Sr Isotope Chemostratigraphy and Pb–Pb Age of the Riphean Carbonate Deposits of the Kharaulakh Uplift (Northeastern Margin of the Siberian Platform)

Abstract

—The least altered limestones of the Ukta and Eselekh formations in the Precambrian section of the Kharaulakh uplift have a minimum 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.70673–0.70715. The lowest 87Sr/86Sr ratio of the overlying Neleger and Sietachan formations is 0.70791–0.70817. Based on these data, along with the earlier obtained positive δ13С values (up to 8‰) for the Kharaulakh section, we have estimated the age of the Ukta and Eselekh formations at 800–670 Ma and the age of the Neleger and Sietachan formations at ~640–580 Ma. The Pb–Pb isochron age of the least altered limestones of the Eselekh Formation calculated from eight samples is 720 ± 30 Ma. This age permits us to define the lower part of the Kharaulakh section of the Ukta and Eselekh formations to be the late Tonian of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart or to the Upper Riphean of the General Stratigraphic Scale of Russia. The presence of reliably dated Upper Riphean sediments in the Kharaulakh uplift indicates a more complex structure of the Precambrian sedimentary cover on the Arctic margin of the Siberian Platform than assumed earlier.

Tectonic evolution of the northern Verkhoyansk Fold-and-Thrust Belt: insights from palaeostress analysis and U–Pb calcite dating

“…Of these, the lowermost Ukta Formation consists of siliciclastic rocks, whereas the Eselekh, Neleger and Sietachan formations are predominantly formed by massive carbonates. A Neoproterozoic age of those formations is supported by stratigraphic correlations based on chemostratigraphy and Pb-Pb dating of carbonate rocks (Khabarov and Izokh, 2014;Kochnev et al 2021). Carbonate rocks of the Sietachan Formation are unconformably covered by the uppermost Neoproterozoic Kharayutekh (NPRhr) Formation and Cambrian carbonates and shale with a total thickness of 1075 m, representing the second sedimentary succession of the Verkhoyansk FTB (Fig.…”