Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

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Precambrian Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/precamres

Geochemistry and mineralogy of Paleoproterozoic metasediments in the

Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt: Implications for sediment provenance,
tectonic settings and weathering intensity at the transition to oxygenated
surface environments
Sigrid Soomer a, *, Peeter Somelar a, Kaarel Mänd a, Aivo Lepland a, b, Kalle Kirsimäe a
a
Department of Geology, Tartu University, 50411 Tartu, Estonia
b
Geological Survey of Norway (NGU), 7491 Trondheim, Norway

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The oxygenation of the atmosphere during the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE) at around 2400 Ma triggered an
GOE intensification of chemical weathering on Earth’s surface and caused an acidic attack related to the oxidation and
Archean-Proterozoic transition dissolution of sulphidic minerals in surface rocks. The oxidation and selective mobilization of specific elements
Intensified weathering
or, vice versa, their retention in weathering crusts during the GOE is well exemplified in the behaviour of redox
Shale geochemistry
sensitive elements such as chromium (Cr), uranium (U) and molybdenum (Mo). Intensification in overall silicate
weathering rates during the GOE, however, has remained poorly constrained. The Paleoproterozoic volcano-
sedimentary succession of the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt (deposited ca. 2450–2000 million years ago;
Ma) on the northern Fennoscandian Shield records the transformation of Earth’s surface conditions from anoxic
to oxic. However, the silicate weathering indices of the sediments deposited in the Imandra-Varzuga Basin across
the anoxic–oxic transition do not signal a measureable effect of this transition on the weathering regime.
Weathering intensity of the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation and the Umba Sedimentary Formation –
deposited prior and after the GOE, respectively – are similarly moderate. A multitude of physical and chemical
factors including the sediment protolith, climate, topography and atmospheric pCO2 control overall weathering
intensity. Our results suggest that the oxygenation of the atmosphere and the punctuated (sulphuric) acidic
weathering did not significantly overwhelm the former controls over the long term. Silicate weathering following
the GOE was, either, tempered by removal of weathered materials by the Huronian global glaciations and
dropping atmospheric pCO2 levels, or the felsic protolith and higher latitudional position led to locally muted
weathering intensities to be recorded in the post-GOE Umba Sedimentary Formation despite increased back­
ground weathering rates.

1. Introduction
The Archean-Proterozoic transition is marked with cascading
changes in Earth surface environments initiated by a shift from anoxic to
oxic atmosphere conditions in the Great Oxygenation Event (GOE)
(Holland, 2006; Lyons et al., 2014). The oxygenation of the atmosphere
and the oceans is thought to have occurred through significant envi­
ronmental disturbances and in different stages (Canfield et al., 2013;
Holland, 2006; Lyons et al., 2014; Poulton et al., 2021). Once O2 levels
passed above the sulphur isotope mass-independent fractionation (MIF)
threshold (pO2 10-5; Luo et al., 2016) between 2502 and 2460 million
years ago (Ma) (Gumsley et al., 2017, Warke et al., 2020), the onset of
the widespread oxidative weathering is thought to have caused exten­
sive acid attack in weathering environments due to oxidation of sulphide
minerals occurring in surface rocks (Holland, 2006). A pulse of acidic
weathering and element mobilization associating with the GOE is evi­
denced by Cr-enrichment in Paleoproterozoic marine iron formations
(Konhauser et al., 2011), an increase in weathering intensity and
inferred kaolinite richness (Hao et al., 2021), and leaching of phos­
phorous in paleosols formed during the early Paleoproterozoic (Hao
et al., 2020). Similarly, Mo and U, which are soluble under oxic condi­
tions, show enhanced leaching in Proterozoic paleosols (Murakami

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sigrid.soomer@ut.ee (S. Soomer).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106578
Received 11 June 2021; Received in revised form 13 January 2022; Accepted 19 January 2022
Available online 3 February 2022
0301-9268/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
S. Soomer et al.
et al., 2016) and elevated concentrations in Paleoproterozoic organic-
rich marine shales (Scott et al., 2008; Partin et al., 2013; Mänd et al.,
2020). However, there is no clear evidence for an increase in chemical
weathering indices (e.g., CIA - chemical index of alteration, Nesbitt and
Young, 1982) in marine or continental sediments following the GOE,
albeit the data are limited and possible trends are muted by differences
in sediment sources, tectonic-depositional settings, paleogeography, and
post-sedimentary alteration, complicating comparisons between
different rock successions (Gaschnig et al., 2014; Li et al., 2016).
In this contribution, we study the earliest Paleoproterozoic sedi­
mentary record of the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt in the northern
Fennoscandian Shield. The Fennoscandian Shield, particularly the
eastern Karelia-Kolaregion, contains some of the most complete early
Paleoproterozoic, ca. 2450 and 2000 Ma successions archiving the sig­
natures of the GOE. These include Huronian global glaciation(s), the
Lomagundi Jatuli Event (LJE) – the longest and highest-amplitude
positive carbon isotope excursion, which coincided with a significant
build-up of the marine sulphate reservoir – and the Shunga Event –
representing the accumulation of massive organic-rich deposits and the
appearance of some of the first significant sedimentary phosphates
(Karhu and Holland, 1996; Melezhik et al., 1999; Ojakangas et al., 2001;
Lepland et al., 2014; Blättler et al., 2018).
The Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt, a part of the North Trans­
fennoscandian Greenstone Belt (Melezhik & Fallick, 1996), contains
sedimentary units recording the disappearance of the sulfur isotope MIF
signal in the lower part of its stratigraphy and the LJE carbonate carbon
isotope signal in the upper part (Warke et al., 2020), revealing, thus, the
transition from anoxic to oxic atmospheric conditions. We apply
24°E
Imandra-Varzuga
Greenstone Belt
Sedimentary/igneous rocks
<1960 Ma
Supracrustal rocks
2060-1960 Ma 2400-2330 Ma
2300-2060 Ma 2500-2400 Ma
Igneous rocks
2060-1960 Ma 2500-2400 Ma
2400-2300 Ma
Archaen rocks
3200-2500 Ma
Granulite belt
2300-1900 Ma
Fig. 1. Geological scheme of the studied area and the locations of the drill cores 1A, 3A and 4A in the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt on the northern Fenno­
scandian Shield. Modified after Melezhik et al. (2013).
2
Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578
geochemical and mineralogical discrimination (Manikyamba et al.,
2008; Verma & Armstrong-Altrin, 2013; Garzanti et al., 2013; Köykkä
et al., 2019; Lipp et al., 2020, 2021) of Imandra-Varzuga metasediments
to reconstruct their tectonic settings of deposition, source rock compo­
sition (provenance), sedimentary recycling and the degree of chemical
weathering (Nesbitt & Young, 1982; McLennan & Taylor, 1991; Condie,
1993; Lipp et al., 2020, 2021) allowing us to test if changes in silicate
weathering intensity were recorded in the earliest Proterozoic in de­
posits across the GOE.
2. Geological setting
The Fennoscandian Shield is composed of different Archean granite-
greenstone belts, and houses a number of Paleoproterozoic greenstone
and orogenic belts comprising of metamorphosed igneous and sedi­
mentary rock units (Ojakangas et al., 2001). The Imandra-Varzuga
Greenstone Belt in the northeastern part of the Fennoscandian Shield
is a southeastern segment of the ca. 800-km-long system of supracrustal
belts (the North Transfennoscandian Greenstone Belt; Melezhik, 1996)
that extends from northern Norway and Finland to the Kola Peninsula in
northwestern Russia (Fig. 1). The 350 km-long and up to 10 – 50 km-
wide belt (Chashchin et al., 2008) has been interpreted as a continental
rift system, which was initiated around 2500 Ma and was abandoned
and reactivated several times through the Paleoproterozoic. Such cyclic
geological history is indicated by the sequence of coupled sedimentary
and volcanic formations where each cycle begins with sedimentation
and ends with volcanic deposition, whereas each cycle is separated from
the overlying one by a disconformity typically marked by palaeo-
36°E 70°N
Barents Sea
1A
3A,4A
66°N
White Sea
62°N
100 km
S. Soomer et al. Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

weathering (Melezhik and Sturt, 1994; Melezhik, 2013). Distinct mafic
volcanism events within the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt have
been recorded at 2440, 2200, 2100 and 1970 Ma (Nykänen et al., 1994;
Ojakangas et al., 2001) marking major periods of tectonic activity.
The stratigraphy of the Imandra–Varzuga Greenstone Belt is repre­
sented by a succession of sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the
Imandra-Varzuga Supergroup that is further subdivided into the
Strel’na, Varzuga and Tominga groups composed mainly of basalt and
siltstone-sandstone, pillow lavas intercalated with shales and
dolostones, and greywacke-shale, respectively (Melezhik et al., 2013).
Lower part of the Strel’na Group is composed of tholeiitic basalts and
sandstones of the Purnach Formation resting unconformably on an
Archean crystalline basement. The Purnach Formation is succeeded by
the Kuksha Sedimentary Formation (mainly sandstone-greywacke-
conglomerate), and tholeiitic basalts of the Kuksha Volcanic Forma­
tion (Fig. 2). The upper part of the Strel’na Group is composed mostly of
greywacke-shale and sandstones of the Seidorechka Sedimentary For­
mation, and lavas and tuffs of the Seidorechka Volcanic Formation

