Paleomagnetism of Archean rocks from northwestern Ontario: Wabigoon gabbro, Wabigoon Subprovince

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1805-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Blocking Temperature ◽  
Virtual Geomagnetic Pole ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Paleomagnetic Pole ◽  
Geomagnetic Pole ◽  
Chemical Remanent Magnetization

The Wabigoon gabbro of the Archean Wabigoon greenstone belt in northwestern Ontario preserves a univectorial natural remanent magnetization (NRM) with D = 246°, I = 12° (k = 19.5, α95 = 10.5°, N = 11 sites). The precision is reduced if sample means are averaged, however (k = 9.3, α95 = 9.2°, N = 29 samples). The paleomagnetic pole falls either at 160°W, 11°S (δp = 5.3°, δm = 10.6°), corresponding to an age of ~1300 Ma on the Laurentian apparent polar wander path, or the reverse of this, 20°E, 11° N, corresponding to a late Archean age (~2800 Ma). No ~1300 Ma igneous or metamorphic event is known in the area; a major west-northwest-trending dike about 9 km south of the gabbro yields a virtual geomagnetic pole at 122°W, 45°N and seems to be of Abitibi age (~2150 Ma) rather than Mackenzie age (~1250 Ma). A few gabbro samples and some greenstones from the intrusive baked zone have hybrid remanences in which a higher blocking temperature Kenoran-age (~2600 Ma) NRM is superimposed on the gabbro characteristic NRM. However, the Kenoran component may be a younger chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) residing in hematite. The hypothesis that the gabbro characteristic remanence is itself a hybrid of Kenoran and Keweenawan (~1100 Ma) NRM's, which would explain both the high between-sample scatter and the lack of a ~1300 Ma remagnetizing event, is considered but rejected because fewer than 10% of the gabbro samples exhibit multivectorial swings during alternating field or thermal cleaning. Two geomagnetic field reversals are recorded at interior sites, but only one or none is recorded near the margin of the intrusion. The different cooling histories of margin and interior, as well as the bulk of the other evidence, favour magnetization during initial cooling in late Archean time.

Age of the Firesand River carbonatite complex from paleomagnetism

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 2401-2405 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. T. A. Symons
Keyword(s):  
Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Pole Position ◽  
Blocking Temperature ◽  
Isothermal Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Carbonatite Complex ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Partial Contact ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Temperature Spectra ◽  
Middle Proterozoic

The 2.3 km diameter Firesand River complex intrudes Archean volcanics and granites of the Wawa Subprovince in the Superior Province about 8 km east of Wawa, Ontario. It has given differing Middle Proterozoic K–Ar biotite ages of 1018 ± 50 and 1097 Ma. Alternating-field and thermal step demagnetization of specimens from three calcific carbonatite sites, five ferruginous dolomitic carbonatite sites, and one lamprophyre dike site isolated a stable mean direction of 290°, 33 °(α95 = 12°). Isothermal remanent magnetization tests indicate the remanence is held by single-to pseudosingle-domain magnetite and hematite in the carbonatite. The dike remanence is Keweenawan in age, thereby confirming its genetic relationship to the complex, and it gives a positive partial contact test with its host rock, indicating no postintrusive remagnetization. The blocking-temperature spectra indicate that postintrusive uplift has not exceeded about 4 km. The pole position for the complex is 183°E, 27°N (dp = 8°, dm = 13°). This pole lies directly on the well-dated Keweenawan apparent polar wander path, giving an age of 1090 ± 10 Ma, in agreement with the older K–Ar age. It also confirms geologic and aeromagnetic evidence that the complex has not been tectonically tilted since emplacement.

