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Composition and Age of Rocks of the Provenance Areas for the Lower–Middle Cambrian (?) Terrigenous Sediments of the Ernichnaya Formation of the Argun Massif, Eastern Part of the Central Asian Foldbelt

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Abstract

The results of mineralogical and geochemical studies of sandstones and siltstones of the Ernichnaya Formation of the Argun Series of the Argun continental massif and the U–Pb (LA-ICP-MS) age of their detrital zircon are presented. It is found that the youngest group of detrital zircon has the age of 549–570 Ma with a maximum on the probability density curve of zircon ages of 566 Ma. This suggests that the lower age boundary of their accumulation corresponds to the Ediacaran–Paleozoic boundary. According to the results of U–Pb (LA-ICP-MS) dating of zircon grains, the dominant zircons in sandstones of the sequence have Neo- and Paleoproterozoic ages. These zircons were probably sourced from the Neo- and Paleoproterozoic igneous and metamorphic rocks widely abundant within the Argun continental massif. The geochemical features of terrigenous rocks of the sequence together with the presence of poorly sorted and weakly rounded rock clasts in the studied samples, as well as the presence of interlayers of gravelites in structure of the sequence, indicate their accumulation in a subduction-related setting.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are deeply grateful to the reviewers A.B. Kotov, V.P. Kovach, and S.I. Dril for valuable advice and criticism. We also thank our colleagues from the centers of collective use Amur Center of Mineralogical–Geochemical Studies of the IGNM FEB RAS (E.N. Voropaeva, O.G. Medvedeva, V.I. Rozhdestvina, A.S. Segreneva, E.S. Sapozhnik, and E.V. Ushakova), Isotopic–Geochemical Studies of the IGC SB RAS (O.V. Zarubina, N.V. Bryanskii, T.N. Galkina), and Geospektr of the GIN SB RAS (Uland-Ude) for analytical investigations.

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This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 20-05-00195).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Natural Management, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 675000, Blagoveshchensk, Russia

    Yu. N. Smirnova

  2. Dobretsov Geological Institute, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 670047, Ulan-Ude, Russia

    A. V. Kurilenkov & V. B. Khubanov

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Translated by I. Melekestseva

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Smirnova, Y.N., Kurilenkov, A.V. & Khubanov, V.B. Composition and Age of Rocks of the Provenance Areas for the Lower–Middle Cambrian (?) Terrigenous Sediments of the Ernichnaya Formation of the Argun Massif, Eastern Part of the Central Asian Foldbelt. Stratigr. Geol. Correl. 31, 443–458 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0869593823050076

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