) 0 Core 4A
(3
a

Depth, m
Il’mozero Fm

M
3
2.
20
Varzuga G r oup

-
+/
5 Core 3A
5 5. 0
40
20

Depth, m
60
20

80
Umba Fm

40

100
60
)
(2 120
a 80
6M
4A - 6.
Polisarka 4 +/ 100
140

Fm 243
160
3A 120
)
(1 140
180
a
. 6M
/ -1 Core 1A 160
200
Seidorecha Fm

4 1+ 0
24 220
Depth, m

180
20
St rel’na Gr oup

200

40
220

60 240
1A
80
Kuksha Fm

volcanic rock
100 sedimentary rock
Archaean basement
120 weathering crust
)
(1

shale
a
M

quartzite
Purnach Fm
.5

140
/-1

limestone, shale, graywacke

4+

interbeded
.
04

160
25

sandstone-siltstone
glaciomarine, diamictite
1 km

180
sedimentary rock with thin
basalt interlayers
200
geochemistry samples
mineralogy samples
Fig. 2. Stratigraphy and simplified lithology of the Strel’na and Varzuga groups with the studied core intervals and the location of the sampling points: mineralogy
(blue) and geochemistry (red). References to dates are as follows: 1. Amelin et al. (1995); 2. Brasier et al. (2013); 3. Martin et al. (2013a).

