The paleomagnetic significance of new U-Pb age data from the Molson dyke swarm, Cauchon Lake area, Manitoba

2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 957-966 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry C Halls ◽  
Larry M Heaman

U-Pb geochronology, paleomagnetism, and petrography indicate that the Molson dyke swarm, along the western margin of the Superior craton, is a composite of at least two ages of intrusion. The more extensive younger dyke set, the Molson swarm sensu stricto, generally has a 030° trend, is mainly pyroxenitic to noritic with subordinate diabase, and has been related to rifting in a back-arc environment during closure of the Manikewan ocean at about 1920-1800 Ma which culminated in the Trans-Hudson Orogen. A U-Pb zircon age from one of these dykes, located at Cauchon Lake, indicates emplacement at 1877+7&#150 4, similar to two previous U-Pb age determinations on Molson dykes. Another dyke from Cauchon Lake yields a baddeleyite-zircon U-Pb date of 2091 ± 2 Ma and appears to be part of an older, mainly diabasic suite of east-northeast-trending dykes that may represent a continental rifting episode that preceded the opening of the Manikewan ocean. The new U-Pb age data require a revision to the interpretation of the A, B, and C paleomagnetic poles previously reported from Molson dykes. The A pole (16.1°N, 96.5°W), initially assigned an age of 1883 Ma, is now considered to be younger and derived from a Paleoproterozoic overprint associated with the Trans-Hudson Orogen at about 1700-1800 Ma. Pole B (27.1°N, 140.8°W) from the Molson swarm sensu stricto is now regarded as primary, and dated at 1880 Ma. Pole C can be subdivided into two poles, one virtually the same as B but of opposite polarity (and therefore about 1880 Ma old) and a new pole (53°N, 180°W) derived from a primary remanence and dated at 2091 Ma. The new paleomagnetic interpretations may have important consequences for tectonic models of the Trans-Hudson Orogen and for Paleoproterozoic continental reconstructions.

Author(s):  
A. Graham Leslie ◽  
Allen P. Nutman

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Leslie, A. G., & Nutman, A. P. (2000). Episodic tectono-thermal activity in the southern part of the East Greenland Caledonides. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 186, 42-49. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v186.5214 _______________ Isotopic data from the Renland augen granites of the Scoresby Sund region (Figs 1, 2) provided some of the first convincing support for relicts of potentially Grenvillian tectono-thermal activity within the East Greenland Caledonides. In Renland, Chadwick (1975) showed the presence of major bodies of augen granite (Fig. 2) interpreted by Steiger et al. (1979), on the basis of Rb–Sr whole rock and U–Pb zircon age determinations, to have been emplaced about 1000 Ma ago.


1982 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1670-1679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex C. Brown

Small iron-formations in Grenville metasediments have been examined as possible lateral stratigraphic equivalents of stratiform zinc deposits located along the western margin of the Mount Laurier Basin in the Maniwaki–Gracefleld area, Quebec. Similarities in carbonate and amphibolite units hosting the iron and zinc deposits tend to confirm this concept. Sphalerite sparsely disseminated along a dolomitic bed adjacent to the iron-formations, and the iron-formations themselves, are interpreted as the distal extremities of the massive sphalerite lenses found in the proximity of thick amphibolitic strata close to the (fault-bounded?) basin margin. A submarine exhalative model generating proximal zinc and distal iron deposits is proposed to explain this metal zoning. Originally the iron-formations probably consisted of sedimentary siderite that has been transformed under intense metamorphism to the present magnetite–graphite assemblage.


