LINEAR WEATHERING CRUST OF THE FEDOROVA-PANA LAYERED COMPLEX IN THE NORTHEASTERN BALTIC SHIELD

Abstract

The remains of kaolin and hydromica weathering crusts were distinguished in the overburden of the Baltic Shield. The kaolin crust, which presumably dominated in the past, formed under warm humid conditions during the Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic. In the Lower and Middle Jurassic, products of the kaolin weathering were transported from the northeastern Baltic Shield to the South Barents depression. Remains of the weathering crust extend linearly along weakened zones. The areal hydromica weathering crust was formed in uplifted areas under moderate climatic conditions during the Miocene–Lower Pliocene. It is composed of clayey–sandy or clayey–crumbly rocks. In the Pliocene, the weathering crust was also signifi cantly eroded due to uplift of this region.