Movement Rates of Metamorphic Fronts in Rocks near Magmatic Intrusive Bodies

The rate of mineral transformations in rocks near magmatic intrusions may be estimated using mathematical modeling for study of the duration of metamorphism and geological and mineralogical data. At the contacts of the Anakit trappean massif on the Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, where the temperature reached 900°C, the rate of growth of a wollastonite rim at the boundary between the limestone and the siliceous nodule was ～3 × 10^–10 cm/s. The zone of “spotted” hornfels with a width of 300?400 m was formed during metamorphism of chlorite–sericite–epidote–albite–quartz schist near the Kharlov gabbro massif in the foothills of the Altai Mountains. The movement rate of the metamorphic front during the formation of rock may be estimated as ～2 × 10^–8 cm/s. It is suggested that the rate of metamorphism is controlled by the temperature and rock composition. As a whole, the rates of metamorphism of rocks near magmatic intrusive bodies exceed the rates of regional metamorphism. Upon accumulation of the actual data, this may be applied for diagnostics of the types of metamorphism.     

The First Petrological Evidence for Subduction at the Western Margin of the Siberian Craton

Doklady Earth Sciences - The discovery of relics of glaucophane schist in high-pressure tectonites of the suture zone of Yenisei Ridge has provided evidence for a Cordillera-type convergent...     

Blastomylonite Complexes of the Western Yenisei Ridge (Eastern Siberia,Russia): Geological Position,Metamorphic Evolution and Geodynamic Models

Geotectonics - Metapelites and metabasites within the Yenisei regional shear zone of the Yenisei Ridge underwent strong deformations with substrate recrystallization and blastomylonite formation...     

Geochemistry,petrogenesis and age of metamorphic rocks of the Angara complex at the junction of South and North Yenisei Ridge

The mineralogical, petrological, geochemical and geochronological data were used to evaluate the age and petrogenesis of compositionally contrasting metamorphic rocks at the junction between Meso-Neoproterozoic Transangarian structures and Archean-Paleoproterozoic complexes of the Angara–Kan inlier of the Yenisei Ridge. The studied metabasites and metapelites provide clues for understanding the evolution of the region. The magmatic protoliths of low-Ti metabasites were derived by melting of depleted (N-MORB) upper mantle, and their high-Ti counterparts are interpreted to have originated from an enriched mantle source (E-MORB). The petrogeochemical characteristics of protoliths of the metabasite dikes resemble those of within-plate basalts and ocean island tholeiites. The Fe- and Al-rich metapelites are redeposited and metamorphosed products of Precambrian weathering crusts of kaolinite and montmorillonite-chlorite-hydromica compositions. The Р–Т conditions of metamorphism (4.9–5.5 kbar/570–650°С for metabasites; 4.1–7.1 kbar/500–630°С for metapelites) correspond to epidote–amphibolite to amphibolite facies transition. The evolution of the Angara complex occurred in two stages. The early stage (1.18–0.85 Ga) is associated with Grenville tectonics and the late stage is correlated with accretion/collision episodes of the Valhalla orogeny, with the peaks at 810–790 and 730–720 Ma, and the final stage of the Neoproterozoic evolution of the orogen on the southwestern margin of the Siberian craton. The correlation of regional crustal processes with globalscale geological events in the Precambrian evolution of the Earth supports recent paleomagnetic reconstructions that allow a direct, long-lived (1400–600 Ma) spatial and temporal connection between Siberia, Laurentia, and Baltica, which have been parts of ancient supercontinents.     

First Data on the Nature and Age of the Protolith of High-Pressure Tectonites of Yenisei Ridge: A Link to the Early Stage of Formation of the Paleoasian Ocean

Doklady Earth Sciences - The petrogeochemical characteristics of high-pressure mafic tectonites from the Yenisei suture zone of Yenisei Ridge indicate that N-MORB and E-MORB with an age of 701.6...     

Metamorphic evolution of ultrahigh-temperature Fe- and Al-rich granulites in the south Yenisei Ridge and tectonic implications

