Geology and geochronology of Helikian magmatism, western Labrador

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 1211-1227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Brooks ◽  
Richard J. Wardle ◽  
Toby Rivers

The Shabogamo intrusive suite, a predominantly gabbroic magma series intrusive into a variety of Archean, Aphebian, and Helikian units in the Churchill and Grenville Provinces of western Labrador, is reliably dated at circa 1375 Ma using both the Rb/Sr and Sm/Nd methods on whole rocks and mineral separates. The suite is thus synchronous with Elsonian magmatism in Labrador, which is characterized by the intrusion of large volumes of gabbroic, anorthositic, and associated magma, and so invites petrogenetic correlations on a regional scale.Gabbros of the Shabogamo intrusive suite are emplaced into volcanics and volcaniclastics of the Blueberry Lake group, which are provisionally dated at 1540 ± 40 Ma. The volcanic rocks are therefore of similar age to, and probably correlative with, the upper Petscapiskau Group and Bruce River Group felsic volcanics, which occur further east in a narrow belt within the Grenville Foreland zone. The linear disposition of centres of felsic volcanism in the Grenville Foreland zone about 1500 Ma ago is suggestive of the development of a major ensialic rift at least 300 km in length at that time. A twofold magmatic history during the Helikian of this part of Labrador is now emerging from the field mapping and geochronological studies. Early extrusive felsic volcanism about 1500 Ma ago confined to a linear belt immediately north of the Grenville Province was followed by voluminous mafic magmatism (with emplacement of gabbroic, anorthositic, and associated rocks) occurring over a wide area both within and outside of the present location of the Grenville Province.Rb/Sr dating of Aphebian quartzofeldspathic schists from within the Grenville Province near Wabush – Labrador City shows that the high-grade metamorphism and development of a penetrative schistosity were Grenvillian features formed about 1000 Ma ago. This result effectively precludes the possibility of a Hudsonian metamorphic imprint, a feasible interpretation that was raised during regional mapping of the area.

1973 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Choudhuri

SummaryThe northern part of the Guiana Shield consists of large tracts of basic and intermediate volcanic rocks and sediments which are thought to have formed under geosynclinal conditions. During the 2000 m.y. Trans-Amazonian Orogeny these rocks were subjected to tectonism and metamorphism resulting in a broad belt of green schist facies with local and isolated patches of high grade metamorphic rocks and gneiss complexes. In the early stages of orogeny during which folding and probable block faulting of the sediments and volcanics took place, these rocks were intruded by basic and ultra-basic rocks giving rise to metagabbro-amphibolite-peridotite associations, commonly in the areas of subsequent high-grade metamorphism. In an attempt to account for the frequent supply of basic magma during and after the orogeny it is postulated that mantle peridotites rose diapir-like below the sinking geosyncline, and by partial melting not only provided basic magmas but also thermal energy which spread upwards to metamorphose the already tectonized crustal rocks; recent gravity measurements indicate an upwarped ‘sima’ under the Bartica Assemblage gneiss complex.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1056-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Childe ◽  
Ronald Doig ◽  
Clément Gariépy

Monazite was utilized as a chronometer to examine the effects of high-grade metamorphism across the Parautochthonous Belt and Allochthon Boundary Thrust of the Grenville Province in western Quebec. This study, in addition to previous geo-chronological studies, indicates an Archean component in the gneisses, which is consistent with the presence of more than one set of peak metamorphic conditions.Single-grain monazite analyses from metasedimentary gneisses from four locations within the Parautochthonous Belt yielded Grenvillian U–Pb dates of 1000 ± 5 to 1006 ± 2 Ma. The location farthest to the northwest, 45 km southeast of the Grenville Front, included monazite with a distinct Archean signature. Southeast of this point an Archean signature was not detected in the monazite. At 70 km southeast of the Grenville Front, monazite yielded two discrete ages of 1005 ± 2 and 1020 ± 3 Ma. Xenotime from one location indicated that the closure temperature of this mineral may be equivalent to that of monazite (725 ± 25 °C).Monazite from the Allochthon Boundary Thrust, 135 km southeast of the Grenville Front, yielded 207Pb/206Pb dates of 1049–1092 Ma, indicating earlier cooling than rocks closer to the Grenville Front. The monazite age was combined with that of rutile from the same location to determine a cooling rate of 2 °C/Ma following cooling through the closure temperature of monazite. The abrupt transition from Archean to Grenvillian ages some 45 km southeast of the Grenville Front is consistent with tectonic transport in the form of northwest-directed thrusting.


