Structure of the Archean English River subprovince: implications for the tectonic evolution of the western Superior Province, Canada

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 947-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
R B Hrabi ◽  
A R Cruden
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Seismic Profile ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Structural Mapping ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Reflection Seismic ◽  
Winnipeg River ◽  
High Grade Metamorphism

The English River subprovince is one of two metasediment-dominated terranes in the western Superior Province. It has been interpreted as an accretionary complex, a foreland, or a fore-arc basin that developed and was subsequently deformed between the metavolcanic-rich Uchi subprovince and the orthogneiss- and metaplutonic-dominated Winnipeg River subprovince during a prolonged transpressive orogeny. To test these hypotheses, we combined a satellite image, aeromagnetic image, and Lithoprobe reflection seismic profile interpretation with detailed structural mapping to better characterize the internal geometry and significance of structural features in the western part of the subprovince in Ontario. Northward-directed subduction and collision of the Winnipeg River subprovince with the Uchi subprovince at ca. >2713–2698 Ma can account for the deposition of the sedimentary rocks, initial metamorphism, and the main phase of deformation in the subprovince, whereas the subduction of Wabigoon crust generated extensive tonalite magmatism in the Winnipeg River and English River subprovinces during the same period. A period of extension, after the docking of the Winnipeg River and Wabigoon subprovinces at ca. 2698 Ma, punctuated the compressive phases of the orogeny and was responsible for high-grade metamorphism, upward bending of the Moho, and localized deposition of late, coarse, alluvial–fluvial metasedimentary rocks. Renewed compression caused by the docking of the Wawa subprovince at ca. 2689–2684 Ma is likely responsible for a largely unrecognized regional upright folding and faulting event that controls the dominant structural geometry of the subprovince. Late in its tectonic evolution, strain was partitioned into dextral deformation that was strongly domainal and limited to the subprovince margins.

Age and isotopic composition of late Archean leucogranites: implications for continental collision in the western Superior Province

1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Larbi ◽  
R Stevenson ◽  
F Breaks ◽  
N Machado ◽  
C Gariépy
Keyword(s):  
Rare Metal ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Similar Data ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Metavolcanic Rocks ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince ◽  
Winnipeg River ◽  
Rare Metal Mineralization ◽  
Mantle Component

U-Pb and Sm-Nd isotopic data are presented for leucogranites and pegmatites from the boundary zones of the English River, Winnipeg River, and Wabigoon subprovinces in the late Archean Superior Province of northwestern Ontario. The Ghost Lake batholith and the Separation Rapids pluton are posttectonic, rare-metal-bearing, S-type leucogranites that were generated during the final stages of the amalgamation of the Superior Province. U-Pb dating of monazites yields ages of 2650 ± 3 Ma for a pegmatite from the Dryden area and 2646 ± 2 Ma for the Separation Rapids pluton. Sm-Nd data from these granitoids are compared with similar data from late Archean intrusions and adjacent rocks from the same regions. Values of εNd range from 0 to +2 for pretectonic tonalites, from -2 to +2 for both the Ghost Lake batholith and the Separation Rapids pluton, from +1 to +3.5 for metavolcanic rocks, and from -0.5 to -1.5 for metasedimentary rocks. There is an overall trend of decreasing εNd values from pretectonic tonalites to the latest leucocratic pegmatites. This reflects the origin of more and more granitoids as a result of anatexis as the crust grew and thickened through accretion. The ranges of εNd values found among leucogranites from the two regions overlap with the isotopic values of the basalts and sediments. This suggests that the leucogranites were generated by similar processes involving both a crustal and a juvenile mantle component. Furthermore, the ages from this study and from pegmatites (2652-2643 Ma) in the Bird River greenstone belt provide the best estimate of the age of rare metal mineralization in the western Superior Province. Similar ages (2651-2639 Ma) for rare-metal-bearing leucogranites in southern Abitibi subprovince suggest a specific period of emplacement over a wide area.

Structural features and some metallogenic patterns in the southern part of the Superior Province, Canada

1968 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1199-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kalliokoski
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Metal Sulfide ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Ore Deposits ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Sulfide Ore ◽  
Eastern Ontario ◽  
Broad Region

In the southern part of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield the Quetico belt of metasedimentary rocks extends northeasterly from Minnesota, across the Kapuskasing zone of crustal rifting, to southeast of James Bay. The belt forms part of a broader northeasterly-trending orogenic zone, and truncates the more westerly fold trends in the lavas and sedimentary rocks of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. It is suggested that the Quetico trend is the younger, and that the Quetico belt demarcates the geographic limits of the Kenoran orogen.In western Quebec and eastern Ontario three granite-cored massifs are bounded on their northern flanks by curved, regional faults and synclinal belts of metasedimentary rocks. The most important of these, the Pontiac Massif, is associated with a corresponding sediment-filled depression on the west.A broad region extending easterly and northeasterly from Lake Superior can be distinguished from contiguous areas on the basis of the abundance and extent of belts of iron-formation, many of these associated with acid volcanic rocks. It is proposed that these rocks were formed either in a restricted period of time or in a restricted volcanic-sedimentary environment.Massive, stratabound, pyritic base-metal sulfide ore deposits are most abundant in pre-Quetico rocks. They do not seem to be related to the processes associated with the deposition of abundant iron-formation.

