On the northeastern slope of the Kuznetsk Alatau, small differentiated alkaline basic intrusive massifs form an isometric area ~100 km across. They are composed of subalkalic and alkali gabbroids, basic and ultrabasic foidolites, nepheline and alkali syenites, and carbonatites. Results of complex (U-Pb, Sm-Nd, and Rb-Sr) isotope dating suggest that alkaline basic magmatism developed at two stages, in the Middle Cambrian-Early Ordovician (~510-480 Ma) and in the Early-Middle Devonian (~410-385 Ma). Finding of accessory zircons (age 1.3-2.0 Ga) in alkaline rocks suggests that the ascent of mantle plume was accompanied by the melting of fragments of Proterozoic mature continental crust composing the basement of the Caledonian orogen of the Kuznetsk Alatau. Probably, parental Cambrian-Ordovician alkaline mafic melts initiated metasomatism and lithosphere erosion. During the next melting of lithosphere substrate in ~100 Myr, this caused the generation of magmas of similar composition with inherited isotope parameters (ε Nd (T) ≈ +4.8 to +5.7, T Nd (DM) ≈ 0.8-0.9 Ga) pointing to the similar nature of their matter sources in the moderately depleted mantle.

Early Paleozoic alkaline basic magmatism in the Kuznetsk Alatau is manifested in the Upper Petropavlovka pluton of gabbro, feldspathoid rocks (theralites, mafic foidolites, and nepheline syenites), and Ca-carbonatites. According to Sm–Nd and Rb–Sr isotope data, the pluton formed in the Middle Cambrian (509 ± 10 Ma). The silicate igneous rocks correspond in the contents of silica, alumina, and alkalies to derivates of a K–Na alkaline basic association. The Ca-carbonatites are characterized by a high-temperature (600–900 °C) paragenesis of apatite, clinopyroxene, ferromonticellite, phlogopite, and magnetite. They are enriched in P2O5 (up to 6.4 wt.%), Sr (up to 3000–4500 ppm; Sr/Ba ~ 5–7), and REE + Y (up to 800 ppm) and show evidence for liquation genesis. The predominant magmatic source (εNd(T) = 5–7) was moderately depleted PREMA, possibly combined with E-MORB and EM. According to the isotopic data ((87Sr/86Sr)T ~ 0.7024–0.7065; δ18O ~ 6.3–15.5‰; δ18C ~ –3.5 to –2.0‰), the fractionation of the melts was accompanied by their crustal contamination. The trace-element composition of the mafic rocks testifies to the participation of a substance similar to the substrata of the parental magmas of MORB, IAB, and OIB in the magma generation. This suggests intrusion in the geodynamic setting of interaction between the active continental margin and an ascending mantle diapir. Most likely, the intrusion led to the mixing of material from different sources, including the components of PREMA, enriched suprasubduction lithospheric mantle (EM), and continental crust. The assumption is made that the complexes of highly alkaline rocks and carbonatites in the western Central Asian Fold Belt are of plume origin and belong to an Early Paleozoic large igneous province.

The minor intrusions of the Edel’veis alkaline–carbonatite complex are bounded by the spurs of the North Chuya Ridge in southeastern Gorny Altai. According to Ar–Ar isotope data, the complex formed in the Middle Cambrian (∼507 Ma). All of its components (alkali clinopyroxenite–melanogabbro–alkali syenite + Ca-carbonatite) occur in only one pluton. Silicate igneous rocks are equivalent in silica content and alkalinity to potassic alkaline and subalkalic mafic rocks. Apatite-phlogopitic Ca-carbonatites are enriched in P2O5 (up to 3.6 wt.%), Sr (∼2500–5500 ppm), and REE (up to ∼2000 ppm) and are, presumably, of liquation genesis. A PREMA-type plume component was a predominant magma source for the complex (ɛNd(T) = +6.56 to +6.85). According to isotope data (87Sr/86Sr(T) ∼ 0.7032–0.7039; δ18O ∼ 7.5–14.9‰; δ13C ∼ –2.7 to –8.4‰), the fractionation of the melts was accompanied by their crustal contamination. The trace-element composition of the rocks suggests that the complex developed on a continental margin and its development was accompanied by late-collisional rifting and the mixing of moderately depleted (PREMA) and enriched suprasubductional lithospheric mantle (EM I or EM II) with continental crust. It is presumed that the alkaline and carbonatite complexes in the western Central Asian Fold Belt are of primary plume origin and form a LIP within this belt together with other associations produced by Early Paleozoic (510–470 Ma) magmatism.

We report the first data on 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating, trace-element geochemistry, and isotope (Nd, Sr, O) composition of the Belaya Gora gabbro-foidolite-foyaite intrusive massif, one of typical representatives of the alkaline province of the northeastern Kuznetsk Alatau. The established age of rock-forming amphibole, ~401-403 Ma, is taken as the time of the pluton formation in the Early Devonian. The distribution and ratios of LILE and HFSE in the rocks suggest that the intrusion took place in the setting of "superposition" of Devonian mantle plume on the Early Paleozoic accretion-collision complexes. Therefore, the source of magmatic products had a heterogeneous composition as a result of mixing of plume material with the substances of suprasubduction and crustal substrates. The mantle component might have been a PREMA + EM combination, which is confirmed by the parameters of the Nd isotope composition (ε Nd T ≈ 3.2-4.6; T Nd (DM) ≈ 0.8 Ga) of alkaline rocks. The effects of crustal contamination are reflected in the high ratios of strontium and oxygen isotopes ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) T ≈ 0.7046-0.7054; δ 18 O ≈ 8.5-9.2‰, SMOW).

No abstract