Tightening the Siberian connection to western Laurentia

Research Article| August 01, 2003 Tightening the Siberian connection to western Laurentia James W. Sears; James W. Sears 1Department of Geology, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Raymond A. Price Raymond A. Price 2Department of Geological Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L3N6, Canada Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (2003) 115 (8): 943–953. https://doi.org/10.1130/B25229.1 Article history received: 04 Aug 2002 rev-recd: 27 Feb 2003 accepted: 04 Mar 2003 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation James W. Sears, Raymond A. Price; Tightening the Siberian connection to western Laurentia. GSA Bulletin 2003;; 115 (8): 943–953. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B25229.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Newly available geological and geophysical data tighten the Proterozoic connection between the rifted margins of the northern Siberian craton and western Laurentia, and permit a Siberia-Laurentia-Australia troika, with northern Australia connected to the southern margin of the Siberian craton. The continental assembly is linked by a prominent 2.0–1.8 Ga collisional belt and the ca. 1.3–1.0 Ga Grenville orogen. The reconstruction also aligns a 1.5–1.45 Ga dike/sill swarm that extends from the Wyoming province, through the Belt-Purcell basin, into the northern Siberian craton. Separation of Australia and Siberia may have occurred by the early Neoproterozoic, but separation of Siberia and Laurentia may not have been completed until the Early Cambrian. Continental extension began along the zigzag Siberia-Laurentia rift zone in the early Mesoproterozoic. Rift-related igneous and sedimentary assemblages dated at ca. 1.5, 1.38, and 1.2 to 1.0 Ga correlate across the reconstructed Siberia-Laurentia rift zone. Renewed rifting in the Neoproterozoic and Vendian culminated with seafloor spreading and thermal subsidence of the conjugate rift shoulders. Correlative archeocyathan reefs, endemic olenellid trilobite fauna, and exchange of detritus between the cratons imply that the rift may have remained relatively narrow until the Atdabanian stage. Black sulfidic shales buried the archeocyathan reefs on the rapidly subsiding rift margins during the Botomian Sinsk event. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.