Thermal history of the southwestern Meguma zone, Nova Scotia, from an 40Ar/39Ar and fission track dating study of intrusive rocks

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1952-1965 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Reynolds ◽  
P. Elias ◽  
G. K. Muecke ◽  
A. M. Grist
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Southern Region ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
South Mountain Batholith ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
The North ◽  
Meguma Terrane ◽  
Fission Track Ages ◽  
Intrusive Activity

Two geologically distinct regions within the Meguma terrane have been studied in detail and are shown to have contrasting thermal histories. This conclusion is based on 31 new 40Ar/39Ar age spectra on micas, K-feldspars, and hornblendes from several of the plutons in southern Nova Scotia, which are satellites to the much larger South Mountain batholith (SMB). In addition, we report four K-feldspar age spectra from a locality in the northeastern part of the SMB and seven fission track ages from both the southern and northern areas.The complex age spectrum of hornblende from a mafic phase associated with the Barrington Passage pluton suggests a minimum intrusive age of 385 Ma, a result consistent with geologic evidence that this pluton represents an early, less evolved magmatic pulse. Later intrusive activity appears to have been coeval with the intrusion of the SMB at ca. 370 Ma ago. In the southern region, argon clocks in feldspars were completely reset and mica clocks variably reset by a later thermal event. The cumulative geochronologic and geologic evidence constrains this event to 300–320 Ma ago. In the SMB, this Alleghanian/Hercynian thermal disturbance is much less pronounced and appears to be localized to small areas that are often associated with economic mineralization.K-feldspars from the southern plutons record an episode of argon loss 220–230 Ma ago, which is less evident in the SMB to the north. Upper Triassic dike injection in the southern region, associated with the initial rifting phase of the Canadian Atlantic margin, accompanied this milder thermal pulse.Apatites in the two regions record a mean fission track age of ca. 180 Ma, which we attribute to the final cooling of the terrane below about 100 °C. The timing of this event coincides with regional uplift recorded in sedimentary sequences along much of the Maritime continental shelf.

scholarly journals Effects of fluid flow, cooling and deformation as recorded by 40Ar/39Ar, Rb–Sr and zircon fission track ages in very low- to low-grade metamorphic rocks in Avalonian SE Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia, Canada)

2014 ◽  
Vol 152 (5) ◽  
pp. 767-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARNE P. WILLNER ◽  
SANDRA M. BARR ◽  
JOHANNES GLODNY ◽  
HANS-JOACHIM MASSONNE ◽  
MASAFUMI SUDO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
White Mica ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Cape Breton Island ◽  
Cape Breton ◽  
Zircon Fission Track ◽  
Meguma Terrane ◽  
Fission Track Ages ◽  
Oriented Parallel

Abstract40Ar/39Ar in situ UV laser ablation of white mica, Rb–Sr mineral isochrons and zircon fission track dating were applied to determine ages of very low- to low-grade metamorphic processes at 3.5±0.4 kbar, 280±30°C in the Avalonian Mira terrane of SE Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia). The Mira terrane comprises Neoproterozoic volcanic-arc rocks overlain by Cambrian sedimentary rocks. Crystallization of metamorphic white mica was dated in six metavolcanic samples by 40Ar/39Ar spot age peaks between 396±3 and 363±14 Ma. Rb–Sr systematics of minerals and mineral aggregates yielded two isochrons at 389±7 Ma and 365±8 Ma, corroborating equilibrium conditions during very low- to low-grade metamorphism. The dated white mica is oriented parallel to foliations produced by sinistral strike-slip faulting and/or folding related to the Middle–Late Devonian transpressive assembly of Avalonian terranes during convergence and emplacement of the neighbouring Meguma terrane. Exhumation occurred earlier in the NW Mira terrane than in the SE. Transpression was related to the closure of the Rheic Ocean between Gondwana and Laurussia by NW-directed convergence. The 40Ar/39Ar spot age spectra also display relict age peaks at 477–465 Ma, 439 Ma and 420–428 Ma attributed to deformation and fluid access, possibly related to the collision of Avalonia with composite Laurentia or to earlier Ordovician–Silurian rifting. Fission track ages of zircon from Mira terrane samples range between 242±18 and 225±21 Ma and reflect late Palaeozoic reburial and reheating close to previous peak metamorphic temperatures under fluid-absent conditions during rifting prior to opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean.

