Petrology, age, and tectonic setting of the White Rock Formation, Meguma terrane, Nova Scotia: evidence for Silurian continental rifting

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A MacDonald ◽  
Sandra M Barr ◽  
Chris E White ◽  
John WF Ketchum
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Shear Zone ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Granitic Rocks ◽  
Chemical Characteristics ◽  
Rock Formation ◽  
Meguma Terrane ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

The White Rock Formation in the Yarmouth area of the Meguma terrane of southern Nova Scotia consists mainly of mafic tuffaceous rocks with less abundant mafic flows, epiclastic and clastic sedimentary rocks, and minor intermediate and felsic crystal tuff. It is divided into seven map units that appear to young from west to east, inconsistent with a previously assumed synclinal structure. The White Rock Formation is flanked on both northwest and southeast by mainly the Cambrian to Lower Ordovician Halifax Formation; the western contact is interpreted to be a sheared disconformity, whereas the eastern contact appears to be a major brittle fault and shear zone that juxtaposes different crustal levels. The granitic Brenton Pluton forms a faulted lens within the eastern shear zone. A felsic tuff from the upper part of the White Rock Formation yielded a U–Pb zircon age of 438+3–2 Ma, identical within error to published ages for the Brenton Pluton and felsic volcanic rocks near the base of the White Rock Formation in the Torbrook area of western Nova Scotia. The chemical characteristics of the mafic volcanic rocks and associated mafic intrusions consistently indicate alkalic affinity and a continental within-plate setting. The felsic volcanic rocks and Brenton Pluton have chemical characteristics of within-plate anorogenic granitic rocks, and the pluton is interpreted to be comagmatic with the felsic volcanic rocks. The igneous activity may have occurred in response to extension as the Meguma terrane rifted away from Gondwana in the latest Ordovician to Early Silurian. Epsilon Nd values are similar to those in voluminous Devonian plutonic rocks of the Meguma terrane, and the magmas appear to have been derived from similar sources.

Geochemistry and age of the Aillik Group and associated plutonic rocks, Makkovik Bay area, Labrador: implications for tectonic development of the Makkovik Province

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 731-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
G S Sinclair ◽  
S M Barr ◽  
N G Culshaw ◽  
J W.F Ketchum
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Granitic Rocks ◽  
Metamorphic History ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Metavolcanic Rocks ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Tectonic Development ◽  
Plutonic Rocks ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

The Aillik domain of the Makkovik Province is dominated by deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary and bimodal volcanic rocks of the redefined Aillik Group and abundant unfoliated late- to post-orogenic plutonic rocks. Mapping and petrological studies in the Makkovik Bay area of the Aillik domain showed that the upper part of the group, in addition to felsic volcanic rocks, also includes extensive areas of hypabyssal, foliated granitic rocks (Measles Point Granite). Although petrochemically similar to the spatially associated felsic volcanic rocks, a new U–Pb (zircon) age of 1929 Ma suggests that the Measles Point Granite may be about 70 million years older than the volcanic rocks of the Aillik Group, based on published U–Pb dates for the latter unit. The volcanic and granitic rocks show similar structural and metamorphic history, and both have characteristics of crust-derived A-type felsic rocks, although the granite shows less chemical variation than the felsic volcanic rocks. A within-plate setting is postulated, although the associated mafic metavolcanic rocks and amphibolite dykes show evidence of a volcanic-arc influence. Possible solutions of the paradox presented by the U–Pb ages imply that the Measles Point Granite either represents the juvenile basement to the Aillik Group or was derived from a basement with a large juvenile component. The setting for deposition of the Aillik Group that is consistent with current tectonic models for the Makkovik Province is a rifted arc built on a juvenile terrane accreted to Archean crust.

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.

