A Study in Earth's Geological Evolution The Baltic Shield

A valuable resource for geologists, engineers, and students across multiple disciplines, this is the most comprehensive and in-depth study of the development of the Baltic Shield, its features as a representative of other similar areas around the world, and the implications for practical applications, such as oil and ore production.

Like Sorokhtin's most recent book, The Origins of Natural Diamonds, also available from Wiley-Scrivener at www.wiley.com, this is not just the story of the origin and evolution of the Baltic Shield, but a story about the evolution of the Earth's geology in general. Important to geologists, geophysicists, and engineers across multiple disciplines, written by experts on the Earth's geological evolution, this volume represents the state-of-the-art in major Earth geological processes. Of particular importance to mining engineers and petroleum engineers, it is also a practical guide for those who work in the mining or petroleum industry.

Before presenting the most in-depth discussion of the Baltic Shield available and its implications for study by geologists and various industries such as the petroleum industry, the authors present a theory for how the Earth, as we know it, came into existence and developed. They base this theory on scientific evidence and mathematical models, using this as a basis for further explanation of the Earth's geological evolution.

Valuable as either a learning tool for the student or as a reference or refresher for the veteran scientist or engineer, the authors explain important geological processes, such as the Earth's origin, composition, and structure, the Earth's energy balance, continental drift, tectonic activity, the evolution of the Earth's crust, and others. It is within this geological framework that the authors offer practical guidance for engineers and scientists who work in industry or academia. It is a must-have for any geologist, geophysicist, or engineer working in mining or petroleum engineering.

Preface ix

Introduction xiii

1 Early Stages in the Earth’s Evolution, Mechanisms of the Continental Lithosphere and Archaean Geodynamic Regimes 1

1.1 The Origin of the Solar System 2

1.2 Formation of a Double Planet Earth – Moon 8

1.3 Tidal Interaction of the Planets 11

1.4 The Hypothetic Planet Proto-Moon 15

1.5 Catastrophe of the Proto-Moon and the Birth of the Moon 19

1.6 The Nature of Planets’ Axial Revolution and the Origin of Meteorites 26

1.7 Evolution of the Earth – Moon System 34

1.7.1 Evolution of the Lunar Orbit Position 44

1.7.2 The Moon Geochemistry 45

1.7.3 Evolution of Lunar Magmatism 49

1.8 The Earth’s Origin, Composition and Structure 54

1.9 The Gadeyan Stage of Earth’s Evolution 66

1.10 Delayed Earth’s Core Separation Process 70

1.11 Earth’s Core Separation 74

1.12 Mechanism of Earth’s Matter Zonal Differentiation 80

1.13 Earth’s Matter Barodiffusion Differentiation 93

1.14 Earth’s Core Growth 104

1.15 Evolution of the Mantle Chemical Composition 111

1.16 Geological Data about Earth’s Core Separation Time 123

1.17 Earth Tectonic Activity 133

1.18 Convecting Mantle Temperature Evolution 137

1.19 Possible causes of Earth’s Tectonic Activity 140

1.20 Possible Mechanisms of Lithospheric Plates Drift 144

1.21 The Nature of the Mantle Convection 150

1.22 Evolution of Earth’s Tectonic Activity Parameters 166

1.23 Earth’s Crust Evolution 169

1.23.1 Patterns in the Formation of Oceanic Lithospheric Plates 169

1.23.2 Formation of the Continental Crust in Archaean 175

1.23.3 The Continental Crust Growth 179

1.23.4 Major Features in the Composition of the Continental Crust in Archaean 184

1.23.5 Tectonic Regimes of the Continental Lithosphere Formation in Early Precambrian 191

1.23.6 Early Pre-Cambrian Continental Lithosphere Formation Mechanisms 195

1.24 Continental Drift in Earth’s Geological History and its Formation in Archaean 213

1.25 Geodynamic Regimes in Early Precambrian, their Evolution and Space Position 223

2 Origins of the Economic Minerals in the Archaean and Early Proterozoic 237

2.1 Metallogeny at Early Stage in Earth Evolution and the Nature of a Unique Early Proterozoic Ore Formation Epoch 238

2.2 The Influence of the Ocean and of Earth Climates on the Formation of Sedimentary Commercial Minerals in Early Proterozoic, the Major Iron Ore Accumulation Epoch 243