Syn-Acadian emplacement model for the South Mountain batholith, Meguma Terrane, Nova Scotia: Magnetic fabric and structural analyses

1997 ◽  
Vol 109 (10) ◽  
pp. 1279-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Benn ◽  
Richard J. Horne ◽  
Daniel J. Kontak ◽  
Geoffrey S. Pignotta ◽  
Neil G. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Magnetic Fabric ◽  
The South ◽  
South Mountain Batholith ◽  
Meguma Terrane

The Scotian Basin offshore Nova Scotia: thermal history and provenance of sandstones from apatite fission track and 40Ar/39Ar data

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 909-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Grist ◽  
P. H. Reynolds ◽  
M. Zentilli ◽  
C. Beaumont
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Thermal History ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Vitrinite Reflectance ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Thermal Indicators ◽  
Fission Track Ages

Apatite fission track and 40Ar/39Ar age spectrum data from sandstone drill-core minerals taken from depths of 2–5 km in nine wells from the Scotian Basin are presented and interpreted in terms of the thermal history of the basin and the provenance of its sediments. The focus of the study is a comparison of the data from these thermochronometers with each other and with previously published vitrinite reflectance and aromatization–isomerization (A–I) reactions in biomarker compounds from the same or nearby wells.Apatite fission track ages are generally in agreement with expectations in that they trend to zero at a depth of ~4 km (corrected bottom-hole temperature ~120 °C). Shallower (lower present temperature) samples are partially annealed; the degree of partial annealing correlates closely with the degree of A–I reactions. Both thermal indicators are activated over the temperature range 60–120 °C.Samples from two wells, Mic Mac J-77 and Erie D-26, are anomalous. They are more annealed than present formation temperatures would predict, an anomaly that is also indicated by the A–I data. These samples are interpreted as having experienced higher than present temperatures subsequent to deposition, possibly resulting from the passage of hot fluids related to localized volcanism or the sudden venting of an overpressured reservoir.K-feldspars record minor (< 20%) argon loss as a result of burial heating in the basin only at the greatest depths of the sampled range (> 4.3 km). This result is in agreement with the thermal models of the Scotian Basin and extrapolation of the A–I and fission track data to greater depths. The inferred argon loss implies an activation energy of 40 ± 4 kcal/mol for the smallest diffusion domains.The argon age spectra for samples that have not lost argon during residence in the basin provide evidence on the provenance of the sediments. K-feldspars from the Early Cretaceous Missisauga Formation have spectra that are similar to those obtained from K-feldspars from the Grenville Province of the Canadian Shield, whereas muscovites from the same formation give Cambrian to Carboniferous argon ages (mean 387 Ma), an indication of contributions from other source rocks. Corresponding data from the Jurassic Mohican Formation are similar to those reported for plutons from the southern Nova Scotia mainland (ca. 250–350 Ma argon ages). By implication, the Mohican Formation, which is the earliest postrift deposit, was derived from local sources inferred to be adjacent flank uplifts, whereas the Missisauga Formation was derived in part either directly or indirectly from the Grenvillian-aged interior of eastern Canada.

Thermochronologic constraints on ore formation at the Gays River Pb–Zn deposit, Nova Scotia, Canada, from apatite fission track analysis

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1013-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis C. Arne ◽  
Ian R. Duddy ◽  
Don F. Sangster
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Fission Track ◽  
Track Length ◽  
Late Paleozoic ◽  
Apatite Fission Track ◽  
Ore Formation ◽  
Sulphide Mineralization ◽  
Fission Track Ages ◽  
Uplift And Erosion ◽  
Host Rocks

