Upper Precambrian sandstones in the Volga-Ural region: Mineralogy, petrography, lithogeochemistry, and formation conditions

The paper presents data on the mineralogy, petrography, and lithogeochemistry of Riphean and Vendian sandstones in the Volga-Ural region. The studied rocks generally differ in several parameters. The Zr/Sc and Th/Sc values typical of psammites suggest that the rocks are dominated by the petrogenic clastic material. This conclusion is supported by median K₂O/Al₂O₃ values (from 0.39 to 0.45). The fine-grained clastic rocks associated with sandstones are also characterized by sufficiently high K₂O/Al₂O₃ values, indicating the prevalence of the first cycle material therein. It is shown that the Prikamsk and Tukaevo sandstones include, in addition to the petrogenic quartz, a significant amount of lithogenic (multifold redeposited) quartz, whereas ratio of these rock types is approximately equal in the Leonidovo and Baikibashevo sandstones. Sandstones of the Kairovo and Shkapovo groups are dominated by the petrogenic quartz. Analysis of the ln(Q/L + CE)-ln(Q/F) diagram shows that the Vendian psammites are dominated by disintegration products of plutonic rocks, whereas the Riphean psammites contain a significant portion of clastic material (related to the erosion of metamorphic rocks) along with felsic and intermediate-felsic igneous rocks. Relationships of feldspars, rock clasts, polycrystalline quartz, and quartz, in general, reflected in the Q_t/(F + R)-Q_p/(F + R) diagram indicate that the Riphean psammites were deposited in a humid setting; the Vendian psammites, in a semihumid/semiarid setting.     

Coastal erosion vs riverine sediment discharge in the Arctic Shelf seas

This article presents a comparison of sediment input by rivers and by coastal erosion into both the Laptev Sea and the Canadian Beaufort Sea (CBS). New data on coastal erosion in the Laptev Sea, which are based on field measurements and remote sensing information, and existing data on coastal erosion in the CBS as well as riverine sediment discharge into both the Laptev Sea and the CBS are included. Strong regional differences in the percentages of coastal erosion and riverine sediment supply are observed. The CBS is dominated by the riverine sediment discharge (64.45᎒⁶ t a^-1) mainly of the Mackenzie River, which is the largest single source of sediments in the Arctic. Riverine sediment discharge into the Laptev Sea amounts to 24.10᎒⁶ t a^-1, more than 70% of which are related to the Lena River. In comparison with the CBS, the Laptev Sea coast on average delivers approximately twice as much sediment mass per kilometer, a result of higher erosion rates due to higher cliffs and seasonal ice melting. In the Laptev Sea sediment input by coastal erosion (58.4᎒⁶ t a^-1) is therefore more important than in the CBS and the ratio between riverine and coastal sediment input amounts to 0.4. Coastal erosion supplying 5.6᎒⁶ t a^-1 is less significant for the sediment budget of the CBS where riverine sediment discharge exceeds coastal sediment input by a factor of ca. 10.     

Granitoids of the Ufalei block (South Urals): Sr-Nd isotope systematics, geodynamic position and genetic reconstructions

Petrogeochemical and isotopic-geochronological signatures in granitoids developed in structures with complex geological history represent an important feature for reconstructing paleogeodynamic settings. Granitoids are widespread in the western slope of the Urals, where the Uralian Orogen contacts via a collage of different-age blocks of the east European Platform. The Ufalei block located in the Central Urals megazone at the junction between the South and Middle Urals’ segments represents one such boundary structure with multistage geological evolution. The isotopic ages obtained by different methods for acid igneous rocks range from 1290 to 245 Ma. We determined close Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd ages (317 Ma) for granites of the Nizhnii Ufalei Massif. By their petrochemical parameters, granitoids and host granite-gneisses differ principally from each other: the former are close to subduction-related, while the latter, to continental-riftogenic varieties. The primary ratio (⁸⁷Sr/8⁶Sr)₀ = 0.70428 and ?_Nd ≈ +4 values indicate significant contribution of oceanic (island-arc?) material to the substrate, which served as a source for granites of the Nizhnii Ufalei Massif. Model Nd ages of granites vary from 641 to 550 Ma. Distinct oceanic rocks and varieties with such ages are missing from the surrounding structures. New isotopic dates obtained for ultramafic and mafic rocks from different zones of the Urals related to the Cadomian cycle imply development of unexposed Upper Riphean-Vendian “oceanic” rocks in the central part of the Ufalei block, which played a substantial role in the formation of the Nizhnii Ufalei granitoids. Such rocks could be represented, for example, by fragments of the Precambrian Timanide-type ophiolite association. The analysis of original materials combined with published data point to the heterogeneous composition and structure of the Ufalei block and a significant part of the western segment of the Central Uralian Uplift and extremely complex geological history of the region coupling the Uralian Orogen with the East European Platform in the present-day structure.     

