Thermal evolution of the northeastern Siberian platform in the light of apatite fission-track dating of the deep drill core

Thermal evolution of the continental crust beneath the northeastern Siberian craton was studied based on the interpretation of apatite fission-track ages. The samples selected for AFT dating were collected from depths between 2 and 3 km along a 1000-km-long profile, from the crystalline basement of the Siberian platform. The AFT ages range from 185 to 222 Ma, indicating that in the late Triassic-early Cretaceous, the top of the crystalline basement was cooled below ∼100°C. Once the apatite cooled below this temperature, it began to accumulate and preserve tracks produced by spontaneous fissioning of ²³⁸U, and the number of tracks preserved is effective in determining the ages of events using the apatite fission-track method (AFT). The study showed that the apatite from Archean rocks was largely formed at 1.8–1.9 Ga as a result of a Paleoproterozoic metamorphic overprinting during the terrane collision and the subsequent accretion of the Siberian craton. The last thermal event, the self-heating of the collision prism, was terminated by cooling at ∼1.3 Ga. At that time, the Rb-Sr isotopic system became closed and the upper crust passed the ~300°C isograd. The calculation results showed that on further cooling, the ∼100°C isograd was passed at 1143 Ma. This age estimate could be obtained using AFT dating if the above event had been the last one in the thermal history of the Siberian craton. The obtained track ages indicate the existence of a repeated, significantly younger, heating of the crystalline crust due to some local reason.