U–Pb geochronology of the eastern Abitibi Subprovince. Part 2: Noranda – Kirkland Lake area

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Mortensen

U–Pb zircon ages for 15 volcanic and plutonic units in the Noranda and Kirkland Lake areas help constrain the history of volcanism, plutonism, sedimentation, and deformation in the south-central part of the Abitibi belt. Volcanism occurred over an interval of at least 50 Ma, beginning with the deposition of the volcanic and volcaniclastic units within the Pacaud Structural Complex at 2747 Ma. Following a period of apparent quiescence, magmatism resumed at 2730–2725 Ma with the eruption of volcanic rocks in the Normétal and Lac Abitibi area. From 2715 until about 2698 Ma, volcanism occurred sporadically throughout much of the area, culminating in the eruption of the Blake River Group from 2703 to 2698 Ma. Several large intrusive bodies yield ages that indicate that they are plutonic equivalents of the Blake River Group. Plutons that are considered to have been emplaced during the Kenoran orogeny give ages that are only slightly younger than the youngest volcanic units of the Blake River Group, emphasizing the very rapid onset of Kenoran deformation following the cessation of volcanic activity.The Cléricy syenite, dated at 2682 ± 3 Ma, postdates the main period of Kenoran deformation in this area and intrudes sedimentary rocks of the Kewagama Group which contain detrital zircons as young as 2687 Ma. These data suggest that the Kewagama Group is the same age as late sedimentary sequences such as the Timiskaming Group and may have been deposited in a similar tectonic setting.

1965 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 622-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Donaldson ◽  
G. D. Jackson

Archaean sedimentary rocks of the North Spirit Lake area show little evidence of having been derived predominantly from associated Archaean volcanic rocks. Instead, compositions of the sediments reflect significant sedimentary and (or) granitoid provenance. A remarkably high content of clastic quartz in thick units of sandstone and conglomerate suggests either reworking of older quartzose sediments, or reduction of the labile constituents in quartz-rich granitoid rocks through prolonged weathering and rigorous transport. Observations for other sedimentary sequences in the region between Red Lake and Lansdowne House suggest that the North Spirit sediments are not unique in the Superior Province. Quartzose sandstones commonly are regarded as atypical of the Archaean, but such rocks arc abundant in northwestern Ontario. Frameworks of many Archaean greywackes actually are richer in quartz than typical greywackes from numerous Proterozoic and Phanerozoic sequences.The concept of rapidly rising volcanic arcs as the sole source of Archaean sedimentary detritus is rejected for the North Spirit area. The volcanies, rather than representing relicts of protocontinents, probably record events removed from initial volcanism in the history of the earth by one or more orogenic cycles. Major unconformities may therefore exist not only between sedimentary and volcanic units, but also between these units and older granitoid rocks.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin M Ansdell ◽  
Karen A Connors ◽  
Richard A Stern ◽  
Stephen B Lucas

Lithological and structural mapping in the east Wekusko Lake area of the Flin Flon Belt, Trans-Hudson Orogen, suggested an intimate relationship between magmatism, fluvial sedimentation, and initiation of fold and thrust belt deformation. Conventional U-Pb geochronology of volcanic rocks in fault-bounded assemblages provides a minimum age of 1876 ± 2 Ma for McCafferty Liftover back-arc basalts, and ages of between 1833 and 1836 Ma for the Herb Lake volcanic rocks. A rhyolite which unconformably overlies Western Missi Group fluvial sedimentary rocks has complex zircon systematics. This rock may be as old as about 1856 Ma or as young as 1830 Ma. The sedimentary rocks overlying this rhyolite are locally intercalated with 1834 Ma felsic volcanic rocks, and yield sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb and Pb-evaporation detrital zircon ages ranging from 1834 to 2004 Ma. The Eastern Missi Group is cut by an 1826 ± 4 Ma felsic dyke, and contains 1832-1911 Ma detrital zircons. The dominant source for detritus in the Missi Group was the Flin Flon accretionary collage and associated successor arc rocks. The fluvial sedimentary rocks and the Herb Lake volcanic rocks were essentially coeval, and were then incorporated into a southwest-directed fold and thrust belt which was initiated at about 1840 Ma and active until at least peak regional metamorphism.