Capabilities of Multispectral Satellite Data in an Assessment of the Status of Abandoned Fire Hazardous and Rewetting Peat Extraction Lands

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - The capabilities of several multispectral satellite data types to identify the status of peatlands affected by peat extraction and abandoned deposits...     

Co,Hf, Ce,Cr, Th,and REE Charateristics of Modern Bottom Sediments of the Barents Sea

Doklady Earth Sciences - The Co, Hf, Ce, Cr, Th, and REE characteristics are analyzed for modern sediments collected by a bottom grab during the 67th and 68th cruises of R/V Akademik Mstislav...     

Cambrian Magmatism in the Northern Urals: New Data on the Age and Formation Conditions

Cambrian igneous formations in the Northern Urals were identified and described for the first time. It was established that the Timanide orogeny terminated in the Early Cambrian and was followed by continental rifting above a mantle plume in the Late Cambrian.     

Density Structure,Isostatic Balance and Tectonic Models of the Central Tien Shan

A new combined satellite-terrestrial model of the gravity field is used together with seismic data for construction of a density model of the lithosphere of the Central Tien Shan and for estimation of its isostatic balance. The Tien Shan is one of the most active intraplate orogens in the world, located about 1,500 km north of the convergence between Indian and Eurasian plate, and surrounded by stable Kazakh platform to the north and the Tarim block to the south. Although this area was extensively studied during recent decades, several principal problems, related to its structure and tectonics, remain unsolved up to now: (1) various geodynamic scenarios have been discussed so far to explain tectonic evolution, such as direct “crustal shortening,” intracontinental subduction and some others, but no definite evidence for any of them has been found. (2) Still, it is not clear why Tien Shan grows so far from the plate boundary at the Himalayan collision zone. Gravity modeling can provide valuable constraints to resolve these questions. The results of this study show that: (1) there exists a very strong deflection of the Tien Shan lithosphere from isostatic equilibrium. At the same time, the patterns of the isostatic anomalies are very different in the Western and Central Tien Shan. The latter one is characterized by much stronger variations. The best fit of the modeling results is found for the model according to which the Tarim plate partially underthrusts the Central Tien Shan; (2) negative density anomalies in the upper mantle under the central block possibly relate to magmatic underplating during the initial stage of the tectonic evolution. Therefore, the weak lithosphere could be the factor that initiates mountain building far away from the collision zone. Alternatively, this might be a gap after detachment of the eclogised lower crust and lithospheric lid, which is filled with the hot asthenospheric material.     

Peculiarities of the rare-earth element distribution in the modern bottom sediments of the White Sea and the lower reaches of the Severnaya Dvina River

The study of the rare-earth element (REE) systematics in the modern bottom sediments of the White Sea and the lower reaches of the Severnaya Dvina River showed that they were derived by the simple mixing of the detrital material from two geochemically contrasting provenances: the Kola-Karelian geoblock almost completely consisting of Archean rocks and the northwestern Mezen syneclise made up of the Upper Vendian, Paleozoic, and Mesozoic rocks. This is best manifested by the changes in ?_Nd(0). In terms of the Gd_N/Yb_N and Eu/Eu*, most of the studied samples are comparable with the Post-Archean craton complexes, some of which resemble the average composition of the Archean mudstone. Based on the ΣREE and La_N/Yb_N, the modern bottom sediments are subdivided into two groups: (1) those close to basalts and granites and (2) those approximating common sedimentary rocks. From the lower reaches of the Pinega River to the Tersky coast, the maximal average (La/Yb)_RPSC, (Gd/Yb)_RPSC, La_N/Yb_N, and Gd_N/Yb_N ratios were determined in the samples taken at the boundary of Dvina Bay with the Basin, i.e., in the sediments with the highest content of the pelitic component. In general, the geochemical composition of the modern bottom sediments of almost the entire White Sea area was defined by input of the eroded products of the mature continental crust with the Severnaya Dvina River, the main river of the region. Such a setting, when the formation of the sediments in a peri- or intracontinental marine basin is controlled by one large river system, presumably may be propagated to the sedimentation in the Laptev Sea, the eastern Kara Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and other basins.     

Tectonic setting discrimination diagrams for terrigenous rocks: a comparison

An attempt is made to compare discrimination diagrams of the first (mid-1980s) and second (early 2010s) generations compiled using data for sedimentary successions of different ages. Our results suggest that the diagrams of different generations allow more or less correct discrimination only between the platform, rift, passive margin, and island arc settings. The data for collision sediments do not form separate fields in these diagrams.