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The temporal variation of Mesoarchaean volcanism in the Suomussalmi greenstone belt, Karelia Province, Eastern Finland

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An Erratum to this article was published on 17 June 2016

Abstract

This study concentrates in the Kiannanniemi area, situated in the Archaean Suomussalmi greenstone belt, the Karelia Province, Fennoscandian Shield. A zircon U–Pb geochronological study from this area shows that ages of the volcanic rocks are between ca. 2.94 and 2.82 Ga. The results indicate multiphase felsic and intermediate volcanism in three episodes at ca. 2.94, 2.84 and 2.82 Ga, of which the 2.84 Ga event has not been reported earlier from the Suomussalmi greenstone belt. The youngest zircon population in a sedimentary rock sample suggests a depositional age of ≤2.82–2.81 Ga, and the sample contains also ≥2.96 Ga old zircon grains. Based on both new and previously published geochronological data from the volcanic rocks, we propose a chronostratigraphic model for the whole Suomussalmi greenstone belt, dividing it into four units based on their age: Luoma, Tormua, Ahvenlahti, and Mesa-aho. The youngest volcanic rocks in the Suomussalmi greenstone belt are contemporaneous with some of the volcanic rocks recorded from the Kuhmo and Tipasjärvi greenstone belts of the Karelia Province, Finland. The age group ca. 2.94 Ga, however, has not been so far recorded elsewhere. Conversely, in the Suomussalmi greenstone belt, volcanic rocks with an age of ca. 2.80 Ga and sedimentary rocks with depositional ages of <2.75 Ga, frequently found from the Kuhmo and Tipasjärvi greenstone belts, are unknown.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Pekka Simelius (for help with the sample preparation), Mirja Saarinen (for help with the heavy liquid separation), Satu Lukkari (for help with the BSE imaging), Helena Korkka (for preparation of some of the thin sections), Asko Käpyaho (for help with drill core sample collecting) and Aku Heinonen (comments and discussion to the earlier draft of this article). This work was funded by the Finnish Graduate School of Geology. Erkki Luukkonen and the Eastern Finland Office of the Geological Survey of Finland are acknowledged for providing resources for the field and laboratory work. The Nordsim facility is financed and operated under an agreement between the research councils of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the Geological Survey of Finland and the Swedish Museum of Natural History. This is Nordsim contribution no. 448. The staff of the Nordsim laboratory, Martin Whitehouse, Kerstin Lindén and Lev Ilyinsky, and the staff of the Isotope laboratory of the Geological Survey of Finland, Hugh O’Brien, Yann Lahaye, and Leena Järvinen, are thanked for the sample preparation and technical assistance. Tom Andersen is acknowledged for providing program to handle the LA-MC-ICPMS data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Museum of Natural History (Geological Museum), University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 44, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    E. Lehtonen

  2. Geological Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 1237, 70211, Kuopio, Finland

    E. Heilimo & T. Halkoaho

  3. Geological Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 96, 02151, Espoo, Finland

    P. Hölttä & H. Huhma

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  1. E. Lehtonen
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  2. E. Heilimo
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Correspondence to E. Lehtonen.

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An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00531-016-1348-6.

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Lehtonen, E., Heilimo, E., Halkoaho, T. et al. The temporal variation of Mesoarchaean volcanism in the Suomussalmi greenstone belt, Karelia Province, Eastern Finland. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 106, 763–781 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-016-1327-y

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