Categories of Catchment Areas-Sources of Fine-Grained Aluminosiliciclastics for Vendian Sedimentary Successions in the Northern and Eastern Parts of the East European Platform

Abstract

Although the characterization of depositional conditions of Vendian sedimentary successions in the northwestern, central, northern, northeastern and eastern parts of the East European Platform is available at present, issue of the types of catchment areas and the ratio of crystalline complexes, sedimentary, and metasedimentary sequences therein remains somehow debatable. Location of the clayey rock datapoints of various Vendian lithostratigraphic units in the (CaO + MgO)–SiO2/10–(Na2O + K2O), La/Sc–Th/Co, and F1–F2 diagrams indicates that the main part of fine-grained aluminosiliciclastics was derived mostly from the geochemically mature rock complexes/substrate sources. Such sources can be represented by both sedimentary and felsic–intermediate igneous rocks. Localization of the clayey rock datapoints in the (La/Yb)N–Eu/Eu* and (La/Yb)N–Th diagrams suggests that the Vendian shallow-water sedimentary basins were fed mainly from the aluminosiliciclastics transported by major rivers draining large continental areas and/or rivers draining the “mixed/sedimentary” formations, suggesting that the terrain of Riphean sedimentary rocks (currently confined to aulacogens) and Lower Proterozoic metasedimentary formations in the East European Platform could be significantly larger.