STRUCTURE AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE VENDIAN COMPLEX IN THE SOUTHEASTERN WHITE SEA AREA

Abstract

The subdivision and correlation scheme of the Vendian Complex is revised based on new data from outcrops along the eastern margin of the Baltic Shield (the southeastern White Sea area) and recently drilled boreholes. According to the established cyclic architecture of the sequence, the Vendian Complex is divided into the Lyamtsa, Verkhovka, Zimnic Gory, and Erga formations. Principal lithologic units of these subdivisions are described, and their facies relations and depositional environment are considered. It is suggested that the Vendian Complex accumulated in offshore settings as a result of southwestern progradation of a deltaic depositional system.