3
S. Soomer et al.
(Melezhik et al., 2013).
The Varzuga Group consists of three sedimentary-volcanic units – the
Polisarka Sedimentary and Volcanic formations, the Umba Sedimentary
and Volcanic formations, and the Il’mozero Sedimentary and Volcanic
formations (Melezhik, 2013). The Polisarka Sedimentary Formation is
characterized by polymict conglomerates, diamictites, varved siltstones
with dropstones, shales, marls and limestones followed by the
emplacement of submarine komatitic basalts, basalts and basaltic
andesite with abundant pillowed lavas of the Polisarka Volcanic For­
mation. The diamictites of the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation have
been correlated with Huronian glaciation (Ojakangas et al., 2001;
Melezhik, 2013; Gärtner et al., 2014; Warke et al., 2020). The Umba
Sedimentary Formation consists of interbedded greywacke, arkosic and
quartzitic sandstone, siltstone, shale, dolostone and limestone whereas
the Umba Volcanic Formation is represented mainly by subaerial sub­
alkaline to alkaline basalts and tuffs emplaced in intracratonic rift set­
tings (Melezhik, 2013). The Il’mozero Sedimentary and Volcanic
formations are mainly characterized by turbiditic greywackes, black
shales with subordinate carbonate rocks and mafic tuffs, and basaltic
andesite lava flows, respectively (Melezhik, 2013).
The youngest but stratigraphically poorly defined Tominga Group
includes volcaniclastic greywacke, arkosic sandstones, various schists,
“black shales”, carbonate rocks, and tholeiitic pillow basalts, andesites,
and thick units of dacites and rhyolites (Melezhik, 2013).
The maximum depositional age of the Imandra/Varzuga sedimentary
successions is constrained by zircon U-Pb ages 2501.5 ± 1.7 Ma and
2504.4 ± 1.5 Ma of gabbronorite intrusions into the Kuksha Sedimen­
tary Formation (Amelin et al., 1995). The upper age of the the Seidor­
echka Sedimentary Formation is constrained by baddeleyite U-Pb
2442.2 ± 1.7 Ma and zircon U-Pb 2441 ± 1.6 Ma ages from the overlying
Seidorechka Volcanic Formation (Amelin et al., 1995). The Polisarka
Volcanic Formation has been dated by zircon U-Pb age at 2434 ± 6.6 Ma
(Brasier et al., 2013). By these dating results Warke et al. (2020) con­
strained the depositional age of the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation
between 2501.5 ± 1.7 Ma and 2441 ± 1.6 Ma and the Polisarka Sedi­
mentary Formation between 2441 ± 1.6 Ma and 2434 ± 6.6 Ma.
However, detrital zircon U-Pb ages place the depositional age of the
Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation to around 2430 Ma, and the
deposition of glacigenic rocks of the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation to
around 2411 Ma (Gärtner et al. 2014).
The depositional age of the Umba Sedimentary Formation is poorly
constrained. The maximum age is defined by the stratigraphically older
Polisarka Volcanic Formation at 2434 ± 6.6 Ma (Brasier et al., 2013) and
the minimum age is given by the maximum depositional age of the
stratigraphically younger Il’mozero Sedimentary Formation at 2055.5
± 2.3 Ma, both constituting Pb-Pb ages of detrital zircons considered to
be derived from the Umba Volcanic Formation, thereby defining its age
(Martin et al., 2013a). Carbonates in the Umba Sedimentary formation
are characterized by positive δ13C values as high as + 6.7‰ (Melezhik
and Fallick, 1996) typical of the Lomagundi-Jatuli Event. Considering
that the Il’mozero Sedimentary Formation houses carbonates carrying
normal marine δ13C values, Martin et al. (2013a) suggested that the
2055.5 ± 2.3 Ma age constrains the termination of the LJE in the North
Transfennoscandian Greenstone Belt and this date also defines the age of
the upper part of the Umba Volcanic Formation. Given that the onset of
the LJE has been constrained between 2306 ± 9 Ma to 2221 ± 5 Ma
(Martin et al., 2013b), the deposition of the Umba Sedimentary For­
mation could have occurred at some point between 2306 ± 9 and
2055.5 ± 2.3 Ma. The minimum age constraint is consistent with the age
of the Kuetsjärvi Volcanic Formation in the Pechenga Greenstone Belt
(2058 ± 6 Ma by Melezhik et al (2007), 2056.6 ± 0.8 by Martin et al
(2013a) and 2058 ± 6 Ma by Arzamastsev et al. (2020a)), considered to
be stratigraphically coeval with the Umba Volcanic Formation in the
Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt (Melezhik et al., 2013).
The Imandra-Varzuga greenstone successions have been overprinted
under greenschist facies metamorphic conditions or, locally, under
4
Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578
amphibolite facies conditions as suggested by titanite and rutile forming
in the Seidorechka Volcanic Formation at 2202 ± 17 Ma (Chashchin
et al., 2008).
3. Materials
The material for this study comes from the sedimentary units
recovered in drill cores 1A, 3A and 4A (Figs. 1, 2) of the international
Fennoscandian Arctic Russia - Drilling Early Earth Project (FAR-DEEP)
(Melezhik et al., 2013), sampled at the Geological Survey of Norway
where the cores are archived. The 200-m-deep drillhole 1A intersects the
120-m-thick Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation overlying weathered
basalts of the Kuksha Volcanic Formation (Soomer et al., 2019) and is
composed of successive shale, siltstone, and limestone-sandstone units
deposited in progressively shallowing marine conditions – from storm
influenced outer-inner shelf to tide-dominated shallower-marine envi­
ronments (Melezhik et al., 2013). The Seidorechka Sedimentary For­
mation in drillcore 1A is overlain by the 64-m-thick basalt unit of the
Seidorechka Volcanic Formation.
Drillcore 3A recovered a 129-m-thick section of the Polisarka Sedi­
mentary Formation overlying the Seidorechka Volcanic Formation
(Fig. 2). The succession of the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation in
drillcore 3A rests on tholeiitic rhyodacite and dacitic-rhyolitic tuffs of
the Seidorechka Volcanic Formation. The Polisarka Sedimentary For­
mation includes in its lower part a carbonate unit (Limestone Member)
intercalated with mafic-andesitic basalts and mafic to ultramafic
komatites, and in its upper part glacigenic deposits (Greywacke-Dia­
mictite Member), overlain by komatiitic (andesitic) lava flows of the
Polisarka Volcanic Formation (Fig. 2). The carbonate sediments in
drillcore 3A have been interpreted as deposited under cyclically
changing environmental conditions – from relatively deep water, low-
energy settings to progressively shallower, subtidal environments. The
greywackes of the Greywacke-Diamictite Member were, instead,
deposited in a low-energy marine depositional setting, whereas the
overlying diamictites represent glacigenic mass-flow deposits (Melezhik
et al., 2013).
The 234-m-long drillcore 4A mostly recovered the Umba Sedimen­
tary Formation, which is overlain with basalts of the Umba Volcanic
Formation (Fig. 2). The Umba Sedimentary Formation is divided from
the base towards the top into a succession of Sandstone-Siltstone,
Dolostone, Shale and Quartzite members, intersected by number of
mafic igneous rock bodies (Melezhik et al., 2013). The lithology of the
Umba Sedimentary Formation attests to an initial basinal deepening
trend in the Sandstone-Siltstone and Dolostone members, latter of which
formed in settings below tide and storm influence, followed by shal­
lowing through the Shale Member, which formed under the influence of
tidal currents. The Quartzite Member is separated from the lower units
by an erosional contact and possibly represents a non-marine setting
(Melezhik et al., 2013).
4. Methods
The whole-rock mineralogy of 182 samples (Supplementary Table 1)
was obtained from powdered, un-oriented samples by means of X-Ray
diffraction (XRD) at the University of Tartu, Estonia. The XRD patterns
were measured using a Bruker D8 Advance diffractometer in 2 – 70˚2Θ
range. Quantitative mineralogical compositions were interpreted and
modelled using the Rietveld algorithm-based program Siroquant-3
(Taylor, 1991). The relative error for major mineral components (>5
wt%) was ~ 10% and ~ 20% for minor mineral components (<5 wt%).
The whole-rock chemical composition of 131 samples, as well minor
and trace element contents in selected samples (Supplementary Ta­
bles 2, 3, and 4.) was analyzed in three sets: “FAR-DEEP” archive sam­
ples were measured at the Geological Survey of Norway with a Philips
PW 1480 X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. For major elements, Li-
borate fused beads were prepared, whereas minor elements were
S. Soomer et al.
measured from pressed powder pellets. The detection limits for major
elements were generally below 0.02% and the typical precision (1σ) was
~ 2%. For minor elements, detection limits were ≤ 10 μg g− 1. Calibra­
tion of the XRF was done using a set of ~ 120 internationally certified
natural rock standards as well as ~ 20 artificial standards provided by
the XRF manufacturer.
The chemical composition of samples in set “ACME” was determined
at ACME Laboratories, Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd. Major
elements were analyzed via inductively coupled plasma optical emission
and mass-spectroscopy (ICP-OES/ICP-MS) from aliquots fused into a
LiBO2 beads. Minor elements were digested using a mix of HNO3, HClO4
and HF and analyzed via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
(ICP-MS). Average relative standard deviation was<5% for all elements;
accuracy was monitored using OREAS 25a and OREAS 45e reference
materials.
Element concentrations in of sample set “Tartu” were measured at
the Department of Geology, University of Tartu by using digested using a
mix of HNO3, HClO4 and HF and analyzed via inductively coupled
plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) on Agilent 8800. External accuracy
was assessed by measuring the geostandard BHVO-2 which showed a <
10% relative difference between measured and known values for all
elements.
Further analyses were carried out mainly on terrigenous (specifically
shale-siltsone) lithologies, as is expected by most provenance discrimi­
nation methodologies. Sandstones and shales/siltstones were discrimi­
nated using Herron’s geochemical classification (Herron, 1988) using
the log (Si/Al) ratio, but the threshold for defining shales was extended
to lower than 0.7, instead of lower than 0.6 as originally proposed by
Herron (1988), to include shale-siltstone sediments. This discrimination
also screened out most pure limestones, in which the log(Si/Al) ratio
exceeded the threshold. For determining weathering rate and intensity
in 80 shale and shale-siltstone samples, the chemical index of alteration
(CIA, Eq. (1); Nesbitt and Young, 1982; Maynard, 1992) and the
weathering index of Parker (WIP, Eq. (3); Parker 1970) were used. The
indices were calculated using molar proportions. For estimating CaO* –
that is CaO bound into silicate minerals, while excluding the carbonate
content – the CaO* correction was done using the method of McLennan
et al. (1993). First, CaO bound in apatite was subtracted using the molar
proportion of P2O5 from the molar proportion of total CaO (thereby
assuming a 1:1 stoichiometric ratio of CaO to P2O5). Second, CaO* was
assumed to reside in plagioclase; hence, if the remaining CaO was less
than the molar proportion of Na2O, then that CaO was considered to
represent CaO*. However, if the amount of remaining CaO post-apatite
correction was greater than the Na2O, then CaO* was considered to
equal the amount of Na2O. A correction for K metasomatic addition was
applied according to the method of Medaris et al. (2015, 2018) and
defined as K2OCALC. If used in calculating CIA or WIP, a ‘(K*)’ subscript is
shown.
( )
Al2 O3
CIA = ∗ ∙100 (1)
Al2 O3 + Na2 O + K2 O + CaO
( )
2∙Na2 O MgO 2∙K2 O CaO∗
WIP = + + + ∙100 (2)
0.35 0.9 0.25 0.7
Sediment protolith composition and weathering intensity were
simultaneously estimated using a recent modeling approach developed
by Lipp et al. (2020) where the centred log-ratio transformed compo­
sition (Aitchison, 1986) of major oxides (SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO,
Na2O, CaO, K2O), x’, is expressed as the sum of a weathering vector, ŵ,
and a protolith vector, p^– both calculated using an R script by Lipp et al.
(2020, 2021) – relative to the composition of the upper continental crust
(UCC, Rudnick and Gao, 2003):
x’=UCC + ωŵ+ψp^+E (3)
The coefficients of these vectors correspond to the weathering
5
Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578
intensity experienced by sediment, ω, and its protolith composition, ψ,
whereas E is the misfit from the model (Lipp et al., 2020). Positive or
negative ψ values reflect either a more or less felsic sediment protolith
composition compared with modern UCC, respectively. A Ca correction
was applied according to the screening criteria given by Lipp et al.
(2021) – samples are assumed to contain carbonate if they include more
CaO than is possible for standard protoliths to obtain during total Na
replacement by Ca. Such samples are excluded. Lipp et al. (2021) sug­
gested that the protolith of the Archean sediments was more dacitic in
composition compared to modern UCC. We tested the influence of the
suggested Archean protolith on the ω and ψ values of the studied sedi­
ments; however, the differences from the estimates using modern UCC as
a protolith are insignificant.
Europium (Eu) and cerium (Ce) anomalies in rare earth element
(REE) patterns were calculated on deviations from predicted values, as
derived from the chondrite-normalized (CN) abundances of neighbour­
ing elements (Equations (4) and (5)):
EuCN/Eu*CN = EuCN/((SmCN + GdCN)/2) (4)
CeCN/Ce*CN = CeCN/((LaN + PrCN)/2) (5)
5. Results
5.1. Whole-rock mineralogy
The mineralogical composition of studied samples is shown in Sup­
plementary Table 1 and Fig. 3. The Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation
shale-siltstone, limestone-shale and sandstone succession in drillcore 1A
is characterized by a quartz, plagioclase feldspar, and phyllosilicate
(chlorite and K-mica) assemblage with varying amounts of carbonate
phases (calcite and dolomite) and small amounts of titanite, ilmenite
and sulphides. The content of quartz is higher (30–85 wt%) in the lower
part of the succession, reaching about 80 wt% in the Quartzite Member,
and decreases to < 20% in the uppermost part of the Shale Member. The
trend in plagioclase feldspar (albite to oligoclase) content is opposite to
that of quartz – it gradually increases from 5 to 10 wt% in the shale-
siltstones of the lower part of the succession to ca. 20–32 wt% in the
Shale Member. K-mica and chlorite are the dominant phyllosilicates –
Q+F
Seidorechka Fm sandstone
Polisarka Fm shale/siltstone-shale
Umba Fm carbonate
Phy Carb
Fig. 3. The mineralogical composition of samples obtained from the sedi­
mentary successions of three cores: A1 – Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation
(blue dots), A3 – Polisarka Sedimentary Formation (yellow dots), A4 – Umba
Sedimentary Formation (brown dots). Q + F = Quartz + Feldspar, Phy =
phyllosilicates, and Carb = Carbonates. Note that the more siliciclastic samples
that are later selected for further discussion are plotting at the Q + F – Phy line.
S. Soomer et al. Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

