Oceanic and riftogenic metavolcanic associations of greenstone belts in the northwestern part of the Sharyzhalgai Uplift, Baikal region

Abstract

The Onot and Bulun terranes are confined to the Sharyzhalgai Uplift in the southwestern margin of the Siberian craton. They consist of alternating blocks and nappes of Paleoarchean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite complex and supracrustal metasedimentary-volcanogenic rocks of greenstone belts (GSB). The lower part of the Onot GSB is made up of a bimodal association of aporhyolite microgneisses with subordinate amphibolites, while the upper part consists of amphibolites associated with banded iron formation, metapelites, dolomitic marbles, and magnesites. The Urik GSB in the Bulun block comprises three rock associations: (1) garnet amphibolites and amphibolites alternating with kyanite-bearing mica schists and quartzite schists; (2) garnet-bearing biotite and amphibole crystalline schists with tectonic lenses of garnet amphibolites; (3) biotite and amphibole-biotite orthogneisses and biotite plagiogneisses. The microgneisses (metarhyolitoids) of the Onot belt are correlated with within-plate volcanic rocks and A-type granites. The composition of the amphibolites corresponds to high-Mg low-Ti tholeiitic basalts. The formation of metavolcanic rocks of the Onot GSB was related to the rifting of the Paleoarchean continental crust, which is supported by the formation of felsic metavolcanic rocks from an ancient tonalite source and by the geochemical signatures of crustal contamination of metabasalts. The amphibolites of the Urik GSB are subdivided into three petrogeochemical types. The first and second types correspond to high-and low-Mg tholeiitic basalts and have practically flat multielement patterns. The amphibolites of the third type correspond to subalkaline leucobasalts. Two types of orthogneisses are comparable with intermediate-acid volcanic rocks of the andesite-dacite and adakite series. In terms of geochemistry, the metamafic volcanic rocks of the Urik GSB represent the rocks of the oceanic crust. Oceanic settings of their formation are confirmed by an association of metavolcanic rocks with abyssal distal siliceous-argillaceous deposits. The formation of two types of intermediate-acid metavolcanic rocks of andesite-dacite and adakite associations, as well as garnet-bearing paraschists, was presumably related to subduction settings.