Bulletin of the Geological Society of Finland,Vol. 77, 2005, pp. 49–63 The Mesoproterozoic sub-Heddersvatnet unconformity, Telemark, South Norway Kauko Laajoki Department of Geosciences, University of Oulu, P. O. Box 3000, 90014 University of Oulu, Finland Abstract The 1.51 Ga Rjukan group,Telemark, S Norway, is divided into felsic volcanic rocks of the Tuddal formation and mafic rocks of the Vemork formation. It is overlain by the sedimen- tary rocks of the Vindeggen group (1.50–1.17 Ga), starting with the arkosic Heddersvatnet formation.The contact between the Rjukan and Vindeggen groups has been variably inter- preted in the literature.New field data indicate that the contact corresponds to an uncon- formity,corroborating Wyckoff’s early observations in 1934.The contact is referred to as the sub-Heddersvatnet unconformity. The nature of the contact varies. Around Lake Heddersvatnet, it most likely represents an angular unconformity with a sharp, erosional surface,whereas near Lake Skjesvatnet a thin in situ palaeoweathering crust developed on a massive Tuddal porphyry defines it. These observations indicate that the sub-Heddersvatnet unconformity represents a deeply weathered land surface cutting diverse folded Tuddal units. How big is the time gap it rep- resents and the nature of the pre-Vindeggen deformation are open questions as the sed- imentation age of the Heddersvatnet formation is unknown and the structure of the Rju- kan group has not been studied on a regional scale. Key words: metasedimentary rocks, metavolcanic rocks, lithostratigraphy, unconformities, Mesoproterozoic,Rjukan,Vindeggen,Telemark, Norway e-mail:
[email protected].fi 50 K. Laajoki 1.