Geochemistry and Age of the Paleoproterozoic Metavolcanic and Metasedimentary Rocks of the Don Terrane of the Volga–Don Orogen

Abstract

The Don terrane, which is extensively reworked by metamorphism and granitoid intrusions, is part of the Volga–Don orogen stretching along the eastern margin of the Sarmatian segment of the East European Craton. The terrane consists of gneiss-granites of the Pavlovsk complex, metavolcanic rocks, ranging from basaltic andesites to dacites (amphibolites and gneisses), and metasedimentary rocks (marbles and calc-silicate rocks) of the Don Group. The volcanic rocks are typically enriched in LILE and LREE and show negative HFSE anomalies, indicating fluid-assisted melting of the mantle wedge in a subduction zone. The Nd isotopic composition (ε_Nd2200 = –1.2 to +3.4, model age 2180–2550 Ma) and Hf isotopic composition (ε_Hf = –4.3 to +3.3, model age 2290–2640 Ma) indicate an enriched mantle or a mixed crustal–mantle source of the parental melts of the volcanics and a juvenile source for sediments of the Don Group. The U–Pb zircon metamorphic age of the gneisses and amphibolites is 2047 ± 7 Ma, and that of the thermal effect of the granitoid batholith on the host rocks is 2060 ± 4 Ma. According to isotope geochemical and geochronological data, the Don Group is underlain by Archean rocks, contains Archean detrital zircons, but the age of this group is no older than 2300 Ma. A facies and age analogue of the Don Group is the Temryuk Formation of the Central Azov Group of the Ukrainian shield. In the Paleoproterozoic, the eastern margin of Sarmatia was likely a continental arc, which was nearly coeval with the island arc–backarc basin system of the Losevo Group.