Tectonics of the Siberian Craton: Interpretation of geological, geophysical, geochronological, and isotopic geochemical data

The tectonic scheme of the Siberian Craton proposed in this paper is compiled on the basis of a geological map of the craton prepared from numerous magnetometric maps and gravity measurements on various scales, the scheme of axes of magnetic anomalies, and the synthesis of geological information on the exposed territories. The shields and platform territories of the ancient Siberian Craton comprises Archean blocks and Paleoproterozoic foldbelts. The granite-greenstone terranes and granulite-gneiss domains were formed in the Meso- and Neoarchean. The granite-greenstone terranes exposed and overlapped by sedimentary cover are identical, although they generally differ in internal structure and rock compositions both at the infra- and supracrustal levels. The Archean granulite-gneiss domains are recognized either as special tectonic units or as deep sections of granite-greenstone terranes. Two groups of the Paleoproterozoic collisional belts that amalgamated separate Archean blocks of the Siberian Craton into a common stable structural unit evolved 2.1–1.9 and 1.9–1.8 Ga ago. Three types of deep faults arose in the Paleoproterozoic: (1) translithospheric fault zones as boundaries of tectonic blocks and collisional belts, (2) intracrustal fault zones that originated as a result of nonuniform uplift of particular segments of the common plate, and (3) transcrustal zones formed in a plate that overrode another, plunging plate.