Tectono-stratigraphic setting of the Moreton’s Harbour Group and its implications for the evolution of the Laurentian margin: Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland1This article is one of a series of papers published in this CJES Special Issue: In honour of Ward Neale on the theme of Appalachian and Grenvillian geology.

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Cutts ◽  
A. Zagorevski ◽  
V. McNicoll ◽  
S.D. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Propagation Model ◽  
Ophiolite Belt ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Layered Gabbro ◽  
Intrusive Rocks ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Ridge Propagation ◽  
Magmatic Suite

The Moreton’s Harbour Group lies along the Red Indian Line, the fundamental Iapetus suture that separates rocks of peri-Laurentian affinity with rocks of peri-Gondwanan affinity in the Newfoundland Appalachians. Characterization of age and environment of formation of the Moreton’s Harbour Group is an important constraint on evolution of the Laurentian margin during Ordovician closure of Iapetus Ocean and associated marginal basins. The Moreton’s Harbour Group comprises a fault-bounded ophiolitic sequence of layered gabbro, sheeted diabase, pillow basalt, and felsic intrusive rocks. It is offset by high-angle shear zones that were contemporaneous with a 477.4 ± 0.4 Ma syn-tectonic and syn-magmatic suite of trondhjemite and tonalite. Trace element data from the felsic suite indicate formation in a supra-subduction zone setting, although isotopic data from the felsic intrusive rocks (εNd (–5.02) to (–10.53), Tdm 1200–1800 Ma) indicate a significant amount of contamination from Mesoproterozoic or older continental crust. The age and tectonic setting of the Moreton’s Harbour Group suggest that it is the northernmost extent of the ca. 480 Ma Annieopsquotch Ophiolite Belt. We present a model in which the Moreton’s Harbour Group formed in response to propagation of the Annieopsquotch Ophiolite Belt spreading centre into the Dashwoods microcontinent. This ridge propagation model supports the formation of the Annieopsquotch Ophiolite Belt immediately outboard of Dashwoods and explains its rapid accretion to the composite Laurentian margin.

Age and tectonic setting of the Nesåa Batholith: implications for Ordovician arc development in the Caledonides of Central Norway

2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. B. MEYER ◽  
T. GRENNE ◽  
R. B. PEDERSEN
Keyword(s):  
Rare Earth ◽  
Partial Melting ◽  
Continental Margin ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Active Continental Margin ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Magma Ascent ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Laurentian Margin

New U–Pb zircon dating yields a crystallization age of 458±3 Ma for the largely gabbroic Grøndalsfjell Intrusive Complex in the Gjersvik Nappe of the Caledonian Upper Allochthon in Scandinavia. This is identical, within error, to the age of the adjacent Møklevatnet Complex that is dominated by quartz monzodiorite (456±2 Ma), and the two intrusive suites may be regarded as members of a composite intrusion here referred to as the Nesåa Batholith. Mafic members of this calc-alkaline batholith are characterized by slightly positive εNd–εSr values, marked enrichment of the light rare earth elements and high Th/Yb ratios suggestive of a subduction-modified mantle source. The I-type granitoids have similar isotope values and highly fractionated rare earth element patterns, and are interpreted as products from partial melting of garnet-bearing mafic rocks. The Nesåa Batholith intruded a previously deformed, 483 Ma or older, metavolcanic sequence of oceanic arc affinity. The margins of the pluton show evidence for synkinematic emplacement, which is tentatively interpreted in terms of magma ascent controlled by deep-seated shear zones. Further uplift and exhumation of the crystallized plutons was followed by rapid deposition of batholith-derived conglomerates and arkoses in a marginal basin represented by the Limingen Group. The age of the Nesåa Batholith fills the gap in reported ages for Caledonian magmatism, between the Early to Middle Ordovician, oceanic to continental margin type, arc sequences of Laurentian palaeotectonic affinity, and the Late Ordovician–Early Silurian batholith complexes of interpreted Laurentian margin affinity. It is interpreted as an early phase of the more extensive plutonism recorded in the Bindal Batholith of the Uppermost Allochthon to the west. Our model implies that the Early Ordovician oceanic arc sequences of the Gjersvik Nappe were deformed and accreted on to Laurentian margin lithologies prior to Late Ordovician times. This composite crustal assemblage was the source for the voluminous quartz monzodioritic intrusions of the Nesåa Batholith, which formed by partial melting due to ponding of subduction-related mantle derived mafic magmas either within or at the base of the active continental margin.

