Neodymium isotope mapping a polygenetic TTG batholith: Failed back-arc rifting in the Central Metasedimentary Belt, SW Grenville Province

Author(s):  
Jacob Strong ◽  
Alan Dickin

Fifty-five new Nd isotope analyses are presented for plutonic orthogneisses from the Grimsthorpe domain in the marble-rich segment of the Grenvillian Central Metasedimentary Belt (CMB) to test the back-arc aulacogen model for its origin. Nd isotope analyses from the Weslemkoon batholith, Elzevir batholith, Lingham Lake complex and Canniff tonalite are used to probe the crustal formation age of their source rocks. Despite its concentric foliation, the Weslemkoon batholith displays a complex geochemical pattern consisting of several NE trending domains with older TDM ages, surrounded by juvenile crustal material. The new Nd isotope results, coupled with geochemistry for the Weslemkoon and Elzevir batholiths depict the fragmentation of a block of old crust that formed a screen between en echelon segments of a mid-Mesoproterozoic back-arc rift zone. The isotope boundaries identified within the Weslemkoon batholith delineate magma pulses sampling two distinct sources, interpreted as Laurentian basement and juvenile basaltic underplate. Underplating could be attributed to slab rollback under the pre-Grenvillian continental margin arc. The intensification of rift-related magmatism in the CMB is demonstrated by its bimodal petrological character. A modern analogue for the tectonic context of the CMB is the Gulf of California, where subduction-related magmatism has transitioned to rift-related magmatism. However, the Gulf of California exhibits more transcurrent motion than is evidenced by the geometry of the CMB rift. A geometrical analogue for the break-up of the Elzevir block between two rift segments is provided by the Danakil block of the Red Sea, which is currently undergoing similar tectonic fragmentation.

2015 ◽  
Vol 153 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALAN DICKIN ◽  
EDEN HYNES ◽  
JACOB STRONG ◽  
MARK WISBORG

AbstractNearly 70 new Nd isotope analyses are presented for plutonic orthogneisses from the Grenvillian Central Metasedimentary Belt (CMB) in order to test a back-arc aulacogen model for its origin. Nd isotope signatures of metaplutonic rocks are used as probes of the formation age of the crust at depth, revealing sharp boundaries between old crustal blocks and juvenile (1.2–1.35 Ga) Elzevirian-age crust. Firstly, a hidden block of old crustal basement is revealed between areas of juvenile crust south of Douglas, Ontario. Secondly, TDM ages refine the boundary between juvenile crust and old basement (1.35–1.55 Ga) within the Weslemkoon batholith, showing this pluton to be a polygenetic stitching pluton that straddles a hidden crustal boundary. Finally, the CMB boundary zone is shown to form a sharp age boundary between juvenile and old crustal domains, and is interpreted as a reactivated rift-bounding normal fault. When the distribution of rift-related alkaline rocks is compared with these crustal boundaries, the Bancroft nepheline syenite suite is centrally located in a juvenile ensimatic zone between blocks of old basement. Such a location, near the axis of a juvenile crustal segment, implies emplacement late in the rifting process. Similarly, the Blue Mountain nepheline syenite appears to post-date an earlier rifting event to the southeast. Hence, a multi-stage model is proposed for the evolution of a back-arc aulacogen, which is consistent with the distribution of marble and volcanic/plutonic units in the CMB. The model places the Bancroft nepheline syenites in a precise plate tectonic context for the first time.


2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
pp. 539-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. DICKIN ◽  
R. H. MCNUTT

Fifty new Nd isotope analyses are presented from the North Bay area of the Grenville Province in Ontario. These data are used to map the extent of an allochthonous Grenvillian terrane which is an outlier of the Allochthonous Polycyclic Belt of the Grenville Province. Amphibolite facies orthogneisses from the allochthonous terrane have depleted mantle Nd model ages (TDM) below 1.8 Ga, whereas the gneisses of the structurally underlying parautochthon almost invariably have model ages above 1.8 Ga. The distribution of model ages is consistent with the distribution of distinct types of metabasic rock, used by other researchers as the criterion for recognizing rocks of the allochthonous and parautochthonous belts of the Grenville Province. The agreement between these different types of evidence demonstrates that Nd isotope mapping is a reliable and powerful tool for mapping terrane boundaries in high-grade metamorphic belts.