Volcano dynamics vs tectonics on Mars: evidence from Pavonis Mons

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Pozzobon ◽  
Diana Orlandi ◽  
Carolina Pagli ◽  
Francesco Mazzarini
Keyword(s):  
Structural Features ◽  
Magma Source ◽  
Magmatic Activity ◽  
Normal Faulting ◽  
Azimuthal Distribution ◽  
Structural Mapping ◽  
Volcanic Province ◽  
Magmatic Source ◽  
Rocky Planets ◽  
Topographic Distribution

<p>Volcanic activity is widespread within the inner Solar system and it can be commonly observed on rocky planets.<br>In this work, we analyse the structures of Pavonis Mons, which is one of the three large volcanoes in the Tharsis volcanic province of Mars, by performing structural mapping, azimuth, and topographic distribution of linear features on the flanks of Pavonis, such as grabens and pit chains. We tested whether their formation is to be ascribed to the internal volcano dynamics and magmatic activity or the tectonics related to the Tharsis volcanic province activity.<br>Through the length size distribution and fractal clustering analyses of the structural features, we found that large grabens are vertically confined in the upper mechanical layers of the brittle crust whereas pit chains penetrate the whole crust up to the magmatic source, indicating that they can be considered the main feeders of Pavonis Mons. We inverted the topography with dykes and faults models to test whether grabens at the surface are the expression of intrusions at depth and we suggest that thin dykes inducing normal faulting is the most likely mechanism. Furthermore, two azimuthal distribution of the grabens are identified: concentric grabens occur on the volcano summit while linear grabens at its base show NE-SW trend as the Tharsis Montes volcanoes alignment. The analyses show that faults related to large grabens are confined in a mechanical layering in the upper layers of the brittle crust, whereas deeper structures such as pit chains are most likely associated to magma injection/dykes and therefore, connected to the subcrustal magma source at a depth of ~80–100 km.<br>Therefore, based on our results, we infer that Pavonis Mons recorded active rifting at the initial stages of development with the formation of the large linear graben and faults at its base followed by a phase of volcano growth and concentric magma intrusions when volcano and magma chamber dynamics prevailed</p>

scholarly journals Similar understorey structure in spite of edaphic and floristic dissimilarity in Amazonian forests

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lassi SUOMINEN ◽  
Kalle RUOKOLAINEN ◽  
Timo PITKÄNEN ◽  
Hanna TUOMISTO
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Forest Structure ◽  
Satellite Image ◽  
Light Availability ◽  
Floristic Composition ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Canopy Openness ◽  
Understorey Plants ◽  
Amazonian Forests ◽  
Geological Formations

Forest structure determines light availability for understorey plants. The structure of lowland Amazonian forests is known to vary over long edaphic gradients, but whether more subtle edaphic variation also affects forest structure has not beenresolved. In western Amazonia, the majority of non-flooded forests grow on soils derived either from relatively fertile sediments of the Pebas Formation or from poorer sediments of the Nauta Formation. The objective of this study was to compare structure and light availability in the understorey of forests growing on these two geological formations. We measured canopy openness and tree stem densities in three size classes in northeastern Peru in a total of 275 study points in old-growth terra firme forests representing the two geological formations. We also documented variation in floristic composition (ferns, lycophytes and the palm Iriartea deltoidea) and used Landsat TM satellite image information to model the forest structural and floristic features over a larger area. The floristic compositions of forests on the two formations were clearly different, and this could also be modelled with the satellite imagery. In contrast, the field observations of forest structure gave only a weak indication that forests on the Nauta Formation might be denser than those on the Pebas Formation. The modelling of forest structural features with satellite imagery did not support this result. Our results indicate that the structure of forest understorey varies much less than floristic composition does over the studied edaphic difference.

