Laser Ablation Split Stream (LASS) U-Pb & Lu-Hf Isotope Analysis of Detrital Zircons from the Old Red Sandstone, NW Svalbard: Implications for Northern Caledonian Paleogeography

Abstract:

The Svalbard archipelago consists of three Caledonian provinces that were assembled by thrusting and transcurrent faulting during the Silurian and Devonian in a location directly northeast of the Greenland Caledonides. Syn- to post-orogenic alluvial strata, referred to as the Old Red Sandstones, filled pull-apart basins adjacent to the transcurrent faults and comprise cover assemblages that help constrain the timing of the Caledonian orogeny. To further investigate the tectonic history and paleogeography of the Raudfjorden-Liefdefjorden-Woodfjorden area of Spitsbergen, NW Svalbard, we analyzed rock samples of the Old Red Sandstones and underlying Precambrian basement complexes for detrital zircon analysis. Laboratory studies of the Old Red Sandstones include the novel Laser Ablation Split Stream (LASS) technique, which allows for simultaneous U-Pb & Lu-Hf isotope analysis of zircon crystals. Lower Devonian Red Bay Group strata contain a range of early Neoproterozoic to Neoarchean detrital zircons with prominent age peaks c. 960, 1050, 1370, 1450, 1650, and 2700 Ma; subordinate Ordovician (c. 460-490 Ma) and Cryogenian (c. 650 Ma) detrital zircons occur in a subset of the samples. Underlying Precambrian metasedimentary rocks are composed of similar earliest Neoproterozoic to Neoarchean age populations, which argues for much of the Red Bay Group to be derived from local basement rocks during thrusting and other faulting. The U-Pb ages and Hf isotope compositions of Paleozoic to Neoarchean detrital zircons are consistent with Arctic crustal evolution, and support the hypothesis that northwestern and northeastern provinces of the Svalbard Caledonides are extruded fragments of the northeast Greenland allochthons. The new Hf isotope results further allow paleogeographic and stratigraphic comparisons with rock assemblages proximal to the North Atlantic Caledonides during the Silurian-Devonian, including the Pearya terrane of Ellesmere Island, Alexander terrane of NW Canada and Alaska, and the Franklinian margin of Arctic Canada.