The Sikhote-Alin orogenic belt, Russian South East: Terranes and the formation of continental lithosphere based on geological and isotopic data

Abstract

The Sikhote-Alin orogenic belt, Russian South East, consists of folded terranes made up of Jurassic and Early Cretaceous accretionary prisms, turbidite basins, and island arc terranes that are overlapped unconformably by undeformed upper Cenomanian to Cenozoic volcanic deposits. The Jurassic and Early Cretaceous accretionary prisms, together with the Early Cretaceous island arc, are related to subduction of the Paleo-Pacific plate. The turbidite basin, which began to form at the beginning of the Early Cretaceous, is related to left-lateral movement of the Paleo-Pacific plate along the Paleo-Asian continental margin. The collage of terranes that make up the Sikhote-Alin orogenic belt was amalgamated in two stages. The first began after Jurassic subduction beneath the Asian continent was terminated, and the second took place in the late Albian, when the Early Cretaceous island arc collided with the continental margin. Intense deformation of the terranes took place along the continental margin in the form of large-scale translations from south to north, together with oroclinal folding. The deformation resulted in rapid thickening of sediments in the upper crust, resulting in turn in the formation of granitic–metamorphic material in the continental lithosphere. In the southwestern part of the Sikhote-Alin orogen, granites were intruded during the Hauterivian–Aptian, while the entire orogenic belt was affected by intrusions in the late Albian–early Cenomanian. Synorogenic intraplate volcanic rocks and alkaline ultramafic–mafic intrusions also testify to the fact that the orogenic processes in the Sikhote-Alin were related to a transform continental margin, and not to subduction. Geochemical and Nd isotopic data indicate, the primary continental crust of the Sikhote-Alin was of a “hybrid” nature, consisting of juvenile basic components accreted from an oceanic plate and recycled sedimentary material derived from the erosion of ancient blocks.