The Jack Hills greenstone belt, Western AustraliaPart 2: Lithological relationships and implications for the deposition of ≥4.0Ga detrital zircons

2007 ◽  
Vol 155 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 261-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
C SPAGGIARI ◽  
R PIDGEON ◽  
S WILDE
1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Corfu ◽  
S. L. Jackson ◽  
R. H. Sutcliffe

The paper presents U–Pb ages for zircons of the calc-alkalic to alkalic igneous suite and associated alluvial–fluvial sedimentary rocks of the Timiskaming Group in the late Archean Abitibi greenstone belt, Superior Province. The Timiskaming Group rests unconformably on pre-2700 Ma komatiitic to calc-alkalic volcanic sequences and is the expression of the latest stages of magmatism and tectonism that shaped the greenstone belt. An age of 2685 ± 3 Ma for the Bidgood quartz porphyry, an age of about 2685–2682 Ma for a quartz–feldspar porphyry clast in a conglomerate, and ages ranging from 2686 to 2680 Ma for detrital zircons in sandstones appear to reflect an early stage in the development of the Timiskaming Group. The youngest detrital zircons in each of three sandstones at Timmins, Kirkland Lake, and south of Larder Lake define maximum ages of sedimentation at about 2679 Ma; the latter sandstone is cut by a porphyry dyke dated by titanite at [Formula: see text], identical to the 2677 ± 2 Ma age for a volcanic agglomerate of the Bear Lake Formation north of Larder Lake. Similar ages have previously been reported for syenitic to granitic plutons of the region. The dominant period of Timiskaming sedimentation and magmatism was thus 2680–2677 Ma. Xenocrystic zircons found in a porphyry and a lamprophyre dyke have ages of 2750–2720 Ma, which correspond to the ages of the oldest units in the belt, predating the volumetrically dominant ca. 2700 Ma greenstone sequences. The presence of these xenocrysts and the onlapping of the Timiskaming Group on all earlier lithotectonic units of the southern Abitibi belt support the concept that the 2700 Ma ensimatic sequences were thrust onto older assemblages during a phase of compression that culminated with the generation of tonalite and granodiorite at about 2695–2688 Ma. Published geochemical data for the Timiskaming igneous suite, notably the enrichments in large-ion lithophile elements and light rare-earth elements and the relative depletion of Nb, Ta, and Ti compare with the characteristics of suites at modern convergent settings such as the Eolian and the Banda arcs and are consistent with generation of the melts from deep metasomatized mantle in the final stages of, or after cessation of, subduction. Late- and post-Timiskaming compression caused north-directed thrusting and folding. Turbiditic sedimentary units of the Larder Lake area which locally structurally overly the alluvial–fluvial sequence and were earlier thought to be part of the Timiskaming Group, appear to be older "flyschoid" sequences, possibly correlative with sedimentary rocks deposited in the Porcupine syncline at Timmins between 2700 and 2690 Ma.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 945-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Zaleski ◽  
Otto van Breemen ◽  
Virginia L Peterson

Fifty million years of Archean evolution is recorded in the Manitouwadge greenstone belt and the Wawa-Quetico boundary region, from ca. 2720 Ma volcanism and subvolcanic plutonism associated with massive sulphide deposits and hydrothermal alteration zones, to 2689-2687 Ma and 2680-2677 Ma synkinematic plutonism. In the greenstone belt, greywackes were deposited after 2693 Ma, post-dating local volcanism by at least 25 Ma, and requiring that the volcanic-sedimentary contact is an unconformity or a fault. In migmatitic greywackes in the Quetico subprovince, detrital zircons limit the depositional age to <2690 Ma, permitting correlation of greywackes across the Wawa-Quetico subprovince boundary. Upward-facing inclined F2 folds that deform the volcanic-sedimentary contact are bracketed by the 2687 ± 2 Ma Loken Lake pluton, which shows strong D2 fabrics, and by 2680+4-3 Ma foliated granite which cuts D2 fabrics. Dextral transpression producing regional F3 folds and the overall east-west trends of the Wawa-Quetico boundary region post-dated the 2680 ± 2 Ma Nama Creek pluton. Field relationships and isotopic ages support correlation of greywackes across the subprovince boundary, and demonstrate that most or all of the ductile deformation post-dated sedimentation. Ductile structures, especially those associated with dextral transpression, are not directly related to juxtaposition of the Wawa and Quetico subprovinces, as these were already contiguous, either through sedimentation on a volcanic substrate or as a result of earlier cryptic structures. Our results imply that the belt-like configuration of the subprovinces, emphasized in accretionary models of the Superior Province, is a relatively late feature that overprints older, tectonically significant structures.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Tarduno ◽  
Rory Cottrell ◽  
Axel Hofmann

&lt;p&gt;Understanding the pre-Paleoarchean geodynamo is arguably the greatest technical challenge for paleomagnetism: only silicate crystals bearing magnetic inclusions now found in younger sedimentary units may have escaped the metamorphism that otherwise excludes extant Paleoarchean to Hadean whole rocks from consideration. The recent optical and electron microscope documentation of primary magnetite inclusions in Jack Hills zircons (Tarduno et al., &lt;em&gt;PNAS&lt;/em&gt;, 2020), previously predicted by paleomagnetic unblocking temperatures, together with microconglomerate test results, Pb-Pb radiometric age data and Li-diffusion constraints, support a geodynamo as old as 4.2 billion-years-old. While the available record is to first-order consistent with a continuous geodynamo since the Hadean, there are several 50-100 m.y. gaps in the record. Herein we examine these gaps and further test the paleointensity history derived from Jack Hills zircons through study of Paleoarchean and older detrital zircons of the Singhbum craton of eastern India. Preliminary paleomagnetic and paleointensity data suggest the presence of a primary magnetism, magnetite inclusion carriers and field strengths similar to those of the Jack Hills record.&lt;/p&gt;


Geology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 427-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P. Weiss ◽  
Roger R. Fu ◽  
Joshua F. Einsle ◽  
David. R. Glenn ◽  
Pauli Kehayias ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1019-1036 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dziggel ◽  
R. A. Armstrong ◽  
G. Stevens ◽  
L. Nasdala

AbstractSHRIMP U-Pb zircon and titanite dating have been used to constrain the timing of mid- to lower- crustal metamorphism (∼650—700°C and 8—11 kbar) and syn-kinematic melting in the granitoid gneiss- dominated terrane south of the Barberton greenstone belt, South Africa. This study is concentrated on a clastic metasedimentary unit exposed in one of several greenstone remnants and a late-kinematic trondhjemite intrusive into spatially associated mixed gneisses. Locally, the clastic metasediments show extensive replacement of garnet and plagioclase by epidote and titanite. The titanites yield an upper intercept date of 3229±9 Ma, and provide a minimum age for the peak of metamorphism. Zircons separated from the same unit record a range of concordant and near-concordant 207Pb/206Pb dates between ∼3560 and 3230 Ma, the youngest group yielding a weighted mean date of 3227±7 Ma. This range of dates is interpreted to be due to a combination of metamorphic recrystallization and high- temperature Pb-loss in originally detrital zircons during regional metamorphism. A minimum age for the timing of deformation is given by the emplacement age of 3229±5 Ma for the late-kinematic trondhjemite. Thus, geochronological data support the notion of a major metamorphic episode that coincided with the proposed short-lived terrane accretion event in the centre of the Barberton greenstone belt.


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