Age structure and orogenic significance of the Berens River composite batholiths, western Superior Province

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1089-1109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Corfu ◽  
Denver Stone
Keyword(s):  
Age Structure ◽  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Biotite Granite ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Peraluminous Granites ◽  
Granitic Intrusions ◽  
Age Patterns ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Intrusive Activity

The Berens River area of northwestern Ontario is underlain mainly by Archean felsic plutonic rocks, which enclose minor supracrustal and gneissic enclaves and merge with the greenstone-belt-rich Uchi Subprovince to the south. U-Pb geochronology using zircon and monazite shows that the batholiths evolved mainly between 2750 and 2690 Ma by sequential and essentially continuous intrusive activity into an older substratum composed of 3000-2800 Ma volcanic and tonalitic crust. There is a broad, but not strict, compositional transition from early biotite tonalite and hornblende tonalite, progressing with time towards a greater abundance of hornblende granodiorite to granite, and finally to late biotite granite, rare peraluminous granites, and sanukitoid (dioritic, monzodioritic to granitic) plutons. The tonalite suites were predominantly synvolcanic. The late granitic intrusions postdated volcanism, but were largely synchronous with the main compressional events that caused widespread sedimentation, deformation, and metamorphism in other parts of the region. The age patterns and compositional features of the batholiths and the spatial and temporal links between their evolution and those of the supracrustal sequences in the greenstone belts of the region are consistent with mechanisms of magma generation and emplacement at converging plate margins.

U–Pb geochronology of the central Uchi Subprovince, Superior Province

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1179-1196 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Corfu ◽  
G. M. Stott
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Granitoid Rocks ◽  
Age Patterns ◽  
Tectonic Development ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Multiple Episodes

U–Pb zircon and titanite ages for rocks of the central Uchi Subprovince in northwestern Ontario indicate a late Archean magmatic and tectonic development spanning over 200 Ma. An early period at 2900–2800 Ma formed volcano-plutonic complexes, presumably linked to 3.1–2.8 Ga terrains of the northwestern Superior Province. A later period of southward growth by magmatic and tectonic accretion occurred at 2750–2710 Ma and was concluded by large scale compression and plutonism at 2700 Ma.The oldest 2890–2860 and 2840–2820 Ma components occur in the Pickle Lake and Meen–Dempster greenstone belts and as gneisses in the Seach–Achapi and the Lake St. Joseph batholiths in northern and central sectors of the region. Together with distinct 2750–2740 Ma volcano-plutonic complexes they form a collage assembled by multiple episodes of tectonic juxtaposition and magmatic accretion. Plutons of 2730–2710 Ma age are intrusive into these older, northern domains, whereas their volcanic counterparts compose the Lake St. Joseph and Miminiska – Fort Hope greenstone belts to the south. Late-tectonic to posttectonic granitoid rocks intruded a region extending from the northern Berens River Subprovince to the southern English River Subprovince at 2700 Ma. These plutons were cut by regional scale faults formed by residual north-northwest directed shortening. The timing of this movement seems to be recorded by titanite ages of 2690–2670 Ma. Reactivation of the same faults may account for Proterozoic Pb loss observed in some of the zircon populations. The age patterns are consistent with crustal growth along a continental margin in a north-dipping subduction environment.

Rubidium–strontium ages from the Oxford Lake – Knee Lake greenstone belt, northern Manitoba

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 560-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. S. Clark ◽  
S.-P. Cheung
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Granitic Intrusion ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Archean Greenstone Belts

Rb–Sr whole-rock ages have been determined for rocks from the Oxford Lake – Knee Lake – Gods Lake greenstone belt, in the Superior Province of northeastern Manitoba.The age of the Magill Lake Pluton is 2455 ± 35 Ma (λ87Rb = 1.42 × 10−11 yr−1), with an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7078 ± 0.0043. This granitic stock intrudes the Oxford Lake Group, so it is post-tectonic and probably related to the second, weaker stage of metamorphism.The age of the Bayly Lake Pluton is 2424 ± 74 Ma, with an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7029 ± 0.0001. This granodioritic batholith complex does not intrude the Oxford Lake Group. It is syn-tectonic and metamorphosed.The age of volcanic rocks of the Hayes River Group, from Goose Lake (30 km south of Gods Lake Narrows), is 2680 ± 125 Ma, with an initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7014 ± 0.0009.The age for the Magill Lake and Bayly Lake Plutons can be interpreted as the minimum ages of granitic intrusion in the area.The age for the Hayes River Group volcanic rocks is consistent with Rb–Sr ages of volcanic rocks from other Archean greenstone belts within the northwestern Superior Province.

