Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

1860-Ma I-Shaped Mafic Sills in the Murmansk Craton, Eastern Fennoscandia: Petrology and Tectonic Setting of Within-plate Mafic Events during Nuna Assembly

  • Published:
Petrology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

1860-Ma within-plate mafic rocks of the Eastern Murman Sill Province were studied in the northern part of the Murmansk Craton, where they compose sheet bodies (sills) up to 100 m thick in Archean granitoids and gneisses. The sills have a simple inner structure, show no macroscopic signs of in situ differentiation even in large bodies, and consist of homogenous medium-grained poikilophitic dolerites weakly varying in composition. Minor variations in mineral and chemical composition of the rocks allow us to regard the mafic sills as I-shaped sills. Their homogeneity is likely caused by the rapid crystallization of aphyric magmas. The studied sills are close to N-MORB in major-element composition, but significantly differ in trace element signatures. The low Cr and Ni concentrations in the dolerites indicate the high degrees of fractional crystallization, while the low HREE and HFSE contents suggest that primary komatiite melts were formed through the high-degree melting of a depleted mantle source. The absence of phenocrysts in chilled dolerites prevented the use mineralogic and petrographic criteria for estimating the crystallization conditions in intermediate magma chambers. AlphaMELTS 1.9 and PRIMELT3 MEGA modelling results indicate that the primary melts could be formed through a high-degree melting of ascending high-temperature mantle plume, with subsequent contamination and fractional crystallization in mid-crustal intermediate magma chambers. The Nd and Sr isotopic composition of the dolerites and constituent minerals suggests that the crustal contamination included several stages. The first, most significant crustal contribution (up to 10%) was related to the contamination by Archean tonalites in the intermediate mid-crustal chambers. This provided negative εNd values and radiogenic Sr isotopic composition (Sri = 0.702–0.704) in the dolerites. The second stage included the upper-crustal contamination during lateral propagation of melts along gentle weakened zones, which resulted in the wide variations of Sr-Nd isotopic composition in rocks and minerals. The third stage was related to the contamination by 87Sr-enriched fluid that is supported by the sharp increase of Sri (up to 0.708) at constant Nd isotopic composition in gabbro-pegmatites. Such fluid could be formed via biotite dehydration caused by heating of host granites by large volume of emplaced mafic melts. The age, volume, and composition of the studied dolerites and similarity with coeval mafic rocks in the Superior Craton indicate that the I-shaped mafic sills in the Murmansk Craton could be formed on the periphery of the Circum Superior large igneous province. It suggests that the Murmansk Craton of the Fennoscandian Shield and the Superior Craton of the Canadian Shield at 1860 Ma were joined into a single consolidated lithospheric block that host within-plate mafic rocks and likely represented an early core of the Paleoproterozoic Nuna supercontinent.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Fig. 8.
Fig. 9.
Fig. 10.
Fig. 11.
Fig. 12.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Compositions of minerals of mafic sills with an age of 1860 Ma are given in ESM_1.pdf (Suppl. 1); Modeling of primary melt for the average dolerite from thin poikilophitic dolerite sills in PRIMELT3.MEGA is given in ESM_2.exl (Suppl. 2). Modeling of fractional crystallization of the Gorgona contaminated komatiite in alphaMELTS 1.9 ESM_3.exl (Suppl. 3) to Russian and English online versions of the paper is given in elibrary.ru and http://link.springer.com/, respectively.

REFERENCES

  1. Airoldi, G., Muirhead, J.D., White, J.D.L., and Rowland, J., Emplacement of magma at shallow depth: insights from field relationships at Allan Hills, South Victoria Land, East Antarctica, Antarct. Sci., 2011, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 281–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Anderson, D.L., Large igneous provinces, delamination, and fertile mantle, Elements, 2005, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 271–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Arzamastsev, A.A., Fedotov, Zh.A., and Arzamastseva, L.V., Daikovyi magmatizm severo-vostochnoi chasti Baltiiskogo shchita (Dike Magmatism of the Northeastern Baltic Shield), Moscow: Nauka, 2009.

  4. Asimow, P.D. and Ghiorso, M.S., Algorithmic modifications extending melts to calculate subsolidus phase relations, Am. Mineral., 1998, vol. 83, pp. 1127–1131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Balagansky, V.V., Gorbunov, I.A., and Mudruk, S.V., Paleoproterozoic Lapland–Kola and Svecofennian orogens (Baltic Shield), Vestn. Kol’sk. Nauchn. Ts. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2016, no. 3, pp. 5–11.

