Petrology of the Gillis Mountain pluton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

The Gillis Mountain pluton is a small composite granitoid intrusion in southeastern Cape Breton Island. It is one of the few plutons of known Devonian age in Cape Breton Island and is particularly significant because of the presence of Cu–Mo mineralization with porphyry affinities. The pluton consists of three main phases (quartz monzodiorite, porphyritic granite, and fine-grained granite) with minor late dykes of granite, granitic porphyry, and aplite. These phases probably represent a differentiation sequence from an 'I-type' parent magma of calc-alkalic affinity. All phases have been affected by phyllic and possibly potassic alteration, presumably related to the mineralization processes. However, this hydrothermal activity appears to be little reflected in the bulk chemistry of the pluton, except possibly in increased barium content and large standard deviations in the metallic elements and sulphur.

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The Ainslie Detachment: a regional flat-lying extensional fault in the Carboniferous evaporitic Maritimes Basin of Nova Scotia, Canada

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e96-016 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 169-181 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Gregory Lynch ◽

Peter S. Giles

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Hanging Wall ◽

Cape Breton Island ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Cape Breton ◽

Westerly Direction ◽

Maritimes Basin ◽

Highly Strained ◽

Planar Fabric ◽

Stratigraphic Succession

The Ainslie Detachment occurs near the base of the Carboniferous Windsor Group, forming a regional flat-lying extensional fault distributed across 10 000 km2. New mapping has delineated the structure through southwestern Cape Breton Island and into central Nova Scotia. Shearing is concentrated at the top of the basal Macumber limestone along its contact with overlying evaporites and younger allochthonous units. The highly contrasting rheologies of the formations created an anisotropic zone of weakness which acted as an upper crustal stress guide, stratigraphically controlling the trajectory of the detachment through the basin. The detachment is characterized by an approximately 3–10 m thick calc-mylonite zone, with an intense planar fabric featuring alternating very fine grained shear planes and coarser annealed layers. Coarser layers are boudinaged into pinch and swell structures, locally producing segmented augen. Highly strained intraclasts, ooids, and peloids, recrystallized carbonate boudins, and carbonate vein segments are included in the calc-mylonite as semirigid inclusions and rotated porphyroclasts. Thick zones of fault breccia straddle portions of the detachment and overprint the mylonite, demonstrating an evolution to brittle conditions during progressive shear. Listric faults in the hanging wall of the detachment feature a ramp and flat geometry, with an upper detachment occurring along the upper contact of the Windsor Group with the overlying Namurian Mabou Group. Locally up to 2 km of the stratigraphic succession has been removed, with faults cutting downsection in a westerly direction producing rollover in the hanging wall.

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Preliminary geological and geochemical results characterizing the mineralization processes in the Jubilee Pb-Zn deposit, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

10.4095/193853 ◽

1994 ◽

Author(s):

F Fallara ◽

M M Savard ◽

G Lynch ◽

S Paradis

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Cape Breton Island ◽

Cape Breton ◽

Mineralization Processes

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Ediacaran and Cambrian rocks on Scatarie Island and nearby Hay Island, Avalonian Mira terrane, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Atlantic Geology ◽

10.4138/atlgeol.2020.011 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 56 ◽

pp. 257-279

Author(s):