2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Machado ◽  
L. M. Heaman ◽  
T. E. Krogh ◽  
W. Weber ◽  
M. T. Corkery

The U–Pb geochronology of three granitoid plutons and three granitic pegmatite dykes, largely from the Thompson Nickel Belt located along the northwestern Superior craton margin, was investigated to place constraints on the timing of felsic magmatism associated with closure of the Manikewan Ocean and final continent–continent collision to form the Trans-Hudson Orogen. These data indicate that 1840–1820 Ma granite magmatism along the Superior margin was more active than previously thought and that some magmatism extended beyond the Thompson Nickel Belt sensu stricto, including the 1836 ± 3 Ma Mystery Lake granodiorite, 1822 ± 5 Ma Wintering Lake granodiorite, and the 1825 ± 8 Ma Fox Lake granite located in the Split Lake Block. Granitic pegmatites within the Thompson Nickel Belt were emplaced late in the collisional history in the period 1.79–1.75 Ga and include a 1770 ± 2 Ma dyke exposed at the Thompson pit, a 1767 ± 6 Ma dyke at the Pipe Pit, and a 1786 ± 2 Ma dyke located at Paint Lake. The final stage of crustal amalgamation in the eastern Trans-Hudson Orogen involved Superior Province crustal thickening and partial melting forming 1.84–1.82 Ga granite magmas and then final collision at ∼1.8 Ga between the Superior Province and a continental block to the west consisting of the previously amalgamated Sask and Hearne cratons. Heating of the Superior craton margin and granitic magmatism continued past peak metamorphism (1790–1750 Ma); this thermal event is represented by the emplacement of numerous late pegmatite dykes and evidenced by cooling dates recorded by metamorphic minerals (e.g., titanite) in reworked Archean gneisses and Proterozoic intrusions.


2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 1425-1440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Bingen ◽  
Joakim Mansfeld ◽  
Ellen MO Sigmond ◽  
Holly Stein

Recent models suggest that Laurentia and Baltica were contiguous during the Mesoproterozoic and shared a long-lived active continental margin, subsequently reworked during the Grenvillian orogeny. Around 1.25 Ga, the geological record is dominated by dyke-swarm intrusion, continental rift basin formation, A-type felsic magmatism, and arc – back-arc basin development. It points to a dominantly extensional tectonic regime over most of the craton and the Grenvillian margin, suggesting a retreating subduction boundary at that time. In the westernmost allochthonous domain of the Sveconorwegian Orogen, southern Norway, the Sæsvatn–Valldal supracrustal sequences are interpreted as rift or pull-apart basins. They formed at and after 1.27 Ga, in a continental setting, at the margin of Baltica. This interpretation is based on geological, geochemical, and new secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) zircon U–Pb data. A subvolcanic quartz porphyry at the base of the Sæsvatn sequence yields a 1275 ± 8 Ma intrusion age. Metarhyolite samples in the lower part of the sequences yield equivalent extrusion ages of 1264 ± 4 Ma (Sæsvatn sequence) and 1260 ± 8 Ma (Valldal sequence). The metarhyolite units are overlain by sequences of metabasalt and metasandstone. An angular unconformity between the metarhyolites and overlying rocks is locally observed and possibly reflects rift tectonics during formation of the basin. A sample of arkosic metasandstone at the top of the exposed Sæsvatn sequence yields a few Archaean detrital zircon grains and a large spectrum of 2.2–1.2 Ga Proterozoic grains. These data point to a varied continental provenance and constrain sedimentation to later than 1211 ± 18 Ma.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgenia Salin ◽  
Krister Sundblad ◽  
Yann Lahaye ◽  
Jeremy Woodard

