P-T-t reconstructions of South Yenisei Ridge metamorphic history (Siberian craton): Petrological consequences and application to the supercontinental cycles

Abstract

Studies of gneisses from the Yenisei regional shear zone (YRSZ) provide the first evidence for Mesoproterozoic tectonic events in the geologic history of the South Yenisei Ridge and allowed the recognition of several stages of deformation and metamorphism spanning from Late Paleoproterozoic to Vendian. The first stage (~1.73 Ga), corresponding to the period of granulite-amphibolite metamorphism at P = 5.9 kbar and T = 635 °C, marks the final amalgamation of the Siberian craton to the Paleo-Mesoproterozoic Nuna supercontinent. During the second stage, corresponding to a hypothesized breakup of Nuna as a result of crustal extension, these rocks underwent Mesoproterozoic dynamic metamorphism (P = 7.4 kbar and T = 660 °C) with three peaks at 1.54, 1.38, and 1.25 Ga and the formation of high-pressure blastomylonite rocks in shear zones. Late-stage deformations during the Mesoproterozoic tectonic activity in the region, related to the Grenville-age collision processes and assembly of Rodinia, took place at 1.17-1.03 Ga. The latest pulse of dynamic metamorphism (615–600 Ma) marks the final stage of the Neoproterozoic evolution of the Yenisei Ridge, which is associated with the accretion of island-arc terranes to the western margin of the Siberian craton. The overall duration of identified tectonothermal processes within the South Yenisei Ridge during the Riphean (~650 Ma) is correlated with the duration of geodynamic cycles in the supercontinent evolution. A similar succession and style of tectonothermal events in the history of both the southern and the northern parts of the Yenisei Ridge suggest that they evolved synchronously within a single structure over a prolonged time span (1385–600 Ma). New data on coeavl events identified on the western margin of the Siberian craton contradict the hypothesis of a mantle activity lull (from 1.75 to 0.7 Ga) on the southwestern margins of the Siberian craton during the Precambrian. The synchronous sequence and similar style of tectonic events on the periphery of the large Precambrian Laurentia, Baltica, and Siberia cratons suggest their spatial proximity over a prolonged time span (1550–600 Ma). The above conclusion is consistent with the results of modern paleomagnetic reconstructions suggesting that these cratons represented the cores of Nuna and Rodinia within the above time interval.