
ISSN 1608-5078 (Online)
First radiometric dating of tonsteins from coal-bearing succession of the Kuznetsk Basin: U-Pb geochronology of the Tailugan Formation
V.V. Silantiev, Ya.M. Gutak, M. Tichomirowa, A.V. Kulikova, A.S. Felker, M.N. Urazaeva, L.G. Porokhovnichenko, E.V. Karasev, A.S. Bakaev, V.V. Zharinova, M.A. Naumcheva
Original article
open access
Tonsteins, predominantly solid kaolinite clay interbeds, are widespread in the coals of the Kuznetsk Basin and usually contain idiomorphic zircon grains of magmatic origin in quantities suitable for uranium-lead (U-Pb) radiometric dating. For the first time, tonstein zircons from coal seam 78 of the Tailugan Formation (Fm) are dated by two methods: Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and Chemical Abrasion Isotope-Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS).
The CA-ID-TIMS datings of 257.0 ± 1.3 Ma and 256.6 ± 0.4 Ma determine the age of the lower boundary of the Tailugan Fm and the Tailuganian Regional Stage at 257.0 Ma. We estimate the duration of the Tailuganian to be around 4.22 million years. The dating results make it possible to directly correlate the Tailuganian of the Kuzbass with the upper half of the Wuchiapingian and with most of the Changhsingian of the International Chronostratigraphic Scale.
The accumulation rate of total sediments of the Tailugan Fm, calculated without considering the compaction index, is approximately 0.13–0.18 mm/year, and the rate of coal accumulation is 0.024 mm/year. Such values are comparable to the accumulation rates of the Late Paleozoic coal-bearing strata of the Donetsk Basin and Western Australia. The rate of peat accumulation during the Tailuganian, calculated at a compaction index of 10:1, has been estimated at 0.24 mm/year. This value is comparable to the rates of peat accumulation in the Holocene bogs of the Kuznetsk Alatau in Siberia and the European part of Russia.
The presence of tonsteins in the coal seams of the Tailugan Fm suggests that the upper surface of the peat at the time of its accumulation was below the water level, serving as a protective screen for the thin volcanic deposits and preventing its erosion.
The assemblages of macroflora, ostracods, conchostracans and bivalves considerably vary through the section of the Tailugan Fm. This variation makes it possible to identify in Kuzbass the stratigraphic level that corresponds to the boundary between the Wuchiapingian and Changhsingian stages in the future.
Kuznetsk Basin, Tailugan Formation, tonsteins, U-Pb dating, LA-ICP-MS, CA-ID-TIMS, geochronology, biostratigraphy
Vladimir V. Silantiev – Dr. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Head of the Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University; Branch of the Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University in the city of Jizzakh
18, Kremlevskaya st., Kazan, 420008, Russian Federation
e-mail: Vladimir.Silantiev@kpfu.ru
Yaroslav M. Gutak – Dr. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Professor, Head of the Department of Geology, Geodesy and Life Safety, Institute of Mining and Geosystems, Siberian State Industrial University; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University
42, Kirova st., Novokuznetsk, 654007, Russian Federation
Marion Tichomirowa – Dr. rer. nat., Head of the Isotopic Geochemistry & Geochronology Laboratories, Institute of Mineralogy, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg
6, Akademiestraße, Freiberg, 09599, Germany
Anna V. Kulikova – Cand. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Researcher, Laboratory of Geodynamics and Magmatism, Sobolev Institute of Geology and Mineralogy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University
3, Аk. Koptyug ave., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
Anastasia S. Felker – Cand. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Junior Researcher, Arthropod Laboratory, Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University
123, Profsoyuznaya st., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Milyausha N. Urazaeva – Cand. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Assistant Professor, Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University
18, Kremlevskaya st., Kazan, 420008, Russian Federation
Lyubov G. Porokhovnichenko – Cand. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Research Engineer, Laboratory of Micropaleontology, Faculty of Geology and Geography, Tomsk State University; Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University
36, Lenin ave., Tomsk, 634050, Russian Federation
Evgeniy V. Karasev – Cand. Sci. (Biology), Senior Researcher, Laboratory of Paleobotany, Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Kazan (Volga region) Federal University
123, Profsoyuznaya st., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Aleksandr S. Bakaev – Cand. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Researcher, Laboratory of Paleoichthyology, Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Kazan (Volga region) Federal University
123, Profsoyuznaya st., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Veronika V. Zharinova – Cand. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Senior Lecturer, Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, Institute of Geology and Petroleum Technologies, Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University; Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences
18, Kremlevskaya st., Kazan, 420008, Russian Federation
Maria A. Naumcheva – Cand. Sci. (Geology and Mineralogy), Junior Researcher, Laboratory of Protistology, Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Kazan (Volga region) Federal University
123, Profsoyuznaya st., Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation
Silantiev V.V., Gutak Ya.M., Tichomirowa M., Kulikova A.V., Felker A.S., Urazaeva M.N., Porokhovnichenko L.G., Karasev E.V., Bakaev A.S., Zharinova V.V., Naumcheva M.A. (2023). First radiometric dating of tonsteins from coal-bearing succession of the Kuznetsk Basin: U-Pb geochronology of the Tailugan Formation. Georesursy = Georesources, 25(2), pp. 203–227. https://doi.org/10.18599/grs.2023.2.15