A seismic-based cross-section of the Grenville Orogen in southern Ontario and western Quebec

2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 183-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
D J White ◽  
D A Forsyth ◽  
I Asudeh ◽  
S D Carr ◽  
H Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Seismic Refraction ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Tectonic Zone ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Crustal Layer ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
Velocity Models ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Structural Boundary

A schematic crustal cross-section is presented for the southwestern Grenville Province based on reprocessed Lithoprobe near-vertical incidence seismic reflection data and compiled seismic refraction - wide-angle velocity models interpreted with geological constraints. The schematic crustal architecture of the southwest Grenville Province from southeast to northwest comprises allochthonous crustal elements (Frontenac-Adirondack Belt and Composite Arc Belt) that were assembled prior to ca. 1160 Ma, and then deformed and transported northwest over reworked rocks of pre-Grenvillian Laurentia and the Laurentian margin primarily between 1120 and 980 Ma. Reworked pre-Grenvillian Laurentia and Laurentian margin rocks are interpreted to extend at least 350 km southeast of the Grenville Front beneath all of the Composite Arc Belt. Three major structural boundary zones (the Grenville Front and adjacent Grenville Front Tectonic Zone, the Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary thrust zone, and the Elzevir-Frontenac boundary zone) have been identified across the region of the cross-section based on their prominent geophysical signatures comprising broad zones of southeast-dipping reflections and shallowing of mid-crustal velocity contours by 12-15 km. The structural boundary zones accommodated southeast over northwest crustal stacking at successively earlier times during orogeny (ca. 1010-980 Ma, 1080-1060 Ma, and 1170-1160 Ma, respectively). These shear zones root within an interpreted gently southeast-dipping regional décollement at a depth of 25-30 km corresponding to the top of a high-velocity lower crustal layer.

Geochronology and Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf-O isotope geochemistry of Miocene intrusive rocks from Tsushima Islands, Japan: Constraints on petrogenesis and tectonic setting

Lithos ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 106280
Author(s):  
Eun Ji Yi ◽  
Sung Hi Choi ◽  
Ji-In Kim ◽  
Jeong-Hyun Lee ◽  
Nak Kyu Kim
Keyword(s):  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Intrusive Rocks ◽  
O Isotope

Chapter 3 Archean (>2.6 Ga) and Paleoproterozoic (2.5–1.8 Ga), pre- and syn-orogenic magmatism, sedimentation and mineralization in the Norrbotten and Överkalix lithotectonic units, Svecokarelian orogen

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bergman ◽  
Pär Weihed
Keyword(s):  
Variable Temperature ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Active Continental Margin ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Ductile Deformation ◽  
Fe Oxide ◽  
Ductile Shear Zones ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
Felsic Volcanic

AbstractTwo lithotectonic units (the Norrbotten and Överkalix units) occur inside the Paleoproterozoic (2.0–1.8 Ga) Svecokarelian orogen in northernmost Sweden. Archean (2.8–2.6 Ga and possibly older) basement, affected by a relict Neoarchean tectonometamorphic event, and early Paleoproterozoic (2.5–2.0 Ga) cover rocks constitute the pre-orogenic components in the orogen that are unique in Sweden. Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, predominantly felsic volcanic rocks, and both spatially and temporally linked intrusive rock suites, deposited and emplaced at 1.9–1.8 Ga, form the syn-orogenic component. These magmatic suites evolved from magnesian and calc-alkaline to alkali–calcic compositions to ferroan and alkali–calcic varieties in a subduction-related tectonic setting. Apatite–Fe oxide, including the world's two largest underground Fe ore mines (Kiruna and Malmberget), skarn-related Fe oxide, base metal sulphide, and epigenetic Cu–Au and Au deposits occur in the Norrbotten lithotectonic unit. Low- to medium-pressure and variable temperature metamorphic conditions and polyphase Svecokarelian ductile deformation prevailed. The general northwesterly or north-northeasterly structural grain is controlled by ductile shear zones. The Paleotectonic evolution after the Neoarchean involved three stages: (1) intracratonic rifting prior to 2.0 Ga; (2) tectonic juxtaposition of the lithotectonic units during crustal shortening prior to 1.89 Ga; and (3) accretionary tectonic evolution along an active continental margin at 1.9–1.8 Ga.

