Age and provenances of sandstones from the Riphean Priozersk and Salmi formations in the eastern Pasha-Ladoga basin (southern margin of the Baltic Shield)

Abstract

The data on the age of sediments and their sources were first obtained by isotopic methods and lithological-petrographic observations for the Priozersk and Salmi formations in the northeastern Pasha-Ladoga basin. Wide development of coarse-grained terrigenous rocks and peculiar structures point to the proximity of provenances and dominant sedimentation in terrestrial settings. U-Pb dating of 168 detrital zircons revealed that approximately 87% of all grains are Early Riphean in age, while other grains are dated back to the Early Proterozoic. Archean age is documented for only two zircon grains. It is established that detrital material of sandstones from the Priozersk and Salmi formations largely originate from the Salmi Massif (1.55–1.53 Ga) and secondarily from the Svecofennian intrusions of the northern Ladoga region aged approximately 1.88 Ga, which is confirmed also by Sm-Nd data. The occurrence of detrital zircons dated at approximately 1480–1490 Ma indicates development of coeval magmatic bodies in the immediate proximity to the sedimentation basin, which remain undiscovered. The concordant age obtained for the youngest detrital zircon grain points to the onset of sedimentation in the basin after 1477 ± 8 Ma ago. Thus, Riphean sedimentation on the eastern slope of the trough commenced only 20 Ma prior to the emplacement of the Valaam Sill.