An Archaean Tonalite–Trondhjemite–Granodiorite Association of the Kursk Block (Voronezh Massif): Composition,Age, and Correlation with the Ukrainian Shield

Doklady Earth Sciences - Framing of the Archaean greenstone belts of the Kursk Block (KB) of the East Sarmatia preserves rocks of the TTG association: those do not form massifs with distinct...     

Archean Carbonatites and Alkaline Rocks of the Kursk Block,Sarmatia: Age and Geodynamic Setting

Doklady Earth Sciences - Neoarchean intraplate granitoid (2.61 Ga) and carbonatite magmatism are established in the Kursk block of Sarmatia in close spatial association. Alkaline pyroxenites,...     

HT/LP metamorphic zoning in the eastern Voronezh Crystalline Massif: Age and parameters of metamorphism and its geodynamic environment

The Vorontsovskii terrane of the Eastern Sarmatian orogen underwent HT/LP metamorphism at temperatures of 430–750°C and pressures of 3–5 kbar. The TIMS monazite age of this metamorphism is 2067 ± 9 Ma and corresponds to the most probable age range (2050–2080 Ma) when large volumes of mafic and granitoid intrusions were emplaced. The time spans of the magmatic activity and metamorphic event are closely similar, which suggests that the melts could have served as sources of metamorphic heat. However, geological data on the relations between the metamorphic zones and magmatic bodies (the largest of the mafic, diorite, and granitoid intrusions are hosted in zones of low-temperature metamorphism) and the occurrence of relict metamorphic mineral assemblages and crystallization foliation in metapelite xenoliths in these intrusions suggest that the intrusions were emplaced after the metamorphism. The most probable reason for the HT/LP metamorphism was an increase in the heat flux in the course of viscous deformations and folding in the warm lithosphere of the young Paleoproterozoic Vorontsovskii terrane during collision processes.     

The Sarmatia megablock as a fragment of the Vaalbara supercontinent: Correlation of geological events at the Archean‒Paleoproterozoic transition

The results of correlation between geological events in the period of 2.8?2.0 Ga provide grounds to assume that the Sarmatia lithospheric megablock definable in the southern part of the East European Craton belonged to the ancient Vaalbara supercontinent consisting of the Pilbara and Kaapvaal cratons. In the period of 2.8?2.6 Ga, all of them represented fragments of the continental crust consolidated at approximately 2.8 Ga and subjected to continental rifting, which was accompanied by intense basite volcanism. In the period of 2.50?2.45 Ga, these three cratons were characterized by similar tectonic settings and accumulation of banded iron formations. Precisely these banded iron formations of the largest Transvaal, Hamersley, Kursk, and Kremenchug?Krivoi Rog iron ore basins accumulated in the period of 2.50?2.45 Ga in a single oceanic basin serve as a basis for adequate paleotectonic reconstructions of the Vaalbara supercontinent. In the period of 2.45?2.20 Ga, all three cratons were subjected to a long-lasting break in sedimentation followed by activation of continental rifting with terrigenous sediment deposition, which terminated with basite volcanism ca. 2.2 Ga. These events gave start to the Vaalbara breakup, which represented a multistage process with alternating divergence and convergence phases of supercontinent fragments until the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe, Pilbara and Yilgarn, and Sarmatia and Volgo-Uralia cratons, respectively, became eventually united.     

Phase equilibria of bastnaesite,allanite, and monazite: Bastnaesite-out isograde in metapelites of the Vorontsovskaya group,Voronezh crystalline massif

Paleoproterozoic metapelites of the Vorontsovskaya structure contain accessory REE phosphates (monazite, xenotime, and REE-apatite), fluorine-carbonates (bastnaesite and synchysite), and silicate (allanite). Analysis of phase equilibria involving REE-bearing minerals indicates that bastnaesite is stable only in the greenschist facies and decomposes with the synthesis of monazite at temperatures below the staurolite isograde (490–500°C) at a pressure of 3 kbar. Monazite first appears in the greenschist facies, and its stability expands with increasing temperature, including the granulite facies. A diversity of reaction textures suggests that the mineral is formed in the garnet zone by a reaction of bastnaesite with apatite and by the partial decomposition of REE-bearing chlorite. Monazite is produced in the garnet and staurolite zones by a reaction of allanite with apatite and by a decomposition reaction of REE-bearing apatite.     

Paleoproterozoic A- and S-granites in the eastern Voronezh Crystalline Massif: Geochronology,petrogenesis, and tectonic setting of origin

The eastern part of the Voronezh Crystalline Massif hosts coeval S- and A-granitoids. The biotite-muscovite S-granites contain elevated concentrations of Si, Al, and alkalis (with K predominance) and relatively low concentrations of Ca, Mg, Ti, Sr, and Ba, show pronounced negative Eu anomalies, and have low concentrations of Y and HREE. The biotite A-granitoids are enriched in Fe, Ti, P, HFSE, REE and have strongly fractionated REE patterns with deep Eu minima. According to their Rb/Nb and Y/Nb ratios, these rocks are classified with group A2 of postcollisional granites. The SIMS zircon crystallization age of the granitoids lies within the range of 2050–2070 Ma. Both the A- and the S-granitoids have positive ?_Nd(T) values, which suggests that they should have had brief crustal prehistories and were derived from juvenile Paleoproterozoic sources. The simultaneous derivation of the A- and S-granites was caused by the melting of the lower crust in response to the emplacement of large volumes of mafic magma in an environment of postcollisional collapse and lithospheric delamination with the simultaneous metamorphism of the host rocks at high temperatures and low pressures. The S-granites are thought to be derived via the melting of acid crustal material in the middle and lower crust. The A2 granites can possibly be differentiation products of mafic magmas that were emplaced into the lower crust and were intensely contaminated with crustal material.     

Th-U-Pb age of metamophism of the Vorontsovka Group rocks, voronezh crystalline massif, from microbrobe dating of monazites

The Paleoproterozoic metaterrigenous rocks of the Vorontsovka Group were studied. This series occupies a large area between the Precambrian crustal segments of the East European Craton, Sarmatia, and Volgo-Uralia. Based on the data of Th-U-Pb microprobe dating of monazites from the Vorontsovka Group, the age of zonal metamorphism is 2039 ± 26 Ma for the staurolite zone, 2015 ± 14 Ma for the muscovite-sillimanite zone, and 2008 ± 20 for the sillimanite-K-spar-cordierite zone. These data imply subsynchronity of the regional metamorphism and penetration of collision S-type granites of the Bobrov Complex about 2020 Ma B.P.