Middle Proterozoic–early Palaeozoic evolution of central Baltoscandian intracratonic basins: evidence for asthenospheric diapirs

The three intracratonic sedimentary basins located in central Baltoscandinavia, namely the Bothnian Gulf basin, the Bothnian Sea basin and the Baltic basin, developed in response to Middle Proterozoic and Late Proterozoic tectonic events, separated in time by about 800 Ma. Only the Baltic basin was subsequently affected by Caledonian orogenesis and Mesozoic rifting. Crustal extension was minor or did not take place during the Proterozoic basin evolution phases. However, according to the Moho topography, crustal thinning did take place. This was probably a result of subcrustal magmatism. On a craton-wide scale, the ages of granitoids, which intruded during the Middle Proterozoic basin formation, generally decrease from east to west. This fact, combined with the evidence provided by mantle-derived flood basalt magmatism, points to a moving asthenospheric diapir as the cause for basin development. Asthenospheric upwelling was probably also responsible for the second, Late Proterozoic, basin evolution phase, as evidenced by the lack of crustal thinning and extension, and the occurrence of tholeiitic intrusions. In addition, a Late Proterozoic thermally induced palaeo-high, located at about the position of the intracratonic basins, is compatible with indications from glaciations. As the ages of Late Proterozoic intracratonic basins also decrease from east to west across the craton, the location of asthenospheric diapirism during this time interval was also moving. For the Fennoscandian lithosphere, the presence of fundamental lithospheric weakness zones (e.g. terrane boundaries) might be an explanation for the formation of two generations of basins originating from asthenospheric upwelling at about the same location in the Fennoscandian Shield. The spacing and size of the Proterozoic intracratonic basins suggest that the asthenospheric diapirism was not deep seated. Therefore, sublithospheric convective processes might be the cause for the asthenospheric upwellings. Such processes are related to Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities in the sublithospheric mantle. Emplacement of an asthenospheric diapir causes a thermal bulge at the surface of the lithosphere. Modelling results demonstrate that erosion of the surficial high, succeeded by cooling of the lithosphere, can explain the accumulation of early Palaeozoic sediments in the Bothnian Sea basin, taking into account post-Ordovician vertical and lateral erosion of the basin fill.