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.

A Discussion on global tectonics in Proterozoic times - The Grenville Province in Helikian times: a possible model of evolution

1976 ◽  
Vol 280 (1298) ◽  
pp. 499-515 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Continental Crust ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Continental Collision ◽  
Canadian Shield ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
East Central ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Grenvillian Orogeny ◽  
Triangular Area ◽  
Global Tectonics

It is suggested that the Helikian (1650-1000 million years (Ma) ago) evolution of the Grenville Province in the Canadian Shield was marked by three events: emplacement of anorthosites around 1450-1500 Ma ago, rifting associated with opening of a proto-Atlantic ocean between 1200 and 1300 Ma ago, and continental collision responsible for the Grenvillian ‘orogeny’ about 1100-1000 Ma ago. Emplacement of rocks of the anorthosite suite (anorthosites and adamellites or mangerites) into continental crust was accompanied by formation of aureoles in the granulite facies. The Grenville Group was deposited in the southern part of the Province between 1300 and 1200 Ma ago and comprises marbles, clastic metasedimentary rocks and volcanics. It occupies a roughly triangular area limited on the northwest by the Bancroft—Renfrew lineament and on the southeast by the Chibougamau—Gatineau lineament. It is thought to have been accumulated in an aulacogen that would have developed along a fracture zone separating two basement blocks. The Grenvillian thermotectonic event may represent a Tibetan continental collision in the sense of Burke & Dewey. The suture zone would now be hidden under the Appalachians. Collision would cause reactivation of continental crust and renewed movement on pre-existing lineaments. The east—central part of the Grenville Province appears to have been more intensively reactivated than the western part.

Progressive metamorphism of pelitic and quartzofeldspathic rocks in the Grenville Province of western Labrador — tectonic implications of bathozone 6 assemblages

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1791-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Rivers
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Pressure Gradient ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Lithostatic Pressure ◽  
Lower Grade ◽  
High Grade ◽  
Tectonic Zone ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Grenvillian Orogeny

Aphebian metapelites and quartzofeldspathic rocks from the Grenville Province south of the Labrador Trough display progressive changes in mineral assemblages as a result of Grenvillian metamorphism, consistent with variation in grade from greenschist to upper amphibolite facies. The following metamorphic zones have been delineated: (i) chlorite–muscovite; (ii) chlorite–muscovite–biotite; (iii) chlorite–muscovite–biotite–garnet; (iv) muscovite–staurolite–kyanite; (v) muscovite–garnet–biotite–kyanite; (vi) muscovite–garnet–biotite–kyanite–granitic veins; (vii) K–feldspar–kyanite – granitic veins; (viii) K-feldspar–sillimanite–granitic veins. Reactions linking the lower grade metamorphic zones are interpreted to be dehydration phenomena, whilst anatectic reactions occur at higher grades. At lower metamorphic grades aH2O was high [Formula: see text] but it declined progressively as water entered the melt phase during higher grade anatectic reactions. With the onset of vapour-absent anatexis, the restite assemblage became essentially "dry" [Formula: see text], and biotite breakdown occurred in granulite-facies rocks east of the study area. Consideration of available experimental data suggests that metamorphic temperatures ranged from approximately 450 to 750 °C across the study area. Lithostatic pressure during metamorphism reached about 8 kbar (800 MPa) in the high-grade zones, with estimates at lower grades being poorly constrained; however, a steep pressure gradient across the map area is postulated.This is the first reported occurrence of bathozone 6 assemblages from a progressive metamorphic sequence, and it indicates the presence of an unusually great thickness of supracrustal rocks during the Grenvillian Orogeny. This was achieved by imbricate stacking of thrust slices, perhaps doubling the thickness of the crust in the Grenville Front Tectonic Zone, creating a huge gravity anomaly of which a remnant still persists today.

Coronitic metagabbro and eclogite from the Grenville Province of western Quebec: interpretation of U–Pb geochronology and metamorphism

1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 891-901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aphrodite Indares ◽  
Greg Dunning
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Mineral Chemistry ◽  
Metamorphic Grade ◽  
Structural Level ◽  
Structural Units ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
High Pressure Metamorphism ◽  
Accreted Terranes ◽  
Laurentian Margin

