Geology and geophysics

Neoproterozoic carbonatites and related igneous rocks, including A type granites in the Tatarka Ishimba suture zone of the Yenisey Ridge are confined to a horst anticlinal structure that was formed in a transpression setting during the oblique collision between the Central Angara terrane and the Siberian craton. The carbonatites, associating mafic (including alkaline) dikes as well as the Srednetatarka nepheline syenites are the oldest igneous formations of the Tatarka active continental margin complex. Geochronological data indicate that magmatic evolution continued in the studied anticline for nearly 100 m.y. On the earliest stage carbonatites were formed and on the last stage-the emplacement of mantle crustal A type Tatarka granites took place. According to new U/Pb zircon studies, the earliest rocks in the Tatarka pluton are A type leucog ranites aged 646 ± 8 Ma. The younger 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of carbonatites obtained for phlogopites (647 ± 7 and 629 ± 6 Ma) are related to the last tectonic events in the studied region of the Tatarka Ishimba suture zone, which are coeval with the formation of the A type granitoids (646-629 Ma).

Results of complex geological, petrological, geochemical, and isotope-geochronological studies of Neoproterozoic postcollisional A-type granites of the Glushikha complex, Yenisei Ridge, are presented, as well as results of mathematical modeling. The localization, sizes, and depths of formation of magmatic bodies and the physicochemical conditions of the formation of granite intrusions and their magmatic sources are considered. The research is focused on the modeling of the thermal history of the formation and subsequent cooling of granites in the collision orogen. The modeling of heat transfer during the acid-magma intrusion was performed by the example of the Lendakha and Glushikha leucogranite plutons. With the combined methods of the modeling of heat transfer and the behavior of K/Ar isotopic system, the models for leucogranite pluton cooling have been verified for the first time. The time of formation and cooling of granite bodies is estimated, and a generalized geodynamic model...

The particularities of the current tectonic structure of the Russian part of the Arctic region are discussed with the division into the Barents–Kara and Laptev–Chukchi continental margins. We demonstrate new geological data for the key structures of the Arctic, which are analyzed with consideration of new geophysical data (gravitational and magnetic), including first seismic tomography models for the Arctic. Special attention is given to the New Siberian Islands block, which includes the De Long Islands, where field work took place in 2011. Based on the analysis of the tectonic structure of key units, of new geological and geophysical information and our paleomagnetic data for these units, we considered a series of paleogeodynamic reconstructions for the arctic structures from Late Precambrian to Late Paleozoic. This paper develops the ideas of L.P. Zonenshain and L.M. Natapov on the Precambrian Arctida paleocontinent. We consider its evolution during the Late Precambrian and the en...

The geodynamic development of the north–western (Arctic) margin of the Siberian craton is comprehensively analyzed for the first time based on our database as well as on the analysis of published material, from Precambrian-Paleozoic and Mesozoic folded structures to the formation of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Yenisei-Khatanga sedimentary basin. We identify the main stages of the region’s tectonic evolution related to collision and accretion processes, mainly subduction and rifting. It is demonstrated that the prototype of the Yenisei-Khatanga basin was a wide late Paleozoic foreland basin that extended from Southern Taimyr to the Tunguska syneclise and deepened towards Taimyr. The formation of the Yenisei-Khatanga basin, as well as of the West-Siberian basin, was due to continental rifting in the Permian-Triassic. The study describes the main oil and gas generating deposits of the basin, which are mainly Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous mudstones. It is shown that the Lower Cretaceous depos...

We present the first comprehensive data for the early Ediacaran stage of evolution of the western active continental margin of the Siberian Craton (Yenisei Ridge). U-Pb (SHRIMP-II SIMS) data for zircons from dikes of picrodolerites, quartz diorites, and leucocratic granites show that they were emplaced at 625 ± 5, 623 ± 8, and 626 ± 5 Ma, respectively, which indicates a narrow time window of Ediacaran magmatic events. The mafic tholeiitic rocks have OIB and E-MORB mantle components in their magmatic sources. Mineralogical and geochemical observations showed that the mantle-sourced mafic melts assimilated some crustal material, forming Th-enriched dikes of intermediate composition and K- and Rb-enriched felsic rocks. The possible geodynamic conditions for the formation of these early Ediacaran dikes are shown and a geodynamic model is presented for the development of the Yenisei Ridge orogen from the late Cryogenian to the late Ediacaran.