scholarly journals Bridging the gap between the foreland and hinterland II: Geochronology and tectonic setting of Ordovician magmatism and basin formation on the Laurentian margin of New England and Newfoundland

2017 ◽  
Vol 317 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis A. Macdonald ◽  
Paul M. Karabinos ◽  
James L. Crowley ◽  
Eben B. Hodgin ◽  
Peter W. Crockford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Basin Formation ◽  
Ordovician Magmatism ◽  
Laurentian Margin

The kinematic vorticity analysis of ductile shear zones of Ambaji Granulite, NW India and its tectonic implications

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudheer Kumar Tiwari ◽  
Anouk Beniest ◽  
Tapas Kumar Biswal
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Lateral Displacement ◽  
Pure Shear ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Temperature Phase ◽  
Brittle Ductile Transition ◽  
Deformation Phase

<p>The Neoproterozoic (834 – 778 Ma) Ambaji granulite witnessed four deformation phases (D<sub>1</sub>- D<sub>4</sub>), of which the D<sub>2</sub> deformation phase was most significant for the exhumation of granulites in the ductile regime. We performed a field study to investigate the tectonic evolution of the D<sub>2</sub> deformation phase and investigated the deformation evolution of the ductile extrusion of the Ambaji granulite by estimating the vorticity of flow (Wm) with the Rigid Grain Net and strain ratio/orientation techniques.</p><p>During the D<sub>2</sub> deformation phase, the S<sub>1</sub> fabric was folded by F<sub>2</sub> folds that are coaxial with the F<sub>1</sub> folds. The F<sub>2</sub> folds were produced in response to NW-SE compression. Because the large shear zones are oriented parallel to the axial plane of the F<sub>2</sub> folds, they likely formed simultaneously during the D<sub>2</sub> deformation phase. Compression during the D<sub>2</sub> deformation phase accommodated most of the exhumation of the granulite along the shear zones. D<sub>2</sub> shearing was constrained between 834 ± 7 to 778 ± 8 Ma (Monazite ages).</p><p>The shear zones evolved from a high temperature (>700 °C) thrust-slip shearing event in the lower-middle crust to a low temperature (450 °C) retrograde sinistral shearing event at the brittle-ductile-transition (BDT). The Wm estimates of 0.32–0.40 and 0.60 coincide with the high temperature event and suggests pure shear dominated deformation. The low temperature phase coincides with Wm estimates of 0.64–0.87 and ~1.0, implying two flow regimes. The shear zone was first affected by general non-coaxial deformation and gradually became dominated by simple shearing.</p><p>We interpreted that the high temperature event happened in a compressive tectonic regime, which led to horizontal shortening and vertical displacement of the granulite to the BDT. The low temperature event occurred in a transpressive tectonic setting that caused the lateral displacement of the granulite body at BDT depth. The Wm values indicate a non-steady strain during the exhumation of granulite. From the BDT to surface, the Ambaji granulite exhumed through the NW-SE directed extension for normal faults via brittle exhumation through crustal extension and thinning.</p>

Geological development of eastern Humber and western Dunnage zones: Corner Brook–Glover Island region, Newfoundland

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Cawood ◽  
Jeroen A.M. van Gool ◽  
Greg R. Dunning
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zones ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Island Region ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Regional Deformation ◽  
Head Groups ◽  
Facies Metamorphism ◽  
External Domain ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Internal Domain