1974 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 12-20
Author(s):  
S Pedersen ◽  
O Larsen ◽  
D Bridgwater ◽  
J Watterson

The metamorphosed supracrustal rocks and paragneisses studied were collected during a reconnaissance traverse across the trend of the Ketilidian mobile belt in South-Bast Greenland (Andrews et al., 1971, 1973). All the samples are taken from gneisses regarded as derived from supracrustal material which was originally composed of acid volcanic material deposited as lavas, ignimbrites or sediments with a large volcanic component. Sample localities are shown in fig. 2. All the rocks have been affected by at least one metamorphic episode during the formation of the Ketilidian mobile belt. All are regarded as deposited after the end of regional high grade metamorphism in the Archaean block to the north (which has yielded a U/Pb zircon diffusion age of 2808 m.y.) and are intruded by a variety of synto late tectonic granites within the Ketilidian mobile belt which have yielded U/Pb diffusion and concordia ages between 1850 and 1770 m.y. in this area (Gulson & Krogh, 1972).


1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 2103-2114 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Friedman ◽  
J. Martignole

U–Pb data provide new constraints on the age of sedimentation, metamorphism, magmatism, and deformation in the Grenville Province of western Quebec. A metapelite, an alaskitic gneiss, and an amphibolite were sampled within an area of 1 km2 in the Mont-Laurier terrane. The metapelite yielded detrital-metamorphic zircons that gave 207Pb/206Pb ages of ca. 1205–2200 Ma. The youngest detrital components, between 1210 and 1300 Ma and possibly as old as [Formula: see text] Ma, provide a maximum age range for the deposition of this rock. Data for the alaskitic gneiss suggest that it is either derived from an igneous (volcanic) protolith with a minimum age of ca. 1250 Ma and a maximum age of [Formula: see text] Ma, or is a dyke emplaced at ca. 1140–1170 Ma. The amphibolite yielded zircon interpreted as metamorphic, with a minimum age of 1118 Ma, and a maximum age not likely older than ca. 1160 Ma. Zircons from charnockites and monzonites of the Morin plutonic complex gave zircon igneous ages between ca. 1157 and 1165 Ma. High-grade metapelites of the Réservoir Cabonga terrane yielded metamorphic zircon ages of 1140-1160 Ma. Metamorphic monazites from both the Réservoir Cabonga and the Mont-Laurier terranes yielded ages of 1138−1182 Ma, interpreted as the crystallization age or the time that significant Pb loss ceased. These ages indicate that the two terranes underwent the same long-lasting metamorphic event. The overlap between ages of metamorphic zircons and monazites on the one hand and the age of anorthosite–charnockite magmatism on the other hand suggests a long-lasting high-grade metamorphism with heat contribution from crystallizing plutons. A posttectonic aplite dyke from the interior of the Mont-Laurier terrane gives a zircon minimum age of 1054 Ma, considered a minimum age for penetrative deformation in this part of the Grenville Province. Rutile ages of 945–955 Ma record cooling through about 400 °C in both the Réservoir Cabonga and the Mont-Laurier terranes.


2004 ◽  
Vol 41 (11) ◽  
pp. 1339-1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trond Slagstad ◽  
Michael A Hamilton ◽  
Rebecca A Jamieson ◽  
Nicholas G Culshaw

The Central Gneiss Belt in the Grenville Province, Ontario, exposes metaplutonic rocks, orthogneisses, and minor paragneisses that were deformed and metamorphosed at crustal depths of 20–35 km during the Mesoproterozoic Grenvillian orogeny. We present sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U–Pb zircon data from eight samples of migmatitic orthogneiss, granite, and pegmatite from the Muskoka and Shawanaga domains that constrain the age and duration of partial melting in the mid orogenic crust. Our results support earlier interpretations that the protoliths to these migmatitic orthogneisses formed at ca. 1450 Ma. Emplacement and crystallization of granite and pegmatite in the Shawanaga domain took place at ca. 1089 Ma, apparently coevally with deformation and high-grade metamorphism. Leucosomes in the Muskoka and Shawanaga domains yield ages of 1067 and 1047 Ma, respectively, interpreted as the ages of melt crystallization. The geochronological data and field observations suggest that melt was present at the mid-crustal level of the Grenville orogen during a significant part of its deformational history, probably at least 20–30 million years. By analogy with modern orogens, the amount and duration of melting observed in the Muskoka and Shawanaga domains may have had an impact on the orogenic evolution of the area.