Integrated geophysical modelling of terranes and other structural features along the western Canadian margin

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1492-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Dehler ◽  
R. M. Clowes
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Pacific Rim ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Reflection Seismic ◽  
Barkley Sound ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Wrangellia Terrane ◽  
Lower Crustal

An integrated geophysical data set has been used to develop structural models across the continental margin west of Vancouver Island, Canada. A modern accretionary complex underlies the continental slope and shelf and rests against and below the allochthonous Crescent and Pacific Rim terranes. These terranes in turn abut against the pre-Tertiary Wrangellia terrane that constitutes most of the island. Gravity and magnetic anomaly data, constrained by seismic reflection, seismic refraction, and other data, were interpreted to determine the offshore positions of these terranes and related features. Iterative 2.5-dimensional forward models of anomaly profiles were stepped laterally along the margin to extend areal coverage over a 70 km wide swath oriented normal to the tectonic features. An average model was then developed to represent this part of the margin. The Pacific Rim terrane appears to be continuous and close to the coastline along the length of Vancouver Island, consistent with emplacement by strike-slip motion along the margin. The Westcoast fault, the boundary between the Pacific Rim and Wrangellia terranes, is interpreted to be 15 km farther seaward than in previous interpretations in the region of Barkley Sound. The Crescent terrane forms a thin landward-dipping slab along the southern half of the Vancouver Island margin, and cannot be confirmed along the northern part. Model results suggest the slab has buckled into an anticline beneath southern Vancouver Island and Juan de Fuca Strait, uplifting high-density lower crustal or upper mantle material close to the surface to produce the observed intense positive gravity anomaly. This geometry is consistent with emplacement of the Crescent terrane by oblique subduction.

scholarly journals Geology of the Epicentral Area of the November 23, 1980 Earthquake (Irpinia, Italy): New Stratigraphical, Structural and Petrological Constrains

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Matano ◽  
Silvio Di Nocera ◽  
Sara Criniti ◽  
Salvatore Critelli
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Structural Data ◽  
Southern Apennines ◽  
Structural Mapping ◽  
Epicentral Area ◽  
Kinematic Evolution ◽  
Stratigraphic Architecture ◽  
Stratigraphic Evolution ◽  
Basin System

The geology of the epicentral area of the 1980 earthquake (Irpinia-Lucania, Italy) is described with new stratigraphic, petrographic and structural data. Subsurface geological data have been collected during the studies for the excavation works of the Pavoncelli bis hydraulic tunnel, developing between Caposele and Conza della Campania in an area that was highly damaged during 1980 earthquake. Our approach includes geological, stratigraphic, structural studies, and petrological analyses of rock samples collected along the tunnel profile and in outcropping sections. Stratigraphic studies and detailed geological and structural mapping were carried out in about 200 km2 wide area. The main units cropping out have been studied and correlated in order to document the effects of tectonic changes during the orogenic evolution on the foreland basin systems and the sandstone detrital modes in this sector of the southern Apennines. The multi-disciplinary and updated datasets have allowed getting new insights on the tectono-stratigraphic evolution and stratigraphic architecture of the southern Apennines foreland basin system and on the structural and stratigraphic relations of Apennines tectonic units and timing of their kinematic evolution. They also allowed to better understand the relationships between internal and external basin units within the Apennine thrust belt and its tectonic evolution.

40Ar/39Ar Incremental Release Ages of Biotite and Hornblende from Pre-Kenoran Gneisses between the Matagami-Chibougamau and Frotet-Troilus Greenstone Belts, Quebec

1974 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1586-1593 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Dallmeyer
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Thermal Event ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Orogenic Belts ◽  
Gas Fractions

Biotite and hornblende from high-grade, granitic gneisses exposed between the Matagami-Chibougamau and Frotet-Troilus greenstone belts in Quebec have been affected by Kenoran metamorphism. Biotites record total gas 40Ar/39Ar ages of 2308 ± 30 m.y. and 2338 ± 30 m.y. Incrementally released gas fractions yield similar plateau ages, suggesting that the biotites have been totally degassed as a result of the thermal event. The ages are interpreted as reflecting the time of post-metamorphic cooling when radiogenic 40Ar began to be retained within biotite. Hornblendes record total gas 40Ar/39Ar ages of 2517 ± 40 m.y. and 2610 ± 40 m.y. Incrementally released gas fractions show a wide deviation from the total gas ages, with a continuous increase in age from low to high temperature release fractions. This lack of correlation suggests that the hornblendes have been only partially degassed by Kenoran metamorphism. However, lack of a high-temperature release plateau indicates that original meramorphic crystallization was older than the ages recorded by the highest temperature release fractions (2599 ± 40 and 2801 ± 40 m.y.). Recognition of an older sialic terrain between these greenstone belts supports recent models proposed for the tectonic evolution of the supracrustal orogenic belts in the Superior Province.

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