Fission tracks in detrital apatites from the Cambro-Ordovician metasedimentary basement in the vicinity of the Carboniferous-hosted Gays River Pb–Zn deposit, Nova Scotia, provide a record of final cooling during uplift and erosion of the Meguma Zone and constrain the timing of ore formation. Apatite fission track ages range from 203 to 241 Ma, with typical uncertainties of ± 10 Ma. Mean confined track lengths generally vary between 12.0 and 13.4 μm and indicate that the apatites record "apparent" ages only. An inferred thermal history involving regional heating to paleotemperatures > 110 °C during late Paleozoic burial followed by cooling to ~ 110 °C prior to 240–220 Ma is suggested. A more recent phase or regional heating to paleotem-peratures probably in the range of 60–80 °C during Late Cretaceous – early Tertiary (ca. 100–50 Ma) burial is also indicated by the track length data. Apatite fission track ages and mean track lengths from drill-core samples immediately beneath the Gays River orebody are similar to those for regional outcrop samples. At minimum temperatures > 200 °C estimated for ore formation, sulphide mineralization must either have preceded or accompanied regional heating to paleotemperatures > 110 °C during the late Paleozoic. Sulphide mineralization at Gays River must therefore have taken place at some time after ca. 330 Ma (the stratigraphic age of the lower Windsor Group host rocks) but before ca. 240–220 Ma (the last cooling of Meguma Group basement below 110 °C). These constraints on the timing of ore formation at Gays River are compatible with previous suggestions that Pb–Zn mineralization of Carboniferous strata in Nova Scotia occurred at ca. 300 Ma.

Offshore continuation of Meguma Terrane, southwestern Nova Scotia

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Pe-Piper ◽  
Bosko D. Loncarevic
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Gravity Data ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Magnetic Anomalies ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Rock Formation ◽  
South Mountain Batholith ◽  
Granitoid Rocks ◽  
Meguma Terrane

Eight short drill cores have been examined from the continental shelf southwest of Nova Scotia. Four cores recovered granitoid rocks of two types. Ilmenite-bearing granitoid rocks petrographically and geochemically resemble granodiorites of the South Mountain Batholith and granites of the Seal Island Pluton. Magnetite-bearing granitoid rocks are also peraluminous but have no exact analogues onshore in Nova Scotia. Two cores recovered metamorphic rocks in a small area 50 km south of Seal Island. One consits of chlorite–muscovite–quartz schist, geochemically similar to rocks of the Halifax Formation. The second sampled epidote–chlorite–quartz schist similar to metavolcanic rocks of the White Rock Formation. One further core sampled quartzite, and another sampled a metavolcanic rock (possibly erratic).The regional extent of these lithotypes can be inferred from gravity and aeromagnetic data. Regional gravity data suggest the presence of a large granite body off southwestern Nova Scotia. In this area, magnetic anomalies are irregular, apparently reflecting the presence of magnetite-bearing granites. The layer-stripping method of analyzing the magnetic field shows that the area is underlain at depth by high magnetic anomalies. Large near-surface linear magnetic anomalies are used to map the extent of the volcanic rocks of the White Rock Formation. The area is cut by several northwest-trending faults that postdate Acadian folding but predate the earliest Jurassic magmatism of the Shelburne Dyke and North Mountain basalt. The unusual magnetic signature of the area off southwestern Nova Scotia may reflect a different basement; it is possible that Meguma rocks are thrust over the Avalon Terrane. Alternatively, it may be solely the result of magnetite-bearing granites. These granites may be related to a Permian thermal event in southwest Nova Scotia, and they have some petrographic similarity to young granites of the Piedmont Zone of South Carolina.

Rb–Sr age and geochemical distinctions between the Carboniferous tin-bearing Davis Lake complex and the Devonian South Mountain batholith, Meguma Terrane, Nova Scotia

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 2044-2061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean M. Richardson ◽  
Keith Bell ◽  
John Blenkinsop ◽  
David H. Watkinson
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Trace Element ◽  
Biotite Granite ◽  
Granitic Magma ◽  
Trace Element Geochemistry ◽  
Magmatic Differentiation ◽  
Element Geochemistry ◽  
South Mountain Batholith ◽  
Granitoid Rocks ◽  
Meguma Terrane

