Early Cretaceous sediment failure in the southwestern Sable Subbasin, offshore Nova Scotia

David J. W. Piper; Georgia Pe-Piper; Stephen C. Ingram

doi:10.1306/01290403120

Cretaceous Deposits in the Musquodoboit River Valley Nova Scotia

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e71-102 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. 1152-1154 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Chang L. Lin

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Early Cretaceous ◽

Drainage System ◽

River Valley ◽

Tributary Stream ◽

Available Information ◽

Cretaceous Deposits

Two carbonaceous samples recovered from pre-Pleistocene unconsolidated deposits in a borehole at Elmsvale, Musquodoboit River Valley, Nova Scotia, were dated as Early Cretaceous in age. The thickness of the deposit encountered was 551 ft (168 m). Available information suggests that the upper segment of the present Musquodoboit River was a tributary-stream of the Shubenacadie drainage system.

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Sediment sources and dispersion as revealed by single-grain 40Ar/39Ar ages of detrital muscovite from Carboniferous and Cretaceous rocks in mainland Nova ScotiaGeological Survey of Canada contribution 20090289.

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e10-027 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 47 (7) ◽

pp. 957-970 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Peter H. Reynolds ◽

Georgia Pe-Piper ◽

David J.W. Piper

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Early Cretaceous ◽

Early Carboniferous ◽

Metamorphic Rocks ◽

Sediment Sources ◽

The South ◽

Lower Carboniferous ◽

South Mountain Batholith ◽

Single Grain ◽

Meguma Terrane

Single-grain ages of detrital muscovite from 15 sand(stone) samples from the Lower Carboniferous Horton Group and the Lower Cretaceous Chaswood Formation of central Nova Scotia were used to infer the nature of the Early Carboniferous unroofing of the Meguma terrane and the reworking of Carboniferous rocks in the Early Cretaceous. In the western Windsor Basin, a sample from the oldest Horton Group rocks yielded ages principally between ca. 400 and 380 Ma, suggesting that most of the muscovite present came from the metamorphic rocks of the Meguma terrane but was variably reset by the intrusion of the South Mountain Batholith at ca. 380 Ma. Other samples in this part of the basin show partial post-depositional resetting. Younger Horton Group metamorphic rocks in the eastern Windsor Basin contain many grains with ages of ca. 370–360 Ma, suggesting derivation from the central core of the South Mountain Batholith or the Musquodoboit Pluton. Horton Group sandstones from the western part of the St. Marys Basin contain muscovite derived from the Liscomb Complex along with metamorphic muscovite variably reset by the intrusion of this complex. In general, our data suggest predominant northward dispersion of muscovite from the Meguma terrane to the Horton Group and a lack of axial transport along the Horton grabens through central Nova Scotia, a pattern compatible with tectonic models in which the Meguma terrane is ramped over the Avalon terrane. Muscovite ages obtained for the Chaswood Formation compare well with those from the Horton Group rocks in the western St. Marys Basin. These rocks may have been exposed to rapid erosion by reactivation of the Cobequid–Chedabucto fault zone in the Early Cretaceous and the resulting sediments were perhaps transported to depositional sites along northeast-trending faults. Unlike the detrital monazites in these rocks, there is no evidence that any of the detrital muscovites came from distal sources outside the Meguma terrane.

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Mixed siliciclastic–carbonate systems and their impact for the development of deep-water turbidites in continental margins: A case study from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Shelburne subbasin in offshore Nova Scotia

AAPG Bulletin ◽

10.1306/02151917318 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 103 (10) ◽

pp. 2487-2520 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lorena Moscardelli ◽

Jesús Ochoa ◽

Ian Hunt ◽

Laura Zahm

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Early Cretaceous ◽

Deep Water ◽

Late Jurassic ◽

Continental Margins

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The West Indian Road pit, central Nova Scotia: key to the Early Cretaceous Chaswood Formation

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e06-032 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 391-403 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Jean-Philippe Gobeil ◽

Georgia Pe-Piper ◽

David JW Piper

Keyword(s):

Nova Scotia ◽

Early Cretaceous ◽

West Indian ◽

Tectonic Deformation ◽

Maritime Provinces ◽

The West ◽

South Mountain Batholith ◽

The North ◽

Quartz Arenite ◽

Sand And Gravel

The West Indian Road pit is the only large outcrop in Nova Scotia of the Chaswood Formation, the terrestrial equivalent of the offshore Missisauga and Logan Canyon formations. It provides outcrop information on sedimentology, gravel petrology, and structures for a formation that is otherwise known from a few small overgrown pits and from boreholes. The Chaswood Formation in the pit is > 60 m thick and consists principally of sorted sand and gravel with three thinner clay units. Successions of sedimentary structures indicate deposition from a coarse-bedload river flowing to the east-southeast. Gravel consists principally of vein quartz, quartz arenite, and subarkose, together with minor igneous lithologies that can be matched to sources in the Cobequid Highlands to the north. Quartz arenite and subarkose appear derived from Carboniferous Horton Group. Single-crystal 40Ar/39Ar dates of detrital muscovite are a little older than the muscovite ages for the South Mountain batholith, interpreted to mean that the muscovite is second cycle from the Horton Group, which records the earliest unroofing of the batholith. The Chaswood Formation accumulated during progressive tectonic deformation along NNE-trending strike-slip faults in basement rocks, resulting in syn-sedimentary faulting and local unconformities. Sedimentation kept pace with the creation of accommodation. Unrelated younger deformation folded the Chaswood Formation at the pit into an eastwest-trending syncline. The Early Cretaceous paleogeography of the Maritime Provinces is interpreted to have consisted of fault-bound horsts shedding coarse detritus surrounded by an interconnected series of basins that accumulated fluvial sands and gravels and overbank muds with well-developed paleosols.

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