Vol 479, No 1 (2018)

This work presents the results of U–Pb geochronological studies of alkaline granites of the Aralaul complex of Northern Kazakhstan, which allow one to substantiate their Late Silurian (420 ± 4 Ma) age. Taking into consideration the previously obtained data, we propose a new development scheme of Paleozoic granitoid magmatism in Northern Kazakhstan, which includes Late Ordovician granite–granodiorite (Zerenda and Krykkuduk), Early Silurian granite–leucogranite (Borovoe and Karabulak), Late Silurian granosyenites–granite (Aralaul), and Early Devonian (Balkashino and Orlinogorsk) complexes.

The ages of the two main stages of carbonate cover formation within the Tuva–Mongolian microcontinent have been determined. The Pb–Pb age and Sr–chemostratigraphic characteristics of the carbonate rocks of the Irkutnaya, Agaringol, and Zabita formations, as well as of the Zabita Formation phosphorite, demonstrate that the first stage began in the Middle Riphean (Late Ectasian) at about 1290 Ma and the second stage started in the Early Vendian (Early Ediacaran) at 630–600 Ma. The accumulation of phosphorite deposits started in the Ediacaran at about 580 Ma.

The geochemistry and composition of peridotite rock-forming minerals from blocks in the serpentinite mélange of Karaginskii Island have been studied. The composition features of the rock-forming minerals are indicative of the fact that they represent abyssal peridotites of the mid-oceanic ridges that did not undergo remelting under suprasubduction conditions. According to the geochemical data, these rocks were subject to metasomatic alterations under mantle conditions in the suprasubduction setting, which were caused by metasomatizing melts and/or fluids generated in the subduction zone.

The stratigraphic distribution of microfossils and macroscopic fossil biota in Vendian deposits of the South Ladoga region (northwestern East European Platform) is analyzed. In the sequence of the Shotkusa- 1 well, three taxonomically heterogeneous microfossil assemblages are distinguished: two of them refer to the Redkinian age (Starorusskaya Fm.) and one to the Kotlinian age (Vasileostrovskaya Fm.). Deposits of the Starorusskaya Fm. contain Redkinian biota of macroscopic fossils, of which the most characteristic representatives are Chuaria circularis, Doushantuophyton lineare, Morania zinkovi, Orbisiana simplex, and Redkinia spinosa. These new findings expand the paleontological characteristics of Upper Vendian deposits, also providing additional criteria for distinguishing the Redkinian horizon in the northwestern East European Platform.

The Au mineralization of Alyarmaut Rise was formed from the ore-forming fluids of two types strongly differing in pressure. The first type of fluid is similar to fluids of the orogenic Au–quartz deposits in terms of the physicochemical parameters and composition. These fluids were formed at a high pressure from heterogeneous, carbon dioxide–aqueous fluids with a low salinity at a depth of 5–7 km. The second type of fluid, which is also heterogeneous, has a shallower origin with a wide range of salinity variation and a small amount of carbon dioxide. This type of fluid is similar to the fluids of epithermal deposits. The wide range of pressure variation characterizing the mineralization of the rise indicates the vertical displacement of the block of the host rocks followed by erosion. Judging by the presence the secondary halos of Au, Ag, As, Sb, Pb, Zn, and Cu in the Upper Paleozoic carbonate–terrigenous rocks of the Alyarmaut Rise, there are prospects to reveal sites with new epithermal Au–Ag mineralization, which are essential for the area and unusual for the Anyui-Chukotka Fold System.

For the first time, the U–Pb age is determined for detrital zircons of quartzite–schist sequences, which are part of the Precambrian basement of the Aktau–Mointy Block (Central Kazakhstan) along with Neoproterozoic felsic volcanic (925–920 Ma) and granitic (945–917 Ma) rocks [6]. We analyzed 219 zircon grains from small-grained quartzites of the northern part of the block (Mt. Bol’shoi Alabas) including 206 grains with concordant age (1149–1273, 1276–1975, 2354–2592 Ma). These ages indicate the Mesoproterozoic, Paleoproterozoic, and Neoarchean rocks as provenances. The youngest statistically significant age peak of 1209 Ma indicates that the quartzite–schist sequences accumulated 1200–900 Ma ago (at the end of the Mesoproterozoic and beginning of the Neoproterozoic) prior to the formation of the Early Neoproterozoic felsic rocks and granites.