The Corner Brook–Glover Island region records the development of the internal domain of the Humber Zone and its relationship to the adjoining external domain and Dunnage Zone. The region preserves both the Laurentian margin basement–cover contact and the siliciclastic–carbonate transition within the cover sequence. Precambrian Grenville basement of the Corner Brook Lake Complex is the oldest lithostratigraphic unit and yielded a U/Pb zircon age of 1510 ± 6 Ma. Three main lithostratigraphic assemblages overlie basement: silicic and mafic igneous rocks of the Lady Slipper Pluton which yielded a U/Pb zircon age of [Formula: see text] Ma; siliciclastic lithologies which include the South Brook and Summerside formations; and carbonate-dominated sequences with clastic incursions which include the Port au Port, St. George, and Table Head groups, and the Breeches Pond, Irishtown, and Pinchgut formations. Dunnage Zone units include plutonic ultramafic to mafic rocks of the Grand Lake Complex, dated by U/Pb zircon from trondhjemite at 490 ± 4 Ma, volcanic and epiclastic rocks of the Glover Island Formation, and the Matthews Brook Serpentinite, the latter restricted to fault slivers within the Humber Zone sequence. The deformed Glover Island Granodiorite intrudes the Dunnage Zone rocks on Glover Island and is dated by U/Pb zircon and titanite at 440 ± 2 Ma. Little deformed Carboniferous sedimentary rocks unconformably overlie both Humber Zone and Dunnage Zone rock units. Timing of regional deformation and peak amphibolite-facies metamorphism in the eastern Humber Zone is constrained by isotopic data to the Early Silurian. In the Dunnage Zone, shear zones and foliation development both pre- and postdate the age of the Glover Island Granodiorite, with the later possibly temporally equivalent to deformation in the Humber Zone. Final juxtaposition of the two zones occurred during Carboniferous movement of the Cabot Fault.

Mafic and ultrapotassic rocks from the Canyon domain (central Grenville Province): geochemistry and tectonic implications

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 412-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Valverde Cardenas ◽  
Aphrodite Indares ◽  
George Jenner
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Crustal Contamination ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
Isotopic Signatures ◽  
Late Evolution ◽  
Grenvillian Orogeny ◽  
Laurentian Margin

The Canyon domain and the Banded complex in the Manicouagan area of the Grenville Province preserve a record of magmatic activity from ∼1.4 to 1 Ga. This study focuses on 1.4–1.2 Ga mafic rocks and 1 Ga ultrapotassic dykes. Geochemistry and Sm–Nd isotopic signatures were used to constrain the origin of these rocks and evaluate the changing role of the mantle with time and tectonic setting from the late evolution of the Laurentian margin to the Grenvillian orogeny, in the Manicouagan area. The mafic rocks include layers inferred to represent flows, homogeneous bodies in mafic migmatite, and deformed dykes, all of which were recrystallized under granulite-facies conditions during the Grenvillian orogeny. In spite of the complexities inherent in these deformed and metamorphosed mafic rocks, we were able to recognize suites with distinctive geochemical and isotopic signatures. Integration of this data along with available ages is consistent with a 1.4 Ga continental arc cut by 1.2 Ga non-arc basalts derived from depleted asthenospheric mantle, with varied degrees of crustal contamination and inferred to represent magmatism in an extensional environment. The 1 Ga ultrapotassic dykes postdate the Grenvillian metamorphism. They are extremely enriched in incompatible elements, have negative Nb anomalies, relatively unradiogenic Sr-isotopic compositions (initial 87Sr/86Sr ~ 0.7040) and εNd –3 to –15. Some dykes have compositional characteristics consistent with derivation from the mantle, ruling out crustal contamination as a major process in their petrogenesis. The most likely source region for the ultrapotassic dykes is a metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle, with thermal input from the asthenosphere in association with post-orogenic delamination.

scholarly journals The Ocean – Continent Transition Zones Along the Appalachian – Caledonian Margin of Laurentia: Examples of Large-Scale Hyperextension During the Opening of the Iapetus Ocean

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Chew ◽  
Cees R. Van Staal
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Transition Zones ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Fold And Thrust Belt ◽  
Appalachian Orogen ◽  
Late Neoproterozoic ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Orogenic Belts ◽  
Detailed Nature