The Davis Lake complex (DLC), composed of biotite monzogranite, leucomonzogranite, and cassiterite–topaz greisen, hosts the East Kemptville tin mine in southwestern Nova Scotia. The DLC monzogranite contains glomeroporphyritic biotite with ilmenite and many rare-earth-element (REE) bearing accessory minerals, zircon-bearing quartz phenocrysts, and xenoliths of biotite granite. Primary muscovite is rare. Major- and trace-element geochemical trends indicate well-defined, but limited, magmatic differentiation trends. REE patterns of the least-evolved granites are flat and show a Ce/Yb ratio of 10.The DLC was previously considered cogenetic with the Devonian South Mountain batholith (SMB) on the basis of its location, lithologies, and similarities in major- and trace-element geochemistry. However, new Rb–Sr whole-rock isotopic data indicate an Rb–Sr date of 330 ± 7 Ma (mean square of weighted deviates (MSWD) = 2.8) for the DLC, implying that it is at least 35 Ma younger than the SMB. The initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.727 ± 0.004 is significantly higher than those for other Meguma Terrane granites and is the highest yet reported from Appalachian granitoid rocks. Rb–Sr data from biotite indicate open-system behaviour between 260 and 240 Ma and provide more evidence for previously documented tectonothermal events after 300 Ma in the Meguma Terrane.The peraluminous nature of the DLC, its high Rb/Sr and high 87Sr/86Sr ratios, high P, F, and Sn contents, low Ca and B contents, and high differentiation indices indicate that the complex was derived from a highly evolved felsic source. Geochemical distinctions indicate that the DLC is neither derived from nor cogenetic with the SMB. A more probable source for the DLC magma is a dehydrated felsic granulite from which a previous H2O-, B-, Cl-, and Zn-rich granitic magma (perhaps the SMB) had been extracted. Such a source is analogous to that postulated for A-type granites and topaz rhyolites.The DLC shows more similarities to the "stitching" Carboniferous Appalachian volatile- and metal-rich granites than to Devonian Meguma granites. Unlike most of these Appalachian plutons, which occur marginal to terrane boundaries and were probably crystallized from locally generated, anatectic magmas, the DLC was emplaced in the centre of the most-outboard Meguma Terrane, adjacent to the Tobiatic shear zone.

The margins of Avalonia

1997 ◽  
Vol 134 (5) ◽  
pp. 627-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. M. COCKS ◽  
W. S. MCKERROW ◽  
C. R. VAN STAAL
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Cape Cod ◽  
The South ◽  
Cape Breton Island ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
The North ◽  
Southern Margin ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
History Of ◽  
Meguma Terrane

During Cambrian and earliest Ordovician times, Avalonia was an area forming an integral part of the huge Gondwanan continent, probably along the northern margin of Amazonia, until in early Ordovician (late Arenig or Llanvirn) time it split off from Gondwana, leaving a widening Rheic Ocean to its south. Today, its southern margin with Gondwana extends northeast from east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, through Nova Scotia north of the Meguma terrane, and thence below sea level to the south of Newfoundland. On the eastern side of the present Atlantic, the southern margin may separate southwest Portugal from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula; it can be traced eastwards with more certainty from the south Cornwall nappes to a line separating the Northern Phyllite Belt (on the southern margin of the Rhenohercynian terrane) and the Mid-German Crystalline High. There is no certain evidence of Avalonian crust to the northeast of the Elbe Line. The northern margin of Avalonia extends westwards from south of Denmark to the British Isles, where it merges with the Iapetus Ocean suture between Scotland and England. Traced westwards, it crosses Ireland and reappears in northern Newfoundland to the east of New World Island, where it may follow the trace of the Dog Bay Line and the Cape Ray Fault. Recent work suggests that the northern margin of Avalonia may clip the northern tip of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and then enter the North American mainland at the Bay of Chaleur; it may then be traced from north and west of the Popelogan and Bronson Hill arcs to Long Island Sound near Newhaven, Connecticut. The Cambrian to Devonian faunas reflect the history of Avalonia: initially they were purely Gondwanan but, as Ordovician time proceeded, more genera crossed firstly the Tornquist Ocean as it narrowed between Avalonia and Baltica to close in latest Ordovician and early Silurian times, and secondly the Iapetus Ocean, so that by the early Silurian most of the benthic shelly faunas, apart from the ostracods, were the same round the adjacent margins of all three palaeocontinents.