2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan C. Johnson ◽  
Leslie R. Fyffe ◽  
Malcolm J. McLeod ◽  
Gregory R. Dunning

The Penobscot arc system of the northeastern Appalachians is an Early Cambrian to early Tremadocian (ca. 514–485 Ma) ensialic to ensimatic arc–back-arc complex that developed along the margin of the peri-Gondwanan microcontinent Ganderia. Remnants of this Paleozoic arc system are best preserved in the Exploits Subzone of central Newfoundland. Correlative rocks in southern New Brunswick are thought to occur in the ca. 514 Ma Mosquito Lake Road Formation of the Ellsworth Group and ca. 497–493 Ma Annidale Group; however in the past, the work that has been conducted on the latter has been of a preliminary nature. New data bearing on the age and tectonic setting of the Annidale Group provides more conclusive evidence for this correlation. The Annidale Group contains subalkaline, tholeiitic to transitional, basalts to basaltic andesites, picritic tuffs and calc-alkaline to tholeiitic felsic dome complexes that have geochemical signatures consistent with suprasubduction zone magmatism that was likely generated in a back-arc basin. New U–Pb ages establish that the Late Cambrian to Early Tremadocian Annidale Group and adjacent ca. 541 Ma volcanic rocks of the Belleisle Bay Group in the New River belt were affected by a period of younger magmatism ranging in age from ca. 479–467 Ma. This provides important constraints on the timing of tectonism in the area. A ca. 479 Ma age for the Stewarton Gabbro that stitches the faulted contact between the Annidale and Belleisle Bay groups, demonstrates that structural interleaving and juxtaposition occurred during early Tremadocian time, which closely coincides with the timing of obduction of Penobscottian back-arc ophiolites onto the Ganderian margin in Newfoundland.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 1807-1827 ◽  
Author(s):  
R A Stern ◽  
N Machado ◽  
E C Syme ◽  
S B Lucas ◽  
J David

U-Pb zircon ages have been compiled for magmatic and sedimentary rocks from the low metamorphic grade portion of the Flin Flon greenstone belt, now recognized as a Paleoproterozoic tectonic collage. The "Amisk collage" formed in two major magmatic periods that were separated by an interval of intraoceanic accretionary tectonics. Pre-accretionary volcanic and plutonic rocks of arc and ocean-floor tectonic affinities have crystallization ages of 1.906-1.901 and 1.888-1.881 Ga; the earlier period was dominated by juvenile tholeiitic arc basalts and related back-arc-basin basalts, and the younger period by juvenile calc-alkaline volcanic rocks and turbidites. Intraoceanic accretion of the diverse tectono-stratigraphic assemblages may have commenced between 1.90 and 1.89 Ga, but the main period was 1.88-1.87 Ga. The post-accretionary period (1.876-1.838 Ga) was characterized by intrusion of juvenile calk-alkaline plutons generated by a successor arc that stitched the diverse pre-accretionary assemblages. Marine to subaerial volcaniclastic and epiclastic units were deposited in successor basins <=1.87 Ga (Schist-Wekusko suite), succeeded by alluvial-fluvial (Missi Group) to marine (Burntwood Group) sediments after 1.85 Ga. Despite the dominance of juvenile magmatic rocks within the collage, U-Pb zircon age and Nd-isotopic data show that older (>2.2-3.0 Ga) basement fragments were present throughout the development of the Amisk collage. An arc-back-arc system close to an Archean craton is proposed as the most likely tectonic setting during formation and accretion of the Amisk collage from 1.90 to 1.84 Ga. Subsequent continental collision during peak orogeny (1.84-1.81 Ga) is interpreted to have delaminated the lower crust and upper mantle of the collage, preferentially preserving crust of intermediate bulk composition.