  6. Balagansky, V.V., Mints, M.V., and Daly, D.S., Paleoproterozoc Lapland–Kola orogen, Stroenie i dinamika litosfery Vostochnoi Evropy. Rezul’taty issledovanii po programme EUROPROBE (Structure and Dynamics of the East Europe Lithosphere. Results of Studies of the EUROPROBE Program), Moscow: Geokart, 2006, pp. 158–171.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Balagansky, V.V., Raevskii, A.B., and Mudruk, S.V., Lower Precambrian of the Keivy Terrane, Northeastern Baltic Shield: A Stratigraphic Succession or a Collage of Tectonic Sheets?, Geotectonics, 2011, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 127–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bell, B. and Butcher, H., On the emplacement of sill complexes: evidence from the Faroe-Shetland basin, Geol. Soc. London: Spec. Publ., 2002, vol. 197, no. 1, pp. 307–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Bogdanova, S.V., Gorbatschev, R., and Garetsky, R.G., Europe/East European Craton, Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2016.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ciborowski, T.J.R., Minifie, M.J., Kerr, A.C., et al., A mantle plume origin for the Palaeoproterozoic Circum-Superior large igneous province, Precambrian Res., 2017, vol. 294, pp. 189–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Coetzee, A. and Kisters, A.F.M., Dyke-sill relationships in Karoo dolerites as indicators of propagation and emplacement processes of mafic magmas in the shallow crust, J. Struct. Geol., 2017, vol. 97, pp. 172–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Daly, J.S., Balagansky, V.V., Timmerman, M.J., and Whitehouse, M.J., The Lapland–Kola orogen: Palaeoproterozoic collision and accretion of the northern Fennoscandian lithosphere, Geol. Soc. London:Mem., 2006, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 579–598.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Egorova, V. and Latypov, R., Mafic–ultramafic sills: new insights from M- and S-shaped mineral and whole-rock compositional profiles, J. Petrol., 2013, vol. 54, no. 10, pp. 2155–2191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Elliot, D.H. and Fleming, T.H., Weddell triple junction: the principal focus of Ferrar and Karoo magmatism during initial breakup of Gondwana, Geology, 2000, no. 28, pp. 539–542.

  15. Ernst, R.E., Large Igneous Provinces, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Erofeeva, K.G., Stepanova, S.V., Samsonov, S.V., et al., 2.4 Ga mafic dikes and sills of northern Fennoscandia: petrology and crustal evolution, Petrology, 2019, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 17–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Fedotov, Zh.A., Bayanova, T.B., and Serov, P.A., Spatiotemporal relationships of dike magmatism in the Kola Region, the Fennoscandian Shield, Geotectonics, 2012, vol. 46, no. 6, pp. 412–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. French, J.E., Heaman, L.M., Chack, T., and Srivastava, R.K., 1891–1883 Ma southern Bastar-Cuddapah mafic igneous events, India: a newly recognized large igneous province, Precambrian Res., 2008, vol. 160, pp. 308–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Galerne, C.Y., Neumann, E.R., Aarnes, I., and Planke, S., Magmatic differentiation processes in saucer-shaped sills: evidence from the Golden Valley sill in the Karoo basin, South Africa, Geosphere, 2010, vol. 6, pp. 163–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ghiorso, M.S. and Sack, R.O., Chemical mass-transfer in magmatic processes IV. A revised and internally consistent thermodynamic model for the interpolation and extrapolation of liquid-solid equilibria in magmatic systems at elevated-temperatures and pressures, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 1995, vol. 119, nos. 2–3, pp. 197–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Gibb, F.G.F. and Henderson, M.B., Convection and crystal settling in sills, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 1992, vol. 109, no. 4, pp. 538–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Herzberg, C.T. and Asimow, P.D., Primelt3 mega.xlsm software for primary magma calculation: peridotite primary magma mgo contents from the liquidus to the solidus, Geochem., Geophys., Geosyst, 2015, vol. 16, pp. 563–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hölttä, P., Balagansky, V.V., Garde, A.A., et al., Archean of Greenland and Fennoscandia, Episodes, 2008, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 13–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Howarth, G.H., Barry, P.H., Pernet-Fisher, J.F., et al., Superplume metasomatism: evidence from Siberian mantle xenoliths, Lithos, 2014, vol. 184–187, pp. 209–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kerr, A.C., Oceanic plateaus, Treatise on Geochemistry, 2003, vol. 3, pp. 537–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Knesel, K.M. and Davidson, J.P., Sr isotope systematics during melt generation by intrusion of basalt into continental crust, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 1999, vol. 136, pp. 285–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Kozlov, N.E., Sorokhtin, N.O., Glaznev, V.N., et al., Geologiya arkheya Baltiiskogo shchita (Archean Geology of the Baltic Shield), St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2006.

