Mesozoic orogens of the Arctic from Novaya Zemlya to Alaska

Abstract

Mesozoic orogenic belts fringe the Alaska and eastern Russia portion of the Arctic Basin. From west to east, these include the fold belts of Novaya Zemlya, Taimyr Peninsula, northern Verkhoyansk–Kolyma, Chukotka and the Brooks Range, as well as their continuations onto the continental shelves. The Taimyr and Novaya Zemlya structures were traditionally interpreted as the continuation of the late Palaeozoic Uralian orogenic belt. This is probably correct for Taimyr, but not for Novaya Zemlya, where shortening post-dates Uralian deformation. The Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the Verkhoyansk–Kolyma, Chukotka and Brooks Range orogens relates to the accretion of numerous continental and arc terranes to the Siberian and North American margins starting in the Late Jurassic and driven by palaeo-Pacific dynamics. This history is complicated by the opening of the Amerasia Basin of the Arctic, which displaced the Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate from a position adjacent to Arctic Canada towards the palaeo-Pacific. Although the Chukotka fold belt and the Brooks Range both formed along the southern edge of Arctic Alaska–Chukotka, most shortening took place prior to Amerasia Basin opening. The remoteness of this region and the complexity of its geology has left numerous questions regarding its tectonic evolution unresolved, providing rich avenues for future research.

Detrital Zircon U-Pb Data for Jurassic–Cretaceous Strata from the South-Eastern Verkhoyansk-Kolyma Orogen—Correlations to Magmatic Arcs of the North-East Asia Active Margin

“…The Uyandina-Yasachnaya Magmatic arc has been interpreted as being related to subduction associated with closure of the Oymyakon Ocean, although the polarity of the subduction zone remains debated (e.g., [1][2][3]5,8,51]). The ages of the volcaniclastic rocks, constrained by fossils and zircon U-Pb dated at 153-150 Ma [1,12,50,52], are nearly coeval with those of the Main (Kolyma) belt granitoids described above.…”

“…The composite Kolyma-Omolon Superterrane (microcontinent), located in the eastern part of the Verkhoyansk-Kolyma orogen, comprises a collage of fault-bounded blocks (terranes) of various geodynamic origins [5,6,[8][9][10]12]. In the vicinity of the study area, the tectonic basement units are Mainly associated with the Prikolyma, Omolon, and Omulevka terranes ( Figure 2).…”

“…Fragments of the Paleozoic Magmatic arcs, such as the Maya-Abkit and North-Okhotsk arcs, are scattered within continental blocks of the Kolyma-Omolon Superterrane in the central part of the Verkhoyansk-Kolyma orogenic belt. In the Mesozoic, several arc Magmatic belts formed during closure of the Oymyakon Ocean and the resulting collision of the Kolyma-Omolon Superterrane and Siberia, including the Main (Kolyma), Uyandina-Yasachnaya, Northern, and Transverse Magmatic belts (e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and references therein). To the north (in present-day coordinates), the Svyatoi Nos-Oloy and New Siberian-Chukotka Magmatic belts formed during closure of the South Anyui Ocean and formation of the Novosibirsk-Chukotka orogenic belt (e.g., [2,3,5,6,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], and references therein).…”

“…In the Mesozoic, several arc Magmatic belts formed during closure of the Oymyakon Ocean and the resulting collision of the Kolyma-Omolon Superterrane and Siberia, including the Main (Kolyma), Uyandina-Yasachnaya, Northern, and Transverse Magmatic belts (e.g., [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] and references therein). To the north (in present-day coordinates), the Svyatoi Nos-Oloy and New Siberian-Chukotka Magmatic belts formed during closure of the South Anyui Ocean and formation of the Novosibirsk-Chukotka orogenic belt (e.g., [2,3,5,6,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], and references therein). The coeval Magmatic belts also formed to the south along the A number of coeval Late Mesozoic sedimentary basins of varying sizes formed across NE Asia in response to this tectonic and magmatic activity, but their geological histories are poorly understood due to the lack of geological constraints on their tectonic settings, paleogeographic affinities, and sedimenatry provenance.…”

Quartz overgrowth textures and fluid inclusion thermometry evidence for basin‐scale sedimentary recycling: An example from the Mesozoic Barents Sea Basin

“…The structural reconfiguration of the basin and the surrounding hinterland terrains brought about dramatic thickness variations and condensation of the Lower Mesozoic successions in the western Barents Sea (Olaussen et al., 2018; Worsley, 2008). The exact timing and driving mechanism of the compressional tectonic phase are presently poorly constrained (Pease, 2011; Toro et al., 2016).…”