Sandra M. Barr ◽

Chris E. White ◽

Sören Jensen ◽

Teodoro Palacios ◽

Deanne Van Rooyen

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Geographical Distribution ◽

Detrital Zircon ◽

Sedimentary Rocks ◽

Trace Fossils ◽

Island Formation ◽

Cape Breton Island ◽

Fine Grained ◽

Cape Breton ◽

Late Neoproterozoic

Scatarie Island and adjacent Hay Island, located 2 km east of the eastern tip of the Avalonian Mira terrane of southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, contain a succession of epiclastic and other sedimentary rocks of inferred Ediacaran to Cambrian age. The age assignment was based previously on lithological comparison with the Main-à-Dieu Group and overlying Bengal Road and MacCodrum formations of the Mira River Group. Detrital zircon grains from two sandstone samples from the Bengal Road Formation yielded typical Avalonian detrital zircon spectra with middle to late Neoproterozoic, Meso- to Paleoproterozoic (1300–2200 Ma) and Neoarchean ages. They indicate maximum depositional ages of 532.4 ± 4.2 Ma and 525.4 ± 2.4 Ma from essentially the same stratigraphic level, consistent with the interpretation that the rocks are Cambrian. The Bengal Road Formation also yielded scarce organic-walled microfossils including an acanthomorphic acritarch identified as Polygonium sp., also consistent with Cambrian age. The fine-grained siliciclastic succession on Hay Island, tentatively attributed to the MacCodrum Formation, yielded trace fossils, including Teichichnus isp. and Gyrolithes scintillus, that confirm Cambrian age. The Hay Island Gyrolithes scintillus expands the geographical distribution of this ichnospecies, previously known mainly from the Chapel Island Formation of Newfoundland, and represents a younger occurrence.

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Contrasting U–Pb ages from plutons in the Bras d'Or and Mira terranes of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e90-127 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 27 (9) ◽

pp. 1200-1208 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

S. M. Barr ◽

G. R. Dunning ◽

R. P. Raeside ◽

R. A. Jamieson

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Close Similarity ◽

Zircon Age ◽

Middle Cambrian ◽

Cape Breton Island ◽

Early Ordovician ◽

Late Precambrian ◽

Cape Breton ◽

Devonian Age

U–Pb dates from zircon, titanite, and monazite in plutons of the Bras d'Or and Mira terranes of southern Cape Breton Island, combined with 40Ar/39Ar and other radiometric age data, indicate that the Bras d'Or and Mira terranes had separate magmatic and metamorphic histories until at least the Middle Cambrian and possibly until the Devonian. The Bras d'Or Terrane is characterized by abundant late Precambrian (ca. 565–555 Ma) dioritic to granitic plutons, as exemplified by the Shunacadie granodiorite ([Formula: see text], U–Pb zircon). Early Ordovician granitic plutons, such as the Kellys Mountain leucogranite with a U–Pb (zircon) age of 498 ± 2 Ma, occur locally. Titanite and 40Ar/39Ar (hornblende) ages from plutons and metamorphic units suggest that widespread metamorphism may have occurred between these plutonic events and (or) during the Early Ordovician plutonism.Plutons in the Mira Terrane appear to have been emplaced at about 620 Ma or before, as exemplified by the Chisholm Brook granodiorite ([Formula: see text]), and to have been unaffected by younger thermal events, as indicated by close similarity of U–Pb (zircon and titanite) and 40Ar/39Ar (hornblende) ages. Plutons of Devonian age are localized in an easterly trending belt in the central part of the terrane. In contrast to the Bras d'Or Terrane, widespread latest Precambrian (ca. 565–555 Ma) to Early Ordovician plutonism and metamorphism appear to have been absent. It is unlikely that the Mira and Bras d'Or terranes were juxtaposed before the Early Ordovician.

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Culinary tourism on Cape Breton Island

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation ◽

10.15353/cfs-rcea.v6i2.333 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erna MacLeod

Keyword(s):

Tourism Destination ◽

Cape Breton Island ◽

Culinary Tourism ◽

Economic Significance ◽

Cape Breton ◽

Local Stakeholders ◽

Resilient Communities ◽

World Class ◽

Ecological Relations ◽

Developed World

Cape Breton Island is a well-known North American tourism destination with long-standing attractions such as the Cabot Trail and more recently developed world-class offerings such as the Cabot Links Golf Course. Tourism contributes significantly to Cape Breton’s economy, particularly since the mid-20th century as traditional resource-based industries have declined. In the 21st century, culinary tourism has become increasingly important to expand the island’s tourism offerings and to provide “authentic” tourism experiences. This study examines local-food tourism in Cape Breton to illuminate its cultural and economic significance. I conducted interviews with food producers, restaurateurs, government representatives, and tourism executives. I also consulted websites and policy documents and compared local stakeholders’ experiences and perspectives with official tourism strategies. Promoting culinary tourism raises questions of power, autonomy, inclusion, and accountability. My study accentuates possibilities for aligning economic and ecological goals to create resilient communities, foster equitable social and ecological relations, and establish Cape Breton as a culinary tourism destination.

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