Chemostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic carbonates: implications for 'blind dating'

The delta C-13(carb) and Sr-87/Sr-86 secular variations in Neoproteozoic seawater have been used for the purpose of 'isotope stratigraphy' but there are a number of problems that can preclude its routine use. In particular, it cannot be used with confidence for 'blind dating'. The compilation of isotopic data on carbonate rocks reveals a high level of inconsistency between various carbon isotope age curves constructed for Neoproteozoic seawater, caused by a relatively high frequency of both global and local delta C-13(carb) fluctuations combined with few reliable age determinations. Further complication is caused by the unresolved problem as to whether two or four glaciations, and associated negative delta C-13(carb) excursions, can be reliably documented. Carbon isotope stratigraphy cannot be used alone for geological correlation and 'blind dating'. Strontium isotope stratigraphy is a more reliable and precise tool for stratigraphic correlations and indirect age determinations. Combining strontium and carbon isotope stratigraphy, several discrete ages within the 590-544 Myr interval, and two age-groups at 660-610 and 740-690 Myr can be resolved

Rb-Sr, K-Ar, H- and O-isotope systematics of the Middle Riphean Shales from the Debengda Formation, the Olenek Uplift, North Siberia

Clay subfractions (SFs) of < 0.1, 0.1–0.2, 0.2–0.3, 0.3–0.6, 0.6–2 and 2–5 μm separated from Middle Riphean shales of the Debengda Formation are studied using the TEM, XRD, K-Ar and Rb-Sr isotopic methods. The oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions in the SFs are studied as well. The low-temperature illite-smectite is dominant mineral in all the SFs except for the coarsest ones. The XRD, chemical and isotopic data imply that two generations of authigenic illite-smectite different in age are mixed in the SFs. The illite crystallinity index decreases in parallel with size diminishing of clay particles. As compared to coarser SFs, illite of fine-grained subfractions is enriched in Al relative to Fe and Mg, contains more K, and reveals higher K/Rb and Rb/Sr ratios. The Rb-Sr age calculated by means of the leachochron (“inner isochron”) method declines gradually from 1254-1272 Ma in the coarsest SFs to 1038-1044 Ma in finest ones, while the K-Ar age decreases simultaneously from 1225–1240 to 1080 Ma. The established positive correlation of δ18O and δD values with dimensions of clay particles in the SFs seems to be also consistent with the mixing systematics. The isotopic systematics along with data on mineral composition and morphology lead to the conclusion that mixedlayer illite-smectite was formed in the Debengda shales during two periods 1211–1272 and 1038–1080 Ma ago. The first period is likely close to the deposition time of sediments and corresponds to events of burial catagenesis, whereas the second one is correlative with the regional uplift and changes in hydrological regime during the pre-Khaipakh break in sedimentation