Paleoearthquakes in the Uimon basin (Gorny Altai)

Paleoseismological studies confirm that the Uimon basin is thrust by its northern mountain border along the active South Terekta fault. The latest motion along the fault in the 7-8th centuries AD induced an earthquake with a magnitude of M_w= 7.4-7.7 and a shaking intensity of I = 9-11 on the MSK-64 scale. The same fault generated another event (M > 7, I = 9-10), possibly, about 16 kyr ago, which triggered gravity sliding. The rockslide dammed the Uimon valley and produced a lake, where lacustrine deposition began about 14 ± 1 kyr ago, and a later M > 7 (I = 9-10) earthquake at ~ 6 ka caused the dam collapse and the lake drainage. Traces of much older earthquakes that occurred within the Uimon basin are detectable from secondary deformation structures (seismites) in soft sediments deposited during the drainage of a Late Pleistocene ice-dammed lake between 100 and 90 ka and in ~ 77 ka alluvium. The magnitude and intensity of these paleoearthquakes were at least M > 5.0-5.5 and I > 6-7.     

Morphological Features of Diamond Crystals Dissolved in Fe<Subscript>0.7</Subscript>S<Subscript>0.3</Subscript> Melt at 4 GPa and 1400°C

An experimental study of the dissolution of natural and synthetic diamonds in a sulfur-bearing iron melt (Fe_0.7S_0.3) with high P–T parameters (4 GPa, 1400°С) was performed. The results demonstrated that under these conditions, octahedral crystals with flat faces and rounded tetrahexahedral diamond crystals are transformed into rounded octahedroids, which have morphological characteristics similar to those of natural diamonds from kimberlite. It was suggested that, taking into account the complex history of individual natural diamond crystals, including the dissolution stages, sulfur-bearing metal melts up to sulfide melts were not only diamond-forming media during the early evolution of the Earth, but also natural solvents of diamond in the mantle environment before the formation of kimberlitic melts.     

Redefinition of Lemanskiite: New Mineralogical Data,Crystal Structure,and Revised Formula NaCaCu5(AsO4)4Cl · 3H2O

Geology of Ore Deposits - The crystal structure of lemanskiite is determined for the first time (R = 0.019) and the mineral is redefined. Its chemical formula, crystal system, space group and...     

Phosphates of the Chalotskoe Pegmatite Deposit,Transbaikal Region

A number of rare phosphates have been found in specimens from the Chalotskoe pegmatite deposit, Transbaikal region, Russia: väyrynenite, MnBe[PO₄](OH,F); parascholzite, CaZn₂[PO₄]₂ · 2H₂O; messelite, Ca₂(Fe²⁺,Mn)[PO₄]₂ · 2H₂O; eosphorite, MnAl[PO₄](OH)₂ · H₂O; moraesite, Be₂[PO₄](OH)4H₂O; and fluorapatite. Väyrynenite forms pink grains 2–3 mm in size, less frequent prismatic crystals up to 0.8 × 3.0 cm, and spheres up to 3 mm in diameter. Parascholzite occurs as pockets up to 0.6 × 1.0 cm composed from snow-white small grains. Messelite forms pale yellow honeycomb grains and poorly shaped crystals up to 1 mm. Eosphorite has been seen in the Chalotskoe pegmatites before, but it has not been studied in detail. It occurs as red-brown prismatic crystals up to 8 cm in length, occasionally forming openbook- like aggregates and pink to pale pink grains up to 5 mm in size. Moraesite forms snow-white fibrous aggregates up to 5 × 6 mm, together with white spheres and short prismatic crystals of fluorapatite up to 1 mm. Microcline, albite, quartz, muscovite, beryl, schorl, almandine-spessartine, columbite-(Fe), and bertrandite are associated minerals. Väyrynenite and parascholzite are found for the first time in Russia.

     

Neotectonics of the Kharaulakh sector of the Laptev Shelf

Seismotectonic deformation and crustal stress pattern have been studied comprehensively in major seismogenic structures of the Kharaulakh sector of the Verkhoyansk fold system and adjacent parts of the Chersky seismotectonic zone. The study focuses on neotectonic structures, deep structure, and systems of active faults, as well as tectonic stress fields inferred by tectonophysical analysis of Late Cenozoic faults and folds. The results, along with geological and geophysical data, reveal main strain directions and structural patterns of crustal stress and strain in the Arctic segment of the Eurasia-North America plate boundary. The area is a junction of mid-ocean and continental structures evolving in a mixed setting of extension, compression, and their various combinations. The rotation pole of the two plates is presumably located near Buor-Khaya Bay. In this case, extension is expected to act currently upon the neotectonic structures north of the bay and compression to control those in the south and southeast. This inference is consistent with the identified zoning of stress and strain in the Kharaulakh sector.     

