Age of island-arc granites in the Shchuch’ya zone, Polar Urals: First U–Pb (SIMS) results

Abstract

The granitic magmatism occurred at the precollisional stage of the continentalization of the mafic basement of the Shchuch’ya island arc system. The first U–Pb (SIMS, SHRIMP II) data on zircons indicate three pulses of transformation of the oceanic crust into a continental crust: in the Silurian and Middle and Late Devonian. The age of the Yanganape granite is 429 ± 4 Ma, which corresponds to the Late Wenlockian; that of the Yurmeneku massif is 385 ± 2 Ma (Givetian); and that of the Canyon Massif is 368 ± 3 Ma (Famennian). The zircons from the Yanganape granite yielded an age of 335 ± 4 Ma, which corresponds to the Early Carboniferous (Visean). Similar ages were noted in uranium-rich zircons from the Canyon Massif granite. They correlate with the collision time of the island arc with the eastern edge of the Eastern European paleocontinent, and it is possible that this event caused disturbance of the U–Pb system of zircons in the islandarc granites of the Shchuch’ya zone.