The Siberian Craton in the Structure of the Supercontinent Rodinia: Analysis of Paleomagnetic Data

摘要

The hypothetical united super-continent Rodinia is present in all the tectonic and geodynamic reconstructions available for the Mesoproterozoic-Neoprotero-zoic stage of geological history. It is assumed that the Supercontinent appeared 1.0-1.2 Ga ago as a result of Grenville collision events. According to various estimates, its breakup occurred during the Neoproterozoic (850-700 Ma ago). Despite the attractiveness of this hypothesis, it has yet to be sufficiently substantiated. The structure of the Supercontinent, e.g., the position of the Siberian Craton and its relationships with surrounding continental blocks remains controversial. The analysis of different models shows that most researchers assume that the Siberian Craton was located near the North American continent (Laurentia), although their mutual location is substantially different in these models. The geological structure and evolution of the margins of the Siberian Craton constrain its position relative to other continental blocks of Rodinia. For example, it was shown in [1-3] that the Siberian continent could have been entirely or almost entirely surrounded by oceanic basins or sea gulfs in the Late Mesoproterozoic-Early Neoproterozoic.