their content is typically ca. 30–60 wt% (except in the Quartzite Mem­
ber) (Fig. 3). K-mica content varies from 10 to 30 wt% and chlorite
content is typically 20–40 wt%. Carbonate (mainly calcite) content is
low (<5%) but reaches 16 wt% in the Limestone-Shale Member and a
thin (<1 m thick) carbonate bed defined as the Dolostone Member
(Melezhik et al., 2013) is composed of dolomite (46 wt%) and quartz
(40 wt%) with subordinate K-mica and chlorite.
The Greywacke-Diamictite and Limestone members of the Polisarka
Sedimentary Formation (drillcore 3A) are characterized by quartz,
feldspar, phyllosilicate, and calcite (dolomite) with minor quartz and
feldspar-mica/chlorite assemblages, respectively. The quartz content in
greywacke is ca. 25–30 wt% and plagioclase feldspar ca. 20 wt% with
20–30 wt% K-mica and ca. 15 wt% chlorite. The carbonate rocks of the
Limestone Member show calcite content varying from 32 to 80 wt%
whereas dolomite is absent in the lower carbonate beds but is present in
amounts of 8–18 wt% in the uppermost carbonate bed.
The Quartzite Member of the Umba Sedimentary Formation is
characterized by high quartz content (>85 wt%) and minor plagioclase
feldspar and phyllosilicate. The mineralogical composition of the
underlying Shale Member is dominated by phyllosilicates with content
varying typically from 30 wt% to nearly 70 wt% (K-mica content from
25 to 60 wt%), with additional quartz (13–51 wt%) and minor K-feld­
spar and plagioclase feldspar (albite to oligoclase). The following
Dolostone Member is composed of massive carbonate beds with dolo­
mite content typically reaching > 65 wt% and calcite ranging between 5
and 25 wt% (maximum 46 wt%); minor quartz and phyllosilicates are
also present. Occasional intercalating shale beds in Dolostone Member
are characterized by a K-mica-quartz-feldspar assemblage. In the
lowermost Sandstone-Siltstone Member, a quartz-K-feldspar-plagioclase
assemblage comprises 40–70 wt% of the mineralogical content and the
phyllosilicates (mainly K-mica) ca. 25–60 wt%. The carbonate rich beds
in the lower part of the member contain dolomite (from < 1 to 51 wt%)
and calcite (from few wt% to 32 wt%).
5.2. Major oxides and trace elements
The chemical analyses of major and trace elements are reported in
Supplementary Table 2 and 3, and shown on Figs. 4, 8, 9, and 10. The

25 3.5 20
Seidorechka Fm
Polisarka Fm 18
3
20 Umba Fm 16
2.5 14
Al2O3 wt%

MgO wt%
TiO2 wt%

15 2 12
10
1.5
10 8

1 6
5 4
0.5
2
0 0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
45 9 6
40 8
5
35 7

30 6 4
Na2O wt%
CaO wt%

K2O wt%

25 5
3
20 4

15 3 2

10 2
1
5 1

0 0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
1.2 30 0.7

1 25 0.6

0.5
0.8 20
Fe2O3 wt%

MnO wt%
P2O5 wt%

0.4
0.6 15
0.3
0.4 10
0.2

0.2 5 0.1

0 0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
SiO2 wt% SiO2 wt% SiO2 wt%

Fig. 4. Variation diagrams characterizing major element composition against SiO2 in all cores. See sediment color code in Fig. 3.

6
S. Soomer et al. Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

SiO2 content in Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation shales ranges from 10 Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation
20 to 57 wt% (average 48%) and in sandstones from 60 to 90 wt%
(average 80 wt%). In Polisarka Sedimentary Formation shales, siltstone

Sample/PAAS
shales, greywacke and conglomerates, the SiO2 content is 57–64 wt% 1
(average 60 wt%) and is typically lower than 40 wt% in limestone and
marl lithologies. In Umba Sedimentary Formation shales, SiO2 ranges
from 64 to 76 wt% (average 70 wt%) and from 23 to 71 wt% (average 0.1
63 wt%) in sandstone-siltstones. The Al2O3 content in Seidorechka
Sedimentary Formation shales is 5–24 wt% (average 16 wt%) and in Sr Ba U Hf Pb Nb Cr Ni Sc
sandstone and sandstone-siltstones 1.6–19 wt% (average 13.7 wt%). 0.01
Rb Cs Th Zr Ta Y Mo Co Cu V
Al2O3 content in Polisarka Sedimentary Formation terrigenous sedi­
ments varies from 14.4 to 17.5 wt% (average 16.1 wt%) and is lower 10 Polisarka Sedimentary Formation
than 5 wt% carbonates. In Umba Sedimentary Formation shales Al2O3
constitutes 12–17.1 wt% (average 13.8 wt%), and in siltstones and

Sample/PAAS
1
sandstones 2.5–17.5 wt% (average 14 wt%). The Fe2O3 content in
Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation shales ranges from 5 to 26.8 wt%
(average 16.5 wt%) and is less than < 3.5 wt% in sandstones (average
0.1
1.9 wt%). In the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation, the Fe2O3 content is
7–9 wt% (average 7.5 wt%). The Fe2O3 content in Umba Sedimentary
Formation shales varies from 3 to 6.7 wt% (average 5 wt%), and in Sr Ba U Hf Pb Nb Cr Ni Sc
0.01
sandstone-siltstones from 2.2 to 8 wt% (average 5 wt%). The sum of Rb Cs Th Zr Ta Y Mo Co Cu V
alkali earth elements (Na2O + CaO + MgO + K2O) in Seideorechka 100 Umba Sedimentary Formation
Sedimentary Formation shales is from 5.2 to 38.8 wt% (average 11.9 wt

%) and in sandstones and siltstones from 1.2 to 4 wt% (average 2.6 wt
%); in the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation from 9.2 to 11.8 wt%
(average 10.3 wt%); and in Umba Sedimentary Formation shales from
5.9 to 8.2 wt% (average 7.4 wt%), and in siltstones and sandstones
8–37.5 wt% (average 11.6 wt%). In carbonate lithologies, the CaO and
MgO contents can be as high as 34 and 18 wt%, respectively. The TiO2
content is 0.5–1.2 wt% in shale lithologies of all formations and 0.1–0.7
wt% in siltstones and sandstones. P2O5 is typically lower than 0.5 wt%,
except in few sandstone samples of the Seidorechka Sedimentary For­
mation where the P2O5 reaches up to 1.2 wt% (Fig. 4). MnO content is up
to 0.6 wt% and is consistently higher in limestones of the Polisarka
Sedimentary Formation (Fig. 4). According to Herron’s geochemical
classification of siliciclastic sediments (Herron, 1988) most of the sam­
ples represent shales, Fe-shales, and wackes with some quartz arenites
(Fig. 5).
In comparison to Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS; Taylor and
McLennan, 1985), the shales and siltstone-shales of both the Seidor­
echka Sedimentary and Umba Sedimentary formations are depleted in
large ion lithophile (LIL) elements Rb, Sr, Cs (but not in Ba), and in high
field strength elements (HFSEs), such as Th, Nb, and U, except for Zr
which shows values around the mean of PAAS (Fig. 6a, b, c). Mo, Cr, Co,
Ni and Sc are slightly enriched in the Seidorechka Sedimentary For­
mation but somewhat depleted in the Umba Sedimentary Formation,
indicating selective loss of these redox sensitive elements in the latter. In
3 (LREE, La to Eu) as expressed by chondrite-normalized LaCN/YbCN ratios
2.5
2 Gd to Lu) show flat patterns with GdCN/YbCN values of 1.5–3.0 and
log (Fe2O3/ K2O)
Sample/PAAS
10
1
0.1
0.01
Sr Ba U Hf Pb Nb Cr Ni Sc
0
Rb Cs Th Zr Ta Y Mo Co Cu V
Fig. 6. The PAAS (Taylor and McLennan, 1985) normalized trace element
patterns of shale and siltstone-shale samples. A - Seidorechka Sedimentary
Formation, B - Polisarka Sedimentary Formation, and C - Umba Sedimentary
Formation. A and C show depletion in HFSE’s denoting higher weathering in­
tensity compared to the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation.
comparison to the Umba Sedimentary Formation, the Seidorechka
Sedimentary Formation has higher mean values of transition elements
like Cr, Co and Ni whereas the average V content in both formations is
similar to PAAS.
The chondrite-normalized (CN; Taylor and McLennan, 1985) REE
patterns of selected representative shales and siltstone-shales of the
Seidorechka and Umba Sedimentary formations (Fig. 7) show similar
REE abundances but somewhat different distribution patterns. Total
REE (ΣREE) concentrations vary between 100 and 200 ppm (Supple­
mentary Table 4). The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of shales
indicate fractionation and enrichment of the light rare earth elements
from 7.3 to 19 and from 17.5 to 49 in the Seidorechka and Umba
Sedimentary formations, respectively. The heavy rare elements (HREE,
2.4–5.1 for the Seidorechka Sedimentary and Umba Sedimentary for­

1.5
mations, respectively. A negative Eu anomaly (EuCN/Eu*CN) is promi­
1 Fe -Shale Fe -Sand nent in samples of both the Seidorechka Sedimentary and Umba
Sedimentary formations with a similar average value of 0.74 ± 0.04,
0.5 Lith- Sublith-
Arenite Arenite whereas there is no Ce anomaly – CeCN/Ce*CN values average at 1.02 ±
Shale Quartz Arenite
0 0.05.
Wacke Arkose Subarcose The Th/Sc and Zr/Sc ratios (Fig. 8) of the Sediorechka Sedimentary
-0.5
Formation range from 0.08 to 0.39 (average 0.24) and from 3.5 to 7.8
-1 (average 4.8), respectively. In the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation, Th/
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Sc and Zr/Sc ratios are 0.18–0.34 (average 0.26), and 6.3–7.8 (average
log (SiO2/ Al2O3)
7.6), and in the Umba Sedimentary Formation 0.36–0.96 (average 0.69)
Fig. 5. Siliclastic sediment classification (modified after Herron, 1988). See
and 8.2–38 (average 21.7), respectively.
sediment color code in Fig. 3.

