Reconstruction of the Subsidence Dynamics and Palaeotemperature Regime of the Northern Margin of the Siberian Platform

Abstract

The formation mechanisms of sedimentary basins are considered as a response of deep processes in the mantle, therefore they carry important information about the geodynamics and thermal regime of the lithosphere. For different sectors of the northern margin of the Siberian Platform, the dynamics of sedimentation and subsidence was reconstructed. The analysis of subsidence curves shows that during the Late Paleozoic the sedimentary infill formed in the foreland basin environment. In the Late Permian–Early Triassic time, in the central and western sectors, the subsidence was accelerating due to the development of a thick trap complex; after the Permian and Triassic boundary the subsidence slowed down. During the period of trap magmatism, an anomalously high subsidence rate up to 4.8 km/Ma in the central and up to 0.5–1.1 km/Ma in the eastern and western parts was reconstructed. The high rate and short duration of accumulation of volcanogenic sediments can be explained by an episode of short-term extension under the influence of a plume, followed by a long period of thermal subsidence. Numerical modelling of the temperature regime near mafic intrusive bodies was carried out, which showed that when determining the paleoheat flow, the influence of trap intrusions can be traced up to 400–500 m from the contacts. Estimates of the paleoheat flow for the Permian–Triassic stage of tectonic evolution of the eastern sector were obtained. It was calibrated using the PetroMod software package, based on laboratory measurements of modern values of vitrinite reflectance for rock samples from wells, modern temperature and heat flow in the sedimentary cover. It was determined that trap magmatism occurred at temperatures increased to 100 mW/m2, while the mantle component of the heat flow reached 38–72 mW/m2; it is several times higher as compared to modern one. The obtained paleoheat flow estimates for the Late Permian–Early Triassic stage appear to correspond to anomalously high values of modern continental rifts.