Age and timing of igneous activity in the Temagami greenstone belt, Ontario: a preliminary report

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1873-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Bowins ◽  
L. M. Heaman
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Preliminary Report ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Early Proterozoic ◽  
The North ◽  
Intrusive Rocks ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince ◽  
Igneous Activity ◽  
The Town ◽  
Volcanic Cycle

The southernmost remnants of Archean supracrustal and intrusive rocks in eastern Ontario are exposed through a window in the Early Proterozoic Huronian Supergroup near the town of Temagami. U–Pb zircon ages from this area indicate the presence of some of the oldest felsic magmatism so far discovered in this portion of the Superior Province. The Iceland Lake pluton (2736 ± 2 Ma) and a nearby rhyolite flow ([Formula: see text]) are contemporaneous, which establishes that at least some of the intrusive rocks in the region are synvolcanic and coeval with the oldest volcanic cycle. The youngest plutonic activity is the emplacement of a late rhyolite porphyry dike at 2687 ± 2 Ma, an age that is bracketed by the 2675–2700 Ma emplacement ages of late internal plutons found throughout the Abitibi Subprovince. The 2736 Ma dates, however, are older than the nearest portion of the exposed Abitibi, some 120 km to the north near Kirkland Lake.

Metamorphic Gradient: A Regional-Scale Area Selection Criterion for Gold in the Northeastern Superior Province, Eastern Canadian Shield

SEG Discovery ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Michel Gauthier ◽  
Sylvain Trépanier ◽  
Stephen Gardoll
Keyword(s):  
Regional Scale ◽  
Selection Criterion ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
James Bay ◽  
Area Selection ◽  
The North ◽  
First Pass ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince ◽  
Frontier Region ◽  
Metamorphic Gradient

ABSTRACT One hundred years after the first gold discoveries in the Abitibi subprovince, the Archean James Bay region to the north is experiencing a major exploration boom. Poor geologic coverage in this part of the northeastern Superior province has hindered the application of traditional Abitibi exploration criteria such as crustal-scale faults and “Timiskaming-type” sedimentary rocks. New area selection criteria are needed for successful greenfield exploration in this frontier region, and the use of steep metamorphic gradients is presented as a possible alternative. The statistical robustness of the metamorphic gradient area selection criterion was confirmed by using the curve of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) to estimate the correlation between metamorphic fronts and the distribution of known Abitibi orogenic gold producers. The criterion was then applied to the James Bay region during a first-pass craton-scale exploration program. This was part of the strategy that led to the discovery of the Eleonore multimillion-ounce gold deposit in 2004.

New high-precision U–Pb ages for the Island Lake greenstone belt, northwestern Superior Province: implications for regional stratigraphy and the extent of the North Caribou terrane

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 789-803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen Parks ◽  
Shoufa Lin ◽  
Don Davis ◽  
Tim Corkery
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zone ◽  
High Precision ◽  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Mapping Study ◽  
The North ◽  
Crustal Block ◽  
Greenstone Belts

A combined U–Pb and field mapping study of the Island Lake greenstone belt has led to the recognition of three distinct supracrustal assemblages. These assemblages record magmatic episodes at 2897, 2852, and 2744 Ma. Voluminous plutonic rocks within the belt range in age from 2894 to 2730 Ma, with a concentration at 2744 Ma. U–Pb data also show that a regional fault that transects the belt, the Savage Island shear zone, is not a terrane-bounding structure. The youngest sedimentary group in the belt, the Island Lake Group, has an unconformable relationship with older plutons. Sedimentation in this group is bracketed between 2712 and 2699 Ma. This group, and others similar to it in the northwestern Superior Province, is akin to Timiskaming-type sedimentary groups found throughout the Superior Province and in other Archean cratons. These data confirm that this belt experienced a complex geological history that spanned at least 200 million years, which is typical of greenstone belts in this area. Age correlations between the Island Lake belt and other belts in the northwest Superior Province suggest the existence of a volcanic "megasequence". This evidence, in combination with Nd isotopic data, indicates that the Oxford–Stull domain, and the Munro Lake, Island Lake, and North Caribou terranes may have been part of a much larger reworked Mesoarchean crustal block, the North Caribou superterrane. It appears that the Superior Province was assembled by accretion of such large independent crustal blocks, whose individual histories involved extended periods of autochthonous development.