7
S. Soomer et al. Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

1000
Seidorechka Sedimentary Fm 80
Oceanic
Kuksha Volcanic Fm island arc Seidorechka Fm
70 Polisarka Fm
Sample/Chondrite

100 Umba Fm
60
50 Continental
island arc
10

Ti/Zr
40
Ce Nd Sm Gd Dy Er Active
Yb continental
1 30 margin
La Pr Pm Eu Tb Ho Tm Lu Passive
20 continental
1000 Polisarka Sedimentary Fm margin
Seidorechka Volcanic Fm
10
Sample/Chondrite

100 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
La/Sc
10
Fig. 9. La/Sc vs. Ti/Zr plot indicating palaeotectonic settings of the source rock
(Bhatia and Crook, 1986) marking most of the sediment samples to have been
Ce Nd Sm Gd Dy Er Yb
1 formed in a continental island arc setting whereas the composition of the
La Pr Pm Eu Tb Ho Tm Lu Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation suggests an oceanic island arc setting. See
1000 Umba Sedimentary Fm sediment color code in Fig. 3.
Seidorechka Volcanic Fm
Polisarka Volcanic Fm
100 6. Discussion

6.1. Tectonic setting

10
Interpretation of the tectonic setting, using classical major and trace
element composition discrimination procedures for sedimentary rocks
Ce Nd Sm Gd Dy Er Yb
1 La (Bhatia, 1983; Bhatia & Crook, 1986; Roser & Korsch, 1986, 1988) – in
Pr Pm Eu Tb Ho Tm Lu
particular, La/Sc vs. Ti/Zr binary relationships (Fig. 9) – suggests a
Fig. 7. The chondrite (Taylor and McLennan, 1981) normalized REE patterns. predominantly oceanic island to continental island arc setting for the
A - Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation (this study) compared with the Kuksha Seidorechka Sedimentary and Polisarka Sedimentary formations,
Volcanic Formation (data from Arzamastsev et al., 2020); B - Polisarka Sedi­ evolving towards a passive continental margin during deposition of the
mentary Formation (data from Gärtner et al., 2012) and the Seidorechka Vol­ Umba Sedimentary Formation. This interpretation is further supported
canic Formation (data from Arzamastsev et al., 2020); C - Umba Sedimentary by the Sc-Th-Zr/10, Th-La-Sc and Co-Th-Zr/10 relationships (Fig. 10) as
Formation (this study) compared with the Seidorechka and Polisarka Volcanic most of the Seidorechka and Polisarka formation samples plot on the
formations (data from Arzamastsev et al., 2020). Note the more felsic compo­ oceanic island arc field, whereas the sediments of the Umba Sedimen­
sition of the Umba Sedimentary Formation compared to the Seidorchka and tary Formation approach the continental island arc field. On the
Polisarka Sedimentary formations that have a mafic composition with a
discrimination plots developed more recently by Verma and Armstrong-
possible signature of Archean ganitized gneisses.
Altrin (2013), which distinguish between collision-convergent, island or
continental arc, and continental rift tectonic zones, low-silica samples
(35–63 wt% of SiO2) of the Seidorechka and Polisarka Sedimentary
10
Seidorechka Fm formations plot on a trend from the island or continental arc field to­
Polisarka Fm wards a collision-convergent tectonic setting, with a few samples on the
Umba Fm
ycling continental rift field (Fig. 11a). Most of the high silica samples of the
y rec
entaraddition)
e d im
S (zirco n Umba Sedimentary Formation (63-95 wt% of SiO2), however, plot on
1 Compositional UCC the continental rift field close to junction point with island-continental
variation
arc and collision-convergent tectonic settings fields (Fig. 11b).
Th/Sc

The interpretation of a continental rift-type tectonic setting in the

0.1
0.01
1 10
Zr/Sc
Fig. 8. Zr/Sc vs. Th/Sc plot showing compositional variation in the sample sets
and Zr addition in Umba Sedimentary Formation samples suggesting the
involvement of the recycled material. See sediment color code in Fig. 3.
Umba Sedimentary Formation agrees well with the general geotectonic
model proposed for the Pechenga and Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone
Belts (Melezhik and Sturt, 1994; Melezhik and Hanski, 2013). The
development of these greenstone belts was initiated as intracontinental
rift structures at ca. 2500–2400 Ma in association with the break-up of
an Archaean supercontinent (Skyttä et al., 2019), then continued
through a major stage of inversion prior to renewed rifting and depo­
100 sition starting at ca. 2390 Ma. Melezhik and Sturt (1994) suggested that
rifting in the Pechenga and Imandra-Varzuga belts was of Afar Triangle-
East African type during the deposition of the Seidorechka Sedimentary
and Polisarka Sedimentary formations (ca. > 2500–2100 Ma), devel­
oped towards Red Sea type rifting during the formation of the Umba
Sedimentary Formation (2100–1970 Ma), and was possibly completed
by an oceanic spreading phase at 1990–1970 Ma. The geochemistry of
the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation, which suggests a continental
and/or island arc setting, seemingly agrees with Sharkov and Smolkin

8
S. Soomer et al. Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

Th Sc Th Th
Oce
anic
arc island Active and passive
continental margin
Con
isla tinen Passive
nd tal continental
arc margin
l
nta
tine
tive tal c on in
Actinegnin tive ar
g
tal conmar Ac m

co m
en c

Pantin arg
tin d ar tal

ss en in
n
Coislan tinen c

ive tal
nd Conland ar
la is
is
c
ni rc Zirco
Zircon addition
c ea a n ad
dition
Oceanic island arc O
Co Zr/10 La Sc Zr/10

Fig. 10. Tectonic setting and sedimentary recycling discrimination ternary plot of Co-Th-Zr, Sc-Th-Zr and Th-La-Sc (Bhatia and Crook, 1986) emphasizing Zr
addition in the Umba Sedimentary Formation sediments. See sediment color code in Fig. 3.

8 8

6 A 6 B

4 Continental rift DF2(Arc-Rift-Col)m2 4 Island or continental arc

DF2(Arc-Rift-Col)m1

2 2

0 0
rc Continental rift
la
-2 e nta -2
n
nti
co
or
-4 nd -4
Isla
Collision/convergent
-6 -6 Collision/convergent

-8 -8
-8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8
DF1(Arc-Rift-Col)m1 DF1(Arc-Rift-Col)m2
Fig. 11. Discrimination-function multi-dimensional diagrams (Verma and Amstrong-Altrin, 2013). A - low-silica, and B - high-silica clastic sediments in arc, con­
tinental rift and collision tectonic settings. See sediment color code in Fig. 3. Equations and coefficients for function DF1 and DF2 are available in Verma and
Armstrong-Altrin (2013).

(1997), who interpreted the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt as a back-
arc basin formed behind the collision zone resulting from subduction
beneath the Kola crustal segment. However, the Seidorechka Sedimen­
tary and Polisarka Sedimentary formations also contain sedimentary
materials derived from erosion of pre-existing Archean volcanic/
orogenic complexes formed at a collisional margin of the Archean craton
and thus carry a strong inherited signal of an island arc setting (Fig. 8).
6.2. Provenance
The rather high Al2O3/TiO2 ratios in the shales, shale-siltstones and
greywacke lithologies in all formations, reaching typically > 20
(Fig. 12a, Hayashi et al., 1997), suggest provenance from mixed felsic to
intermediate rocks, with a few samples pointing to intermediate and
mafic source rocks. In the source rock discrimination diagram of Roser
and Korsch (1988) the majority of the Seidorechka Sedimentary For­
mation samples occupy the field of mafic igneous rocks while some
samples (together with samples of the Polisarka Sedimentary Forma­
tion) plot on the intermediate igneous provenance field (Fig. 12b).
However, Umba Sedimentary Formation shales and shale-siltstones plot
mostly on the felsic and quartzose provenance fields, the latter of which
represents recycled quartzitic or weathered granitic-gneiss terrain or
sediments with the loss of feldspars and an increase in quartz content
(Mattos & Batezelli, 2019). Similarly, the TiO2 vs. Zr plot (Fig. 12c,
Hayashi et al., 1997) suggests an intermediate igneous provenance for
the Seidorechka Sedimentary and Polisarka Sedimentary formations,
whereas a number of the Umba Sedimentary Formation samples plot on
the felsic igneous rock field but these are samples with strong Zr addi­
tion, which may cause bias in interpreting their provenance as being
felsic.
Sediment recycling and clear Zr addition in most of the Umba
Sedimentary Formation samples also is evident from the Th/Sc vs. Zr/Sc
plot (Fig. 8). All samples from the Seidorechka Sedimentary and Poli­
sarka Sedimentary formations, but only some samples of the Umba
Sedimentary Formation plot close to the crustal compositional variation
trend that suggests limited recycling and/or sedimentary sorting. Most
samples in the Umba Sedimentary Formation, instead, show pronounced
Zr enrichment by sediment recycling, likely due to several erosion/
transport/deposition cycles.
However, the felsic provenance signature of the Umba Sedimentary
Formation is further supported by LREE enrichment (higher LaCN/YbCN
ratios) and flatter HREE segments compared with those of the

