Reconstruction of tectonic events on the northern Eurasia margin of the Arctic, from U-Pb detrital zircon provenance investigations of late Paleozoic to Mesozoic sandstones in southern Taimyr Peninsula

Abstract

The Taimyr fold-and-thrust belt records late Paleozoic compression, presumably related to Uralian orogenesis, overprinted by Mesozoic dextral strike-slip faulting. U-Pb detrital zircon analyses of 38 sandstones from southern Taimyr were conducted using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to investigate late Paleo zoic to Mesozoic sediment provenance and the tectonic evolution of Taimyr within a regional framework. The Pennsylvanian to Permian sandstones contain detrital zircon populations of 370-260 Ma, which are consistent with derivation from the late Paleo zoic Uralian orogen in northern Taimyr and/or the polar Urals. Late Neoproterozoic through Silurian ages (688-420 Ma), most consistent with derivation from Timanian and Caledonian age sources, suggest an ultimate Baltica source. Southern Taimyr represents the proforeland basin of the bivergent Uralian orogen in the late Paleozoic. Triassic sedimentary rocks contain detrital zircon populations of Carboniferous-Permian (355-260 Ma), late Neoproterozoic to Early Devonian (650-410 Ma), and minor Neo protero zoic (1000-700 Ma) ages, which suggest a similar provenance as the Carboniferous to Permian strata. The addition of a Permian-Triassic (260-220 Ma) zircon population indicates derivation of detritus from Siberian Traprelated magmatism. Jurassic samples have a dominant age peak at 255 Ma and a distinct reduction in Carboniferous-Permian and late Neoproterozoic to Early Devonian input, suggesting that erosion and contributions from Uralian sources ceased while greater input from Siberian Trap-related rocks of Taimyr dominated. Comparison of these results to the published literature demonstrates that detritus from the Uralian orogen was deposited inTaimyr, Novaya Zemlya, and the New Siberian Islands in the Permian, but not in the Lisburne Hills or Wrangel Island. In the Triassic, Taimyr, Chukotka, Wrangel Island, the Kular Dome in the northern Verkhoyansk of Siberia, Lisburne Hills, Franz Josef Land, and Svalbard shared sources from Taimyr, the Siberian Traps, and the polar Urals, indicating that there were no geographic barriers among these locations prior to opening of the Amerasia Basin. Detritus from the Uralian orogen in Taimyr was shed northward into the retroforeland basin and was then transported farther 20-30 m.y. after Uralian orogenesis. The widespread distribution of material eroded from Taimyr and the polar Urals during the Triassic is likely due to the arrival of, and sublithospheric spreading associated with, the Siberian mantle plume head at ca. 250 Ma. The subsequent motion of the lithosphere relative to the plume-swell likely caused a northwestward migration of the uplifted regions. Taimyr and the polar Urals were probably affected. In the Jurassic, detrital zircon spectra from Taimyr, Chukotka, the Kular Dome, and Svalbard show great differences, suggesting that these locations no longer shared the same provenance from Taimyr and the Urals. The restricted distribution of detritus from Taimyr and the Urals indicates that...

Tectonic evolution of the Mesozoic South Anyui suture zone, eastern Russia: A critical component of paleogeographic reconstructions of the Arctic region

“…The 298 Ma peak coincides with the main period of magmatism in the Uralian-Taymyr orogen, which formed during the late Paleozoic collision of Siberia and Baltica (Bea et al, 2002). This peak is dominant in Triassic sandstone from the Taimyr Peninsula (Zhang et al, 2015) and even in the zircon record of modern river sands from drainages on the east flank of the Urals (Safonova et al, 2010). Devonian zircons, which form a secondary peak in the Triassic sandstone of Chukotka, could have been derived either from proximal sources, Devonian plutons exposed along the north coast of Chukotka (Kos'ko et al, 1993;Amato et al, 2014), or more distally from the Urals.…”

“…For example, Timanian-age zircons are almost absent in samples from the Sverdrup Basin of the Canadian Arctic ( Fig. 15; Omma et al, 2011) and are only a minor component of the detrital record from Svalbard (Pózer Bue and Andresen, 2013), but they are prominent in the Taimyr Peninsula (Zhang et al, 2015).…”

Dual provenance signatures of the Triassic northern Laurentian margin from detrital-zircon U-Pb and Hf-isotope analysis of Triassic–Jurassic strata in the Sverdrup Basin

“…In summary, both the Sverdrup Basin and the broader AACM share the active margin source, which is consistent with the rotational model for the opening of the Arctic Ocean. Alternatively, Zhang et al (2015) presented a reconstruction in which littoral currents allow for the redistribution of detrital material from the Polar Urals and Taimyr during the Triassic due to the sublithospheric spreading associated with the Siberian mantle plume at ca. 250 Ma, which does not explain the post-Siberian Trap range of detritalzircon ages of 240-210 Ma.…”

“…1; Omma et al, 2011;Miller et al, 2013, and references therein). Miller et al (2013) and Zhang et al (2015) recently outlined possible sources of the younger zircon ages, which included the Carboniferous to Early Permian plutonic belts from the northernmost Urals; granites as young as ca. 250 Ma from the southern Urals; mafic magmatism (ca.…”

Detrital zircon record of mid-Paleozoic convergent margin activity in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains: Implications for the Antler orogeny and early evolution of the North American Cordillera

“…However, it is widely accepted that ancient siliciclastic strata are important archives of early orogen processes and capable of retaining the precise age, spatial extent, and exhumation histories of old mountain belts (Allen et al, 1991;Ross et al, 2005;Weislogel et al, 2006;Cawood et al, 2007;Anfinson et al, 2013;Gehrels, 2014;Colpron et al, 2015;McClelland et al, 2016). Detrital mineral provenance studies of syntectonic strata have proven to be especially useful for identifying the geological elements that supply clastic detritus to sedimentary basins during convergent margin activity, such as passive margin sequences, cratonal blocks, and volcanic arcs (Clift et al, 2009;Hampton et al, 2010;Park et al, 2010;LaMaskin, 2012;Beranek et al, 2013aBeranek et al, , 2015Bradley and O'Sullivan, 2016;Zhang et al, 2016).…”