Reconstruction of the Age of Provenances for the Rare Metal-Titanium Placers of the Upper Neogene Ergeninskaya Formation (Karpinsky Ridge, Epi-Hercynian Scythian Platform)

Reconstruction of the provenance ages for terrigenous material of the Upper Neogene Ergeninskaya formation, which contains rare metal-titanium placers within the Ergeninskaya Upland, is carried out using a set of lithological and mineralogical methods, including isotopic U–Th–Pb dating of detrital zircon. The obtained data indicate that the source of terrigenous material was the chemical weathering crusts developed along the Neoproterozoic and the Mezoproterozoic (Riphean) volcano-plutonic complexes of the Voronezh anteclise and the Ukrainian Shield, that are almost completely eroded by now, as well as along the Paleoproterozoic and Archean crystalline rocks of the basement of these tectonic structures. Most likely, the products derived from breakdown of the above-mentioned rocks participated in the structure of the main intermediate collector, the role of which should have been played by Carboniferous sedimentary formations with an areal distribution in the south of the East European platform. The southeastern edge of the territory of the Donets folded structure acted as a proximal source of terrigenous material during the accumulation of the Ergeninsky placers, as indirectly evidenced by single crystals of detrital zircon with Triassic and Carboniferous U–Th–Pb age estimates.