Geochronology of the North Caribou greenstone belt, Superior Province Canada: Implications for tectonic history and gold mineralization at the Musselwhite mine

2012 ◽  
Vol 192-195 ◽  
pp. 209-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Biczok ◽  
Pete Hollings ◽  
Paul Klipfel ◽  
Larry Heaman ◽  
Roland Maas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
The North ◽  
Tectonic History

Rb–Sr geochronology of the Coldwell Complex, northwestern Ontario, Canada

1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 1796-1801 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Garth Platt ◽  
Roger H. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Parental Magma ◽  
Initial Ratio ◽  
North Shore ◽  
The North ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Alkaline Intrusion ◽  
Intrusive Rocks ◽  
Igneous Activity

The Coldwell Complex of Northwestern Ontario is North America's largest structurally and petrologically complex alkaline intrusion. Situated on the north shore of Lake Superior, it consists of at least three intrusive centres and is cross-cut by a diverse suite of coeval–cogenetic dikes. The main intrusive rocks range from gabbros to ferroaugite syenites, nepheline syenites, and quartz syenites. The dikes are predominantly lamprophyric. A seventeen point whole rock Rb–Sr isochron (MSWD 2.22) gives an age of 1044.5 ± 6.2 Ma (2σ) and an initial ratio of 0.70354 ± 0.00016 (2σ). The age is late Neohelikian and is younger than the bulk of igneous activity (Keweenawan activity) prevalent in the Lake Superior Basin during the Neohelikian. The low initial ratio indicates an upper mantle origin for the parental magma of the complex.

Orthoquartzite pebbles in Archean conglomerate, North Spirit Lake, northwestern Ontario

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 1980-1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Donaldson ◽  
Richard W. Ojakangas
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Canadian Shield ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Definite Evidence ◽  
The North ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Quartz Grains

An Archean conglomerate in the North Spirit Lake area of northwestern Ontario contains rare orthoquartzite pebbles. Detailed study of these pebbles shows that mineralogically they are very mature, consisting of as much as 99.8 percent quartz and a heavy mineral suite of zircon, tourmaline, and apatite. Textures are typically bimodal, characterized by rounded sand-sized quartz grains set in a 'matrix-cement' of thoroughly recrystallized finer quartz grains. These orthoquartzite pebbles provide the first definite evidence for local tectonic stability of the Canadian Shield before deposition of the immature sedimentary rocks that form part of an Archean (>2.6 Ga) greenstone belt of the Superior Province.

Advances in the U–Pb zircon geochronology of the Michipicoten greenstone belt, Superior Province, Ontario

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1154-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Turek ◽  
R. P. Sage ◽  
W. R. Van Schmus
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Volcanic Centre ◽  
Volcanic Tuff ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Felsic Volcanism ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Volcanic Cycle ◽  
Volcanic Cycles

The Michipicoten greenstone belt in the Superior Province in Ontario developed over a period of approximately 240 Ma, between 2900 and 2660 Ma. The belt is made up of supracrustal rocks consisting of mafic to felsic metavolcanic and associated metasedimentary rocks intruded and embayed by granitoids of various ages. Generally, the external granitic terrane, a mosaic of plutons of various ages, is younger than the greenstone belt and equivalent in age to the plutons in the belt. Three major volcanic cycles have been recognized, and the older internal plutonism is coeval with the volcanism.This study reports 10 new U–Pb concordia ages that enhance the existing geochronological framework of the area. The 2889 Ma age determined for the Judith volcanic tuff documents the existence of the oldest volcanic cycle. This age is close to that of the Murray–Algoma porphyry, dated in this study at 2881 Ma, and similar to a previously published age of 2888 Ma for the Regnery granite within the same area. These three ages establish coeval felsic volcanism and plutonism within the oldest volcanic cycle 1.The new ages for the Jubilee volcanic centre are 2746 Ma (volcanic flow) and 2742 Ma (porphyry intrusion). These ages agree with previously published cycle 2 felsic volcanic ages of 2744 and 2749 Ma and hence establish coeval felsic volcanism and plutonism for this volcanic cycle. The Goudreau felsic volcanic terrane yields ages of 2729 Ma at Goudreau and 2741 Ma at Alden, which probably represent different stratigraphic positions within the same cycle.At McCormick Lake the felsic volcanic crystal tuff is 2701 Ma and belongs to cycle 3 volcanism. U–Pb ages have been determined for three plutons: 2677 Ma for the internal Dickenson Lake syenite, 2662 Ma for the internal Lund Lake granodiorite, and 2686 Ma for the external Dubreuilville granodiorite. These ages fit into an established period of granitoid plutonism in the area.

Orogen parallel and transverse shearing in the Opatica belt, Quebec: implications for the structure of the Abitibi Subprovince

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 2429-2444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Benn ◽  
Edward W. Sawyer ◽  
Jean-Luc Bouchez
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Abitibi Greenstone Belt ◽  
Ductile Shearing ◽  
Abitibi Subprovince