This study provides the first evidence for the occurrence of ultrahigh-temperature (UHT) granulite-facies metamorphism in the Yenisei Ridge (Angara–Kan block). UHT metamorphism is documented in Fe-Al-rich metapelites on the basis of the garnet–hypersthene–sillimanite–cordierite–plagioclase–biotite–spinel–quartz–K-feldspar assemblage. Microtextural relationships and compositional data for paragneisses of the Kan complex attest to three distinct metamorphic episodes: (M1) pre-peak prograde (820?900°C/5.5–7 kbar), (M2) peak UHT (920–1000°C/7–9 kbar), and (M3) post-peak retrograde (770?900°C/5.5–7.5 kbar). The observed counterclockwise P–T evolution at a high geothermal gradient (dT/dP = 100–200°C/kbar) suggests that UHT metamorphic assemblages were formed in an overall extensional tectonic setting accompanied by underplating of mantle-derived mafic magmas, which may be sourced from ~1750 Ma giant radiating dike swarms linked to the Vilyuy mantle plume as part of the Trans-Siberian LIP. The broad synchroneity of UHT metamorphism (1744 ± 26 Ma; monazite–zircon isochron age) and rift-related endogenic activity in the region can provide an additional line of evidence for the two-stage evolution of granulite-facies metamorphism in the Angara–Kan block. The Aldan–Stanovoy, Anabar, and Baikal basement inliers of high-grade metamorphic rocks within the Siberian craton record two Paleoproterozoic peaks (1.9 and 1.75 Ga) of granulite-facies metamorphism. The synchronous sequence of tectonothermal events at the periphery of the large Precambrian Laurentian, Baltica, and Siberian cratons provide convincing evidence for their spatial proximity over a wide time interval, which is consistent with the most recent paleomagnetic reconstructions of the Proterozoic supercontinent Nuna.     

Metacarbonate-terrigenous complex of the Derba block (East Sayan): petrogeochemical and isotope parameters,metamorphism, and time of formation

The Derba block is one of the largest Precambrian terranes of the Sayan-Yenisei accretionary belt in the southwestern margin of the Siberian Platform. It is composed of metamorphosed terrigenous-carbonate rocks of the Sayan Group, injected by granitoids. The geochemical features of gneiss-schist associations indicate the low maturity of their sedimentary protoliths corresponding in composition mainly to graywackes and terrigenous-carbonate rocks (marls). According to the results of U-Pb (LA-ICP-MS) dating of detrital zircons from gneisses and schists, the sedimentary protolith formed in the Vendian. Neoproterozoic subduction complexes were probably the major provenance for terrigenous material, and Early Precambrian rocks made a limited contribution. The Ar-Ar and U-Pb isotope data testify to nearly coeval and multistage events of metamorphism (up to the amphibolite facies) and granitoid magmatism (~ 510-500 and 480-465 Ma) in the Derba block. These processes were reflective of the Early Caledonian orogenic processes in the structures of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. The similarity in the composition, time of sedimentation, and provenances of metaterrigenous-carbonate complexes of the Derba block (Sayan Group), West Sangilen block of the Tuva-Mongolian massif (Erzin and Moren complexes), and the Khamar-Daban terrane (Slyudyanka Group) suggests that these structures were a single Vendian continental margin with lateral variations in depositional environments and the sources of terrigenous material.     

Accretionary Tectonics of Rock Complexes in the Western Margin of the Siberian Craton

The geological, geochemical, and isotope-geochronological evidence of the events at the final stage of the Neoproterozoic history of the Yenisei Range is considered (beginning from the formation of fragments of the oceanic crust in the region and their accretion to the Siberian Craton until the postaccretionary stage of crustal tension and onset of the Caledonian orogeny). Based on an analysis of new data on the petrogeochemical composition, age, and geodynamic nature of the formation of contrasting rocks in the composition of tectonic mélange of the Near-Yenisei (Prieniseiskaya) regional shear zone, we have found the chronological sequence of events that marks the early stages of the Paleoasian Ocean evolution in the zone of its junction with the Siberian Craton. These events are documented by the continental marginal, ophiolitic, and island-arc geological complexes, each of which has different geochemical features. The most ancient structures are represented by fragments of oceanic crust and island arcs from the Isakovka terrane (700–620 Ma). The age of glaucophane-schist metamorphic units that formed in the paleosubduction zone corresponds to the time interval of 640–620 Ma. The formation of high-pressure tectonites in the suture zone, about 600 Ma in age, marks the finishing stage of accretion of the Isakovka block to the western margin of the Siberian Craton. The final events in the early history of the Asian Paleoocean were related to the formation of Late Vendian riftogenic amygdaloidal basalts (572 ± 6.5 Ma) and intrusion of postcollisional leucogranites of the Osinovka massif (550–540 Ma), which intruded earlier fragments of the oceanic crust in the Isakovka terrane. These data allow us to refine the Late Precambrian stratigraphic scheme in the northwestern Trans-Angarian part of the Yenisei Range and the evolutionary features of the Sayan–Yenisei accretionary belt. The revealed Late Neoproterozoic landmarks of the evolution of the Isakovka terrane are attributed to the terminal phase of the breakup of Rodinia, separation of the Siberian Craton, and opening of the Paleoasian Ocean.