Age and origin of the Boil Mountain ophiolite and Chain Lakes massif, Maine: implications for the Penobscottian orogeny

1997 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 646-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Kusky ◽  
J. S. Chow ◽  
S. A. Bowring
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Ophiolite Complex ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Lower Ordovician ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Ocean Ridge ◽  
Age Constraints

The Boil Mountain ophiolite complex of west-central Maine is widely interpreted to mark the Lower Ordovician Penobscottian suture between the Dunnage, Chain Lakes, and Gander terranes. The ophiolite consists of two distinct volcanic groups, including a lower island-arc tholeiite sequence and an upper mid-ocean-ridge basalt sequence. A new Middle Ordovician 477 ± 1 Ma U–Pb age on a tonalite sill that intrudes the lower volcanic–gabbroic sequence is younger than other ca. 500 Ma age constraints for the ophiolite and represents a maximum age for the ophiolite prior to final emplacement over gneissic rocks of the Chain Lakes massif. A comparison of ages and paleogeography of the Boil Mountain ophiolite with ophiolitic sequences in Quebec and Newfoundland indicates that the Taconian and Penobscottian orogenies and ophiolite obduction occurred simultaneously, although on different margins of the Iapetus Ocean. The Taconian ophiolite sequences were obducted onto the Appalachian margin of Laurentia during its collision with the Notre Dame – Bronson Hill belt in the Middle Ordovician, whereas the Boil Mountain ophiolite was obducted onto the Gander margin of Gondwana during its collision with the Exploits subzone – Penobscot arc of the Dunnage terrane in the Lower – Middle Ordovician. We suggest that the lower volcanic–gabbroic sequence of the Boil Mountain ophiolite represents the fore-arc ophiolitic basement to the Penobscot arc. Middle Ordovician rifting of the Penobscottian orogenic collage on the Gander margin formed a new volcanic sequence (Popelogan arc) in front of a growing back-arc basin, and erupted the upper tholeiitic sequence of the Boil Mountain ophiolite in a back-arc-basin setting. The tonalité sill formed during this event by partial melting of the lower volcanic–gabbroic sequence. Spreading in this back-arc basin (Tetagouche basin) brought a fragment of the Gander margin (Chain Lakes massif), along with an allochthonous ophiolitic cover (Boil Mountain complex) across Iapetus, where it collided with the Taconic modified margin of North America in the Late Ordovician and was then intruded by the Ashgillian Attean pluton.

A new Lower Ordovician (Arenig) faunule from the Coy Pond Complex, central Newfoundland, and a refined understanding of the closure of the Iapetus Ocean

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 2046-2057 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Henry Williams ◽  
W. Douglas Boyce ◽  
Stephen P. Colman-Sadd
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
First Record ◽  
Ophiolite Complex ◽  
Early Ordovician ◽  
South Central ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Lower Ordovician ◽  
Age Limit ◽  
Southern Upland

A newly discovered fossiliferous horizon within sediments belonging to the Coy Pond Complex of the Exploits Subzone in central Newfoundland yields the graptolite Undulograptus austrodentatus s.l. and cyclopygid trilobite Cyclopyge grandis brevirhachis. This late Arenig faunule constrains the upper age limit of the ophiolite complex and is the first record of an Early Ordovician cyclopygid trilobite in North America. This is consistent with a paleogeographic affinity for south-central Newfoundland with the northern oceanic margin of Avalonia in a peri-Gondwanan position during the Early Ordovician and contrasts with coeval shelly and graptolitic faunas from the Notre Dame Subzone of central Newfoundland, which show marked Laurentian affinities. The Exploits Subzone is generally considered equivalent to the region of Scotland lying south of the Southern Upland Fault. The Newfoundland discovery, which is supported by faunal data from elsewhere in Newfoundland and in Ireland, suggests that the region around the Southern Upland Fault, rather than the Solway Firth, represents the location of the "Iapetus suture" in Britain in Lower Ordovician rocks.

scholarly journals A subduction influence on ocean ridge basalts outside the Pacific subduction shield

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Y. Yang ◽  
C. H. Langmuir ◽  
Y. Cai ◽  
P. Michael ◽  
S. L. Goldstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Mantle ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Mantle Flow ◽  
Mantle Heterogeneity ◽  
Gakkel Ridge ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Ocean Ridge