Geochemistry and tectonic discrimination of Late Proterozoic arc-related volcaniclastic turbidite sequences, Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 2273-2282 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Brendan Murphy ◽  
Deborah L. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Widespread Application ◽  
Isotopic Signatures ◽  
Late Proterozoic ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Clastic Sedimentary ◽  
End Members

The Late Proterozoic (ca. 618–610 Ma) Georgeville Group of northern mainland Nova Scotia lies within the Avalon Composite Terrane and consists of subgreenschist- to greenschist-facies mafic and felsic volcanic rocks overlain by volcaniclastic turbidites that were deposited in an ensialic basin within a rifted volcanic arc. Geochronological data indicate that the volcanic and sedimentary rocks are coeval. The geochemical and isotopic signatures of the sedimentary rocks are attributed to erosion of the coeval Avalonian volcanic rocks that flank the basin and are consistent with synorogenic deposition. There is no evidence of significant chemical contribution from Avalonian basement.Knowledge of the tectonic setting facilitates the testing of published geochemical discriminant diagrams for clastic sedimentary rocks. Discrimination diagrams using ratios such as K2O/Na2O and Al2O3/(CaO + Na2O) give inconclusive results, probably due to elemental mobility during secondary processes. Plots involving MgO, TiO2, and Fe2O3 detect the chemical contribution of mafic detritus, give much tighter clusters of data, and plot between Aleutian- and Cascade-type arc-derived sediments, suggesting a moderate thickness of continental crust beneath the arc.The arc-related signature of the Georgeville sedimentary rocks is clearly recognizable on ternary plots involving inter-element ratios of high field strength elements (e.g., Ti–Y–Zr, Nb–Y–Zr, and Hf–Ta–Th) in which the samples plot as mixing trends between mafic and felsic end members. Diagrams of this type may have widespread application to tectonic discrimination of sedimentary rocks because in most suites these ratios are relatively insensitive to sedimentary and metamorphic processes.

Meguma terrane orocline: U-Pb age and paleomagnetism of the Silurian Mavillette gabbro, Nova Scotia, Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Halima Sadia Warsame ◽  
Phil J.A. McCausland ◽  
Chris E White ◽  
Sandra M. Barr ◽  
Greg R. Dunning ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
North America ◽  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Late Carboniferous ◽  
Early Devonian ◽  
Rock Formation ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Meguma Terrane ◽  
New Evidence

Paleomagnetic results and a U-Pb baddeleyite age from the Silurian Mavillette gabbroic sill in southwest Nova Scotia provide new evidence about the Paleozoic tectonic evolution of the Meguma terrane. The Mavillette gabbro sill intruded ca. 440-430 Ma bimodal rift-related metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the White Rock Formation in the Silurian-Devonian Rockville Notch Group. The 426.4±2.0 Ma Mavillette gabbro age is notably younger than the ca. 440 Ma magmatism, but is part of a geochemically-defined suite of within-plate sills and volcanic rocks of the Rockville Notch Group with ages as young as Early Devonian. Paleomagnetic investigation of thirteen sites distributed along the Neoacadian (ca. 390 Ma) synclinal limbs of the Mavillette sill reveal magnetization directions that fail a fold test and therefore postdate Silurian emplacement of the gabbro. The post-folding remanence has a mean direction of D=153.4, I=17.1°; α95=6.5° (n=12 sites), with corresponding paleopole 31.9°S, 325.2 E; dp=3.5°, dm=6.7° that resembles a pervasive Late Carboniferous Kiaman overprint magnetization in North America, but is rotated significantly 22.2°±8.1° counter-clockwise (CCW). Mavillette remanence acquisition likely occurred in concert with fluid mobilization related to Alleghanian deformation, recorded locally by ca. 320 Ma muscovite 40Ar-39Ar ages. Previously published paleomagnetic results from the Meguma terrane also have Carbonifereous remanence directions with similar ~24° CCW discordance. The regional CCW rotation of the southwest Meguma terrane post-dates this ca. 320 Ma tectonothermal remanence acquisition event, likely recording the development of an oroclinal bend of the Meguma terrane during Alleghanian orogeny.