9
S. Soomer et al. Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

1.8 Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation, and by the nearly consistently

A positive sediment protolith ψ values (Fig. 13, Lipp et al., 2020) in the
1.6 Umba Sedimentary Formation, which indicate a more felsic source
te
ni compared with modern UCC. In contrast, the Seidorechka Sedimentary
1.4 ra
+
G Formation samples and most samples of the Polisarka Sedimentary
lt Formation show negative ψ values indicative of a mafic protolith (Lipp
1.2 sa
Ba
TiO2 (wt%)

et al., 2020).
s alt +
nite t The boundary between the Strel’na and Varzuga groups (i.e. the
Ba

1 Graasal
B boundary between the Seidorechka and Polisarka-Umba Sedimentary
0.8 formations) is marked by an erosional contact and the widespread
development of regolith-type weathering crusts in the Pechenga and
0.6 Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone belts, as well as in eastern Finland and
Karelia (Sturt et al., 1994; Laajoki, 2005; Kirsimäe and Melezhik, 2013).
0.4
This uplift and deep erosion (to several km) is dated between 2396 and
n ite
0.2 Gra 2330 Ma, which is prior to the deposition of the Varzuga Group (Melzhik
et al, 1994). The Polisarka Sedimentary Formation is characterized by
0 mafic-intermediate sediment protolith signatures and lies unconform­
0 5 10 15 20 25 ably on the Seidorechka Volcanic Formation. Its basal conglomerate is
Al2O3 (wt%)
known to contain variably weathered clasts of dacites, andesites, and
basaltic andesites from the Seidorechka volcanic rocks (Melezhik et al.,
B 1982) that, together with geochemical signatures, suggest its origin
10 Felsic provenance
Intermediate mainly from weathering and erosion of the Seidorechka Volcanic For­
provenance mation. This is further signified by detrital zircon U-Pb ages in the
5 Polisarka Sedimentary Formation diamictite (Gärtner et al, 2014) that
show a bi-modal distribution with a maxima at ca. 2450 Ma, corre­
sponding to the age of the Seidorechka Volcanic Formation at ca. 2441
0 Ma (Amelin et al., 1995), and another at 2600–2900 Ma. The latter
F2

population indicates an input from the weathering of siliciclastic rocks

Quartzose in the surrounding Archean provinces (Kola and Karelian Province and
-5 sedimentary Murmansk Craton). Similarly, detrital zircons from Archean provinces
provenance
form the dominant zircon age group in the Seidorechka Sedimentary
Formation, which has an average at ca. 2750 Ma (Gärtner et al., 2014;
-10 Smolkin et al., 2020). Other detrital zircon age groups in Seidorechka
Mafic igneous Sedimentary Formation are at ca. 2850 Ma, and a younger subordinate
provenance
group between 2450 and 2500 Ma, possibly indicating material eroded
-15
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 from underlying Kuksha volcanic rocks.
F1 Smolkin et al. (2020) suggested that the source for the group of
1.8 zircons with ages of 2750–2760 Ma in the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone
C Belt could have been the leptite gneisses in the Olenegorsk region and
1.6 the granitoids of the Monchegorsk District, both north-northwest of the
Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt; for the 2830–2870 Ma ages, the
k

1.4
oc

Intermediate source may have been plagiogneisses in the Voche–Lambina area, west
igneous rock
ous cr
afi

of the belt. A similar zircon population with Archean ages were recently
1.2
igneM
TiO2 (wt%)

reported from Paleoproterozoic metasediments in northern

1

0.8 Zircon ω
additio -1 0 1 2 3 4
n 2
0.6

0.4
UCC

Felsic igneous
rock 1
0.2
Felsic

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 UCC
Zr (ppm) ψ0

Fig. 12. Provenance discrimination diagrams. A - TiO2 vs. Al2O3 (Hayashi

Mafic

et al., 1997), B - F1 vs. F2 where the coefficients for the functions are available
in Roser and Korsch (1988), and C - TiO2 vs. Zr (Hayashi et al., 1997) suggesting -1
more mafic provenance for Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation sediments and
a felsic provenance for Umba Sedimentary Formation sediments. See sediment Seidorechka Fm
Polisarka Fm
color code in Fig. 3. Umba Fm
-2
Weathering

Fig. 13. Weathering intensity and provenance variation in the studied silici­
clastic samples, after Lipp et al. (2020). See sediment color code in Fig. 3.

10
S. Soomer et al. Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578

Fennoscandia (Köykkä et al., 2019) and interpreted to corresponds to a
major global crustal building period, particularly in the Neoarchean,
also reflected by widespread 2750 – 2650 Ma igneous rocks in the
northern Fennoscandian Shield (Hölttä et al., 2008).
The Umba Sedimentary Formation that rests with a depositional
contact on rocks of the Polisarka Volcanic Formation (Melezhik et al.,
2013) bears a geochemically different signal from the latter and it has
been suggested that it derived instead from erosion of Seidorechka
volcanic rocks (Bekasova and Pushkin, 1977). Though the lower part of
the nearly 3000 m-thick Seidorechka Volcanic Formation (Melezhik and
Strut, 1994; Chashchin et al., 2008; Hanski, 2013; Arzamastsev et al.,
2020b) is composed of mafic rocks – komatiitic basalts, basaltic and
basaltic andesite flows interbedded with gabbroic and pyroxenitic sills,
succeeded by subaerial amygdaloidal komatiitic basalts, basaltic an­
desites and andesites – the upper part of the succession is instead rep­
resented by more felsic volcanics - dacites, dacitic rhyolites and rhyolites
intruded by the Imandra layered gabbro-norite lopolith (Chashchin
et al., 2008; Hanski, 2013; Arzamastsev et al. 2020b). Uplift and erosion
of these felsic units, and possibly also Archean granitized gneisses of the
Kola Province, served as a provenance for the Umba Sedimentary For­
mation. The latter is apparent from REE distributions in the Umba
Sedimentary Formation, which show increased LREE, and a steep
declining trend towards low HREE contents with only moderate nega­
tive Eu anomalies (Fig. 7).
Collectively, the geochemistry of the Seidorechka, Polisarka and
Umba Sedimentary formations demonstrate that the uppermost Umba
Sedimentary Formation bears a felsic (dacitic) signature and is compo­
sitionally different from the Seidorechka and Polisarka Sedimentary
formations that show a more mafic/andesitic signature with significant
input from Archean metamorphic terranes.
6.3. Weathering intensity
Shale compositions of the Seidorechka, Polisarka and Umba Sedi­
mentary formations display linear weathering trends on the A-CN-K
(Al2O3-CaO*+Na2O-K2O) ternary plot (Fig. 14). In theory, the weath­
ering trend of a given igneous protolith is subparallel to the A-CN axis on
the A-CN-K plot (Fig. 14) (Nesbitt and Young, 1984). However, diage­
netic and metamorphic effects, particularly K-metasomatism, can cause
an offset from the theoretical weathering trend towards the K2O apex
(Fedo et al., 1995; Tosca et al., 2010; Bahlburg and Dobrzinski, 2011). K-
metasomatism is governed either by illitization (K-uptake) of smectitic
clay minerals (and kaolinite) which form during moderate-to-intensive
weathering, or through the replacement of plagioclase by K-feldspar.
However, if the former causes a shift to a seemingly lower weathering
intensity (i.e., lower CIA values), then the latter does not affect weath­
ering intensity estimates because of the mole-for-mole substitution of K
for Ca/Na (Bahlburg and Dobrzinsk, 2011).
Weathering trends in all three studied formations show a path typical
for sediments affected by K-metasomatism (Fig. 14). The Seidorechka
Sedimentary Formation shales show the least inclined trend from the A-
CN line which is also the furthest away from K2O apex compared to
shales of the Polisarka and Umba Sedimentary formations, indicating a
lesser effect of K-metasomatism (Fedo et al., 1995; Bahlburg and
Dobrzinsk, 2011). The downward extension of the weathering trend line
of the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation shales intersects with lower
continental crust (LCC, Rudnick and Fountain, 1995) and mid-ocean
ridge basalt (MORB, Gale et al., 2013) compositions, supporting the
interpretation of a mafic/intermediate provenance. Shales of the Umba
Sedimentary and Polisarka Sedimentary formations show a significant
K-addition and the trend line is biased towards the K2O apex, whereas
the intercept of the trend is in agreement with sediment provenance
from material close to the composition of the upper continental crust
(Fig. 14).
Weathering indexes (CIA, CIA(K), WIP and WIP(K)) of shale and shale-
siltstone lithologies show, on average, an intermediate weathering in­
tensity in all three formations (Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16) CIA values of 50–60
indicate a low intensity of the chemical weathering, values 60–80 are
indicative of intermediate intensities and CIA values > 80 denote
extreme weathering (Nesbitt and Young, 1984; Fedo et al., 1995),
whereas values in the studied intervals range from 52 to 80 (average 66)
in the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation, from 49 to 63 (average 57)
in the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation and from 47 to 75 (average 64)
in the Umba Sedimentary Formation (Figs. 14, 16). CIA values corrected
for K-addition (CIA(K)), which more closely reflect the weathering in­
tensity level of the deposited material, range from 54 to 83 (average 69)
in the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation with most of the samples
between 65 and 80 (Fig. 15). In the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation,
the values vary mostly from 50 to 70 (average 60, extremes 51 and 77),
and in the Umba Sedimentary formation, between 65 and 75 (average
68) with extreme values at 51 and one exceptional sample at 82. Mod­
erate weathering is also indicated by WIP values ranging from 22 to 82