AbstractThe plate tectonic cycle produces chemically distinct mid-ocean ridge basalts and arc volcanics, with the latter enriched in elements such as Ba, Rb, Th, Sr and Pb and depleted in Nb owing to the water-rich flux from the subducted slab. Basalts from back-arc basins, with intermediate compositions, show that such a slab flux can be transported behind the volcanic front of the arc and incorporated into mantle flow. Hence it is puzzling why melts of subduction-modified mantle have rarely been recognized in mid-ocean ridge basalts. Here we report the first mid-ocean ridge basalt samples with distinct arc signatures, akin to back-arc basin basalts, from the Arctic Gakkel Ridge. A new high precision dataset for 576 Gakkel samples suggests a pervasive subduction influence in this region. This influence can also be identified in Atlantic and Indian mid-ocean ridge basalts but is nearly absent in Pacific mid-ocean ridge basalts. Such a hemispheric-scale upper mantle heterogeneity reflects subduction modification of the asthenospheric mantle which is incorporated into mantle flow, and whose geographical distribution is controlled dominantly by a “subduction shield” that has surrounded the Pacific Ocean for 180 Myr. Simple modeling suggests that a slab flux equivalent to ~13% of the output at arcs is incorporated into the convecting upper mantle.

Middle Ordovician Table Head Group of western Newfoundland: a revised stratigraphy

1980 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1007-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin F. Klappa ◽  
Paul R. Opalinski ◽  
Noel P. James
Keyword(s):  
Carbonate Platform ◽  
Head Group ◽  
Group Status ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Lower Ordovician ◽  
Head Formation ◽  
New Formation

Lithostratigraphic nomenclature of early Middle Ordovician strata from western Newfound land is formally revised. The present Table Head Formation is raised to group status and extended to include overlying interbedded terrigenoclastic-rich calcarenites and shales with lime megabreccias. Four new formation names are proposed: Table Point Formation (previously lower Table Head); Table Cove Formation (previously middle Table Head); Black Cove Formation (previously upper Table Head); and Cape Cormorant Formation (previously Caribou Brook formation). The Table Point Formation comprises bioturbated, fossiliferous grey, hackly limestones and minor dolostones; the Table Cove Formation comprises interbedded lime mudstones and grey–black calcareous shales; the Black Cove Formation comprises black graptolitic shales; and the Cape Cormorant Formation comprises interbedded terrigenoclastic and calcareous sandstones, siltstones, and shales, punctuated by massive or thick-bedded lime megabreccias. The newly defined Table Head Group rests conformably or disconformably on dolostones of the Lower Ordovician St. George Group (an upward-migrating diagenetic dolomitization front commonly obscures the contact) and is overlain concordantly by easterly-derived flysch deposits. Upward-varying lithologic characteristics within the Table Head Group result from fragmentation and subsidence of the Cambro-Ordovician carbonate platform and margin during closure of a proto-Atlantic (Iapetus) Ocean.

New echinoderms from the Early Ordovician of west Texas

1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Sprinkle ◽  
Gregory P. Wahlman
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
El Paso ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Early Ordovician ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Lower Ordovician ◽  
Single Well ◽  
Thecal Plate ◽  
Stem Segments

Four specimens of blastozoan and crinozoan echinoderms are described from the Lower Ordovician El Paso Group in the southern Franklin Mountains just north of El Paso, west Texas.Cuniculocystis flowerin. gen. and sp., based on two partial specimens, appears to be a typical rhombiferan in most of its morphologic features except that it lacks pectinirhombs and instead has covered epispires (otherwise known only from Middle Ordovician eocrinoids) opening on most of the thecal plate sutures. The covered epispires inCuniculocystisindicate that some early rhombiferans had alternate respiratory structures and had not yet standardized on pectinirhombs, a feature previously used as diagnostic for the class Rhombifera.Bockia?elpasoensisn. sp. is a new eocrinoid based on one poorly preserved specimen that has a small ellipsoidal theca and unbranched brachioles attached to a flat-topped spoutlike summit. It is the earliest known questionable representative of this genus and the only one that has been described from North America.Elpasocrinus radiatusn. gen. and sp. is an early cladid inadunate crinoid based on a single well-preserved calyx. It fits into a lineage of early cladids leading to the dendrocrinids and toCarabocrinus.Several additional separate plates, stem segments, and a holdfast of these and other echinoderms are also described.

Tholeiitic volcanic rocks of the late Archean Blake River Group, southern Abitibi greenstone belt: origin and geodynamic implications

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1448-1458 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Laflèche ◽  
C. Dupuy ◽  
J. Dostal
Keyword(s):  
Greenstone Belt ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Incompatible Trace Element ◽  
Progressive Change ◽  
Abitibi Greenstone Belt ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Compositional Variations ◽  
Arc Setting ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Ocean Ridge

The late Archean Blake River Group volcanic sequence forms the uppermost part of the southern Abitibi greenstone belt in Quebec. The group is mainly composed of mid-ocean-ridge basalt (MORB)-like tholeiites that show a progressive change of several incompatible trace element ratios (e.g., Nb/Th, Nb/Ta, La/Yb, and Zr/Y) during differentiation. The compositional variations are inferred to be the result of fractional crystallization coupled with mixing–contamination of tholeiites by calc-alkaline magma which produced the mafic–intermediate lavas intercalated with the tholeiites in the uppermost part of the sequence. The MORB-like tholeiites were probably emplaced in a back-arc setting.

