Russian Journal of Earth Sciences
Vol. 4, No. 4, August 2002
Riphean sedimentary sequences of the eastern and northeastern margins
of the Eastern European craton
A. V. Maslov and M. V. Isherskaya
Abstract
The Riphean history of depositional basins in the study region can be divided into
Early-Middle Riphean and Late Riphean phases. Throughout the Riphean,
clastic material was supplied chiefly from eastern regions of the Russian
craton. Deposition occurred mainly in semi-arid environments, humid and
near-glacial epochs being considerably shorter. Riphean carbonate and
siliciclastic sedimentary deposits are dominated by those of shallow-water and
nearshore basin environments. In the Early and Middle Riphean, the principal
type of depositional basins in the study region was relatively small epicratonic
seas. The peculiarities of architecture and spatial distribution of the Late
Riphean sedimentary deposits suggest that in the middle or end of this timespan,
there appeared a major cratonic-margin basin that covered the entire eastern and
northeastern margins of the Eastern European craton.