The late Archean Opatica granitoid-gneiss belt is situated within the northern Abitibi Subprovince, along the northern margin of the Abitibi greenstone belt. Approximately 200 km of structural section was mapped along three traverses within the previously unstudied Opatica belt. The earliest preserved structures are penetrative foliations and stretching and mineral lineations recording regional ductile shearing (D1). Late-D1 deformation was concentrated into kilometre-scale ductile fault zones, typically with L > S tectonite fabrics. Two families of lineations are associated with D1, indicating shearing both parallel and transverse to the east-northeast trend of the belt. Lineations trending east-northeast or northwest–southeast tend to be dominant within domains separated by major fault zones. In light of the abundant evidence for early north–south compression documented throughout southern Superior Province, including the Abitibi greenstone belt, D1 is interpreted in terms of mid-crustal thrusting, probably resulting in considerable crustal thickening. Movement-sense indicators suggest that thrusting was dominantly southward vergent. D2 deformation resulted in the development of vertical, regional-scale dextral and sinistral transcurrent fault zones and open to tight upright horizontal folds of D1 fabrics. In the context of late Archean orogenesis in southern Superior Province, the tectonic histories of the Abitibi and Opatica belts should not be considered separately. The Opatica belt may correlate with the present-day mid-crustal levels of the Abitibi greenstone belt, and to crystalline complexes within the Abitibi belt. It is suggested that the Abitibi Subprovince should be viewed, at the regional scale, as a dominantly southward-vergent orogenic belt. This work demonstrates that structural study of granitoid-gneiss belts adjacent to greenstone belts can shed considerable light on the regional structure and structural evolution of late Archean terranes.

Stratigraphy, structure, and geochronology of the 3.0–2.7 Ga Wallace Lake greenstone belt, western Superior Province, southeast Manitoba, Canada

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 929-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Sasseville ◽  
K Y Tomlinson ◽  
A Hynes ◽  
V McNicoll
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Crustal Contamination ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Lake Winnipeg ◽  
The North ◽  
Southern Margin ◽  
Plume Magmatism

In western Superior province, the North Caribou terrane (NCT) constitutes a Mesoarchean proto-continent heavily overprinted by Neoarchean magmatism and deformation resulting from the western Superior Province accretion. Locally, along the southern margin of the NCT, Mesoarchean (~3.0 Ga) rift sequences are preserved. These sequences are of key importance to our understanding of the early tectonic evolution of continental crust. The Wallace Lake greenstone belt is located at the southern margin of the NCT and includes the Wallace Lake assemblage, the Big Island assemblage, the Siderock Lake assemblage, and the French Man Bay assemblage. The Wallace Lake assemblage exposes one of the best-preserved Mesoarchean rift sequences along the southern margin of the NCT. The volcano-sedimentary assemblage (3.0–2.92 Ga) exposes arkoses derived from the uplift of a tonalite basement in a subaqueous environment, capped by carbonate and iron formation. Mafic to ultramafic volcanic rocks exhibiting crustal contamination and derived from plume magmatism cap this rift sequence. The Wallace Lake assemblage exhibits D1 Mesoarchean deformation. The Big Island assemblage comprises mafic volcanic rocks of oceanic affinity that were docked to the Wallace Lake assemblage along northwest-trending D2 shear zones. The timing of volcanism and docking of the Big Island assemblage remain uncertain. The Siderock Lake and French Man Bay assemblages were deposited in strike-slip basins related to D3 and D4 stages of movement of the transcurrent Wanipigow fault (<2.709 Ga). Regionally, the Wallace Lake assemblage correlates with the Lewis–Story Rift assemblage observed in Lake Winnipeg, whereas the Big Island assemblage appears to correlate with the Black Island assemblage observed in the Lake Winnipeg area. Thus, the North Caribou terrane appears to preserve vestiges of a Mesoarchean rifted succession together with overlying Neoarchean allochthonous, juvenile, volcanic successions over a considerable distance along its present-day southern margin.

U–Pb zircon ages for rocks from the Island Lake greenstone belt, Manitoba

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Turek ◽  
T. M. Carson ◽  
Patrick E. Smith ◽  
W. R. Van Schmus ◽  
W. Weber
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Quartz Diorite ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Intrusive Complex ◽  
Quartz Porphyry ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Intrusive Rocks ◽  
Granitoid Rocks

The Archean Hayes River Group of the Island Lake greenstone belt (Superior Province, Sachigo Subprovince) comprises mafic to felsic metavolcanics, subvolcanics, and associated metasedimentary rocks. The Hayes River Group is intruded by granitoid rocks belonging to the early intrusive complex. One such pluton, the Bella Lake tonalite, is intrusive into the metabasalt of the Hayes River Group and has a U–Pb zircon age of 2886 ± 15 Ma. Similar intrusives of this complex, either internal or marginal to the greenstone belt, yield zircon ages of 2801 ± 8 Ma (Pipe Point tonalit) and 2768 ± 22 Ma (Linklater Island prophyry). This suggests that the early intrusive complex was emplaced over an ~ 120 Ma long interval by at least three separate intrusive episodes.Subsequent to the emplacement of the early intrusive complex, the isoclinally folded Hayes River Group and the early intrusive complex were uplifted, eroded, and followed by the unconformable deposition of the Island Lake Group, comprising fluvial to marine metasedimentary rocks. The stratigraphically lower part of the Island Lake Group is bracketed by the 2768 ± 22 Ma age of the Linklater Island porphyry and the 2729 ± 3 Ma age obtained for the late tectonic suite—the Pipe Point quartz diorite and feldspar porphyry. A feldspar quartz porphyry belonging to the post-tectonic intrusive rocks intrudes higher stratigraphic levels and has been dated at 2699 ± 4 Ma (Horseshoe Island quartz feldspar porphyry).

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