Flexible crinoids from the Upper Ordovician Maquoketa Formation of the northern midcontinent and the evolution of early flexible crinoids

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 370-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Brower
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Middle Ordovician

Three flexible crinoids occur in the Upper Ordovician Maquoketa Formation of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota:Protaxocrinus girvanensisRamsbottom, 1961,Clidochirus anebosnew species, andProanisocrinus oswegoensis(Miller and Gurley, 1894).Protaxocrinus girvanensisis also found in the Upper Ordovician of Scotland which indicates that the ocean was narrow enough to allow at least one crinoid species to cross the barrier. The Upper Ordovician of North America and Scotland also share many common crinoid genera. Both phenetic and cladistic methods result in similar phylogenies of flexible crinoids.Protaxocrinuswas derived from a cupulocrinid ancestor during the Middle Ordovician.Clidochirusevolved fromProtaxocrinusor its ancestral stock prior to the Richmondian of the Late Ordovician. The RichmondianProanisocrinusand later anisocrinids are most closely related toClidochirusor its immediate predecessor. Thus, three major lineages of flexible crinoids,Protaxocrinus(taxocrinid group),Clidochirus(icthyocrinid), andProanisocrinus(anisocrinids and homalocrinids), appeared during the Ordovician. Despite their rarity during the Ordovician, all three flexible lineages survived the Latest Ordovician extinction, whereas their more abundant and successful cupulocrinid ancestors were eliminated.

Geochronology and geochemistry of Precambrian gneisses, metabasites, and pegmatite from the Tobacco Root Mountains, northwestern Wyoming craton, MontanaThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme of Geochronology in honour of Tom Krogh.T.E. Krogh deceased April 2008.

2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Krogh ◽  
Sandra L. Kamo ◽  
Thomas B. Hanley ◽  
David F. Hess ◽  
Peter S. Dahl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Issue ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
Wyoming Craton ◽  
Fault Block ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Tonalitic Gneiss ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Ocean Ridge ◽  
Tobacco Root Mountains

The Middle Mountain Metamorphic Domain of the Montana Metasedimentary Terrane, northwestern Wyoming Craton, within the northwestern Tobacco Root Mountains, mainly comprises migmatized tonalitic gneiss interlayered with amphibolitic (hornblende) gneiss, both of which are cut by metamorphosed mafic rocks. Together, these gneisses are defined as Middle Mountain Gneiss. Archean tonalitic gneiss from west of, and amphibolitic gneiss from east of, the Bismark Fault give, from chemically and air-abraded zircon grains, U–Pb ID–TIMS ages of 3325.5 ± 1.7 and 3340 Ma, respectively. These results reflect primary magmatic ages and show that the Middle Mountain Gneiss extends into the northern area of the Central Fault Block, between the Bismark and Mammoth faults. Older crustal processes in the tonalitic gneiss are evidenced by inherited grains, the oldest of which is >3460 Ma. A metabasite hosted in tonalitic gneiss in the Bismark Fault selvage zone yields a zircon age of 2468 Ma, which is interpreted as the time of metamorphism. This date and other ca. 2470 Ma dates known in the region reflect a series of thermotectonic events designated here as the Beaverhead – Tobacco Root Orogeny. Geochemical evidence in the Central Fault Block metabasites suggests that their >2470 Ma precursors evolved in a back-arc – arc-rift setting, whereas their equivalents west of the Bismark Fault were largely mid-ocean ridge basalt-related tholeiites and east of the Central Fault Block were back-arc tholeiites showing some continental affinity. The metabasite was metamorphosed, deformed, and intruded by pegmatite at 1756 Ma during the Big Sky Orogeny. This orogenic event also produced new zircon growth in Archean tonalitic gneiss. Monazite with an age of 75 Ma, found at one location, reflects nearby intrusion of the Cretaceous Tobacco Root Batholith.