A combination of deep seismic imaging and drilling has demonstrated that the ocean-continent transition (OCT) of present-day, magma-poor, rifted continental margins is a zone of hyperextension characterized by extreme thinning of the continental crust that exhumed the lowermost crust and/or serpentinized continental mantle onto the seafloor. The OCT on present-day margins is difficult to sample, and so much of our knowledge on the detailed nature of OCT sequences comes from obducted, magma-poor OCT ophiolites such as those preserved in the upper portions of the Alpine fold-and-thrust belt. Allochthonous, lens-shaped bodies of ultramafic rock are common in many other ancient orogenic belts, such as the Caledonian – Appalachian orogen, yet their origin and tectonic significance remains uncertain. We summarize the occurrences of potential ancient OCTs within this orogen, commencing with Laurentian margin sequences where an OCT has previously been inferred (the Dalradian Supergroup of Scotland and Ireland and the Birchy Complex of Newfoundland). We then speculate on the origin of isolated occurrences of Alpine-type peridotite within Laurentian margin sequences in Quebec – Vermont and Virginia – North Carolina, focusing on rift-related units of Late Neoproterozoic age (so as to eliminate a Taconic ophiolite origin). A combination of poor exposure and pervasive Taconic deformation means that origin and emplacement of many ultramafic bodies in the Appalachians will remain uncertain. Nevertheless, the common occurrence of OCT-like rocks along the whole length of the Appalachian – Caledonian margin of Laurentia suggests that the opening of the Iapetus Ocean may have been accompanied by hyperextension and the formation of magma-poor margins along many segments.SOMMAIREDes travaux d’imagerie sismique et des forages profonds ont montré que la transition océan-continent (OCT) de marges continentales de divergence pauvre en magma exposée de nos jours, correspond à une zone d’hyper-étirement tectonique caractérisée par un amincissement extrême de la croûte continentale, qui a exhumé sur le fond marin, jusqu’à la tranche la plus profonde de la croûte continentale, voire du manteau continental serpentinisé.  Parce qu’on peut difficilement échantillonner l’OCT sur les marges actuelles, une grande partie de notre compréhension des détails de la nature de l’OCT provient d’ophiolites pauvres en magma d’une OCT obduite, comme celles préservées dans les portions supérieures de la bande plissée alpine.  Des masses lenticulaires de roches ultramafiques allochtones sont communes dans de nombreuses autres bandes orogéniques anciennes, comme l’orogène Calédonienne-Appalaches, mais leur origine et signification tectonique reste incertaine.  Nous présentons un sommaire des occurrences d’OCT potentielles anciennes de cet orogène, en commençant par des séquences de la marge laurentienne, où la présence d’OCT a déjà été déduites (le Supergroupe Dalradien d’Écosse et d'Irlande, et le complexe de Birchy de Terre-Neuve).  Nous spéculons ensuite sur l'origine de cas isolés de péridotite de type alpin dans des séquences de marge des Laurentides du Québec-Vermont et de la Virginie-Caroline du Nord, en nous concentrant sur les unités de rift d'âge néoprotérozoïque tardif (pour éviter les ophiolites du Taconique).  La conjonction d’affleurements de piètre qualité et de la déformation taconique omniprésente, signifie que l'origine et la mise en place de nombreuses masses ultramafiques dans les Appalaches demeureront incertaines.  Néanmoins, la présence fréquente de roches de type OCT tout le long de la marge Calédonnienne-Appalaches de Laurentia suggère que l'ouverture de l'océan Iapetus peut avoir été accompagnée d’hyper-étirement et de la formation de marges pauvres en magma le long de nombreux segments.

Evidence for seamount accretion to a peri-Laurentian arc during closure of Iapetus 1This article is one of a series of papers published in CJES Special Issue: In honour of Ward Neale on the theme of Appalachian and Grenvillian geology.2 Geological Survey of Canada Contribution 20100465.

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Zagorevski ◽  
V. McNicoll
Keyword(s):  
Accretionary Prism ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Volcanic Arc ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Mylonite Zone ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Subduction Erosion ◽  
Area Preserve ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Accretionary Prisms

The Red Indian Line is the fundamental Iapetus suture zone in the Newfoundland Appalchians along which the main tract of the Iapetus Ocean was consumed. Despite being the site of the closure of a wide ocean, few vestiges of the Iapetus plate have been accreted along Red Indian Line. Ordovician rocks in the Notre Dame Bay area preserve the only evidence for accretion of a seamount in Newfoundland. The seamount is characterized by alkali basalt and hypabyssal rocks that are juxtaposed with Darriwilian peri-Laurentian volcanic arc rocks (466 ± 4 and 467 ± 4 Ma) along a major mylonite zone. The mylonite zone lacks sedimentary rocks suggesting that the seamount was accreted to the arc along a sediment-starved interface and that significant subduction erosion took place along the Laurentian margin. Identification of subduction erosion indicates that an accretionary prism did not exist outboard of Laurentia in Newfoundland, in contrast to the well developed accretionary prisms of the Caledonides.

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