Paleomagnetism of the Fond du Lac Formation and the Eileen and Middle River sections with implications for Keweenawan tectonics and the Grenville problem

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 829-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doyle R. Watts
Keyword(s):  
Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Blocking Temperature ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
River Section ◽  
Orthogonal Projections ◽  
Chemical Leaching ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
The Times

Overlying the Keweenawan lavas of northern Wisconsin and Michigan is a thick sequence of terrestrial sandstone, shale, and siltstone that has undergone some tectonic deformation associated with movement along thrust faults and the development of the Lake Superior syncline. Thermal and alternating field demagnetization, chemical leaching, and multivector analysis using orthogonal projections reveal a trivector structure of the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of the Fond du Lac Formation and Middle River section (Amnicon and Orienta Formations), and a bivector structure of the NRM of the Eileen section (Eileen Formation). The components may be classified by their physical properties as revealed by demagnetization. A population of high blocking temperature components, K1, is found in all three sections and gives poles as follows: Fond du Lac, 16°N, 160°E; Middle River, 25°N, 148°E; Eileen, 20°N, 156°E after structural correction is applied. A population of intermediate blocking temperature components, K2, is post-tectonic and found only in the Fond du Lac Formation and Middle River section. Poles calculated from K2 fall among the Grenville type poles (Fond du Lac, 9°S, 145°E; Middle River, 24°S, 162°E). A third population of components, K3, has low blocking temperature and coercivity and is isolated only by chemical leaching. K3 has steep positive inclination, northern declination, and is post-tectonic. It is interpreted as a recent magnetization.Any interpretation of the path of apparent polar wander for North America must accommodate the sequence of magnetization K1 to K2. The timing of tectonism in the Keweenawan basin is bracketed by the times of acquisition of K1 and K2. These results reconfirm some recent interpretations that include Grenville poles on the polar wander track of interior Laurentia.

Paleomagnetism of the upper Keweenawan sediments: the Nonesuch Shale and Freda Sandstone

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1128-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven G. Henry ◽  
Frederick J. Mauk ◽  
Rob Van der Voo
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽  
North American Plate ◽  
Virtual Geomagnetic Pole ◽  
General Direction ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Late Precambrian ◽  
The North ◽  
Copper Mineralization ◽  
Geomagnetic Pole

The natural remanent magnetization of the upper Keweenawan Nonesuch Shale and Freda Sandstone has been analyzed with thermal, alternating field, and chemical demagnetization techniques. The results of this study are in good agreement with previously published works by DuBois and by Vincenz and Yaskawa, but place a tighter constraint on the North American apparent polar wander path. Fifty-eight samples, representing nearly 900 m of section, have been collected from the flanks of the Porcupine Mountain uplift. From principally thermal demagnetization analyses, a mean direction of primary magnetization has been calculated for the Nonesuch Shale, with declination 279.8°, inclination +9.8°, yielding a virtual geomagnetic pole position at 176.5° E, 10.3° N, and for the Freda Sandstone, with declination 271.3° inclination + 0.7°, yielding a virtual geomagnetic pole at 179.5° E, 1.2° N. A group of intermediate (secondary) components of magnetization is removed between temperatures of 350 °C and 550 °C, yielding well clustered directions. Its mean direction with declination 280.6°, inclination −9.5°, resulted in a virtual geomagnetic pole at 169.2° E, 3.7° N. This secondary magnetization is assumed to be of chemical origin and is most likely associated with the late Precambrian copper mineralization of the Nonesuch Shale. By thorough sampling of the stratigraphic column it is possible to infer the general direction of motion of a plate as the sediments were deposited. The motion of the North American plate as observed in the upper Keweenawan magnetizations is in agreement with the previously published polar wander paths for the late Precambrian.

Paleomagnetism of Archean rocks from northwestern Ontario: IV. Burchell Lake granite, Wawa–Shebandowan Subprovince

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. 1098-1104 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Reverse Polarity ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Normal Polarity ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Low K