We present new structural, petrographic, geochemical and geochronological data for the late Paleozoic–early Mesozoic granites and associated igneous rocks of the Taimyr Peninsula. It is demonstrated that large volumes of granites were formed due to the oblique collision of the Kara microcontinent and the Siberian paleocontinent. Based on U-Th-Pb isotope data for zircons, we identify syncollisional (315–282 Ma) and postcollisional (264–248 Ma) varieties, which differ not only in age but also in petrochemical and geochemical features. It is also shown that as the postcollisional magmatism was coming to an end, Siberian plume magmatism manifested in the Kara orogen and was represented by basalts and dolerites of the trap formation (251–249 Ma), but also by differentiated and individual intrusions of monzonites, quartz monzonites and syenites (Early–Middle Triassic) with a mixed crustal-mantle source. We present a geodynamic model for the formation of the Kara orogen and discuss the rel...

We present the results of geostructural, mineralogic–petrographic, geochemical, and U–Pb geochronological investigations of mafic, intermediate, and felsic igneous rocks from dikes in the Yana–Kolyma gold belt of the Verkhoyansk–Kolyma folded area (northeastern Asia). The dikes of the Vyun deposit and the Shumniy occurrence intruding Mesozoic terrigenous rocks of the Kular–Nera and Polousniy–Debin terranes were examined in detail. The dikes had diverse mineralogical and petrographic compositions including trachybasalts, andesites, trachyandesites, dacites, and granodiorites. The rocks showed significant similarities in distributions of REE, and their concentrations of most HFSEs were close to the intermediate ones between ocean islands basalts and enriched middle ocean ridge basalts. We propose that the subduction that was ongoing during the collision of the Kolyma–Omolon superterrane with Siberia led to melting in the asthenospheric wedge and in the lithosphere, which formed a mixe...

We have performed a tomographic study using a joint data set that includes local and teleseismic events, recorded by a temporary network in the western branch of the East African rift system. From the travel time residuals, we derive a three-dimensional model of seismic P-wave velocity anomalies for the crust and upper mantle down to a depth of 80 km. Particular attention is paid to the verification of the inversion results by various resolution tests. The results show that the eastern rift shoulder is characterized by relatively high seismic velocities. Lower velocities are obtained beneath the entire length of the rift valley and the Rwenzori Mountains. A prominent feature is observed northeast of the mountain range: here we detected a vertically oriented, cylindrical low-velocity anomaly with maximum amplitudes in the middle crust and the upper mantle lithosphere. We suggest that this anomaly indicates reservoirs of molten material related to the ongoing rifting process within this segment of the rift. Just above this anomaly, at depths between 5 and 16 km, earthquake swarms exist. The observed reduction in P-wave velocity is used to provide constraints on the possible melt content and temperature anomaly in the uppermost mantle. The observed 3-5% P-velocity decrease can be explained by melt fraction up to 2%-3.3% or alternatively by a temperature increase of at least 248 to 376 K and even higher-temperature anomalies are possible if lower ambient temperatures in the reference mantle are assumed. Probably, the two effects act in combination.

The P wave anisotropy of the crust and uppermost mantle has been determined in two separate areas of the continental margin of Central America covering offshore and onshore parts of southern Nicaragua and northern and central Costa Rica. Our study is based on traveltime data from local earthquakes recorded with three combined onshore and offshore seismic networks that had been deployed in three half-year intervals between 2002 and 2006. The P wave traveltime data have been tomographically inverted in terms of an elliptical anisotropic P wave velocity distribution. In the upper crust beneath Costa Rica, the seismic anisotropy is of the order of 2%-5% and locally strongly variable in orientation corresponding to the complicated tectonic structure. In contrast, the upper mantle beneath both study regions shows stronger anisotropy of the order of 5%-10% and a more coherent orientation of the axis of fast P wave velocity that varies systematically on regional scales: The upper mantle of the incoming oceanic plate is characterized by a trench-normal orientation of the fast P wave velocity axis presumably corresponding to mineral alignment (lattice preferred orientation LPO) in transport direction. This pattern is corroded in the uppermost part of the subduction zone, possibly by the influence of bending-related trench-parallel faults and serpentinization that can overprint or annihilate the LPO anisotropy. The upper mantle of the overriding plate and mantle wedge shows a clear trench-parallel orientation of the fast P wave velocity axis. The anisotropy is stronger in Nicaragua than in southern central Costa Rica (factor of 2 orders of magnitude). The development of a stronger anisotropy in the Nicaragua could be driven by a change in the stress regime from compressional in southern Costa Rica to transpressional in Nicaragua corresponding to a change from near-orthogonal subduction in the SE to oblique subduction and slab retreat in the NW. From a comparison with S/SKS wave, GPS, and geochemical observations follows that the most likely explanation for the observed pattern of P wave anisotropy in the mantle wedge is LPO caused by a trench-parallel shear deformation and/or NW oriented escape flow originating in the compressional zone near the Cocos Ridge collision area.