We present new U–Pb and metamorphic data on high-pressure coronitic metagabbros from three distinct structural settings in the Parautochthonous Belt of the Grenville Province in western Quebec. Intrusive ages are (i) [Formula: see text], for metagabbro close to the Grenville Front, correlative with the Sudbury dykes, defined in Ontario; (ii) [Formula: see text] for an eclogitized lens at the base of the highest structural level (SL4), a new age for mafic magmatism in the western Grenville; and (iii) [Formula: see text] for metagabbro from SL4, interpreted as correlative with metagabbros from the Algonquin and Shawanaga domains in Ontario. Metamorphism in all cases is Grenvillian, with the best constrained age of 1069 ± 3 Ma for the metagabbro of SL4. Metamorphic grade increases from the Grenville Front to the south. The mafic rocks preserve relict igneous textures overprinted by garnet + clinopyroxene that developed as coronas and (or) pseudomorphs after igneous phases. The highest grade metagabbros contain omphacite and some lack primary plagioclase, therefore being eclogites. However, interpretation of textures and mineral chemistry indicates that they were equilibrated during decompression (at 1350 MPa and 720 °C, sample 51; and at 1200 MPa and 740 °C, sample 29), so maximum depths of burial remain unconstrained. Their evolution is interpreted as follows: (i) high-pressure metamorphism by burial of the Laurentian margin under accreted terranes thrust toward the northwest between 1080 and 1060 Ma; (ii) residence at intermediate crustal levels, for a few tens of millions of years; and (iii) rapid exhumation by renewed thrusting that led to the emplacement of the high-pressure units over the northerly adjacent structural units of the Parautochthonous Belt.

Geochemical constraints on the tectonic setting of the mafic rocks of the Bathurst Camp, Appalachian Orogen

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 1182-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Dogan Paktunc
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Ocean Basin ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Back Arc

Abundant mafic rocks comprising basalts and gabbros occur in the Bathurst Camp, a complexly deformed Ordovician terrane in northeastern New Brunswick. The mafic rocks form a consanguineous suite of aphyric lavas, subvolcanic sills, and (or) dikes. Gabbros and basalts have somewhat similar major-element compositions but differ in terms of their trace-element contents. Medium-grained gabbros display tholeiitic compositions, whereas basalts and fine-grained gabbros have alkalic affinities. In general, trace-element abundances indicate an enriched source region for the Bathurst mafic rocks. Trace-element characteristics of the tholeiitic group point to a transitional setting going from back-arc to ocean basin, whereas the alkalic group has geochemical characteristics in common with within-plate basalts. Mixing between magmas of these contrasting settings could explain some of the trace-element characteristics of both groups. The back-arc-basin setting appears to be ensialic and is characterized by the absence of an underlying subducted slab during the formation of the basin. The tectonic reason for rifting in such a case could be the strike separation along a series of en echelon faults similar to those of the Gulf of California. Calc-alkaline characteristics of the upper mantle underlying the basin seem to have been inherited from southeasterly subduction of the proto-Atlantic Ocean in Early to Middle Ordovician times.

Plutonic ages and tectonic setting of the Algonquin and Muskoka allochthons, Central Gneiss Belt, Grenville Province, Ontario

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1423-1438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Léopold Nadeau ◽  
Otto van Breemen
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Structural Relationship ◽  
Structural Position ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Plutonic Rocks ◽  
Central Gneiss Belt ◽  
Laurentian Margin

The Central Gneiss Belt comprises parautochthonous gneisses overlain by northwest-transported allochthonous terranes originating from the pre-Grenvillian Laurentian margin or from farther outboard as inferred for the Parry Sound allochthon. In the Huntsville region, orthogneisses of the Algonquin allochthon yielded U-Pb zircon igneous crystallization ages at 1444 +12-8, 1442 +9-8, and 1432 +54-98 Ma. In absence of direct evidence for older intrusions, the association of these plutonic rocks with gneisses giving Nd crustal residence ages of ca. 1.7 Ga sets the Algonquin allochthon apart from the underlying parautochthon, and from the overlying Muskoka allochthon. Orthogneisses from the latter also give zircon igneous ages at 1453 ± 6 Ma and 1427 +16-13 Ma, with no older memory. These ages closely correspond to the Nd model ages of associated gneisses, testifying to the juvenile nature of this terrane. Plutonic ages from the Algonquin and Muskoka allochthons are older than those of the Parry Sound allochthon to the northwest, thereby confirming its exotic nature. The importance, distribution, and nature of 1475-1410 Ma plutonism down structural section from the juvenile Muskoka allochthon, via the more mature Algonquin allochthon, into the parautochthon and Grenville foreland, testify to the development of an ensialic arc along that part of the Laurentian margin tectonically incorporated in the Central Gneiss Belt. Furthermore, the age and structural relationship require Grenvillian break-back thrust reactivation to account for the high structural position of the Muskoka allochthon, which was part of the Laurentian ramp during overthrusting of the younger and farther travelled Parry Sound allochthon.