1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 1023-1029 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Timmermann ◽  
R. A. Jamieson ◽  
N. G. Culshaw ◽  
R. R. Parrish

New U–Pb zircon and titanite data from the Muskoka domain, Grenville Province, Ontario, provide protolith and metamorphic ages for the southwestern Central Gneiss Belt. Discordant analyses from a migmatitic orthogneiss and its leucosome form a linear array with an upper intercept age of 1457 ± 6 Ma and a lower intercept age of 1064 ±18 Ma. U–Pb analyses on metamorphic zircon from an amphibolite yield a set of concordant analyses with an average 207Pb/206Pb age of 1079 ± 3 Ma. A weakly migmatitic granitoid rock and a transecting charnockitic vein in the immediate footwall of the Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary thrust zone yielded a discordant array of analyses wth an upper intercept age of 1394 ± 13 Ma and a lower intercept age of 1066 ± 8 Ma. The charnockitic vein yielded concordant zircon ages of 1077 ± 2 Ma. The upper intercept ages are interpreted in terms of protolith crystallization, and the concordant and lower intercept ages as Grenviilian high-grade metamorphism and associated anatexis. We have found no evidence for a ca. 1190–1160 Ma metamorphic event in these rocks, as required by some regional tectonic interpretations. We conclude that emplacement of the Central Metasedimentary Belt over the Central Gneiss Belt, which caused high-grade metamorphism in the Muskoka domain, occurred at or shortly before ca. 1080 Ma, and that this marks the time of accretion of the Central Metasedimentary Belt to the southeast margin of Laurentia.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 1859-1880 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herman V Zwanzig

On the south flank of the Kisseynew Domain, orthogneisses derived from 1.92-1.85 Ga volcano-plutonic rocks are overlain by paragneisses (Burntwood and Missi groups) derived from 1.855-1.84 Ga marine turbidite and 1.845-1.83 Ga terrestrial clastic and volcanic rocks. The sediments in these groups are interpreted as having been shed into the Kisseynew paleobasin from an active margin bordering the Flin Flon Belt. The sedimentation apparently followed early microcontinental collision and accompanied the last arc magmatism in the Trans-Hudson Orogen. The sedimentary rocks and their basement were deformed into a complexly refolded stack of large recumbent folds. Premetamorphic F1 structures represent a fold and thrust system initiated during the sedimentation. These structures are interpreted as transported toward the Kisseynew Domain in the northeast and the hinterland in the southwest. F2 structures (~1.82 Ga) comprise westerly transported nappes. During 1.82-1.80 Ga high-grade metamorphism, the early structures were overturned, amplified, and refolded. Basement-cored culminations and sheet-like synforms of paragneiss were horizontally attenuated and transported south and southwest. North- and northeast-trending F4 folds and F5 faults formed after 1.79 Ga. The whole cycle of deformation is related to stages of continental collision between the internal (juvenile) zone of the Trans-Hudson Orogen and the three surrounding Archean cratons (Sask, Superior, and Hearne). The F4 upright folds and steep F5 faults are interpreted as the record of intracontinental transpression, strongly controlled by the Superior Craton boundary.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Taylor A. Ducharme ◽  
Christopher R.M. McFarlane ◽  
Deanne van Rooyen ◽  
David Corrigan

Abstract The Flowers River Igneous Suite of north-central Labrador comprises several discrete peralkaline granite ring intrusions and their coeval volcanic succession. The Flowers River Granite was emplaced into Mesoproterozoic-age anorthosite–mangerite–charnockite–granite (AMCG) -affinity rocks at the southernmost extent of the Nain Plutonic Suite coastal lineament batholith. New U–Pb zircon geochronology is presented to clarify the timing and relationships among the igneous associations exposed in the region. Fayalite-bearing AMCG granitoids in the region record ages of 1290 ± 3 Ma, whereas the Flowers River Granite yields an age of 1281 ± 3 Ma. Volcanism occurred in three discrete events, two of which coincided with emplacement of the AMCG and Flowers River suites, respectively. Shared geochemical affinities suggest that each generation of volcanic rocks was derived from its coeval intrusive suite. The third volcanic event occurred at 1271 ± 3 Ma, and its products bear a broad geochemical resemblance to the second phase of volcanism. The surrounding AMCG-affinity ferrodiorites and fayalite-bearing granitoids display moderately enriched major- and trace-element signatures relative to equivalent lithologies found elsewhere in the Nain Plutonic Suite. Trace-element compositions also support a relationship between the Flowers River Granite and its AMCG-affinity host rocks, most likely via delayed partial melting of residual parental material in the lower crust. Enrichment manifested only in the southernmost part of the Nain Plutonic Suite as a result of its relative proximity to multiple Palaeoproterozoic tectonic boundaries. Repeated exposure to subduction-derived metasomatic fluids created a persistent region of enrichment in the underlying lithospheric mantle that was tapped during later melt generation, producing multiple successive moderately to strongly enriched magmatic episodes.


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