Pilot apatite fission track study of Furongian sandstones from Severnaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic

Sandstones collected from the late Cambrian (Furongian) Kurchavaya Formation exposed in the south-east of October Revolution Island of the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago were subjected to apatite fission track analysis to determine their low temperature (<110°C) thermal histories. Apatite yields were generally poor but one sample yielded a Late Devonian central age with surprisingly long (> 14µm) mean track lengths indicative of rapid cooling followed by long—term residence at shallow crustal levels. This is confirmed by the fission track thermal history model that shows rapid cooling to <50° between 360-390 Ma and no significant reburial thereafter, i.e. the sampled rock remained at a depth of c. 2 km since the Late Devonian. Whether this sample is representative of the region is no yet known. If so it would imply that the Uralian and Cimmerian deformations recognised on Novaya Zemlya and Taimyr (Scott & Carter 2009, unpublished CASP report) did not affect this part of Severnaya Zemlya. More AFT work is required, especially from the Bol'shevik Island of Severnaya Zemlya, to test if this is the case.