2016 ◽  
Vol 154 (5) ◽  
pp. 1127-1154 ◽  
Author(s):  
YU WANG ◽  
CHIN-HO TSAI ◽  
LIYUN ZHOU ◽  
YAN QIU ◽  
GUIHUA SUN

AbstractIt remains unclear whether a crystalline basement exists in SE China (including Taiwan), whether the formation of the Tananao metamorphic belt in Taiwan was linked to subduction of the Palaeo-Pacific Plate, and whether the source rocks of the sedimentary sequences in the metamorphic belts are late Mesozoic or Palaeozoic in age. Field investigations and zircon age data in the present study indicate that there is no pre-Palaeozoic gneiss (crystalline basement) in Taiwan (although orthogneisses were produced during deformation and metamorphism of Mesozoic granites), and investigations of the metasediments show that the sedimentary sequences in the Tailuko and Yuli belts are similar. Moreover, LA-ICP-MS dating of detrital zircons from the Pingtan–Dongshan belt in Fujian Province yields a cluster of 206Pb–238U ages at ~ 210–190 Ma, and the Tailuko and Yuli belts in Taiwan have similar clusters of detrital zircon ages at 200 Ma, 160 Ma, 120 Ma and 110 Ma, as well as a later overprinting caused by arc–continent collision. The cathodoluminescence images and trace-element characteristics of the zircons show that they were originally magmatic in origin. This finding, combined with the Hf isotope data, indicates that the sources of sediments in the Tananao belt (Tailuko and Yuli belts) were relatively close to an active continental margin, and that both the Tailuko and Yuli belts have similar sedimentary sources. From the margin of the Chinese mainland to Taiwan, the metasediments seem to represent a continuous sequence of deposits ranging in age from Jurassic to Cretaceous, but with the sediments becoming progressively younger towards the east. It can be inferred that the sediments in the Tailuko and Yuli belts were continental-shelf sequences with sources in SE China.


2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID P. WEST ◽  
RAYMOND A. COISH ◽  
PAUL B. TOMASCAK

Ordovician metamorphic rocks of the Casco Bay Group are exposed in an approximately 170 km long NE-trending belt (Liberty-Orrington belt) in southern and south-central Maine. Geochemical analysis of rocks within the Spring Point Formation (469±3 Ma) of the Casco Bay Group indicate that it is an assemblage of metamorphosed bimodal volcanic rocks. The mafic rocks (originally basalts) have trace element and Nd isotopic characteristics consistent with derivation from a mantle source enriched by a crustal and/or subduction component. The felsic rocks (originally rhyolites and dacites) were likely generated through partial melting of continental crust in response to intrusion of the mafic magma. Relatively low initial εNd values for both the mafic (−1.3 to +0.6) and felsic (−4.1 to −3.8) rocks suggest interactions with Gander zone continental crust and support a correlation between the Casco Bay Group and the Bathurst Supergroup in the Miramichi belt of New Brunswick. This correlation suggests that elements of the Early to Middle Ordovician Tetagouche-Exploits back-arc basin can be traced well into southern Maine. A possible tectonic model for the evolution of the Casco Bay Group involves the initiation of arc volcanism in Early Ordovician time along the Gander continental margin on the eastern side of the Iapetus Ocean basin. Slab rollback and trenchward migration of arc magmatism initiated crustal thinning and rifting of the volcanic arc around 470 Ma and resulted in the eruption of the Spring Point volcanic rocks in a back-arc tectonic setting.