3 Evolution of Continental Crust Formation Processes in the Eastern Part of the Baltic Shield 255

3.1 The Karelian Granite-Greenstone Area 259

3.2 The White Sea Mobile Belt 268

3.3 Kola Granulite-Gneiss Area 274

3.4 Murmansk Composite Domain 284

4 Geological and Petro-Geochemical Features of Archaean Domains of The Northeastern Baltic Shield 289

4.1 The White Sea Mobile Belt 289

4.1.1 Geology 289

4.1.2 Petrographic Description of Rocks 298

4.1.3 Metamorphism 302

4.1.4 Petrogeochemistry 302

4.1.5 Geochronology 308

4.2 Kola Granulite-Gneiss Province 311

4.2.1 Central Kola Segment of the Kola-Norwegian Domain 311

4.2.1.1 Geology 311

4.2.1.2 Petrographic Description of Rocks 317

4.2.1.3 Metamorphism 322

4.2.1.4 Petrogeochemistry 323

4.2.1.5 Geochronology 325

4.2.2 The Keivy Domain 328

4.2.2.1 Geology 328

4.2.2.2 Petrographic Description of the Rocks 330

4.2.2.3 Metamorphism 334

4.2.2.4 Petrogeochemistry 334

4.2.2.5 Techniques of Data Processing 342

4.2.2.6 Geochronology 351

4.3 Murmansk Composite Domain 351

4.3.1 Geology 351

4.3.2 Petrographic Description of the Rocks 371

4.3.3 Metamorphism 376

4.3.4 Petrogeochemistry 377

4.3.5 Geochronology 380

5 Comparative Material Composition Analysis of Archaean Domains in the Northeastern Baltic Shield, their Geodynamic Evolution and some Metallogenic Aspects 383

5.1 Study Methods of Early Precambrian Rock Associations in the Baltic Shield 383

5.1.1 Status of the Problem 383

5.1.2 Metamorphic Rock Proto-Nature Recognition Task 386

5.1.3 Task of Modeling Distinctions of Precambrian and Phanerozoic Units 387

5.1.4 Task of Accounting for Chemical Composition Features in Precambrian Units at the Reconstruction of the Emplacement Settings for their Protoliths 390

5.1.5 Task of Modeling Linear Variability Trends in the Chemical Rock Compositions Relative to the Assigned Partial Order 392

5.1.6 Task of Estimating the Degree of Similarity for the Geological Sites 394

5.1.7 Verification of the Homogeneity Hypothesis 396

5.2 Evolution of Rock Associations in Northeastern Part of the Baltic Shield in Early Precambrian 399

5.3 Metallogenesis Issue in the Northeastern Part of the Baltic Shield 428

6 Identification of Nonuniformities in the Archaean Crust Based on A Complex of Geological-Geophysical Data 443

6.1 Interpretation and Analysis of Regional Geological-Geophysical Data 444

6.1.1 Integrated Geophysical Model of Fennoscandian Lithosphere 444

6.1.2 Geophysical Crust Model of the Karelian Craton and of its Framework 453

6.1.3 An Analysis of Geological-Geophysical Data for Archaean Domains of the Kola Region 459

6.2 An Analysis of Detailed Geological-Geophysical and Petrophysical Data 471

6.2.1 Petrophysical Features of Archaean Series’ Granitoids 471

6.2.2 Physical Properties of the Archaean Amphibolites 479

6.2.3 Physical Properties of Archaean Schist Complexes 484

6.2.4 Petrophysical and Geophysical Parameters of the Keivy Domain 488

7 Geodynamic Evolution of the Eastern Baltic Shield 495

7.1 Karelian Granite-Greenstone Area 496

7.2 The White Sea Mobile Belt 499

7.3 Kola Granulite-Gneiss Area 504

7.3.1 The Kola-Norwegian Domain 505

7.3.2 The Keivy Domain 512

7.4 The Murmansk Composite Domain 517

7.5 Spatial-Temporal Correlation of Geodynamic Regimes in the Northeastern Baltic Shield 520

Conclusions 527

Abstract 531

References 533

Index 571

Nickolay O. Sorokhtin, PhD, is Chief Researcher at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology and the Geological Institute of the Kola Science Center in the Russian Academy of Sciences, and he is a professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Murmansk State Technical University. He has written more than 180 scientific articles and nine monographs. He is the author of The Origins of Natural Diamonds and co-author of The Evolution of Earth's Climate, also available from Wiley-Scrivener.

Nikolay E. Kozlov, PhD, is a professor and the Director of Geological Institute of the Kola Science Center in the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has written more than 200 scientific articles and seven monographs.

Viktor N. Glaznev, PhD, is the Head of the Department of Geophysics at Voronezh State University in Russia and lead fellow at the Geological Institute of the Kola Science Center in the Russian Academy of Sciences. He has written over 300 scientific articles and 14 monographs.

Eugeny V. Martynov, PhD, is senior research fellow of the Geological Institute of the Kola Science Center in the Russian Academy of Sciences. H has written more than 140 scientific articles and two monographs.