The late Archean Burchell Lake granite of the Shebandowan greenstone belt in northwestern Ontario has a characteristic natural remanent magnetization (NRM) resembling the type 1 NRM of the nearby Shelley Lake granite of the Quetico gneiss belt. Of 36 stably magnetized samples, 21 had predominantly normal polarity (1N) NRM and 15 had reverse polarity (1R). The mean direction based on stable end-point and vector subtracted directions is D = 2.3 °I = 48.9 °(k = 23.9, α95 = 10.0°, N = 10 sites). Intersecting remagnetization circles gave a similar direction. The corresponding paleopole BL1 lies at 83.2°E, 71.1°N, near track 6 of the Laurentian apparent polar wander path around 2600 Ma. Although the Burchell Lake pluton is not dated radiometrically, neighbouring granites give K/Ar biotite ages of 2550–2600 Ma, and it is reasonable to suppose that the NRM dates from the time of intrusion or shortly thereafter. A type 2 NRM like that of the Shelley Lake granite was isolated in 12 samples. Its mean direction is D = 80.9 °I = −11.1°, but the precision is unacceptably low (k = 7.7).

Paleomagnetism and structural history of the Ghost Range intrusive complex, central Abitibi Belt, Ontario: further evidence for the Late Archean geomagnetic field of North America

1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 2085-2099 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Wm. Geissman ◽  
David W. Strangway ◽  
Ann M. Tasillo-Hirt ◽  
Larry S. Jensen
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Blocking Temperature ◽  
High Coercivity ◽  
Thermal Methods ◽  
Virtual Geomagnetic Pole ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Group 1

On the basis of their remanence properties, the lithologies of the Late Archean (2710–2703 Ma) Ghost Range Complex, an east–west-trending layered mafic–ultramafic extrusive sequence in the central Abitibi Greenstone Belt, can be divided into three groups. Group 1 units contain a high-coercivity, high-blocking temperature (greater than 520 °C) magnetite-dominated remanence characteristic of the complex (D = 280°, I = 2°, k = 5.5, α95 = 11.8°, virtual geomagnetic pole = 13°E, 7°S; isolated by both AF and thermal methods), in good agreement with the few previous results bearing on the Late Archean apparent polar wander path for North America. Group 2 units contain a low-coercivity, low-blocking-temperature (less than 310°C) scattered remanence residing in pyrrhotite. Often, both remanences coexist in a single lithology at a given site. Group 3 units contain distributed coercivity and blocking-temperature remanences, again residing in magnetite, that are more scattered but statistically identical to the mean group 1 direction. The order of magnetic blocking appears to have been group 1 before group 3 before group 2. The geologic setting of the Ghost Range suggests that it has remained essentially stable since emplacement and therefore the group 1 direction appears to reliably represent a Late Archean paleomagnetic pole.

Paleomagnetism of Archean rocks from northwestern Ontario: V. Poohbah Lake alkaline complex, Quetico Subprovince

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Dunlop
Keyword(s):  
Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Reverse Polarity ◽  
Alkaline Complex ◽  
Field Reversal ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Normal Polarity

The Poohbah Lake alkaline complex is a late synkinematic Kenoran pluton in the Quetico gneiss belt of the western Superior Province. Three units of the complex, porphyritic syenite (PS), malignite (M: a nepheline–clinopyroxene–K-feldspar rock), and hornblende syenite (HS), as well as baked Archean schists near the intrusive contact, have a predominantly reverse-polarity R magnetization with mean direction D = 198° I = −22.5° (k = 62, α95 = 5°, N = 13 sites) and a paleopole at 60°E, 50.5°N. Pyrrhotite and coarse primary magnetite are carriers of the R remanence. PS, M, and biotite pyroxenite (BP) exhibit also a predominantly normal N magnetization carried by fine-grained, probably secondary magnetite. N is systematically steeper than R: its mean direction is D = 359.5° I = +55.5° (k = 28, α95 = 8°, N = 13 sites) with a paleopole at 90°E, 77.5°N. R and N do not record an asymmetric field reversal, since reverse-polarity N vectors and normal-polarity R vectors are occasionally found. R resembles in polarity and direction the natural remanent magnetization (NRM) of the 2630 Ma Matachewan diabase. It is probably the primary NRM of the Poohbah Lake pluton, with an age of about 2650 Ma in approximate agreement with the K/Ar isochron age of 2700 ± 25 Ma. N resembles in polarity and direction NRM's from the 2580 Ma Shelley Lake granite and the late Archean Burchell Lake granite. It is probably a secondary NRM about 2550 Ma in age, as suggested by updated K/Ar mica ages. The characteristic NRM of HS samples and secondary magnetizations in other rock types have poles on the Grenville Track of the polar wander path but there is no evidence for Grenvillian-age events in the area.