1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Davis ◽  
G. R. Edwards

The evolution of the Archean volcanic–plutonic complex in the Kakagi Lake area occurred during a time interval of ca. 32 Ma. The earliest age is [Formula: see text] from analysis of zircon and baddeleyite in a gabbro intruding the lowermost Katimiagamak Volcanic Group. An age of 2723.2 ± 1.8 Ma on a tonalite gneiss from the interior of the underlying Sabaskong Batholith is indistinguishable from a previously dated massive border phase of the batholith and shows no evidence for inheritance from an older sialic component. An early tonalite phase from the adjacent Aulneau Batholith is dated at [Formula: see text], and the latest granodiorite phase is dated at [Formula: see text]. This defines a time span of about 7 Ma for intrusion of the bulk of the batholith and indicates that previously dated felsic volcanism from the uppermost sequence, above the Kakagi Lake Volcanic Group, is coeval with late plutonic activity in the Aulneau Batholith. The end of regional deformation in the area is given by the ages of two late-tectonic intrusions, the Heronry Lake pluton and the Stephen Lake pluton, dated at 2701.0 ± 1.2 and 2699.2 ± 1.9 Ma, respectively.U–Pb analyses of sphene were carried out on four of the samples in an effort to establish details of the post-folding thermal history of the area. Sphene is least reset in the Heronry Lake pluton (2699.2 ± 1.6 Ma), which is spatially most closely associated with the volcanic rocks and most reset in the Sabaskong gneiss (2673.7 ± 6.6 Ma), the sample most strongly affected by diapirism. The data indicate that regional deformation was a relatively late event, possibly caused by diapirism in the centres of the large batholiths and driven by a long-lived heat source in the mantle or lower crust.


2013 ◽  
Vol 734-737 ◽  
pp. 344-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deng Liu ◽  
Dai Yong Cao ◽  
Yi Wu Wang ◽  
Zhong Yuan Liu

The Early Permian volcanic-sedimentary sequences of Ongniud Banner consist mainly of andesite, rhyolite, perlite, volcanic breccia, tuff, tuffaceous sandstone, siliceous rock. Rock assemblage and sedimentary formations indicate that are of fore-arc basin sedimentary feature between subduction zone and island arc in Early Permian. The volcanic rocks from Elitu Formation have SiO2=50.23%~74.83%, Mg#=6.21~49.54, Na2O+K2O=5.27%~10.73%, Na2O/K2O=0.36~4.17, belonging to high-K cal-alkaline (HKCA)~shoshonite (SHO) series. The volcanic rocks are characterized with (La/Yb)N=5.52~9.89, moderate - intense negative Eu anomalies, LILE enrichment such as Ba, Ra, K, Th and HFSE depletion such as Ta, Nb, P, Ti, and indicating that magma could be formed in the tectonic setting of the island arc and active continental margin related to the plate subduction. R1-R2 diagram also indicates that volcanic rocks were generated at syn-collision or post-orogenic period, perhaps representing the mid-later subduction stage of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean Plate and North China Plate. Taken together, the authors suggest that the region was located still in the Palaeo-Asian Ocean, rather than the intracontinental taphrogenic trough in Early Permian.


Geosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James V. Jones ◽  
Erin Todd ◽  
Stephen E. Box ◽  
Peter J. Haeussler ◽  
Christopher S. Holm-Denoma ◽  
...  

