The earliest Paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks in Koillismaa, northern Finland - Their petrographic and geochemical characteristics and lithostratigraphy

• Main Authors: L.S. Lauri, T. Karinen, J. Räsänen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Geological Society of Finland 2003-12-01
• Series: Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland
• Subjects: metavolcanic rocks; granophyre; mineralogy; geochemistry; lithostratigraphy; layered intrusions; rifting; Paleoproterozoic; Koillismaa; Finland
• Online Access: http://www.geologinenseura.fi/bulletin/Volume75/Laurietal.pdf
• ISSN: 0367-5211; 1799-4632

The 2.44 Ga Koillismaa layered igneous complex (KLIC) in northern Finland is interpreted to have formed as a consequence of early Paleoproterozoic continental rifting. Associated with the mafic layered intrusions are felsic to intermediate volcanic and plutonic rocks of approximately the same age. The supracrustal rocks on top of the KLIC have been divided into three stratigraphic groups. The lowermost of these, the Sirniö Group, is thought to predate the KLIC and thus to represent the original roof. The overlying Kynsijärvi and Hautavaara Groups are somewhat younger than the layered intrusions. The Sirniö Group comprises two formations of felsic and intermediate volcanic rocks. The Sirniövaara Formation, also called as the Koillismaa granophyre, consists of a thick rhyodacitic unit with granophyric groundmass and some breccia interlayers. The Sirniövaara rhyodacite consists of plagioclase, quartz and biotite. Minor and accessory phases include ilmenite, magnetite, apatite, titanite, zircon and fluorite. Low-grade metamorphic minerals such as chlorite, epidote, carbonate and sericite are also commonly present. The granophyric texture is considered to have formed as a consequence of contact metamorphism and hydrothermal alteration associated with the emplacement of the KLIC. Above the Sirniövaara Formation is the Unijoki Formation, a heterogeneous group of felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks. The felsic rocks of the Unijoki Formation resemble the Sirniövaara rhyodacite whereas the intermediate rocks generally contain amphibole, instead of biotite, as the predominant mafic mineral. The rocks of the Sirniö Group show A-type geochemical character, e.g., high alkali content, Fe/Mg, 10000*Ga/Al, LREE,Y and Zr. In addition to primary compositional variation, metamorphic, and possibly hydrothermal, disturbance are recorded in the Sirniö Group lithologies. We consider them to be an example of early Paleoproterozoic rift-related volcanic rocks and tentatively correlative to the Salla Group in northern Finland. Similar rift-related volcanic rocks of ~2.44 Ga age have also been described elsewhere in northern Finland, northwest Russia and the Kola Peninsula, commonly in close association with the 2.44 Ga mafic layered intrusions.