New structural and petrogeochemical data are obtained on poorly known dikes composed of quartz dolerites of andesite–basaltic composition and located at the northwestern termination of the Murmansk block (Kola Craton). These data allowed us to compare the studied dikes with more well-known units from the dike swarm in the area of the settlement of Liinakhamari and the volcanics of the Pechenga structure, and to discuss their joint geodynamic position. Dolerite dikes are 2.3 Ga in age and intrude granites and plagiogranites of 2.4 and 2.8 Ga in age, respectively. The specificity of the composition of the rocks of andesite–basaltic composition from the dike series, as well as that of the volcanics from the first (Akhmalakhti) formation of the Pechenga structure, is determined by their structural position in the marginal part of the “fading” Sumian plume and in the zone of dynamic influence of regional strike–slip fault zones.

Experimental studies in the Fe₃C–SiO₂–MgO system (P = 6.3 GPa, T = 1100–1500°C, t = 20–40 h) have been carried out. It has been established that carbide-oxide interaction resulted in the formation of Fe-orthopyroxene, graphite, wustite, and cohenite (1100 and 1200°C), as well as a Fe–C–O melt (1300–1500°C). The main processes occurring in the system at 1100 and 1200°C are the oxidation of cohenite, the extraction of carbon from carbide, and the crystallization of metastable graphite, as well as the formation of ferrosilicates. At T ≥ 1300°C, graphite crystallization and diamond growth occur as a result of the redox interaction of a predominantly metallic melt (Fe–C–O) with oxides and silicates. The carbide–oxide interaction studied can be considered as the basis for modeling a number of carbon-producing processes in the lithospheric mantle at fO₂ values near the iron–wustite buffer.

The Kichera zone of the Baikal–Muya Belt consists of alternating tectonic plates with rocks of different metamorphic facies. Garnet–cordierite–sillimanite gneiss from the tectonic fragment in granite–gneiss of the Baikal massif with an age of 755 ± 15 Ma from the Goremyka plate and two-pyroxene schist of the granulite complex with an age of 617 ± 5 Ma from the Boguchan plate were studied. Thermobarometric studies of these key metamorphic rocks were carried out using the avPT (THERMOCALC) and TWEEQU (TWQ 2.01) methods. The P–T parameters estimated for the cordierite⎯sillimanite gneiss of the Goremyka plate correspond to the boundary between the amphibolite and granulite facies. Granulites of the Boguchan plate belong to the HT–LP type. Exhumation of metamorphic rocks could be caused by extension upon the evolution of the Late Baikal rifting.

The S isotopic composition in the ore-forming minerals galena and sphalerite was studied in different Ag–Pb–Zn deposits of the region. It was pointed out that the δ³⁴S modal values range from–1.2 to +6.7‰ in the minerals with a positive value for the skarn mineralization. In the flyschoid formation, the vein-type mineralization is characterized by negative and positive values. The narrow range of δ³⁴S values indicates the marginal-continental type of the mineralization and the multiple origins of its sources.

The rocks and minerals of the Kolvitsa massif are studied by complex isotopic–geochronological and geochemical (U–Pb, Sm–Nd, REE contents of zircons) methods. The isotopic U–Pb age (2448 ± 5 Ma) of single zircon grains, which were extracted from metagabbro of the block, is consistent with previous data on the rocks of the Kandalaksha anorthosite block. According to Sm–Nd studies of minerals of the metamorphic complex (apatite, sulfide minerals, garnet) and rocks of the block, the age of their metamorphic transformations is 1985 ± 17 Ma. The calculated temperature of the closure of the U–Pb system and crystallization of zircon of metagabbro of the Kolvitsa massif is 778°C. The REE patterns of single zircon grains indicate their magmatic origin.