New U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar ages integrated with geologic mapping and observations across the western Alaska Range constrain the distribution and tectonic setting of Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatism along an evolving accretionary plate margin in south-central Alaska. These rocks were emplaced across basement domains that include Neoproterozoic to Jurassic carbonate and siliciclastic strata of the Farewell terrane, Triassic and Jurassic plutonic and volcanic rocks of the Peninsular terrane, and Jurassic and Cretaceous siliciclastic strata of the Kahiltna assemblage. Plutonic rocks of different ages also host economic mineralization including intrusion-related Au, porphyry Cu-Mo-Au, polymetallic veins and skarns, and peralkaline intrusion-related rare-earth elements. The oldest intrusive suites were emplaced ca. 104–80 Ma into the Peninsular terrane only prior to final accretion. Deformation of the northern Kahiltna succession and underlying Farewell terrane occurred at ca. 97 Ma, and more widespread deformation ca. 80 Ma involved south-ver­gent folding and thrusting of the Kahiltna assemblage that records collisional accretion of the Peninsular-Wrangellia terrane and juxtaposition of sediment wedges formed on the inboard and outboard terranes. More widespread mag­matism ca. 75–55 Ma occurred in two general pulses, each having distinct styles of localized deformation. Circa 75–65 Ma plutons were emplaced in a transpressional setting and stitch the accreted Peninsular and Wrangellia terranes to the Farewell terrane. Circa 65–55 Ma magmatism occurred across the entire range and extends for more than 200 km inboard from the inferred position of the continental margin. The Paleocene plutonic suite generally reflects shallower emplacement depths relative to older suites and is associ­ated with more abundant andesitic to rhyolitic volcanic rocks. Deformation ca. 58–56 Ma was concentrated along two high-strain zones, the most prominent of which is 1 km wide, strikes east-northeast, and accommodated dextral oblique motion. Emplacement of widespread intermediate to mafic dikes ca. 59–51 Ma occurred before a notable magmatic lull from ca. 51–44 Ma reflect­ing a late Paleocene to early Eocene slab window. Magmatism resumed ca. 44 Ma, recording the transition from slab window to renewed subduction that formed the Aleutian-Meshik arc to the southwest. In the western Alaska Range, Eocene magmatism included emplacement of the elongate north-south Mer­rill Pass pluton and large volumes of ca. 44–37 Ma andesitic flows, tuffs, and lahar deposits. Finally, a latest Eocene to Oligocene magmatic pulse involved emplacement of a compositionally variable but spatially concentrated suite of magmas ranging from gabbro to peralkaline granite ca. 35–26 Ma, followed by waning magmatism that coincided with initiation of Yakutat shallow-slab subduction. Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatism throughout the western Alaska Range collectively records terrane accretion, translation, and integration together with evolving subduction dynamics that have shaped the southern Alaska margin since the middle Mesozoic.


1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 2133-2145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T. James ◽  
James K. Mortensen

Archean rocks in the Fenton Lake – Brown Lake area, southern Slave Province, are subdivided into two lithotectonic domains: a supracrustal domain, which consists mainly of the Archean Yellowknife Supergroup, and a gneiss–granite domain. The latter is composed of gneissic and metaigneous rocks of the Sleepy Dragon Complex, determined to be basement to the Yellowknife Supergroup, and granite plutons, including the 2641 ± 3.5 Ma Suse Lake granite and the 2583.5 ± 1 Ma Morose Granite. Volcanic rocks of the Cameron River Belt and greywacke–mudstone turbiditic metasedimentary rocks of the Burwash Formation constitute the supracrustal domain.A late Archean, amphibolite- to greenschist-facies, ductile to local brittle, high-strain zone separates the domains. Kinematic indicators demonstrate that the zone experienced two kinematically opposed episodes of displacement. The older episode involved pre- to synthermal peak thrusting of the supracrustal rocks over the gneiss–granite domain. Thrusting is kinematically and temporally consistent with late Archean, pre- to synthermal peak, regional contractional deformation. Structural and metamorphic relations and kinematic indicators suggest that thrusting and regional contraction were followed shortly by intrusion of the peraluminous Morose Granite and thereafter by a late syn- to post-thermal peak episode of extension, resulting in tectonic unroofing of the gneiss–granite domain.The sequential history of contraction and attendant regional metamorphism, granite intrusion, and, ultimately, extensional collapse, which is documented in the Archean rocks in the area, is a common feature of Phanerozoic collisional orogens. Moreover, the tectonic history of the gneiss–granite domain is broadly similar to the evolution of metamorphic core complexes in the North American Cordillera.


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