Sources of clastic material of the Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Baikal–Patom belt, Northern Transbaikalia: Evidence from Sm-Nd isotope data

Abstract

First systematic data on the variations of ε_Nd(T) in the Neoproterozoic sedimentary sequence of the Baikal–Patom fold belt (Northern Transbaikalia) are reported. The range of obtained εNd(T) is–19.4…–2.0. It was established that the rocks of the Ballaganach and most part of the Dal’nyaya Taiga groups are characterized by ε_Nd(T) from–19.4 to–16.3. Upsection, beginning from the Khomolkha Formation, the rocks show a sharp change in the initial Nd isotope composition (ε_Nd(T)–8.3…–2.0). The results of Sm-Nd study of metasedimentary rocks of the BPB, as well as the comparison of their Sm-Nd characteristics with those of the inferred source areas suggest that the input of terrigenous material at the early stage of sedimentation in the Baikal–Patom belt was mainly related to the destruction of the Early Proterozoic crust of the Siberian craton. Owing to a change of sedimentation setting from passive continental margin to the “foreland” basin at the late stage, the terrigenous material of the Siberian craton was diluted by clastics from juvenile Neoproterozoic crust of the Baikal–Muya belt.