We present new structural, petrographic, geochemical and geochronological data for the late Paleozoic–early Mesozoic granites and associated igneous rocks of the Taimyr Peninsula. It is demonstrated that large volumes of granites were formed due to the oblique collision of the Kara microcontinent and the Siberian paleocontinent. Based on U-Th-Pb isotope data for zircons, we identify syncollisional (315–282 Ma) and postcollisional (264–248 Ma) varieties, which differ not only in age but also in petrochemical and geochemical features. It is also shown that as the postcollisional magmatism was coming to an end, Siberian plume magmatism manifested in the Kara orogen and was represented by basalts and dolerites of the trap formation (251–249 Ma), but also by differentiated and individual intrusions of monzonites, quartz monzonites and syenites (Early–Middle Triassic) with a mixed crustal-mantle source. We present a geodynamic model for the formation of the Kara orogen and discuss the relationship between collisional and trap magmatism.

Eastern part of the Central Taimyr belt is composed of Precambrian rocks penetrated by granites of the Snezhnaya complex (845–825 million years) and later overlain by mid‐Neoproterozoic sin‐ postorogenic sedimentary deposits of the Stanovaya‐Kolosova Group. Two competing concepts on the Precambrian history of the belt are dis‐ cussed. The first suggests that by the middle of the Neoproterozoic amalgamation of various terrains formed the Cen‐ tral Taimyr microcontinent, which afterwards collided with Siberia in Vendian. 2) According to the second point of view, which is shared by the authors of this article, the belt was part of the Siberian craton from at least the Mesopro‐ terozoic, and there is no suture that would separate it from the South Taimyr belt. To our surprise, during the field work in the South‐Eastern part of the Central Taimyr belt near the proposed “Vendian sutura”, assumed by the first concept, we found a granite pluton (Pregradnaya massif) intruding clastic rocks of Stanovaya‐Kolosova Group. Such setting is quite uncommon for the belt and contradicted to publications, describing the mentioned clastic rocks to overlay the granites and contain their debris. Dating of the pluton confirmed the field observations – its SRIMP zircon age has proved to be 609±2 Ma, an unusually young for this region. The pluton is located in a wide deformation zone separating the Precambrian rocks (to the northwest) and the Paleozoic deposits (to the southeast). Two minor bodies of similar porphyritic granite were found in the same zone further to the southwest, and it seemed logical to assume that a chain of Vendian granites marks boundary deformation zone. However, their dating (843±6 и 840±5 Ma) showed that they belong to Snezhnaya complex. In this paper, we discuss two Neoproterozoic magmatic ‘flare‐ups’ in the Central Taimyr Belt, which are dated at 845–825 and 640–610 Ma. Both ‘flare‐ups’ are evidenced by K‐rich per‐ aluminous granite batholiths intruded the upper crust. It is most probable that each flare‐up was related to a collision event completing an independent cycle in the evolution of the active margin of the Siberian paleocontinent.

Despite significant progress in Arctic geological studies, a number of principal questions concerning the Paleozoic collisional events remain unanswered. Therefore, the Taimyr Peninsula, representing the only outcropped high Arctic region where magmatic complexes, formed by Hercynian collision between the Siberian Craton and the Kara Block, are well exposed, is crucially important. In this paper we report new geochemical and geochronological data for intrusions in the poorly studied northeastern part of the Taimyr Peninsula. The obtained results in combination with published data show that supra-subduction magmatism at the southern active margin of the Kara Block continued from ca. 345 to 285 Ma (Early Carboniferous to Early Permian), and was followed by a post-collisional magmatic pulse that affected the whole Taimyr across terrane boundaries at ca. 280 Ma in the Early Permian. After cessation of the post-collisional magmatism at ca. 265 Ma, the Taimyr experienced extension, and voluminous magmatic series associated with a Siberian mantle plume were formed between 251 and 228 Ma during the Triassic. The studied post-collisional and plume-related intrusions of the Northeastern Taimyr are generally classified as evolved high-K I-type granites with adakitic affinity. The latter is a regional feature because the majority of the analyzed plume-related granitoids are geochemically similar to high potassium continental adakites. It is suggested that the adakitic geochemical characteristics of the plume-related granitoids resulted from melting of hydrated mafic lower crustal protoliths and were controlled by the source lithology. Comparison of the new results with data available for adjacent areas allows for correlation of terranes on a regional scale and sheds light on the evolution of the Arctic continental margins in general. In the Early–Middle Paleozoic, the Kara Block was part of a continental terrane that formed at the northern edge of Baltica as a result of Neoproterozoic Timanian orogeny. In the Early Carboniferous, the southern margin of Kara turned into an active margin, while its inferred continuation in the eastern Uralian margin of Baltica remained a passive margin until the Early Permian. This discrepancy can be explained by dextral displacement of Kara relative to Baltica that took place in the Early Carboniferous and was later accommodated by the formation of the Taimyr collisional belt in the course of the Early Permian collision between Kara and Siberia. After collision, the Taimyr was incorporated into the northern Eurasian margin as an uplifted block that experienced surface erosion and supplied clastic material in surrounding basins.