  28. Kukkonen, I.T., Kuusisto, M., Lehtonen, M., and Peltonen, P., Delamination of eclogitized lower crust: control on the crust-mantle boundary in the central Fennoscandian shield, Tectonophysics, 2008, vol. 457, nos. 3–4, pp. 111–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Lahtinen, R., Garde, A.A., and Melezhik, V.A., Paleoproterozoic evolution of Fennoscandia and Greenland, Episodes, 2008, vol. 31, pp. 20–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Lahtinen, R. and Huhma, H., A revised geodynamic model for the Lapland–Kola orogen, Precambrian Res., 2019, vol. 330, pp. 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Larionova, Yu.O., Samsonov, A.V., and Shatagin, K.N., Sources of Archean sanukitoids (high-Mg subalkaline granitoids) in the Karelian Craton: Sm-Nd and Rb-Sr isotopic-geochemical evidence, Petrology, 2007, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 530–550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Latypov, R.M., The origin of basic-ultrabasic sills with S-, D-, and I-shaped compositional profiles by in situ crystallization of a single input of phenocryst-poor parental magma, J. Petrol., 2003, vol. 44, no. 9, pp. 1619–1656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Leat, P.T., On the long-distance transport of Ferrar magmas service on the long-distance transport of Ferrar magmas, Geol. Soc. London: Spec. Publ., 2008, vol. 302, pp. 45–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Loucks, R.R., A precise olivine–augite Mg-Fe-exchange geothermometer, Contrib. Mineral. Petrol., 1996, vol. 125, pp. 140–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Lustrino, M., How the delamination and detachment of lower crust can influence basaltic magmatism, Earth Sci. Rev., 2005, vol. 72, nos. 1–2, pp. 21–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Magee, C., Muirhead, J.D., Karvelas, A., et al., Lateral magma flow in mafic sill complexes, Geosphere, 2016, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 809–841.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Marsh, B.D., Solidification fronts and magmatic evolution, Mineral. Mag., 1996, vol. 60, pp. 5–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Melezhik, V.A. and Hanski, E.J., The Early Palaeoproterozoic of Fennoscandia: geological and tectonic settings, Reading the Archive of Earth’s Oxygenation, Melezhik, V.A., et al., Eds., Frontiers in Earth Sciences, Berlin–Heidelberg: Springer, 2013, pp. 33–38.

  39. Menand, T., Physical controls and depth of emplacement of igneous bodies: a review, Tectonophysics, 2011, vol. 500, pp. 11–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Minifie, M.J., Kerr, A.C., Erns, R.E., et al., The northern and southern sections of the western ca. 1880-Ma Circum-Superior large igneous province, North America: the Pickle Crow dyke connection?, Lithos, 2013, vol. 174, pp. 217–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Neumann, E.-R., Svensen, H., Tegner, C., et al., Sill and lava geochemistry of the Mid-Norway and NE Greenland conjugate margins, Geochem., Geophys., Geosyst., 2013, vol. 14, pp. 3666–3690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Olsson, J.R., Klausen, M.B., Hamilton, M.A., et al., Baddeleyite U-Pb ages and geochemistry of the 1875–1835 Ma Black Hills dyke swarm across north-eastern South Africa: part of a Trans-Kalahari Craton back-arc setting?, GFF, 2016, vol. 138, no. 1, pp. 183–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Pollard, D.D. and Johnson, A.M., Mechanics of growth of some laccolithic intrusions in the Henry Nountains, Utah, II. Bending and failure of overburden layers and sill formation, Tectonophysics, 1973, vol. 18, pp. 311–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Rannii dokembrii Baltiiskogo shchita (Early Precambrian of the Baltic Shield), Glebovitskii, V.A, Eds., St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2005.

  45. Samsonov, A.V., Stepanova, A.V., Sal’nikova, E.B., et al., Pechenga-type Neoarchean plume in northern Fennoscandia: 2680-Ma dikes in the Murmansk craton, Materialy LI Tektonicheskogo soveshchaniya “Problemy tektoniki kontinentov i okeanov” (Proc. 51st Tectonic Conference “Problems of Tectonics of Continents and Oceans), Moscow: GEOS, vol. 2, pp. 216–220.