Geon 12 crustal extension in the central Grenville Province, implications for the orogenic architecture, and potential influence on the emplacement of anorthosites

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (9) ◽  
pp. 955-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aphrodite Indares ◽  
Abdelali Moukhsil
Keyword(s):  
Close Association ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Mafic Rock ◽  
Crustal Extension ◽  
Potential Influence ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Grenvillian Orogeny ◽  
First Time

Remnants of a ca. 1.24 Ga old volcanic belt formed in a within-plate setting (Manicouagan Crustal Extension Belt) are exposed over several tens of kilometres in the hinterland of the central Grenville Province, and can be recognized despite granulite-facies Grenvillian metamorphism and deformation. This belt mainly consists of layered felsic–mafic rock units, some of which are documented here for the first time. In the vicinity of the 1.24 Ga belt, a Geon 14 arc-related mafic suite and a Geon 15 metasedimentary package were pervasively injected by felsic (and mafic) material, show evidence of a Geon 12 thermal event, and therefore may represent remnants of rifted crust. Following Geon 12 crustal extension, lithospheric-scale magmatic activity in the immediate region continued intermittently, producing mafic dykes at 1.17 Ga and anorthosite at 1.16 and 1.05 Ga. A close association to 1.16 Ga or younger anorthosite is conspicuous to several Geon 12 rock units known in the central and eastern Grenville Province. We therefore suggest that subsequent anorthositic magmatism was focused on zones of lithospheric weakness inherited from Geon 12 crustal extension and remained active intermittently until the end of the Grenvillian orogeny.

Metamorphic constraints on the evolution of the gneisses from the parautochthonous and allochthonous polycyclic belts, Grenville Province, western Quebec

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Indares ◽  
J. Martignole
Keyword(s):  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Ultramafic Rocks ◽  
Significant Discrepancy ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Narrow Strip ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Metamorphic History ◽  
Tectonic Transport ◽  
History Of ◽  
Grenvillian Orogeny

The tectono-metamorphic history of polycyclic "grey gneisses" located in the central Grenville Province of western Quebec has been constrained along a transect perpendicular to the length of the Grenville Orogen. Two terranes, the Réservoir Dozois terrane (RDT) and the Réservoir Baskatong terrane (RBT), were recognized from their structural, lithological, and geochronological characteristics. This subdivision has been confirmed by application of geothermobarometric techniques to appropriate mineral assemblages.The RDT is the southern extension of the parautochthonous belt of the Grenville Province, which in this area is composed of Archean rocks of upper-amphibolite grade. During the Grenvillian Orogeny, northwest-directed thrusting resulted in the tectonic burial of this terrane as a single tectonic unit, in contrast with the northern part of the parautochthonous belt, where several slices were imbricated against the Grenville Front. Maximum P–T conditions in the RDT (850 MPa, 720 °C) were likely Grenvillian and were followed by pervasive retrogression down to the hornblende–epidote subfacies. Locally, the RDT is overlain by remnants of thrust slices composed of monocyclic metasedimentary rocks that were deformed and metamorphosed in the granulite facies during the Grenvillian Orogeny.To the southeast, the RBT is an allochthonous or exotic terrane probably of Proterozoic age. It also experienced tectonic burial by thrusting (1030 MPa, 710 °C) during the Grenvillian Orogeny, whose thermal climax (790 °C) coincided with charnockite emplacement during decompression to 850 MPa.These two terranes are separated by a narrow strip of sheared rocks, the Renzy shear belt (RSB), which comprises mafic and ultramafic rocks subjected to high P and T (975 MPa, 745 °C). In view of the significant discrepancy between the metamorphic histories of the two terranes separated by the RSB, major tectonic transport has to be envisaged along this zone.