Evidence is presented here that P wave amplitudes contain additional information on the Earth's heterogeneity and must be considered in future tomographic interpretations. We analyse the reliability and the variance of teleseismic P wave amplitudes recorded at well calibrated broadband Global Seismic Network (GSN) stations from intermediate to deep earthquakes (depth >46 km). The dataset contains 217 earthquakes with m b between 5.6 and 7.6, from 1993 January to 2000 May. Using pairs of closely located events with similar focal mechanisms as well as data recorded at the closely spaced MOMA seismic array we demonstrate the consistency of observations. We deduce that the magnification of the GSN instruments generally drifts by at most 2 per cent per year, and likely much less. P wave amplitudes have variations due to focusing/defocusing with a standard deviation of at least 38 per cent. This reduces to 19 per cent if only periods in excess of 10 s are considered. Tomographic P wave models with mantle velocity anomalies of the order of 1 per cent are unable to reproduce such large variations.

Tomography is like a photograph that was taken by a camera with blurred and defective lenses that deform the shapes and colours of objects. Reporting quantitative parameters derived from tomographic inversion is not always adequate because tomographic results are often strongly biased. To quantify the results of tomographic inversion, we propose a forward modelling and tomographic inversion (FM&TI) approach that aims to find a more realistic solution than conventional tomographic inversion. The FM&TI scheme is based on the assumption that if two tomograms derived from the inversion of observed and synthetic data are identical, the synthetic structure may appear to be closer to the real unknown structure in the ground than the inversion result. However, the manual design of the synthetic velocity distribution is usually time-consuming and ambiguous. In this study, we propose an approach that automatically searches for a probabilistic model. In this approach, a synthetic model is iteratively updated while taking into account the bias of the model in previous stages of the FM&TI performance. Here, we present an example of synthetic modelling and real data processing for an active source refraction data set corresponding to a marine profile across the subduction zone in Chile at about 32 • S latitude. A key feature of the model is a low-velocity channel above the subducted oceanic crust, which was defined in the synthetic model and expected in the real case. The conventional first arrival traveltime tomography was barely able to resolve this channel. However, after several iterations of the FM&TI modelling, we succeeded in reconstructing this channel clearly. In the paper, we briefly discuss the nature of this low-velocity subduction channel, and we compare the results with other studies.

In this paper, we investigate the crustal and uppermost mantle structure beneath Toba caldera, which is known as the location of one of the largest Cenozoic eruptions on Earth. The most recent event occurred 74 000 yr BP, and had a significant global impact on climate and the biosphere. In this study, we revise data on local seismicity in the Toba area recorded by a temporary PASSCAL network in 1995. We applied the newest version of the LOTOS-07 algorithm, which includes absolute source location, optimization of the starting 1-D velocity model, and iterative tomographic inversion for 3-D seismic P, S (or the V P /V S ratio) and source parameters. Special attention is paid to verification of the obtained results. Beneath the Toba caldera and other volcanoes of the arc, we observe relatively moderate (for volcanic areas) negative P-and S-velocity anomalies that reach 18 per cent in the uppermost layer, 10-12 per cent in the lower crust and about 7 per cent in the uppermost mantle. Much stronger contrasts are observed for the V P /V S ratio that is a possible indicator of dominant effect of melting in origin of seismic anomalies. At a depth of 5 km beneath active volcanoes, we observe small patterns (7-15 km size) with a high V P /V S ratio that might be an image of actual magmatic chambers filled with partially molten material feeding the volcanoes. In the mantle wedge, we observe a vertical anomaly with low P and S velocities and a high V P /V S ratio that link the cluster of events at 120-140 km depth with Toba caldera. This may be an image of ascending fluids and melts released from the subducted slab due to phase transitions. However, taking into account poor vertical resolution, these results should be interpreted with prudence. Although the results show clear signatures that are quite typical for volcanic areas (low velocity and high V P /V S ratio beneath volcanoes), we do not observe any specific features in seismic structure that could characterize Toba as a super volcano.