed the long UVIAS history and left its imprint in sedimentary and volcanic rocks in superposed trough basins. The rocks were studied in terms of their biostratigraphic and isotope age constraints, as well as major- and trace-element compositions, and were interpreted as products of weathering and tectonic-magmatic rework of the UVIAS units.     

Neoproterozoic microfossils from the margin of the East European Platform and the search for a biostratigraphic model of lower Ediacaran rocks

A ca. 600 m thick siliciclastic succession in northern Russia contains abundant and diverse microfossils that document early to middle Ediacaran deposition along the northeastern margin of the East European Platform. The Vychegda Formation is poorly exposed but is well documented by a core drilled in the Timan trough region (Kel’tminskaya-1 borehole). Vychegda siliciclastics lie unconformably above Tonian to lower Cryogenian strata and below equivalents of the late Ediacaran Redkino succession that is widely distributed across the platform. The basal 10 m of the formation preserve acritarchs and fragments of problematic macrofossils known elsewhere only from pre-Sturtian successions. In contrast, the upper, nearly 400 m of the succession contains abundant and diverse large acanthomorphic acritarchs attributable to the Ediacaran Complex Acanthomorph Palynoflora (ECAP). This distinctive set of taxa is known elsewhere only from lower, but not lowermost, Ediacaran rocks. In between lies an additional assemblage of relatively simple filaments and stratigraphically long ranging sphaeromorphic acritarchs interpreted as early Ediacaran in age. Bearing in mind that knowledge of late Cryogenian (post-Strurtian/pre-Marinoan) microfossils is sparse, the Vychegda record is consistent with data from Australia and China which suggest that diverse ECAP microfossil assemblages appeared well into the Ediacaran Period. Accumulating paleontological observations underscore both the promise and challenges for the biostratigraphic characterization of the early Ediacaran Period.     

Detrital zircon provenance of early Palaeozoic sediments at the southwestern margin of the Siberian Craton: Insights from U–Pb geochronology

Detrital zircons from the Ordovician and Devonian sedimentary cover of the Siberian Craton were analyzed for U/Pb geochronology to understand their sediment provenances. Five main age-peaks were identified in the zircon U/Pb age-spectra: (1) Neoarchaean – early Palaeoproterozoic (2.7–2.4 Ga); (2) late Palaeoproterozoic (2.0–1.65 Ga); (3) minor early Neoproterozoic (1.0–0.75 Ga); (4) Ediacaran (0.65–0.60 Ga) and (5) Cambrian – Early Ordovician (0.54–0.47 Ga), reflecting the main magmatic events in the sediment source regions. The oldest zircons (groups 1 and 2) are derived from the Siberian Craton which amalgamated during the Neoarchean – Palaeoproterozoic. The Neoproterozoic zircons (groups 3 and 4) likely sourced from southwestern basement uplifts and Neoproterozoic belts of the Siberian margin such as the Yenisey Ridge and Baikal-Muya region. The provenance of the youngest zircons (group 5) can be traced to the Altai–Sayan fold-belt, where peri-Gondwanan microcontinents and island-arcs accreted to Siberia during late Neoproterozoic – early Palaeozoic progressive consumption of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean.     

Diachronous evolution of volcano-sedimentary basins north of the Congo craton: Insights from U–Pb ion microprobe dating of zircons from the Poli, Lom and Yaoundé Groups (Cameroon)

Ion microprobe U–Pb dating of zircons from Neoproterozoic volcano-sedimentary sequences in Cameroon north of the Congo craton is presented. For the Poli basin, the depositional age is constrained between 700–665 Ma; detrital sources comprise ca. 920, 830, 780 and 736 Ma magmatic zircons. In the Lom basin, the depositional age is constrained between 613 and 600 Ma, and detrital sources include Archaean to Palaeoproterozoic, late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic (1100–950 Ma), and Neoproterozoic (735, 644 and 613 Ma) zircons. The Yaoundé Group is probably younger than 625 Ma, and detrital sources include Palaeoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic zircons. The depositional age of the Mahan metavolcano-sedimentary sequence is post-820 Ma, and detrital sources include late Mesoproterozoic (1070 Ma) and early Neoproterozoic volcanic rocks (824 Ma). The following conclusions can be made from these data. (1) The three basins evolved during the Pan-African event but are significantly different in age and tectonic setting; the Poli is a pre- to syn-collisional basin developed upon, or in the vicinity of young magmatic arcs; the Lom basin is post-collisional and intracontinental and developed on old crust; the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Yaoundé Group resulted from rapid tectonic burial and subsequent collision between the Congo craton and the Adamawa–Yade block. (2) Late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic inheritance reflects the presence of magmatic event(s) of this age in west–central Africa.     