scholarly journals An improved apparent polar wander path for southwest Japan: post-Cretaceous multiphase rotations with respect to the Asian continent

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Uno ◽  
Yuta Idehara ◽  
Daichi Morita ◽  
Kuniyuki Furukawa
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Southwest Japan ◽  
Asian Continent ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Paleomagnetic Pole ◽  
Tectonic Rotation ◽  
Japanese Islands

AbstractTo construct the Mesozoic apparent polar wander path (APWP) for the inner arc of the southwestern Japanese islands (referred to as southwest Japan) and compare it to that of East Asia, a 110 Ma paleomagnetic pole for southwest Japan was determined. Mudstone and sandstone samples were collected from 16 sites for paleomagnetic analysis in the Lower Cretaceous Inakura Formation of the Inakura area in the central part of southwest Japan. A high-temperature magnetization component, with unblocking temperatures of 670–695 °C, was isolated from 12 sites of red mudstone. Of these, 11 sites revealed a primary remanent magnetization during the Early Cretaceous. The primary directions combined with the previously reported ones provide a new mean direction (D = 79.7°, I = 47.4°, α95 = 6.5°, N = 17), and a corresponding paleomagnetic pole that is representative of southwest Japan (24.6° N, 203.1° E, A95 = 6.8°). The Early Cretaceous paleomagnetic pole, together with the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic poles, constitute a new APWP for southwest Japan. The new APWP illustrates a standstill polar position during 110–70 Ma, suggesting tectonic quiescence of this region. This standstill was followed by two large tracks during the Cenozoic. We interpret these tracks as clockwise tectonic rotations of southwest Japan that occurred twice during the Cenozoic. The earlier tectonic rotation occurred for a tectonic unit positioned below northeast China, the Liaodong and Korean Peninsulas, and southwest Japan (East Tan-Lu Block) during the Paleogene. The later rotation took place only under southwest Japan during the Neogene. Cenozoic multiphase rifting activity in the eastern margin of the Asian continent was responsible for the tectonic rotations that are observed from the paleomagnetic studies. Intermittent rifting may constitute a series of phenomena due to asthenospheric convection, induced by the growth of the Eurasian mega-continent in the Mesozoic.

scholarly journals Upper Devonian (Frasnian stage) of the north-western part of the Russian Platform: paleomagnetic data

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
A.G. Iosifidi ◽  
◽  
V.V. Popov ◽  
A.V. Zhuravlev ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Natural Remanent Magnetization ◽  
Upper Devonian ◽  
Paleomagnetic Data ◽  
Magnetic Minerals ◽  
The North ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Paleomagnetic Pole ◽  
Frasnian Stage ◽  
Main Devonian Field

Paleomagnetic determinations for the Devonian strata of the Main Devonian Field, available in the international paleomagnetic data base, do not make it possible to construct both detailed magnetostratigraphic scales and reliable trajectories of the apparent polar wander path of the paleomagnetic pole. This is primarily due to the insufficient amount of data that determine modern reliability criteria. Obtaining more complete series of reliable paleomagnetic determinations is one of the important tasks of paleomagnetic studies. The paper presents new paleomagnetic determinations from a collection of rocks of the Frasnian stage of the Upper Devonian (Ilmen and Bureg Beds of the Semiluky Formation), sampled on the southern shore of Lake Ilmen, east of the village. Korostyn in 2009. Magnetomineralogical studies were carried out to determine the magnetic minerals of carriers of natural remanent magnetization. Three characteristic components of natural remanent magnetization have been identified. Two components correspond to the Late Paleozoic magnetization reversal (in the Carboniferous and Permian times). The third, bipolar component of the Frasnian age passes the reverse polarity test of the geomagnetic field.. The obtained position of the paleomagnetic pole by the bipolar component of the natural remanent magnetization is consistent with the available data on the section of the Late Upper Devonian of the Main Devonian Field.