Volcanic evolution of oceanic crust in a Late Ordovician back-arc basin: The Solund-Stavfjord Ophiolite Complex, West Norway

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Furnes ◽  
Helge Hellevang ◽  
Bjarte Hellevang ◽  
Kjell Petter Skjerlie ◽  
Brian Robins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oceanic Crust ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Ophiolite Complex ◽  
Volcanic Evolution ◽  
Back Arc

scholarly journals Evidence of Late Ediacaran Hyperextension of the Laurentian Iapetan Margin in the Birchy Complex, Baie Verte Peninsula, Northwest Newfoundland: Implications for the Opening of Iapetus, Formation of Peri-Laurentian Microcontinents and Taconic – Grampian Orogenesis

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cees R. Van Staal ◽  
Dave M. Chew ◽  
Alexandre Zagorevski ◽  
Vicki McNicoll ◽  
James Hibbard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Ultramafic Rocks ◽  
Nous Proposons ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Iapetus Ocean ◽  
Icp Ms ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Continental Lithospheric Mantle ◽  
Ocean Ridge

The Birchy Complex of the Baie Verte Peninsula, northwestern Newfoundland, comprises an assemblage of mafic schist, ultramafic rocks, and metasedimentary rocks that are structurally sandwiched between overlying ca. 490 Ma ophiolite massifs of the Baie Verte oceanic tract and underlying metasedimentary rocks of the Fleur de Lys Supergroup of the Appalachian Humber margin. Birchy Complex gabbro yielded a Late Ediacaran U–Pb zircon ID–TIMS age of 558.3 ± 0.7 Ma, whereas gabbro and an intermediate tuffaceous schist yielded LA–ICPMS concordia zircon ages of 564 ± 7.5 Ma and 556 ± 4 Ma, respectively. These ages overlap the last phase of rift-related magmatism observed along the Humber margin of the northern Appalachians (565–550 Ma). The associated ultramafic rocks were exhumed by the Late Ediacaran and shed detritus into the interleaved sedimentary rocks. Psammite in the overlying Flat Point Formation yielded a detrital zircon population typical of the Laurentian Humber margin in the northern Appalachians. Age relationships and characteristics of the Birchy Complex and adjacent Rattling Brook Group suggest that the ultramafic rocks represent slices of continental lithospheric mantle exhumed onto the seafloor shortly before or coeval with magmatic accretion of mid-ocean ridge basalt-like mafic rocks. Hence, they represent the remnants of an ocean – continent transition zone formed during hyperextension of the Humber margin prior to establishment of a mid-ocean ridge farther outboard in the Iapetus Ocean. We propose that microcontinents such as Dashwoods and the Rattling Brook Group formed as a hanging wall block and an extensional crustal allochthon, respectively, analogous to the isolation of the Briançonnais block during the opening of the Alpine Ligurian–Piemonte and Valais oceanic seaways.SOMMAIRELe complexe de Birchy de la péninsule de Baie Verte, dans le nord-ouest de Terre-Neuve, est constitué d’un assemblage de schistes mafiques, de roches ultramafiques et de métasédiments qui sont coincés entre des massifs ophiolitiques d’ascendance océanique de la Baie Verte au-dessus, et des métasédiments du Supergroupe de Fleur de Lys de la marge de Humber des Appalaches en-dessous. Le complexe de gabbro de Birchy a donné une datation U-Pb sur zircon ID-TIMS correspondant à la fin de l’Édiacarien, soit 558,3 ± 0,7 Ma, alors qu’un gabbro et un schiste tufacé intermédiaire montrent une datation LA-ICP-MS Concordia sur zircon de 564 ± 7,5 Ma et 556 ± 4 Ma, respectivement. Ces datations chevauchent la dernière phase de magmatisme de rift observée le long de la marge Humber des Appalaches du Nord (565-550 Ma). Les roches ultramafiques associées ont été exhumées vers la fin de l’Édiacarien et leurs débris ont été imbriqués dans des roches sédimentaires. Les psammites de la Formation de Flat Point susjacente ont donné une population de zircons détritiques typique de la marge laurentienne de Humber des Appalaches du Nord. Les relations chronologiques et les caractéristiques du complexe de Birchy et du groupe de Rattling Brook adjacent, permettent de penser que ces roches ultramafiques pourraient être des écailles de manteau lithosphérique continental qui auraient été exhumées sur le plancher océanique peu avant ou en même temps que l’accrétion magmatique de roches mafiques basaltiques de type dorsale médio-océanique. Par conséquent, elles seraient des vestiges d’une zone de transition océan-continent formée au cours de l’hyper-extension de la marge de Humber avant l’apparition d’une dorsale médio-océanique plus loin au large dans l’océan Iapétus. Nous proposons que des microcontinents comme de Dashwoods et du groupe de Rattling Brook ont constitués respectivement un bloc de toit et un allochtone crustal d’extension, de la même manière que le bloc Briançonnais a été isolé lors de l’ouverture des bras océaniques alpins de Ligurie-Piémont et de Valais.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document