The first discovery of abnormal (Y+REE)-enriched zircons in rocks of the Baltic shield

Zircons with an anomalously high content of Y and REEs in rims were first found in rocks of the Baltic shield (in a pegmatite vein in the Gridino eclogite-bearing melange and in quartz syenites of the North-Karelian greenstone belt); the total content reaching 17 wt %. The presence of such an amount of nonformula elements is caused by the isomorphic occurrence of them in zircon and is not associated with microinclusions of accessory minerals. The age of formation of these rims was determined as the Svecofennian, although the direct dating yields underestimated values of the age, which are void of geological sense.     

Corundum with Inclusions of Extremely Reduced Minerals from Explosive Rocks of the Ukrainian Shield

Doklady Earth Sciences - A study of specific aggregates of corundum from kimberlite and lamproite of the Ukrainian Shield has been carried out. The presence of unusual segregations of oxides,...     

Composition and age of metaorthopyroxenite xenoliths and host enderbite gneisses in the Pobuzhie granulite complex,Ukrainian Shield

The SIMS U-Pb isotopic age of zircons from enderbite gneisses and their metaorthopyroxenite xenoliths in the Pobuzhie granulite complex, Ukrainian Shield (48°13′57.3″ N and 29°59′21.5″ E, WGS84 system), was determined. The chemical compositions of these rocks and composing minerals were studied. Enderbite gneisses contain quartz, antiperthite plagioclase, K-feldspar, clinoenstatite, diopside, amphibole, and a small amount of biotite; accessory minerals are ilmenite and apatite. The age of zircon from enderbite gneiss is estimated at about 3.15 Ga. Metaorthopyroxenites are composed of orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, phlogopite (up to 6% TiO₂), and plagioclase. The age of magmatic zircons from metaorthopyroxenite determined by the upper intercept of the discordia with the concordia is 3485 ± 33 Ma (MSVD = 1.6), and the age of metamorphic zircons is 2742 ± 22 Ma (MSVD = 0.22). Hence, the enderbite gneisses studied pertain to a young group of enderbites in the Pobuzhie granulite complex, while the age of metaorthopyroxenites from xenoliths in these rocks is similar to that of ancient Pobuzhie enderbites and pyroxenites of the Novopavlovsk complex in the Azov Region.