Paleomagnetism of igneous rocks from the Belcher Islands, Northwest Territories, Canada

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 807-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Igneous Rock ◽  
Pole Position ◽  
Igneous Rocks ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Plate Model ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Paleomagnetic Pole

Paleomagnetic results from igneous rock units on the Belcher Islands, Hudson Bay, are described. Fold tests for all units studied, as well as a contact test for the intrusive bodies, indicate that both primary (initial), and secondary (post-folding) magnetizations are present.The paleomagnetic pole position from primary directions of the oldest unit studied, the Eskimo volcanics, is situated at 40°S, 002°E (A95 = 12°) and is similar to that derived from equivalent volcanics on the mainland. The younger volcanic unit studied, the Flaherty volcanics, yielded a pole position from primary directions at 0°, 244°E (A95 = 7°). The Haig intrusions, associated with these younger volcanics, yields an almost identical pole position at 1°N, 247°E (A95 = 6°), being derived from directions which are shown to be not only pre–folding but also date from initial cooling. The Eskimo volcanics, which have been more deeply buried than the Flaherty (upper) volcanics, carry substantial components of secondary (post-folding) magnetization which yield a pole position at 19°N, 243°E (A95 = 15°), about 20° north of the pole positions derived from the youngest units.It is argued that the apparent polar wander path (APWP) constructed for the Belcher Islands is representative of the mainland Ungava Craton. Comparison with the equivalent APWP from elsewhere in North America shows that the two APWP's are at variance. Although a two-plate model could be advanced, perhaps a more conservative interpretation is to extend the existing North American APWP eastward to include the Belcher–Ungava APWP, that is, to favour a one-plate model.

A paleomagnetic study of the lava flows within the Copper Harbor Conglomerate, Michigan: new results and implications

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 369-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Diehl ◽  
T. D. Haig
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Entire Range ◽  
Lava Flows ◽  
Polar Wander ◽  
Lake Shore ◽  
Apparent Polar Wander Path ◽  
Paleomagnetic Pole ◽  
Complete Section ◽  
Paleomagnetic Study ◽  
Petrographic Analyses

New paleomagnetic data have been obtained from the interbedded lava flows within the Copper Harbor Conglomerate on Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. Previous paleomagnetic studies of these lava flows, known collectively as the Lake Shore Traps, have produced contradictory results. To investigate the cause of these conflicting results, 30 sites encompassing the most complete section of lava flows possible were collected and analyzed.Well-defined characteristic directions of magnetization were isolated using either alternating-field or thermal demagnetization or a combination of both. These directions of magnetization are interpreted as primary magnetizations acquired during the original cooling of the lavas. Hysteresis, thermomagnetic, and petrographic analyses suggest the carrier of magnetization is a pseudo-single-domain, titanium-poor magnetite that has undergone some high-temperature oxidation.Site means determined from the 30 lava flows define three distinct directional clusters. Each cluster of directions corresponds to a different stratigraphic package of lava flows with the Copper Harbor Conglomerate. Between-site dispersion for each stratigraphic package or unit is much less than the expected value for Keweenawan-age rocks. Therefore, we suggest that most of the lava flows in each unit were extruded rapidly and that within an individual stratigraphic unit, paleosecular variation has not been adequately sampled. This explains why previous studies on the Lake Shore Traps have produced such different results; each study did not sample the entire range of directions possible in these lava flows.The paleomagnetic pole calculated from the 30 site-mean virtual geomagnetic poles is located at 22.2°N, 180.8°E (k = 35.0; A95 = 6.5°). The new Copper Harbor pole is now located in the appropriate chronological position with respect to the underlying Portage Lake Volcanics and the overlying Nonesuch Shale on the Keweenawan apparent polar wander path. The similarity of our Copper Harbor pole to that of the Portage Lake Volcanics reinforces the idea that the Copper Harbor Conglomerate is more closely related in time to the Portage Lake Volcanics than to the Nonesuch Shale.

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