Sediment sources and dispersion as revealed by single-grain 40Ar/39Ar ages of detrital muscovite from Carboniferous and Cretaceous rocks in mainland Nova ScotiaGeological Survey of Canada contribution 20090289.

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 957-970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter H. Reynolds ◽  
Georgia Pe-Piper ◽  
David J.W. Piper
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Sediment Sources ◽  
The South ◽  
Lower Carboniferous ◽  
South Mountain Batholith ◽  
Single Grain ◽  
Meguma Terrane

Single-grain ages of detrital muscovite from 15 sand(stone) samples from the Lower Carboniferous Horton Group and the Lower Cretaceous Chaswood Formation of central Nova Scotia were used to infer the nature of the Early Carboniferous unroofing of the Meguma terrane and the reworking of Carboniferous rocks in the Early Cretaceous. In the western Windsor Basin, a sample from the oldest Horton Group rocks yielded ages principally between ca. 400 and 380 Ma, suggesting that most of the muscovite present came from the metamorphic rocks of the Meguma terrane but was variably reset by the intrusion of the South Mountain Batholith at ca. 380 Ma. Other samples in this part of the basin show partial post-depositional resetting. Younger Horton Group metamorphic rocks in the eastern Windsor Basin contain many grains with ages of ca. 370–360 Ma, suggesting derivation from the central core of the South Mountain Batholith or the Musquodoboit Pluton. Horton Group sandstones from the western part of the St. Marys Basin contain muscovite derived from the Liscomb Complex along with metamorphic muscovite variably reset by the intrusion of this complex. In general, our data suggest predominant northward dispersion of muscovite from the Meguma terrane to the Horton Group and a lack of axial transport along the Horton grabens through central Nova Scotia, a pattern compatible with tectonic models in which the Meguma terrane is ramped over the Avalon terrane. Muscovite ages obtained for the Chaswood Formation compare well with those from the Horton Group rocks in the western St. Marys Basin. These rocks may have been exposed to rapid erosion by reactivation of the Cobequid–Chedabucto fault zone in the Early Cretaceous and the resulting sediments were perhaps transported to depositional sites along northeast-trending faults. Unlike the detrital monazites in these rocks, there is no evidence that any of the detrital muscovites came from distal sources outside the Meguma terrane.

The West Indian Road pit, central Nova Scotia: key to the Early Cretaceous Chaswood Formation

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Gobeil ◽  
Georgia Pe-Piper ◽  
David JW Piper
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
West Indian ◽  
Tectonic Deformation ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
The West ◽  
South Mountain Batholith ◽  
The North ◽  
Quartz Arenite ◽  
Sand And Gravel

The West Indian Road pit is the only large outcrop in Nova Scotia of the Chaswood Formation, the terrestrial equivalent of the offshore Missisauga and Logan Canyon formations. It provides outcrop information on sedimentology, gravel petrology, and structures for a formation that is otherwise known from a few small overgrown pits and from boreholes. The Chaswood Formation in the pit is > 60 m thick and consists principally of sorted sand and gravel with three thinner clay units. Successions of sedimentary structures indicate deposition from a coarse-bedload river flowing to the east-southeast. Gravel consists principally of vein quartz, quartz arenite, and subarkose, together with minor igneous lithologies that can be matched to sources in the Cobequid Highlands to the north. Quartz arenite and subarkose appear derived from Carboniferous Horton Group. Single-crystal 40Ar/39Ar dates of detrital muscovite are a little older than the muscovite ages for the South Mountain batholith, interpreted to mean that the muscovite is second cycle from the Horton Group, which records the earliest unroofing of the batholith. The Chaswood Formation accumulated during progressive tectonic deformation along NNE-trending strike-slip faults in basement rocks, resulting in syn-sedimentary faulting and local unconformities. Sedimentation kept pace with the creation of accommodation. Unrelated younger deformation folded the Chaswood Formation at the pit into an east–west-trending syncline. The Early Cretaceous paleogeography of the Maritime Provinces is interpreted to have consisted of fault-bound horsts shedding coarse detritus surrounded by an interconnected series of basins that accumulated fluvial sands and gravels and overbank muds with well-developed paleosols.

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