Zircon geochronology of the Mashak volcanic rocks and the problem of the age of the lower-middle Riphean boundary (Southern Urals)

In the type sections of the Riphean within the Bashkirian mega-anticlinorium (Southern Urals), the Mashak Formation represents a basal unit of the Middle Riphean erathem. The formation comprises throughout its area of distribution the alternation of volcanic, volcano-sedimentary, and sedimentary sequences and is divided into the lower, middle, and upper subformations. The volcanic rocks containing zircons (four samples, rhyodacite and rhyolite collected at Mashak, Berezyak, and Bolshoi Shatak ranges) are largely confined to the lower subformation. Analyses were performed using a SHRIMP II methodology, with special attention to the mineralogical characteristics of zircons, including their habit, morphology, preservation, and inclusions. All zircons show similarities in their mineral chemistry and geochemistry, which are indicative of the geochemical affinity of the volcanic rocks. At the same time, all zircon grains are characterized by specific typological parameters, which may equally reflect the parameters involved in the development of such volcanic rocks under different conditions. The integrated U-Pb age of zircons (SHRIMP II, VSEGEI, St. Petersbrug) from the four samples is 1383 ± 3 Ma. On the basis of the age of the Berdyaush gabbro-granitoid intrusion (up to 1410 Ma), the most likely age of this boundary is 1400 Ma, which is equated to the Calymmian and Ectasian of the International Stratigraphic Scale.