The oldest (~ 1.9 Ga) metadolerites of the southern Siberian craton: age,petrogenesis, and tectonic setting

Geological, geochronological, and isotope-geochemical studies of the metadolerites of the Angaul complex, widespread in the Urik-Iya graben of the southern Siberian craton, were carried out. The metadolerites forming separate conformal bodies (sills) among the metasandstones of the Ingash Formation were studied in detail. U-Pb zircon (SHRIMP) dating of metadolerites yielded an age of 1913 ± 24 Ma, and U-Pb baddeleyite (ID-TIMS) dating of these rocks yielded an age of 1914.0 ± 1.7 Ma. Thus, the date of 1914 ± 2 Ma can be taken as the most precise age estimate for the studied rocks. The metadolerites of the Angaul complex correspond in chemical composition to the normal-alkaline tholeiitic basalts. Metadolerites are differentiated rocks with mg# of 36 to 58. They show fractionated REE patterns: (La/Yb)_n = 1.2-3.5. All metadolerites, independently of their mg# value, have low contents of Nb (1.6-10.2 ppm) and show well-pronounced negative Nb-Ta anomalies in multielement patterns (Nb/Nb* = 0.19-0.54). The metadolerites are characterized by positive ε_Nd(T) values ranging from 0.4 to 5.2, which correlate well with their SiO₂ content and mg# value. The isotope-geochemical parameters of the metadolerites of the Angaul complex indicate that fractional crystallization, along with the assimilation of the host rocks (AFC), might have been the main process during the formation of the most differentiated metadolerites. The geochemical characteristics of metadolerites with the maximum mg# values of 57-58 and ε_Nd(T) = 5.2 suggest that the parental mantle source of the metadolerites resulted from mixing of predominant depleted mantle material with the subcontinental-lithosphere material. Intrusion of the dolerites of the Angaul complex, as well as the deposition of the sedimentary strata of the Ingash Group, took place at the Paleoproterozoic stage of intracontinental extension caused by the collapse of the orogen resulted from the collision of the Biryusa block with the Tunguska superterrane in the southern Siberian craton.     

Nodular monazite from placers in the Kular Ridge (Arctic Siberia,Russia): Composition and age

Nodular monazite occurs in metamorphic rocks worldwide and has zonal REE patterns. This paper focuses on the composition of nodular monazite hosted by Permian black shales of the Kular Ridge in the Kular-Nera terrane. This monazite variety (called kularite in the Russian literature) reaches commercial amounts in placers of the area. The contents of Ce, Nd, and La in the analyzed monazite nodules show correlations at Ce/Nd = 14.39La + 0.0919 (in apfu) and Ce/Nd = 0.2318La + 0.1135 (in wt.%) and vary regularly from core to rim. All monazite compositions fall on this trend, but specific grains may plot in its different parts. Thermodynamic calculations indicate that monazite forms via an intermediate precursor (LnPO₄·2H₂O). The Ce:La:Nd changes in different grains record Eh-pH variations during nucleation and a gradual temperature increase during subsequent growth. The Ce:La:Nd ratio changes partly in grain rims as a result of oxidative dissolution. Judging by the tectonic setting, REE came to the Kular-Nera rocks from the weathered Tomtor Nb-REE deposit, being transported by the Paleo-Khatanga River with monazite nanoparticles bound to the surface of clay minerals.     

Isotope stratigraphy and U-Pb dating of detrital zircons from the Vendian-Cambrian deposits of the North Muya block

U-Pb dating of detrital zircons from the sandstones of the Mamakan Formation has been made. Geochemical and isotope parameters of the carbonate deposits of the Yanguda Formation in the Vendian-Cambrian cover of the North Muya continental block have been estimated. It has been established that only the Neoproterozoic (630-915 Ma) rocks of the North Muya block were the provenances of terrigenous material. In the least altered carbonate rocks of the Yanguda Formation, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio is within 0.70814-0.70879 and δ¹³C varies from -0.4 to + 1.9‰. Comparison of the evaluated isotope parameters with those of carbonate rocks of typical Vendian-Cambrian sections shows that the carbonate deposits of the Yanguda Formation accumulated in the Early Cambrian, about 520 Ma. Sedimentation of the Mamakan and Yanguda Formations took place in the local sedimentary basin in the Vendian-Early Cambrian, in the absence of tectonic activity within the North Muya block. Detrital material that formed during the destruction of the rocks of the Siberian Platform basement and cover was not supplied into the basin.     

Phenanthrene biomarkers in the organic matter of Precambrian and Phanerozoic deposits and in the oils of the Siberian Platform

The composition and distribution of phenanthrenes (polyaromatic compounds) have been studied in chloroform extracts from dispersed organic matter (OM) of clayey, siliceous, carbonate, and terrigenous rocks of different ages and facies and from some oils of the Siberian Platform. Phenanthrenes have been analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. High contents of 1,7,8-trimethylphenanthrene and 1,1,7,8-tetramethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrophenanthrene are present in the OM of Vendian and Cambrian carbonate-shale deposits and in ancient oils of the Nepa-Botuobiya and Anabar anteclises. The OM of Permian continental deposits and oils of the Vilyui syneclise is dominated by 1-methyl-7-isopropylphenanthrene (retene). A triangular diagram for identification of the types of original OM of rocks and classification of genetically related oils has been constructed based on the assessment of phenanthrene biomarker distribution. Putative pathways of the formation of phenanthrene biomarkers are discussed.