Palaeomagnetic study of Vendian and Early Cambrian rocks of South Siberia and Central Mongolia: was the Siberian platform assembled at this time?

Abstract

A palaeomagnetic study of Vendian and Early Cambrian sediments from the Angara block of the Siberian platform: Shaman (52.08°N, 108.83°E) and Minya (58.0°N, 110.0°E) Formations, and the Tuva-Mongolian block: Tsagan-Olom and Bayan-Gol Formations (46.76°N, 96.37°E) isolated three different components of magnetization through thermal demagnetization. The stable high-temperature characteristic remanence directions show both normal and reverse polarities. The mean palaeopoles computed after these high-temperature components are: 32.0°S/71.1°E (dp/dm=6.9°/13.8°) for the Vendian Shaman Formation (10 sites, 80 samples), 33.7°S/37.2°E (dp/dm=8.6°/14.7°) for the Vendian Minya Formation (12 samples), 22.8°S/28.4°E (dp/dm=10.8°/21.6°) for the Vendian Tsagan-Olom Formation (4 sites, 25 samples) and 21.4°S/167.1°E (dp/dm=9.6°/19.1°) for the Early Cambrian Bayan-Gol Formation (6 sites, 49 samples). From a compilation of Vendian and Early Cambrian palaeopoles from the Anabar, Angara and Aldan blocks of the Siberian platform and Tuva-Mongolia block, we propose a model where these blocks were situated in an equatorial to low south palaeolatitude position, with their present-day southern boundaries facing the north pole. From the analysis of the scatter of these poles, we conclude that the Siberian platform might not have fully amalgamated by this time, and that significant rotations occurred after the Early Cambrian. Our new palaeopoles for the Tuva-Mongolia block, together with previously published ones, show that this block was already adjacent to Siberia by the Vendian and Early Cambrian. We propose that the large counterclockwise rotation of the Tuva-Mongolia block with respect to Angara block could mark the end of the closure of the part of the Palaeo-Asian ocean separating these two blocks, and could account for the occurrence of Vendian-Early Cambrian ophiolites in the region.