Injection carbonatites of volcanic-plutonic origin with Au-bearing base-metal sulfide mineralization were established in 2006–2007 along the southern slope of the Byrranga Range in the Russian continental sector of the Arctic. According to thermobarogeochemical data, carbonatites were formed at a temperature not lower than 380–410°C from boiling gas-liquid H₂O-CO₂-salt fluids under decompression. The REE concentrations and patterns of sedimentary and magmatic carbonates are sharply distinct. Carbonatites are enriched in REE as compared to carbonates from limestone and are characterized by an REE distribution close to MORB. The geochronological and isotopic geochemical study of zircons has shown that carbonatite bodies (lavas?) were formed 238–219 Ma ago (Middle-Late Triassic); zircon crystallized at a high temperature. Detrital zircons from the Lower Carboniferous crinoid limestone are not younger than 594 Ma. The absolute predominance of Precambrian zircons, which are variable in age, indicates that they were captured from the crust, when carbonatitic magma ascended from subcrustal depths.

This study utilized SHRIMP, LA MC–ICP–MS and ID-TIMS analytical techniques and presents for the first time U–Pb age, Lu-Hf-isotope features of zircon and the Nd-isotope composition of variously mineralized rocks from the ore-bearing Dyumtaley intrusion, one of the most promising targets for platinum-group element (PGE)-Cu–Ni ores within the Taimyr metallogenic province. ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U ages of zircon from monzodiorite and gabbro of the Dyumtaley intrusion (250.9 ± 3.1 to 253 ± 1 Ma, respectively) indicate their close temporal relationship to a Permo-Triassic boundary and synchronism with a tholeiite-basaltic volcanism of the Siberian platform. Hafnium-neodymium isotope signatures (εHf_(t) 6.9–8.5, εNd_(t) 2.9–4.2) imply the significant role of the depleted mantle material in magma generation of the Dyumtaley intrusion.

The Taimyr Peninsula in the Russian High Arctic comprises a late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic collisional belt where several porphyry-type mineralization occurrences were identified during the last decade, making this area a potential exploration target for Cu-Mo deposits. In order to further evaluate the metallogenic potential of the poorly outcropped northeastern part of Taimyr, samples from seven granitoid intrusions were investigated in this study aimed to evaluate the granite fertility based on petrography, geochemistry, and composition of porphyry indicator minerals (zircon, apatite, and titanite). The studied intrusions represent small to moderate-sized bodies (40–800 km²) composed of biotite (±amphibole) quartz monzonites, granodiorites, granites, and biotite leucogranites that formed in the course of late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic tectono-magmatic events at the Siberian margins. The late Carboniferous Tessemsky massif represents suprasubduction granitoid series, while the Pekinskiy, Shirokinskiy, Dorozhinskiy, Kristifensenskiy, and Yuzhno-Lodochnikovskiy massifs are correlated with the early Triassic Siberian Traps LIP. The rocks of intrusions comprise a relatively uniform geochemically, predominantly magnesian, slightly peraluminous, calc-alkaline high-K amphibole-bearing I-type granitoid series with adakitic affinity, where Triassic plume-related granitoids inherit geochemical signatures of Carboniferous supra-subduction granitoids, and all rock types are marked by enrichment in LILE and negative Ta, Nb, and Ti anomalies. It is suggested that the adakitic geochemical characteristics of the Taimyr granites are a result of derivation from a relatively homogeneous mafic lower crustal source that formed at the stage of Carboniferous continental subduction and continued to produce granitic melts in the course of the early Mesozoic magmatic evolution. Whole rock geochemistry and composition of porphyry mineral indicators (zircon, apatite, and titanite) indicate that the Taimyr granites crystallized from oxidized water-saturated magmas at moderate temperatures, with the majority of samples showing characteristics typical for porphyry-fertile granites worldwide (fO₂ = ΔFMQ +1 to +3 with zircon Eu/Eu* > 0.4 and apatite SO₃ > 0.2 wt.%). Data from Dorozhinskiy, Kristifensenskiy, Pekinskiy, and Tessemskiy intrusions fully match geochemical criteria for porphyry-fertile granitoids, and these massifs are considered the most prospective for Cu-Mo mineralization. Granites from Shirokinskiy and Yuzhno-Lodochnikovskiy intrusions only partially match compositional constraints for fertile melts and can be considered as second-tier exploration targets. Finally, available data for the Simsovsky massif preclude its classification as a porphyry-fertile body. These conclusions are in line with previously developed exploration criteria for the northeastern Taimyr, showing that geochemical indicators of granite-fertility can be used on a regional scale in parallel with other exploration methods.