Geological framework of the Volhyn copper fields with a review of the Volhyn Flood Basalt Province (western margin of the East-European Craton)

Abstract

Zarys budowy geologicznej wołyńskiej prowincji miedzionośnej (zachodnia krawędź wschodnioeuropejskiej płyty) Geological structure of the Volhyn Flood Basalt Province has been described. Hydrothermally altered and partly eroded Vendian lava flows and intraflow pyroclastics occur upon an area of about 350,000 km in Belarus, Poland, the Ukraine, and Moldova. They host important native Cu mineralization. The Vendian volcanism developed during four volcanic phases, producing lava and pyroclastics within the Tomquist rift system along the Teisseyre-Tomquist margin. During the last two phases, the Vendian rift was tectonically parted with crust melting. The major volcanic activity occurred in the part superimposed on the deepest part of the older Late Riphean mid-Baltica rift system, which developed across the Tornquist rift. The rifting finished with opening of the Tornquist Ocean. Actually, the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and (or) Cainozoic beds cover the trappean volcanic plateau. The Ratne and Rafalovka-Bcrestovets copper fields are situated in the central part of the Lukow-Ratne swell and along western border o f the Ukrainian Shield, respectively. The ore-bearing basalts were partly eroded since the Devonian until the Late Cretaceous.