Al2O3
100 100
90 n=39
90 n=39
90
Seidorechka Fm

80 80 n=31
Seidorechka Fm

CIA(K*)

80 n=31
Umba Fm
70 70 n=6
Polisarka Fm

n=6
CIA

Polisarka Fm
illit

Umba Fm

60
a

60
i

70
za
,N

tio

50 50
Ca

60
ion
of

dit 40 40
d
ss

a Average Average
CIA

50 K
Lo

UCC
40 LCC 100 100
MORB
Polisarka Fm

80
Polisarka Fm

30 80
Seidorechka Fm
Seidorechka Fm

Umba Fm
Umba Fm

WIP(K*)

20 Seidorechka Fm 60 60
WIP

Polisarka Fm n=6
Umba Fm 40 n=31 40 n=6
n=31
CaO*+Na2O K2O 20 n=39 20 n=39
Average Average
Fig. 14. A-CN-K ternary plot showing weathering trends and overall CIA
values, and compositional difference in the weathering protolith among the Fig. 15. Deviation analysis for alteration (CIA) and weathering (WIP) indices
studied samples. See sediment color code in Fig. 3. Values for UCC are from denoting higher weathering intensities for sediments of the Seidorechka and
Rudnick and Gao (2014), LCC from Rudnick and Fountain (1995), and MORB Umba Sedimentary formations compared to Polisarka Sedimentary Formation
from Gale et al. (2013). sediments. See sediment color code in Fig. 3.

