Division of the Early Proterozoic Khargitui Formation of the Sarma Group (Akitkan Orogenic Belt, Siberian Craton) into Different Age Sequences Based on the Results of U–Pb Isotopic Analysis of Zircon

Abstract

U–Pb (LA-ICP-MS) geochronological studies of detrital zircon from rocks of the Early Proterozoic Khargitui Formation of the Sarma Group, distributed in the central part of the Baikal uplift of the Siberian craton basement and included into the structure of the Sarma zone of the Akitkan orogenic belt, are carried out. It is established that the Khargitui Formation comprises the rocks formed in different time intervals: >2.7, 2.15–1.95, and <1.7 Ga. It is shown that Meso- and Neoarchean age peaks (2.7–3.1 Ga) are characteristic of zircon from leucocratic gneisses, which indicates the formation of gneiss protoliths after 2.7 Ga due to the destruction of Archean granitoids in the Sarma zone of the Akitkan orogenic belt and igneous rocks in the Anabar superterrane basement of the Siberian craton. The time interval of 2.15–1.95 Ga corresponds to the accumulation of protoliths of mica–quartz schists, which is substantiated by the age of the youngest zircon grains of 2150 Ma and the age of metamorphism of these rocks of 1.95 Ga. The presence of an age peak at 1833 Ma and younger zircon grains aged in the range of 1675–1785 Ma in the sample of mica–quartz schist taken from another area of rock outcrops assigned to the Khargitui Formation indicates that the protoliths of these rocks accumulated after the formation of the Akitkan orogenic belt and the South Siberian postcollisional magmatic belt. The results obtained indicate that the rocks assigned to the Khargitui Formation of the Sarma Group of the Western Baikal region cannot be considered as a single stratigraphic unit, since they formed at different stages of the evolution of the Akitkan orogenic belt. It is shown that, based on recent data, the deposits of the Khargitui Formation should be divided into complexes of different ages (stratigraphic units), each of which corresponds to a certain stage of the geological evolution of the territory.