Early Proterozoic U-Pb Zircon Ages from Basement Gneiss at the Solovetsky Archipelago, White Sea, Russia

Researchers have uncovered a significant geological insight from the Solovetsky Archipelago, revealing that granitic gneiss on Solovetsky Island dates back approximately 2.43 billion years (Ga). This discovery provides the first age determination for the archipelago and offers crucial information about the central region of the Neoarchaean Belomorian Mobile Belt (BMB), which is largely obscured by the White Sea. The study employed U-Pb zircon dating techniques, specifically SIMS-SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS, to analyze zircons from the orthogneiss. The concordant age obtained aligns with granitic intrusions found approximately 50 km west of the Solovetsky Islands, suggesting a shared geological history within this region.

Schuth, S., I. Gornyy, V., Berndt, J., S. Shevchenko, S., F. Karpuzov, A., & Mansfeldt, T. (2012). Early Proterozoic U-Pb Zircon Ages from Basement Gneiss at the Solovetsky Archipelago, White Sea, Russia. International Journal of Geosciences, 03(02), 289–296. https://doi.org/10.4236/ijg.2012.32030