Neoarchean‐Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary basins in the Sarmatian Craton: Global correlations and connections

Abstract

The East European Craton is a collage of Early Precambrian crustal fragments including Fennoscandia, Sarmatia, and Volga‐Uralia, which are welded by Palaeoproterozoic collisional orogens. Here, we present a detailed overview of the sedimentary basins in Sarmatia that incorporate giant belts of banded iron formations (BIFs) and are therefore important in understanding the geological history and global correlations during the Archean‐Proterozoic transition. Among the two sedimentary basins in Sarmatia (Mikhailovsky and Tim‐Kryvyi Rih), the Mikhailovsky Basin is characterized by the presence of a carbonate platform underlying BIFs. The BIFs are locally overlain by thin clastic deposits. Thick‐bedded dolomites occur with BIF in the Tim Kryvyi Rih Basin. In the Mikhailovsky Basin, after their deposition there was a long‐lasting hiatus. In the Mikhailovsky Basin, there are no sedimentary rocks after the regional hiatus except for glacial deposits. Sedimentation resumed with the development of continental rift‐related structures, where the accumulation of terrigenous sediments was accompanied by, and culminated with, outflows of basalts at 2.1 Ga. A detailed evaluation of the history of sedimentary basins in Sarmatia record transgression (~2.6–2.4 Ga) with the accumulation of giant BIFs (~2.50–2.45 Ga), regression (~2.4–2.2 Ga), hiatus and glaciations (~2.4–2.2 Ga), and rift‐related volcanism (~2.2–2.1 Ga). We attempt a correlation of the sedimentary sequences in Sarmatia with those of Pilbara, Kaapvaal, and São Francisco cratons which show that the geological events on all these cratons were similar during 2.6–2.4 Ga. We thus propose that the Sarmatia Craton may serve as a link in the palaeocontinental correlations of the Vaalbara Supercraton and the São Francisco Craton, based on the striking similarity in the Neoarchean‐Early Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary basins.