THE PALEOZOIC AGE OF HIGH-PRESSURE METAMORPHIC ROCKS IN THE DAKHOV SALIENT, NORTHWESTERN CAUCASUS: RESULTS OF U-PB GEOCHRONOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Abstract

The Dakhov Salient is a small exposure of the pre-Alpine crystalline basement within Jurassic rocks at the northwestern termination of the Front Range of the Greater Caucasus (Fig. 1). Together with the southeastern Beskes and Sakhrai salients, the Dakhov Salient makes up a partly exposed northern framing of the Middle Paleozoic island-arc complex of the Front Range. Like crystalline rocks of the Blyb Salient at the southern framing of the island-arc complex, rocks of the Dakhov Salient are traditionally considered the pre-Paleozoic basement of the Front Range. The Dakhov Salient is mainly composed of pre-Alpine granitoids (primarily, granodiorites), which intrude metamorphic rocks exposed as a narrow band in the northern area. The Dakhov Salient is easily accessible, and ravines of the Belaya River and Syuk Creek are excellently exposed. Nevertheless, several essential aspects of the geology of the Dakhov Salient remain controversial. The age of host rocks is the most important issue. In the 1970s, the K–Ar dating of granitoids and metamorphic rocks of this salient yielded a Neoproterozoic value of 985–612 Ma.