General features relating to the occurrence of mineral deposits in the Urals: What, where, when and why

Abstract

This study of metallogeny of the Urals is strongly tied up with a stage-by-stage geodynamic analysis of the orogen. The analysis includes a revised understanding of geodynamic development of the Timanides (development of a deep sedimentary basin since the Mesoproterozoic, ocean formation and subduction in the Neoproterozoic and collision in the Late Ediacaran). For the Uralides, a new interpretation includes relationships between Tagil and Magnitogorsk arcs, arc–continent collision in the Late Devonian, subduction jump in the Early Carboniferous, and thrust stacking in the Late Carboniferous to Permian. Attention is paid to metallogeny of the platform (Middle Jurassic to Paleogene) and neo-orogenic (late Cenozoic) stages. For the first time an effort is made to consider the role of mantle plumes and superplumes in the geodynamic development and metallogeny of this fold belt. Many deposits are polygenetic, and different stages of their formation belong to different geodynamic stages and substages, therefore the deposits becoming additional geodynamic indicators themselves.