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.

Central Superior Province geology: evidence for an allochthonous, ensimatic, southern Abitibi greenstone belt

1990 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Jackson ◽  
R. H. Sutcliffe
Keyword(s):  
Crustal Structure ◽  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Simple Correlation ◽  
Abitibi Greenstone Belt ◽  
Structural Style ◽  
Metavolcanic Rocks ◽  
Crustal Model ◽  
Greenstone Belts

Published U–Pb geochronological, geological, and petrochemical data suggest that there are late Archean ensialic greenstone belts (GB) (Michipicoten GB and possibly the northern Abitibi GB), ensimatic greenstone belts (southern Abitibi GB and Batchawana GB), and possibly a transitional ensimatic–ensialic greenstone belt (Swayze GB) in the central Superior Province. This lateral crustal variability may preclude simple correlation of the Michipicoten GB and its substrata, as exposed in the Kapuskasing Uplift, with that of the southern Abitibi GB. Furthermore, this lateral variability may have determined the locus of the Kapuskasing Uplift. Therefore, although the Kapuskasing Uplift provides a useful general crustal model, alternative models of crustal structure and tectonics for the southern Abitibi GB warrant examination.Thrusting of a juvenile, ensimatic southern Abitibi GB over a terrane containing evolved crust is consistent with (i) the structural style of the southern Abitibi GB; (ii) juvenile southern Abitibi GB metavolcanic rocks intruded by rocks having an isotopically evolved, older component; and (iii) Proterozoic extension that preserved low-grade metavolcanic rocks within the down-dropped Cobalt Embayment, which is bounded by higher grade terranes to the east and west.

Geodynamic setting, crustal architecture, and VMS metallogeny of ca. 2720 Ma greenstone belt assemblages of the northern Wawa subprovince, Superior Province

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W.D. Lodge ◽  
Harold L. Gibson ◽  
Greg M. Stott ◽  
James M. Franklin ◽  
George J. Hudak
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Geodynamic Setting ◽  
Trace Element Geochemistry ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Suprasubduction Zone ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Arc Setting ◽  
Back Arc

The greenstone belts along the northern margin of the Wawa subprovince of the Superior Province (Vermilion, Shebandowan, Winston Lake, Manitouwadge) formed at ca. 2720 Ma and have been interpreted to be representative of a rifted-arc to back-arc tectonic setting. Despite a common inferred tectonic setting and broad similarities, these greenstone belts have a significantly different metallogeny as evidenced by different endowments in volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS), magmatic sulphide, and orogenic gold deposits. In this paper, we examine differences in geodynamic setting and crustal architecture as they pertain to the metallogeny of each greenstone belt by characterizing the regional-scale trace-element and isotopic (Nd and Pb) geochemistry of each belt. The trace-element geochemistry of the Vermilion greenstone belt (VGB) shows evidence for a transition from arc-like to back-arc mafic rocks in the Soudan belt to plume-driven rifted arcs in the ultramafic-bearing Newton belt. The Shebandowan greenstone belt (SGB) has a significant proportion of calc-alkalic, arc-like basalts, intermediate lithofacies, and high-Mg andesites, which are characteristic of low-angle, “hot” subduction. Extensional settings within the SGB are plume-driven and associated with komatiitic ultramafic and mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like basalts. The Winston Lake greenstone belt (WGB) is characterized by a transition from calc-alkalic, arc-like basalts to back-arc basalts upward in the strata and is capped by alkalic ocean-island basalt (OIB)-like basalts. This association is consistent with plume-driven rifting of a mature arc setting. Each of the VGB, SGB, and WGB show some isotopic evidence for the interaction with a juvenile or slightly older differentiated crust. The Manitouwadge greenstone belt (MGB) is characterized by isotopically juvenile, bimodal, tholeiitic to transitional volcanic lithofacies in a back-arc setting. The MGB is the most isotopically juvenile belt and is also the most productive in terms of VMS mineralization. The Zn-rich VMS mineralization within the WGB suggests a relatively lower-temperature hydrothermal system, possibly within a relatively shallow-water environment. The Zn-dominated and locally Au-enriched VMS mineralization, as well as mafic lithofacies and alteration assemblages, are characteristic of relatively shallower-water deposition in the VGB and SGB, and indicate that the ideal VMS-forming tectonic condition may have been compromised by a shallower-water depositional setting. However, the thickened arc crust and compressional tectonics of the SGB suprasubduction zone during hot subduction may have provided a crustal setting more favourable for the magmatic Ni–Cu sulphide and relative gold endowment of this belt.

