Permian-Triassic trap magmatism in Bel'kov Island (New Siberian Islands)

The study was inspired by information on Paleozoic andesites, dacites, and diabases in Bel'kov Island in the 1974 geological survey reports used to reconstruct the tectonic evolution of the continental block comprising the New Siberian Islands and the bordering shelf. We did not find felsic volcanics or Middle Paleozoic intrusions in the studied area of the island. The igneous rocks are mafic subvolcanic intrusions, including dikes, randomly shaped bodies, explosion breccias, and peperites. They belong to the tholeiitic series and are similar to Siberian traps in petrography and trace-element compositions, with high LREE and LILE and prominent Nb negative anomalies. The island arc affinity is due to continental crust contamination of mantle magma and its long evolution in chambers at different depths. The 252 +/- 5 Ma K-Ar biotite age of magmatism indicates that it was coeval to the main stage of trap magmatism in the Siberian craton at the Permian-Triassic boundary. The terrane including the New Siberian Islands occurred on the periphery of the Siberian trap province where magmatism acted in a rifting environment. Magma intruded semiliquid wet sediments at shallow depths, shortly after their deposition. Therefore, the exposed Paleozoic section in Bel'kov Island may include Permian or possibly Lower Triassic sediments, of younger ages than it was believed earlier. (c) 2007, IGM, Siberian Branch of the RAS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.