The Pyh ntaka formation, southern Finland: a sequence of metasandstones and metavolcanic rocks upon an intra-orogenic unconformity

Detrital zircon studies suggest that the few quartzite occurrences in southern Finland are younger than 1.87 Ga and express sedimentation after 1.89–1.87 Ga accretional deformation and metamorphism in the Svecofennian orogenic belt. Detailed field work in the high-grade metamorphic Pyh ntaka area allowed to distinguish an overturnedformation within metagraywackes (cordierite paragneisses) and psammites. The Pyh ntaka formation has a maximum thickness of 1000 meters and consists of quartzite overlain by meta-arkose, metatuff, and metabasalt on top. An uncorformity, expressed by aweathering surface, separates the quartzite from underlying metagraywacke. The metavolcanic rocks within, stratigraphically underlying and overlying the Pyh ntaka formation are mostly basalts and basaltic andesites, but a felsic volcanic rock and dacitic fragments in volcaniclastic rocks imply bimodal affinity. The quartzite was deposited during a stable intra-orogenic period probably after accretion but before 1.83–1.80 Ga collisionaldeformation and metamorphism in the Svecofennian orogen. Rifting during the intraorogenic period and accumulation of variable material in the rift from nearby sources by fluvial processes is a viable scenario for deposition and preservation of the Pyh ntakaformation. Geochemical diagrams of the metavolcanic rocks show a scatter that is best explained by source heterogeneity and crustal contamination. Despite their (likely) postaccretion setting the basaltic rocks show arc-type characteristics due to subduction-modified lithospheric mantle sources. Because of recycling, also the paragneisses in the Pyh ntaka area are geochemically similar in spite that they represent different tectonic settings. The use of elemental geochemistry alone appears to be insufficient for discriminatingtectonic settings of basalts or graywackes in the Svecofennian of southern Finland where accretion and post-accretion settings were largely obliterated by late collision.