THE SHAPE AND THICKNESS OF AN ARCHAEAN GREENSTONE BELT BY GRAVITY METHODS

1965 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 418-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. S. Grant ◽  
W. H. Gross ◽  
M. A. Chinnery
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Granitic Rocks ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Precambrian Shield ◽  
Maximum Thickness ◽  
Red Lake ◽  
Gravity Effects ◽  
Greenstone Belts

The Red Lake greenstone belt is Archaean in age (older than 2.5 billion years) and is located in the Superior province of the Canadian Precambrian Shield. It is a fairly typical greenstone belt, being composed of a complex assemblage of lavas, sediments, and intrusives. The belt is completely surrounded, and therefore is isolated from other greenstone belts, by granitic batholiths and acid paragneiss. Generally speaking, greenstones are more dense than the surrounding granitic rocks and they therefore give positive gravity effects, the amplitudes of which give some indication of their shape and overall thickness.At Red Lake, the greenstone belt is approximately 35 mi long by 18 mi wide. Gravity readings taken across the width of the belt indicate that the greenstones taper sharply in depth to a maximum thickness of approximately 25 000 ft. These results appear to confirm, as most geologists feel intuitively, that greenstone belts are basin-shaped and are underlain by granitic batholiths and gneiss.

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.

Shallow crustal sounding in the Superior Province by audio frequency magnetotellurics

1978 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 1701-1711 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Koziar ◽  
D. W. Strangway
Keyword(s):  
Pore Space ◽  
High Resistivity ◽  
Conducting Layer ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Audio Frequency ◽  
Magnetotelluric Soundings ◽  
Northwestern Ontario ◽  
Greenstone Belts ◽  
Very High ◽  
Made In

Audio frequency magnetotelluric soundings in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 10 kHz have been carried out over a section of the Superior Province of the Precambrian Shield in northwestern Ontario. Measurements were made in the English River sub-province, which is mainly a gneissic belt. Resistivity values over gneissic rocks and granitic intrusives were found to be generally very high. Resistivity values over greenstone belts were lower. In addition, there was a distinct conductive layering to the crust that was independent of the surface rock type.At the surface there is a thin conducting layer due to water in the surface soils and fractured rocks. Below a few tens of metres, the resistivity rises to values typically between several thousand and 100 000 ohm∙m. This is undoubtedly due to the presence of massive, unfractured rock with little water content. Beyond a depth of 7 km the resistivity drops sharply to values of 100–1000 ohm∙m. One explanation of this drop is the presence of small amounts of trapped pore-space fluids.

First U–Pb zircon ages of granitoid plutons from the La Grande greenstone belt, James Bay area, New Quebec

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1068-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen St. Seymour ◽  
Andrew Turek ◽  
Ronald Doig ◽  
Stephen Kumarapeli ◽  
Robert Fogal
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
The Other ◽  
Superior Province ◽  
Present Level ◽  
James Bay ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Maximum Deformation ◽  
The Third ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Greenstone Belts

Zircon ages from three granitoid plutons are the first to be reported from the La Grande greenstone belt. Two of the dated samples are from highly tectonized, early tectonic plutons that at the present level of erosion are just outside the greenstone belt proper. Their zircon ages of ca. 2740 Ma are emplacement ages or alternatively represent the age of maximum deformation of the greenstone belt. The third sample is from a mildly deformed late tectonic pluton within the greenstone belt. Its zircon age of ca. 2670 Ma probably represents the emplacement age. The above dates and the relationships of the dated plutons to the greenstone belt as a whole suggest that the bulk of the volcanism in the La Grande belt is older than 2.7 Ga. This limiting age indicates that the age of the La Grande "supracrustals" is similar to those of the other greenstone belts in the Superior Province.

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