Author(s):  
Alan Dickin ◽  
Jacob Strong

Nd isotope analyses are presented for granitoid rocks from the western part of Frontenac Terrane in the Grenville Province of Ontario. TDM ages show no correlation with the silica content of the rocks, but instead correlate with geographical location, suggesting that the TDM ages are indicative of regional crustal formation age, and do not result from mixing between sources with different provenance ages. Based on these observations, we identify a new crustal age boundary that follows the Desert Lake – Canoe Lake fault and the Rideau Lake fault, and hence a new juvenile crustal block (Westport domain). This domain is identified as part of the ensimatic back-arc rift zone that formed the juvenile segment of the Central Metasedimentary Belt in Ontario. However, additional sampling along the Ottawa River suggests that the juvenile Westport domain does not extend into Quebec. Instead, a narrower ensialic rift zone is represented by the Marble domain in Quebec. Based on comparison with the Taupo volcanic zone and the northern Red Sea as modern analogues, we suggest that the transition from a wide ensimatic rift zone in Ontario to a narrow ensialic rift in Quebec was accommodated by transtensional motion along a zone of diffuse shear east of Ottawa.


2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 165-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
A P Dickin

Ninety-eight new Nd-isotope analyses are presented for gneissic rocks from the Grenville Province. When combined with over 250 published Nd analyses and some unpublished analyses, these data can be used to establish a first-order crustal formation age map for most of the Grenville parautochthon and allochthonous polycyclic belt. In particular, the geographic extents of a juvenile Labradorian arc (Labradoria) and a juvenile 1.5 Ga arc (Quebecia) are defined, each with an area probably in excess of 100 000 km2. In addition, pre-1.75 Ga arcs are identified in Ontario (Barilia) and Labrador (Makkovikia). This work largely fills the last major gap in the continent-wide crustal formation age map of the Precambrian Shield of North America.


2018 ◽  
Vol 481 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masatsugu Ogasawara ◽  
Mayuko Fukuyama ◽  
Rehanul Haq Siddiqui ◽  
Ye Zhao

AbstractThe Mansehra granite in the NW Himalaya is a typical Lesser Himalayan granite. We present here new whole-rock geochemistry, Rb–Sr and Sm–Nd isotope data, together with zircon U–Pb ages and Hf isotope data, for the Mansehra granite. Geochemical data for the granite show typical S-type characteristics. Zircon U–Pb dating yields 206Pb/238U crystallization ages of 483–476 Ma. The zircon grains contain abundant inherited cores and some of these show a clear detrital origin. The 206Pb/238U ages of the inherited cores in the granite cluster in the ranges 889–664, 1862–1595 and 2029 Ma. An age of 664 Ma is considered to be the maximum age of the sedimentary protoliths. Thus the Late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian sedimentary rocks must be the protolith of the Mansehra granitic magma. The initial Sr isotope ratios are high, ranging from 0.7324 to 0.7444, whereas the εNd(t) values range from −9.2 to −8.6, which strongly suggests a large contribution of old crustal material to the protoliths. The two-stage Nd model ages and zircon Hf model ages are Paleoproterozoic, indicating that the protolith sediments were derived from Paleoproterozoic crustal components.


2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 879-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yana Fedortchouk ◽  
William LeBarge

Source rocks for the platinum group minerals (PGM), historically reported in a number of Yukon placers, remain either unknown or poorly understood. A study of heavy-mineral samples from five creeks draining bedrock in west and central Yukon was undertaken to confirm the presence of placer platinum, to determine which mafic–ultramafic rock is the source of PGM in Kluane area, southern Yukon, and to explain platinum occurrences in Canadian and Florence creeks, central Yukon, where no known mafic–ultramafic rocks are present. Diverse composition of chromian spinel and clinopyroxenes from three creeks in the Kluane area indicate several sources of ultramafic rocks, including fragments of Alpine-type peridotites formed in back-arc basin and mid-ocean-ridge settings, and a source rock for zoned zinc-rich chromites of unknown origin. The Kluane ultramafic sills are the most likely source of PGM in this area. The heavy-mineral sample from Canadian Creek returned one PGM grain, no chromite, and abundant ilmenite and titanomagnetite. A group of chromium-rich magnesian ilmenites (∼4 wt.% MgO) closely match the composition of ilmenites from continental mafic intrusions produced during continental rift magmatism. This supports the continental rifting event recently proposed for this part of Yukon and indicates the economic potential of the Canadian Creek platinum occurrence. Composition of spinel from Florence Creek sample indicates an Alaskan-type intrusion as the source of PGM.


2006 ◽  
Vol 70 (18) ◽  
pp. A564
Author(s):  
J. Schneider ◽  
B.-M. Jahn ◽  
K. Okamoto ◽  
L. Tong ◽  
Y. Iizuka ◽  
...  

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