Pre-Kenoran Tonalitic Gneisses in the Grenville Province

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 844-849 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Frith ◽  
R. Doig
Keyword(s):  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Retrograde Metamorphism ◽  
Initial Ratio ◽  
Fold Belt ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Tonalitic Gneiss ◽  
Grenvillian Orogeny

Rb–Sr whole-rock studies of tonalitic gneiss within the Grenville Province on the eastern extension of the Abitibi fold belt may indicate an age greater than 3000 m.y. The gneiss samples were collected up to 32 miles (52 km) from the Grenville Front. Rocks beyond this generally show the effects of the Grenvillian orogeny about 1100 m.y. ago which raised the 87Rb/86Sr initial ratio from about 0.7025 to 0.7148. Rocks more than 40 miles (64 km) from the Grenville Front show retrograde metamorphism from the granulite facies that is considered to be related to the metamorphism associated with the intrusion of anorthosite still farther to the southeast (ca. 1500 m.y.). The Archean tonalitic gneisses exhibit E–W and NE–SW aeromagnetic trends but similar rocks to the southeast exhibit aeromagnetic patterns that are chiefly N–S and may be a result of Hudsonian deformation. A small granitic body in this zone of N–S aeromagnetic pattern was intruded 1745 ± 23 m.y. ago(87Rb λ = 1.39 × 10−11y−1).

Protracted continental collision — evidence from the Grenville OrogenThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Lithoprobe — parameters, processes, and the evolution of a continent.

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 591-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hynes ◽  
Toby Rivers
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Regional Metamorphism ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Continental Collision ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
The North ◽  
Laurentian Margin ◽  
Lower Crustal ◽  
The Himalaya

The Grenville Orogen in North America is interpreted to have resulted from collision between Laurentia and another continent, probably Amazonia, at ca. 1100 Ma. The exposed segment of the orogen was derived largely from reworked Archean to Paleoproterozoic Laurentian crust, products of a long-lived Mesoproterozoic continental-margin arc and associated back arc, and remnants of one or more accreted mid-Mesoproterozoic island-arc terranes. A potential suture, preserved in Grenvillian inliers of the southeastern USA, may separate rocks of Laurentian and Amazonian affinities. The Grenvillian Orogeny lasted more than 100 million years. Much of the interior Grenville Province, with peak metamorphism at ca. 1090–1020 Ma, consists of uppermost amphibolite- to granulite-facies rocks metamorphosed at depths of ca. 30 km, but areas of lower crustal, eclogite-facies nappes metamorphosed at 50–60 km depth also occur and an orogenic lid that largely escaped Grenvillian metamorphism is preserved locally. Overall, deformation and regional metamorphism migrated sequentially to the northwest into the Laurentian craton, with the youngest contractional structures in the northwestern part of the orogen at ca. 1000–980 Ma. The North American lithospheric root extends across part of the Grenville Orogen, where it may have been produced by depletion of sub-continental lithospheric mantle beneath the long-lived Laurentian-margin Mesoproterozoic subduction zone. Both the Grenville Orogen and the Himalaya–Tibet Orogen have northern margins characterized by long-lived subduction before continental collision and protracted convergence following collision. Both exhibit cratonward-propagating thrusting. In the Himalaya–Tibet Orogen, however, the pre-collisional Eurasian-margin arc is high in the structural stack, whereas in the Grenville Orogen, the pre-collisional continental-margin arc is low in the structural stack. We interpret this difference as due to subduction reversal in the Grenville case shortly before collision, so that the continental-margin arc became the lower plate during the ensuing orogeny. The structurally low position of the warm, extended Laurentian crust probably contributed significantly to the ductility of lower and mid-crustal Grenvillian rocks.

Geology and age of the Precambrian basement in the Windsor, Chatham, and Sarnia area, southwestern Ontario

1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1627-1634 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Turek ◽  
R. N. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Precambrian Basement ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Gas Drilling ◽  
Arch System ◽  
Grenvillian Orogeny ◽  
Anomaly Map ◽  
Paleozoic Rocks ◽  
Basement Surface

Precambrian basement in the Windsor–Chatham–Sarnia area is covered by Paleozoic rocks that are up to 1300 m thick. The basement surface is characterized by a northeast–southwest arch system with a relief of about 350 m. Extensive oil and gas drilling has penetrated and sampled this basement, and an examination of core and chip samples from 133 holes and an assessment of the magnetic anomaly map of the area have been used to produce a lithologic map of the Precambrian basement. The predominant rocks are granite gneisses and syenite gneisses but also significant are gabbros, granodiorite gneisses, and metasedimentary rocks. The average foliation dips 50° and is inferred to have a northeasterly trend. The Precambrian basement has been regarded as part of the Grenville Province. An apparent Rb–Sr whole rock isochron, for predominantly meta-igneous rocks, yields an age of 1560 ± 140 Ma. This we interpret as pre-Grenvillian, surviving the later imprint of the Grenvillian Orogeny. Points excluded from the isochron register ages of 1830, 915, and 670 Ma, and can be interpreted as geologically meaningful.

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