11
S. Soomer et al.
90
Seidorechka Fm
Polisarka Fm
80 Umba Fm
70 sandstone
shale/siltstone-shale
60 conglomerate/greywacke
quartz/carbonate
50
WIP(K*)
enrichment
40
we
30 ath
eri
ng
20
10 sedimentary
recycling
0
40 50 60 70 80 90
CIA(K*)
Fig. 16. Relationship between CIA and WIP revealing quartz enrichment
(Garzanti et al., 2013) in sedimentary successions, additionally separating
sandstones (squares), shales and siltstones (circles), and conglomerates (tri­
angles). See sediment color code in Fig. 3.
(average 47) in the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation, from 50 to 86
(average 61) in the Polisarka Sedimentary Formation, and from 39 to 59
(average 48) in the Umba Sedimentary Formation. High minimum WIP
values can be indicative of a higher weathering degree (Parker, 1979),
but the 22, 50 and 39 minima in the Seidorechka Sedimentary, Polisarka
Sedimentary and Umba Sedimentary formations, respectively, suggest
that the sediments are essentially unweathered or only slightly
weathered.
For the weathering function ω, UCC has a value of 0 and pristine
igneous rocks show values of − 0.309 ± 0.137 (Lipp et al. 2020), whereas
ω values of 0–1 correspond to a low weathering intensity (corresponding
CIA values are ca. 40–60), ω values 1–3 are indicative of intermediate
(CIA ca. 60–80) and values > 3 would suggest intensive silicate
weathering (CIA > 80). Similar to CIA, CIA(K) and WIP, the average ω
value in the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone Belt sediments suggests
moderate silicate weathering, with only a few samples consistent with
intense weathering rates – ω values vary around 1.09 ± 0.84, 0.40 ±
0.36, and 1.18 ± 0.68 in the Seidorechka, Polisarka and Umba Sedi­
mentary formations, respectively (Fig. 13; Lipp et al., 2020, 2021).
6.4. Implications on the weathering intensity changes at the Archean-
Proterozoic transition
The oxygenation of the atmosphere resulted in significant changes to
weathering chemistry, and it has been suggested that average weath­
ering intensities increased as a result of this change (Bahlburg & Dobr­
zinski, 2011; Hazen et al., 2008). The first, and most visible effect was on
the behavior of redox sensitive elements (e.g., Fe, Cr, V, U, Mo, S), which
became easily solubilized in weathering environments and accumulated
in marine environments and sediments (Hao et al., 2017). This effect
was possibly further amplified by a sulphuric acid attack caused by
(bacterially mediated) oxidation of sulphide minerals and siderite pre­
sent in surface rocks prior to the GOE (Holland, 2006; Konhauser et al.,
2011; Bachan and Kump, 2015). As evidence, there is significant Cr
enrichment in Paleoproterozoic marine iron formations, which has been
suggested to be caused by intensive acidic (pH < 4) leaching of Cr from
continental weathering crusts (Konhauser et al., 2011). In addition, an
increase in the intensity of weathered paleosol profiles in the post-GOE
Paleoproterozoic (Hao et al., 2021), compared to those from prior and
latter eras, could indicate intensified acidic continental weathering and
leaching following the GOE. This possibly played a critical role in pro­
moting the supply of essential biologically limiting nutrients from con­
tinents to the marine realm, thereby boosting overall bioproductivity
and leading to a further rise in the oxygen levels following the GOE
(Mills et al., 2014; Laakso and Schrag, 2018; Crockford et al., 2019;
Reinhard et al., 2020).
Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578
An alternative view is that weathering intensity across the GOE was
driven rather by changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, through
the acidity of precipitation, and more importantly, the Earth’s surface
temperature (Mills et al., 2019). These two parameters are linked
through feedback between temperature and the long-term carbon cycle
operating typically over timescales of > 100 kyrs (Kasting, 1987). For
example, high weathering intensities (CIA-K values of > 90) and
development of Al-rich phyllosilicates are reported in the uppermost
part of the ca. 2504–2442 Ma Kuksha paleosol, developed on basalts of
tre
nd
the Kuksha Volcanic Formation in the Imandra-Varzuga Greenstone
Belt, immediately underlying the Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation
(Soomer et al., 2019), but also in other paleoweathering crusts predating
100 the GOE, such as the 2760 Ma Mt. Roe paleosol (Teitler et al., 2015).
These values most likely indicate high atmospheric pCO2 levels, which
drove intensified weathering due to more acidic rain and river water
(Hao et al., 2017).
Testing the effect of pCO2 is difficult, as paleo-pCO2 estimates though
the GOE are highly variable. Ohmoto et al. (2004) suggested that pCO2
was in the order of > 100 times the preindustrial atmospheric level
(PIAL) in pre-1800 Ma weathering systems and Driese et al. (2011)
estimated Neoarchean pCO2 at ca. 41 PIAL, based on the composition of
the ca. 2690 Ma Saganaga paleosol. Kanzaki and Murakami (2015)
estimated an even higher paleoatmospheric pCO2 level in the range of
160 – 490 PIAL, at ca. 2460 Ma. Somelar et al. (2020), however, esti­
mated a much lower level of pCO2 at 1–10 PIAL in the Kuksha paleosol,
which was interpreted to record CO2 drawdown prior to the onset of the
Huronian glaciation (Young, 2019). Further, this low pCO2 estimate
agrees with the mass-balance modeling studies of Sheldon (2006),
Mitchell and Sheldon (2010), and Medaris et al. (2017), suggesting a
drop in CO2 levels below 20 PIAL between 2500 and 1800 Ma and
further down to only 4–6 PIAL between 1800 and 1000 Ma.
Given the decreasing atmospheric pCO2 levels from the Archean to
the Proterozoic and the Phanerozoic, chemical weathering intensity may
have decreased in tandem over Earth’s history. Indeed, several earlier
studies have demonstrated a steady secular decrease of CIA values in
shales from an average of ca. 80 during the Archean (80 to 100 in the
Mesoarchean and 80 to 90 in the Neoarchean), ca. 75 in the Proterozoic
(70–85), to ca. 70 for average Phanerozoic shales (Condie, 2001;
González-Álvarez & Kerrich, 2012). This view has also found support in
studies of glacial diamictites where a similar secular trend is apparent in
fine fractions with CIA values decreasing from 80 for the Archean and 72
for the Proterozoic (74 in the Paleoproterozoic, 74 in the Mesoproter­
ozoic and 68 in the Neoproterozoic), to only 66 in Phanerozoic (Ceno­
zoic) diamictites (Li et al., 2016). Nevertheless, drastically lower
weathering intensity in Cenozoic glacial diamictites could alternatively
be interpreted as an artifact of the cyclicity of glaciations, rather than in
terms of changing weathering intensity – any weathered regolith may
have been removed by preceding glacial events with insufficient time for
regolith to be re-established between glacial periods (Li et al., 2016). A
similar reasoning could be applied for Umba Sedimentary Formation
sediments, which post-date the global Huronian glaciation(s) and lack
any clear evidence for enhanced weathering in post-GOE oxygenated
environments.
Another intriguing argument for decreasing weathering rates was
recently given by Fabre et al. (2021), who suggested that instead of
sulphur acid attack, a more important long term influence of atmo­
spheric oxygenation would have been the precipitation of iron oxy­
hydroxide coatings on weathered minerals, which can inhibit their
further dissolution. Thermochemical modelling by the same authors
suggests that weathering intensity over the Paleoproterozoic era was
two orders of magnitude greater than present-day tropical rate. Overall,
there are reasonable arguments both for increased and decreased
weathering intensities across the GOE transition.
Surprisingly, our results demonstrate that the Seidorechka and Umba
Sedimentary formations deposited prior and after GOE, respectively,
show a similarly moderate weathering intensity (average CIA(K) values
12
S. Soomer et al.
68) and the onset of oxidative weathering seemingly had no significant
effect on overall weathering intensity on the Kola-Karelia craton.
However, such assessment must take into account that intensity of
chemical silicate weathering is highly sensitive to local factors, such as
source rock lithology, topography, and climatic regime – i.e., precipi­
tation and, particularly, temperature (Marshall et al., 1988; Wilson,
2004; Hayes et al., 2020). The provenance indicators of the Sediorechka
Sedimentary Formation point to a mafic protolith that is by far more
susceptible to weathering (e.g., Meunier et al., 2007) than the pre­
dominantly felsic protolith of the Umba Sedimentary Formation.
Assuming a comparable length of weathering, similar weathering
indices in both formations advocate, thus, a higher weathering intensity
in the latter.
Moreover, climatic conditions during deposition of the Seidorechka
and Umba Sedimentary formations, deposited ca. 100–200 Ma apart,
might have been considerably different. For example, Li and Yang
(2010) reviewed variation in CIA values in modern global drainage
basins and concluded that the global integrated weathering history, as
proxied by CIA, is most sensitive to land surface temperature, latitude at
the river mouth, and soil depth in drainage basins, whereas correlation
to precipitation, runoff, and elevation was in most basins insignificant.
Soil depth on continents drained during the Paleoproterozoic is difficult
to estimate. However, using molecular paleoclimate indices in the
Kuksha paleoweathering crust, which developed right at the base of the
Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation, Somelar et al. (2020) suggested
that the weathering occurred in a cool-temperate (possibly
Mediterranean-type) climate with mean annual temperatures of ca.
12–13 ◦ C and mean annual precipitation at 600–1300 mm yr− 1. This
estimate is in agreement with the paleoposition of the craton within
southerly paleolatitudes between 20◦ and 30◦ at the beginning of Pro­
terozoic at 2500–2400 Ma (Arestova et al., 2002; Mertanen and Peso­
nen, 2005; Mertanen et al., 2006; Lubnina and Slabunov, 2017). Though
the paleoposition of the Kola-Karelia craton is poorly constrained at the
time of the deposition of the Umba Sedimentary Formation between
2306 and 2056 Ma, by 1975 Ma, the craton was located at ca. 40◦ to 45◦
latitudes or higher (Lubnina et al., 2017). By interpolation, the poten­
tially higher weathering intensity, as recorded by the Umba Sedimen­
tary Formation, may have been attained at higher latitudes and
consequently lower mean annual temperatures compared with the
Seidorechka Sedimentary Formation, attesting to even higher back­
ground weathering intensity under post-GOE oxygenated conditions.
Overall, to arrive at levels of CIA similar to the Seidorechka Sedi­
mentary Formation, it is most likely that the higher-latitude and felsic-
sourced Umba Sedimentary Formation accumulated under conditions
of higher background weathering intensity. This result shows that the
effects of oxidative dissolution and sulphuric acid attack may have
overwhelmed the opposite effects of decreasing pCO2 and ferric oxy­
hydroxide formation in the post-GOE world, resulting in major increases
in weathering fluxes. This supports the contention that unprecedented
nutrient fluxes from weathering environments fuelled increased bio­
productivity, leading to a period of near-modern O2 levels in the first
hundreds of millions of years following the GOE (e.g., Konhauser et al.
2011; Bekker and Holland, 2012; Hao et al., 2021).
However, the lack of striking difference in weathering indices be­
tween its various sedimentary formations means that the Imandra-
Varzuga succession is not a silver bullet in solving the debate
regarding weathering changes in the newly-oxygenated Paleoproter­
ozoic world. It remains possible that the similar values for weathering
indices reflect a reality of unchanged or decreasing weathering levels
resulting from the effects of glacial erosion during the Huronian glaci­
ations, similar to what has been reported for Cenozoic sediments, or
more complex O2 and pCO2 effects on apparent weathering intensity.
Similar work on other cratons will go a long way in constraining the
effect that rising oxygen levels had on both the geo- and biospheres
across the GOE transition. In summation, this work highlights the po­
tential that the bulk chemistry of shales – the most voluminous and
13
Precambrian Research 371 (2022) 106578
continuous records of continental weathering available to us – has in
constraining secular changes in weathering rates across Earth history.
7. Conclusions
The Paleoproterozoic sedimentary successions of the Seidorechka,
Polisarka and Umba Sedimentary formations in the Imandra-Varzuga
Greenstone Belt, northern Fennoscandian Shield, were deposited in a
continental rift setting. Mixed mafic and Archean granitized gneisses
served as a provenance for the Seidorechka and Polisarka Sedimentary
formations, whereas the Umba Sedimentary Formation is derived from
erosion and repeated recycling of a more felsic provenance, possibly the
felsic volcanics of the Polisarka Volcanic Formation and Archean
gneisses. The silicate weathering indices suggest the Polisarka Sedi­
mentary Formation, which deposited during the Huroninan global
glaciation, records the lowest chemical weathering intensity. However,
there is no difference in overall silicate weathering intensity indicators
between the Seidorechka Sedimentary and Umba Sedimentary forma­
tions, which deposited, respectively, prior to and after the GOE and the
onset of the oxidative weathering. Different physical and chemical fac­
tors, such as differences in the protolith, climate, topography and at­
mospheric pCO2, and the length of the weathering, control overall
weathering intensity. Our results suggest that the punctuated (sulfuric)
acidic weathering caused by GOE triggered oxidation of sulphide min­
erals did not have a measurable effect on silicate weathering intensity.
Instead, either apparent weathering intensity decreased, possibly due to
glacial erosion and more complex O2 and pCO2 effects on the back­
ground of dropping atmospheric pCO2 levels across the Archean and
Proterozoic transition, or differences in protolith composition and in
climatic regimes in the Seidorechka and Umba Sedimentary formations
were enough to mute the signal of higher weathering intensities in the
post-GOE succession.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Sigrid Soomer: Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Investi­
gation, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Visualization. Peeter
Somelar: Supervision, Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Inves­
tigation, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Kaarel Mänd:
Writing – review & editing. Aivo Lepland: Resources, Writing – review
& editing. Kalle Kirsimäe: Supervision, Conceptualization, Methodol­
ogy, Software, Resources, Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Estonian Research Council grants
PUT1511, PRG447 and the Estonian Centre of Analytical Chemistry.
Appendix A. Supplementary material
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.precamres.2022.106578.
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