Late neoproterozoic igneous complexes of the western Baikal-Muya Belt: Formation stages

Abstract

The paper presents new geological, geochemical, and isotopic data on igneous rocks from a thoroughly studied area in the western Baikal-Muya Belt, which is a representative segment of the Neoproterozoic framework of the Siberian Craton. Three rock associations are distinguished in the studied area: granulite-enderbite-charnockite and ultramafic-mafic complexes followed by the latest tonalite-plagiogranitegranite series corresponding to adakite in geochemical characteristics. Tonalites and granites intrude the metamorphic and gabbroic rocks of the Tonky Mys Point, as well as Slyudyanka and Kurlinka intrusions. The tonalites yielded a U-Pb zircon age of 595 ± 5 Ma. The geochronological and geological information indicate that no later than a few tens of Ma after granulite formation they were transferred to the upper lithosphere level. The Sm-Nd isotopic data show that juvenile material occurs in rocks of granitoid series (ɛNd(t) = 3.2–7.1). Ophiolites, island-arc series, eclogites, and molasse sequences have been reviewed as indicators of Neoproterozoic geodynamic settings that existed in the Baikal-Muya Belt. The implications of spatially associated granulites and ultramafic-mafic intrusions, as well as granitoids with adakitic geochemical characteristics for paleogeodynamic reconstructions of the western Baikal-Muya Belt, are discussed together with other structural elements of the Central Asian Belt adjoining the Siberian Platform in the south.