Objective
Palaeomagnetic studies of rocks of Permian through Cretaceous age in south Siberia (Transbaikal region) will be carried out in order to prove or disprove the existence of the Mongolo-Okhotsk ocean which is the least known palaeo-ocean for the last 250 million years. A contribution to the understanding of the role of the Siberian traps will also be made: it is one of the most massive expanses of continental flood basalts and possibly linked to the Permo-Triassic mass extinction.
Major goals of this project are as follows: to refine the late Palaeozoic-Cretaceous part of the Siberian palaeomagnetic apparent polar wander path (APWP) and thus to prove or disprove the existence of the Mongolo-Okhotsk ocean; as a side study, to constrain the exact age and duration of Siberian flood basalts and to evaluate the duration and age of the Permo-Triassic Siberian traps; to evaluate the amount of shortening between the north Chinese and Siberian platforms along at least two north-south trending cross-sections for various time intervals, and thus to estimate how ocean closure proceeded and determine the character and extent of intracontinental deformation; and to compile a revised version of the Eurasian APWP.
Palaeomagnetic and radiometric age data will be obtained which will enable conclusions to be reached on the following two main points: the existence of the Mongol-Okhotsk ocean and the timing of its evolution, in particular the age of closure. This will complete and improve knowledge of the history of amalgamation of the Asian continent in the past. Furthermore, there will be elaboration of a high resolution magnetostratigraphic sequence for the Permo-Triassic Siberian traps with consequences for the generation of mantle plumes.
Intermediate and final results will be published in international journals.
Topic(s)
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75252 Paris
France