  46. Smith, P.M. and Asimow, P.D., Adiabat_1ph: a new public front-end to the MELTS, pMELTS, and pHMELTS models, Geochem., Geophys., Geosystems., 2005, no. 6, no. Q02004.

  47. Stark, J.C., Wang, X.-C., Denyszynd, S.W., et al., Newly identified 1.89 Ga mafic dyke swarm in the Archean Yilgarn craton, western Australia suggests a connection with India, Precambrian Res., 2019, vol. 329, pp. 156–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Stepanova, A.V., Sal’nikova, E.B., Samsonov, A.V., et al., U-Pb geochronology of the Early Precambrian mafic rocks of the Kola–Murmansk Province, Eastern Fennoscandia: dike bar-code as the basis of paleocontinental reconstructions, Materialy VII Rossiiskoi konferentsii po izotopnoi geokhronologii 5–7 iyunya 2018 g (Proc. 7th Russian Conference on Isotopic Geochronology) Moscow: IGEM RAN, 2018, pp. 340–342 .

  49. Stephens, T.L., Walker, R.J., Healy, D., et al., Igneous sills record far-field and near-field stress interactions during volcano construction: Isle of Mull, Scotland, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 2017, vol. 478, pp. 159–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Svetov, S.A., Stepanova, A.V., Chazhengina, S.Yu., et al., Precision (ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS) analysis of rock and minerals: technique and estimate of accuracy of results by the example of the Early Precambiran mafic complexes, Tr. Kar. Nauchn. Ts. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2015, no. 7, pp. 173–192.

  51. Thirlwall, M.F., Long-term reproducibility of multicollector Sr and Nd isotope ratio analysis, Chem. Geol., 1991, vol. 94, no. 2, pp. 85–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Tychkov, N.C., Pokhilenko, N.P., Kuligin, C.C., and Malygina, E.V., Composition and origin of peculiar pyropes from lherzoliltes: evidence for the evolution of the lithospheric mantle of the Siberian Platform, Russ. Geol. Geophys., 2008, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 225–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Veselovskiy, R.V., Samsonov, A.V., Stepanova, A.V., et al., 1.86 Ga key paleomagnetic pole from the Murmansk Craton intrusions, NE Fennoscandia: multidisciplinary approach and paleotectonic applications, Precambrian Res., 2019, vol. 324, pp. 126–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Walker, R.J., Controls on transgressive sill growth, Geology, 2016, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 99–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Walker, R.J., Healy, D., Kawanzaruwa, T.M., et al., Igneous sills as a record of horizontal shortening: the San Rafael subvolcanic field, Utah, Geo-Mar. Lett., 2017, vol. 129, nos. 9–10, pp. 1052–1070.

    Google Scholar 

  56. Wedepohl, K.H. and Hartmann, G., The composition of the primitive upper Earth’s mantle, Kimberlites, Related Rocks, and Mantle Xenoliths, Meyer, H.O.A. and Leonardos, O.H., Eds., Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais, 1994, pp. 486–495.

Download references

ACKNOWLDGMENTS

We are grateful to reviewers S.V. Bogdanova, A.A. Nosova, and V.V. Balagansky, whose constructive comments significantly improved our manuscript.

Funding

The studies were financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 16-17-10260). The authors are grateful to the crew members of the “Udacha” vessel for their help during the fieldworks and sampling of representative collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of the Geology, Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, 185910, Petrozavodsk, Karelia, Russia

    A. V. Stepanova, S. V. Egorova & K. G. Erofeeva

  2. Institute of the Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119017, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Samsonov & Yu. O. Larionova

  3. Institute of Precambrian Geology and Geochronology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 199034, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. A. Arzamastsev, E. B. Salnikova & M. V. Stifeeva

  4. The Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, 123995, Moscow, Russia

    R. V. Veselovskiy

Authors
  1. A. V. Stepanova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. V. Samsonov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yu. O. Larionova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S. V. Egorova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. A. Arzamastsev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. E. B. Salnikova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. R. V. Veselovskiy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. K. G. Erofeeva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. M. V. Stifeeva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. V. Stepanova.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Translated by M. Bogina

Supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Stepanova, A.V., Samsonov, A.V., Larionova, Y.O. et al. 1860-Ma I-Shaped Mafic Sills in the Murmansk Craton, Eastern Fennoscandia: Petrology and Tectonic Setting of Within-plate Mafic Events during Nuna Assembly. Petrology 28, 93–117 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S086959112002006X

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S086959112002006X

Keyword:

Search

Navigation