The new geochemical data obtained of cupriferous sandstones of the Orenburg area of the Ural region show that the Permian host stratum could have served as the source of rare-earth elements and other microelements for the ore-forming fluids. They confirm the possibility of using a convection model to explain the genesis of the copper ores studied. This model indicates the likely multistage development of mineralization to significant depths, like in the Manto deposits in Chili. Consequently, the Permian cupriferous sandstones of the southwestern area of the Ural region can be considered a very promising source of raw material for the development of copper industry in the area.

A study of bottom sediments conducted on the 100th cruise of R/V Professor Shtokman in the northeastern part of the Black Sea along the section from the Kerch Strait to the deep-sea depression allowed estimation of Holocene sulfide sedimentation and consideration of the accompanying diagenetic processes, which involve reactions with C, N, and P. The behavior of dissolved forms of Mn and Fe is considered from the viewpoint of their different solubility and formation of sulfides. The redox system of the Black Sea sediments can significantly be expanded at the expense of the migration methane and hydrogen, which accompanies its anaerobic oxidation.

In the present paper, the results of our isotope–geochemical studies on eclogites of the ultrahighpressure metamorphic complex of the Kokchetav massif are reported. The fact that the distribution of nonmobile elements in most of the samples was close to that of E-type MORB basalts is shown by using geochemical multielement diagrams normalized to N-MORB. Six samples were found to have a negative anomaly over niobium that may have resulted from contamination with crustal material. For eclogites of the Kokchetav massif, the ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴⁴Nd ratio was found to range widely from 0.143 to 0.367. The ε_Nd-values calculated for the age of the highly barometric stage of metamorphism (530 million years) varied from–10.3 to +8.1. Eclogites show a dispersion of model ages from 1.95 billion years to 670 million years. On the graphs in the ε_Nd(T)–⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ε_Nd(T)–T coordinates, eclogites were shown to form trends that can be interpreted as a result of contamination of the eclogite protolith by the host rocks. Based on the data obtained, it is proposed that the basalts of rift zones that may have geochemical characteristics of N-MORB basalts and at the same time may be contaminated by the continental crust may have served as proxies for eclogite protoliths of the Kokchetav massif.

The results of analysis of wave modes in the ambient noise induced in the layered structure “lithosphere–hydrosphere–ice sheet” are presented. It is shown that instrumental monitoring over background noises in an ice-covered shallow sea allows us to apply methods of seismic tomography in order to determine the structural parameters of a layered geophysical media.

The locations of areas prone to strong earthquakes (M ≥ 6.0) in the Altai–Sayan–Baikal region are determined. Based on a scheme of morphostructural zoning of the region and by using the CORA-3 pattern recognition algorithm, all intersections of morphostructural lineaments are separated into two classes: the highly seismic intersections in the vicinities of which strong earthquakes can occur and low seismic in the vicinities of which only earthquakes with M < 6.0 are possible. Recognition was performed for the vectors the components of which were measured values of the geological–geophysical characteristics describing the respective intersection. The result obtained allows the zones of high seismic hazard to be identified more reliably in the region.

We analyze the results of measurements of the Tareev equatorial undercurrent in the Indian Ocean in February 2017. Sections from 3° S to 3°45′ N along 68° and 65° E crossed the current with measurements of the temperature, salinity, and current velocity at oceanographic stations. The maximum velocity of this eastward flow was recorded precisely at the equator. The velocity at a depth of 50 m was approximately 60 cm/s. The transport of the Tareev Current was estimated at 9.8 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³/s).

The results of field observations of an internal undular bore that were performed in a coastal zone of constant depth in the Sea of Japan are presented. A hydrodynamic model of undular bores is discussed according to which the recorded disturbances of the water medium are an experimental prototype of strongly nonlinear (intense) internal undular bores on the pycnocline of shelf waters of Peter the Great Bay with an intensity close to the limit.