U–Pb zircon ages for the Rice Lake area, southeastern Manitoba

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Turek ◽  
R. Keller ◽  
W. R. Van Schmus ◽  
W. Weber
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Quartz Diorite ◽  
Granitic Rocks ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
The South ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
The North ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

The Archean Rice Lake greenstone belt in southeastern Manitoba is made up of mafic to felsic volcanic rocks and associated intrusive and metasedimentary rocks. The belt is flanked to the north by the Wanipigow River granitic complex and to the south by the Manigotagan gneissic belt. The Ross River quartz diorite pluton is intrusive into the centre of the greenstone belt. U–Pb zircon ages indicate a major volcanic and plutonic event in the area at 2730 Ma. Ages for two volcanic units of the Rice Lake Group are 2731 ± 3 and 2729 ± 3 Ma. The Ross River pluton yields an age of 2728 ± 8 Ma and the Gunnar porphyry gives an age of 2731 ± 13 Ma; both intrude rocks of the Rice Lake Group. Granitic rocks of the Wanipigow River granitic complex give ages of 2731 ± 10 and 2880 ± 9 Ma, while a post-tectonic granite in the Manigotagan gneissic belt has an age of 2663 ± 7 Ma.

A radiometric age of deformed granitic rocks in north-central New Brunswick

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1687-1689 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Fyffe ◽  
R. R. Irrinki ◽  
R. F. Cormier
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Half Life ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Granitic Rocks ◽  
North Central ◽  
Lower Ordovician ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

A Rb–Sr whole-rock isochron age of 489 ± 14 Ma based on a half-life of 5.0 × 1010 years is obtained from deformed granites in north-central New Brunswick indicating a Lower Ordovician age for these rocks. The corresponding age using a half-life of 4.88 × 1010 years is 479 ± 14 Ma. The granite is consanguineous with felsic volcanic rocks of the Tetagouche Group.

Geochemistry of Eocene felsic volcanic rocks from the Mesa Virgen‐Calerilla , Zacatecas, Mexico: Implications for the magma source and tectonic setting

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjeet K. Verma ◽  
Darío Torres‐Sánchez ◽  
Karla R. Hernández‐Martínez ◽  
Vivek P. Malviya ◽  
Pradip K. Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Magma Source ◽  
Felsic Volcanic ◽  
Felsic Volcanic Rocks

scholarly journals Stratigraphy and depositional setting of the Silurian-Devonian Rockville Notch Group, Meguma terrane, Nova Scotia, Canada

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 337-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris E. White ◽  
Sandra M. Barr
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Rock Formation ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
South Mountain Batholith ◽  
Metavolcanic Rocks ◽  
Northwestern Margin ◽  
Meguma Terrane ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
Depositional Setting

 The Silurian–Devonian Rockville Notch Group occurs in five separate areas along the northwestern margin of the Meguma terrane of southern Nova Scotia. In each area, the lowermost unit of the group is the White Rock Formation, which unconformably overlies the Lower Ordovician Halifax Group. Early Silurian U–Pb (zircon) dates from metavolcanic rocks in the White Rock Formation indicate that the unconformity represents a depositional gap of about 25 Ma. The U–Pb ages are consistent with early Silurian (Llandovery) trace fossils and sparse shelly faunas in metasedimentary rocks interlayered with the metavolcanic rocks. The metasedimentary rocks locally contain phosphatic ironstone and Mn-rich beds, and are overlain by mainly metasiltstone with abundant quartzite and metaconglomerate lenses. Some of the latter were previously interpreted to be Ordovician tillite. The White Rock Formation is conformably overlain by the slate- and metasiltstone-dominated Kentville Formation, which contains Upper Wenlock to Pridoli graptolites and microfossils. The overlying Torbrook Formation consists of metalimestone, metasandstone and metasiltstone, interbedded with phosphatic ironstone and minor mafic metatuff, and contains Pridoli to early Emsian fossils. It is in part laterally equivalent to the New Canaan Formation in the Wolfville area, which is dominated by slate, pillowed mafic metavolcanic rocks and fossiliferous metalimestone. Volcanic rocks in the Rockville Notch Group are alkalic and formed in a within-plate setting, probably related to extension as the Meguma terrane rifted from Gondwana. This process may have occurred in two stages, Early Silurian and Early Devonian, separated by a hiatus in volcanic activity. Stratigraphic differences suggest that the Meguma terrane was not adjacent to Avalonia before emplacement of the South Mountain Batholith.

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