The crystalline basement of Estonia: rock complexes of the Palaeoproterozoic Orosirian and Statherian and Mesoproterozoic Calymmian periods, and regional correlations

Abstract

New data on the Fennoscandian Shield and the Baltic area suggest a need for reinterpretation of the stratigraphy of Estonian Precambrian rock complexes. The rocks of the Tallinn Zone formed in the framework of the Fennian orogeny at the margin of the Bergslagen microcontinent 1.90–1.88 Ga ago. The precise age of the Alutaguse Zone is not known. It may have formed either during the 1.93–1.91 Ga Lapland–Savo orogeny or as a rifted eastern part of the Tallinn Zone in the Fennian orogeny. The granulites of western and southern Estonia belong to the volcanic arcs inside the 1.84–1.80 Ga Svecobaltic orogenic belt and show peak metamorphic conditions of 1.78 Ga. Small shoshonitic plutons formed 1.83–1.63 Ga, the small granitic plutons of the Wiborg Rapakivi Subprovince 1.67–1.62 Ga, and the Riga pluton 1.59–1.54 Ga ago.

Keywords

• geochronology
• stratigraphy
• Precambrian basement
• Fennoscandia
• Estonia