<p>The Fröderyd Group constitutes a deformed volcanic sequence, which together with the 1834 Ma Bäckaby tonalites occurs as a xenolith, within the 1793-1769 Ma TIB 1b unit of the Transscandinavian Igneous Belt (TIB) in southern Sweden. The Bäckaby tonalites, together with coarse-grained clastic metasedimentary sequences of the Vetlanda Group, belong to the Oskarshamn-Jönköping Belt (OJB; Mansfeld et al., 1996). In turn, the Fröderyd Group was considered to be an older, probably Svecofennian, unit by Sundblad et al. (1997).</p><p>The Fröderyd Group is composed of ca. 80% mafic and ca. 20% felsic volcanic rocks, with subordinate carbonate units. Mafic rocks are represented by tholeiitic basalts and spilitized pillow lavas with MORB affinity.</p><p>In this study, a sample from a metamorphosed rhyolite, belonging to the Fröderyd Group, was dated at 1849.5±9.8 Ga U-Pb zircon age (LA-ICPMS). This age is significantly younger than the Svecofennian crust, which was formed from 1.92 to 1.88 Ga. Instead, it is coeval with the oldest TIB granitoid generation (TIB 0), which intruded into the southwestern margin of the Svecofennian Domain, but the Fröderyd Group is still the oldest crustal component southwest of the Svecofennian Domain.</p><p>Geochronological, petrographical studies and field observations have shown that the southern margin of the Svecofennian Domain was affected by ductile deformation shortly after the intrusion of the 1.85 Ga TIB granites (Stephens and Andersson, 2005). This took place during an intra- or back-arc rifting above a subduction boundary in a retreating mode and caused formation of augen gneisses and emplacement of 1847 Ga dykes into the TIB 0 granitoids. Rifting was followed by a collision of the rifted slab with the Svecofennian crust which is evidenced from emplacement of pegmatitic leucosomes during 1.83-1.82 Ga into the 1.85 Ga orthogneisses.</p><p>It is interpreted, that the Fröderyd Group was formed within an oceanic rifting environment, collided with the rifted Svecofennian slab and later amalgamated onto the Svecofennian Domain. The proposed geological evolution includes two deformation events during the period of ca. 1.85-1.82 Ga, which is in accordance with Röshoff (1975). Furthermore, it is evident that the Fröderyd Group was formed as a separate unit outside the Svecofennian Domain, although they have a common geological history.      </p><p>References</p><p>Mansfeld, J., 1996. Geological, geochemical and geochronological evidence for a new Palaeoproterozoic terrane in southeastern Sweden. Precambrian Res. 77, 91–103.</p><p>Röshoff, K., 1975. Some aspects of the Precambrian in south-eastern Sweden in the light of a detailed geological study of the Lake Nömmen area. Geologiska Föreningens i Stockholm Förhandlingar 97, 368–378.</p><p>Stephens, M.B. and Andersson, J., 2015. Migmatization related to mafic underplating and intra- or back-arc spreading above a subduction boundary in a 2.0–1.8 Ga accretionary orogen. Sweden. Precambrian Res. 264, 235–257.</p><p>Sundblad, K., Mansfeld, J. and Särkinen, M., 1997. Palaeoproterozoic rifting and formation of sulphide deposits along the southwestern margin of the Svecofennian Domain, southern Sweden. Precambrian Res. 182, 1–12.</p>


Geological and geochemical evidence suggest that the Oman ophiolite is a fragment of a submarine arc-basin complex formed above a short-lived subduction zone in the mid-Cretaceous. Detailed studies of the lava stratigraphy and the intrusive relationships of dykes, sills and high-level plutons provide further evidence for the magmatic and tectonic development of the complex in question. Four consecutive events can be recognized to have taken place before emplacement: (1) eruption of basalts of island arc affinity onto pre-existing (Triassic) oceanic crust; (2) creation of new oceanic crust by backarc spreading; (3) intrusion of magma into this back-arc oceanic crust accompanied by eruption of basalts and andesites from discrete volcanic centres; (4) further intrusion of magma accompanied by uplift and eruption of basalts and rhyolites in submarine graben. A combined structural and geochemical analysis of the dyke swarm indicates that extension took place in approximately a N-S (ridge) and an ESE-WNW (leaky transform) direction relative to an inferred direction of subduction to the NE, and that a small but significant proportion of the sheeted dykes were injected during the ‘arc’ rather than the earlier ‘back-arc spreading’ episode. These various observations can be explained in terms of the progressive response of a non-isotropic lithosphere to the stresses induced during subduction.


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