Tectonics and geodynamics of granulite-gneiss complexes in the East European Craton

The Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic granulite-gneiss complexes of the northern East European Craton, including their tectonic setting, accompanying igneous and sedimentary rocks, character of metamorphism and deep structure are considered in this paper. A similar approach was applied to the description and interpretation of the granulite-gneiss complexes of the Grenville-Sveconorwegian Orogen localized in the present-day structure of the European and North American continents. One of the most important results of this study is the recognition of a new type of tectonic structures called intracontinental oval orogens. These orogens were formed in the inner domain of the Neoarchean-Proterozoic supercontinent (2.8–0.85 Ga), which is called Lauroscandia. The extensional setting, which was initiated by a series of mantle plumes, locally passing to spreading but did not lead to the eventual breakup of the supercontinent and was followed by intracontinental collisional compression accompanied by closure of short-lived local oceans, subduction, and obduction. The Neoarchean and Proterozoic granulite-gneiss belts and areas of the East European Craton are components of the Karelian-Belomorian, Kola, Volgo-Uralia, Lauro-Russian, and Grenville-Sveconorwegian intracontinental oval orogens formed in the inner domain of Lauroscandia as a result of mantle-plume and plate-tectonic processes initiated by mantle superplumes. The geodynamic settings and tectonic processes in the Neoarchean-Proterozoic supercontinent differed markedly from both the Archean tectonics of miniplates and the Phanerozoic plate tectonics.