U-Pb systematics of detrital zircons from the Serebryanka Group of the Central Urals

Based on the LA-ICP-MS data, detrital zircons from the tillite-type conglomerates of the Tanin Formation (Serebryanka Group) on the western slope of the Central Urals include approximately equal proportions of crystals with Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic U-Pb ages. Therefore, we can assume that crystalline rocks of the basement beneath the eastern part of the East European Craton served as a provenance for aluminosilicate clastics in the initial Serebryanka period. Detrital zircons from sandstones of the Kernos Formation have the Meso-Neoarchean (∼15%), Paleoproterozoic (∼60%), and Mesoproterozoic (∼26%) age. Comparison of the obtained data with the results of the study of detrital zircons from Riphean and Vendian sandstones of the Southern Urals shows that the Riphean and Lower Vendian rocks are mainly represented by erosional products of Middle and Upper Paleoproterozoic crystalline rocks that constitute the basement of the East European Craton. In addition, a notable role belonged to older (Lower Proterozoic, Neoarchean and Mesoarchean) rock associations during the formation of the Serebryanka Group. The terminal Serebryanka time (Kernos Age) differed from its initial stage (Tanin Age) by the appearance of Mesoproterozoic complexes in provenances. According to available data, these complexes played an insignificant role in the formation of Riphean-Vendian rocks in the neighboring South Uralian segment. This implies a spatiotemporal diversity of clastic material sources for Upper Precambrian rocks in the western megazone of the Southern and Central Urals.     

Lower Vendian microfossil assemblages of East Siberia: Significance for solving regional stratigraphic problems

Both published and original data are used for the analysis of the stratigraphic position and taxonomic characteristics for acanthomorphic microfossils of the Pertatataka type in Lower Vendian sediments of the central and southeastern Siberian Platform and its surrounding structures. Four taxonomically different microbiotas are distinguished in sections of the Nepa-Botuoba, Fore-Patom; Syugdzher, Anabar, Zhuya-Lena, and Berezovo lithotectonic zones: two diverse (Nepa and Ura) and two impoverished (Otradnino and Torga) each including diagnostic Early Vendian taxa. Beyond the Siberian Platform, genera and species characterizing these microbiotas occur in single assemblages and represent diagnostic taxa of the second (Tc-Sr-Vl) and third (Ti-Cg-Mp) zones of the acritarch scale proposed by Australian geologists as a biostratigraphic basis for subdividing the Ediacarian of the Standard stratigraphic scale (SSS). In the Russian General stratigraphic scale, the distribution of Pertatataka acritarchs corresponds to the Lower Vendian. The appearance and mass development of acanthomorphic microorganisms represents a global biological event, which should be taken into consideration as a biostratigraphic criterion for defining the Vendian System. For substantiating age, the following species among diagnostic Lower Vendian forms of East Siberia should be used: Appendisphaera grandis, “Appendisphaera” tabifica, A. tenuis, Ceratosphaeridium glaberosum, Dicrospinosphaera virgata, Multifronsphaeridium pelorium, “Polygonium” cratum, Tanarium conoideum, Variomargosphaeridium litoschum, and Talakania obscura. These taxa are readily recognizable, morphologically stable, and characterized by their wide lateral distribution and relatively narrow stratigraphic range. Their occurrence in the upper part of the Dal’nyaya Taiga Group of the Baikal-Patom region indicates that host sediments should be attributed to the Lower Vendian, not the Upper Riphean as is currently accepted.     

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.     

Organic-walled microfossils from the Tonian Tongjiazhuang Formation of the Tumen Group in western Shandong,North China Craton and their biostratigraphic significance

Neoproterozoic successions in western Shandong of North China Craton contain fine-grained siliciclastic rocks which offer a unique opportunity to explore the Neoproterozoic biosphere. In this study, we have revealed a well-preserved and diversified microfossil assemblage from the Tongjiazhuang Formation, Tumen Group in western Shandong, North China Craton, which is characterized by abundant smooth-walled sphaeromorphic acritarchs and cyanobacterium-like filamentous forms and relatively low abundance of more complex acritarchs. A total of 40 microfossil taxa belonging to 20 morphological genera have been identified, most of which are described for the first time from the Tongjiazhuang Formation of the Tumen Group in western Shandong, including Simia sp., Trachyhystrichosphaera aimika, T. botula, Germinosphaera bispinosa, Unnamed sp. A, Jacutianema solubila, and Pololeptus rugosus. The Tongjiazhuang assemblage revealed in this study is much more diverse than previously reported and well comparable to the Tonian Liulaobei and Gouhou assemblages in the Xuhuai region. Particularly, the occurrence of T. aimika, T. botula, G. bispinosa, J. solubila, and P. rugosus indicates a late Mesoproterozoic to Tonian age for the Tongjiazhuang Formation. In addition, the occurrences of macroscopic carbonaceous compressions, including Chuaria-Tawuia assemblage from the Tongjiazhuang Formation and Tawuia and Sinosabellidites from the Shiwangzhuang Formation, are consistent with geochronological data, suggesting a Tonian age for the Tongjiazhuang, Fulaishan, and Shiwangzhuang formations of the middle and upper Tumen Group, while the Heishanguan and Erqingshan formations of the lower Tumen Group are likely late Mesoproterozoic to Tonian in age. Thus, available biostratigraphic data, lithostratigraphic correlation, and geochronological data suggest that the whole Tumen Group is late Mesoproterozoic to Tonian in age, rather than Cryogenian or Ediacaran. This study significantly improves our knowledge about the diversity of the Tonian biosphere and implies a ∼200–300 million years unconformity (the ‘Great Unconformity’) between the late Mesoprotoerozoic to Tonian Tumen Group and the early Cambrian Liguan Formation in western Shandong.