Late Neoproterozoic evolution of the southwestern margin of the Siberian Craton: evidence from sedimentology, geochronology and detrital zircon analysis

Sedimentary successions and igneous rocks exposed in Eastern Sayan provide an important geological record on the tectonic evolution of the southwestern margin of the Siberian Craton during the Neoproterozoic. Here we present sedimentological and detrital zircon provenance data from key stratigraphic units, complemented by a new U-Pb zircon age of 718 ± 6 Ma from the mafic Nersa magmatic complex. Sedimentological and provenance data from the lower part of the stratigraphic succession (Karagasy Group) show that these rocks were deposited in a passive margin setting after 750 Ma and before the emplacement of the Nersa magmatic complex. The upper part of the stratigraphic succession (Oselok Group) consists of Cryogenian and Ediacaran glaciogenic deposits and associated cap carbonates, overlain by mid to late Ediacaran sequences of dominantly shallow-marine and fluvial siliciclastic rocks. Provenance data indicate that rocks from the Tuva-Mongolia and Zavkhan terranes provided a significant input of detrital material into the sedimentary basin that was the source of the glacial deposits. Orogenic processes during the late Ediacaran (<i>ca</i> 570–540 Ma) in Eastern Sayan were likely associated with the accretion of the Tuva-Mongolia terrane, as indicated by the detrital zircon data.