scholarly journals Proterozoic magmatic events of the Slave Craton, Wopmay Orogen and environs

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
K L Buchan ◽  
R E Ernst ◽  
W Bleeker ◽  
W J Davis ◽  
M Villeneuve ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Slave Craton

THE TRANSITION FROM HADEAN CRUSTAL WORKING TO ARCHEAN CRATON GROWTH: THE EXAMPLE FROM THE SLAVE CRATON

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Carlson ◽  
◽  
Jesse Reimink ◽  
Steven B. Shirey ◽  
D. Graham Pearson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Slave Craton

Detrital chromites reveal Slave craton’s missing komatiite

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Haugaard ◽  
Pedro Waterton ◽  
Luke Ootes ◽  
D. Graham Pearson ◽  
Yan Luo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Narrow Range ◽  
Thermal Evolution ◽  
Group Element ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Crust Formation ◽  
Slave Craton ◽  
Provenance Studies ◽  
Juvenile Crust ◽  
Greenstone Belts

Komatiitic magmatism is a characteristic feature of Archean cratons, diagnostic of the addition of juvenile crust, and a clue to the thermal evolution of early Earth lithosphere. The Slave craton in northwest Canada contains >20 greenstone belts but no identified komatiite. The reason for this dearth of komatiite, when compared to other Archean cratons, remains enigmatic. The Central Slave Cover Group (ca. 2.85 Ga) includes fuchsitic quartzite with relict detrital chromite grains in heavy-mineral laminations. Major and platinum group element systematics indicate that the chromites were derived from Al-undepleted komatiitic dunites. The chromites have low 187Os/188Os ratios relative to chondrite with a narrow range of rhenium depletion ages at 3.19 ± 0.12 Ga. While these ages overlap a documented crust formation event, they identify an unrecognized addition of juvenile crust that is not preserved in the bedrock exposures or the zircon isotopic data. The documentation of komatiitic magmatism via detrital chromites indicates a region of thin lithospheric mantle at ca. 3.2 Ga, either within or at the edge of the protocratonic nucleus. This study demonstrates the applicability of detrital chromites in provenance studies, augmenting the record supplied by detrital zircons.

Sulfur isotopes in diamonds reveal differences in continent construction

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 364 (6438) ◽  
pp. 383-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen V. Smit ◽  
Steven B. Shirey ◽  
Erik H. Hauri ◽  
Richard A. Stern
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Isotope ◽  
Sulfur Isotopes ◽  
West African ◽  
Diamond Growth ◽  
Mantle Lithosphere ◽  
Continental Lithosphere ◽  
Slave Craton ◽  
Tectonic Processes ◽  
Isotope Record ◽  
Diamond Inclusions

Neoproterozoic West African diamonds contain sulfide inclusions with mass-independently fractionated (MIF) sulfur isotopes that trace Archean surficial signatures into the mantle. Two episodes of subduction are recorded in these West African sulfide inclusions: thickening of the continental lithosphere through horizontal processes around 3 billion years ago and reworking and diamond growth around 650 million years ago. We find that the sulfur isotope record in worldwide diamond inclusions is consistent with changes in tectonic processes that formed the continental lithosphere in the Archean. Slave craton diamonds that formed 3.5 billion years ago do not contain any MIF sulfur. Younger diamonds from the Kaapvaal, Zimbabwe, and West African cratons do contain MIF sulfur, which suggests craton construction by advective thickening of mantle lithosphere through conventional subduction-style horizontal tectonics.

Constraints on the composition of the crust and uppermost mantle in northwestern Canada: Vp/Vs variations along Lithoprobe's SNorCLE transect

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1205-1222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Fernández-Viejo ◽  
Ron M Clowes ◽  
J Kim Welford
Keyword(s):  
Wave Velocity ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
High Ratio ◽  
P Wave ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Uppermost Mantle ◽  
Crust And Upper Mantle ◽  
Slave Craton ◽  
Crustal Composition

Shear-wave seismic data recorded along four profiles during the SNoRE 97 (1997 Slave – Northern Cordillera Refraction Experiment) refraction – wide-angle reflection experiment in northwestern Canada are analyzed to provide S-wave velocity (Vs) models. These are combined with previous P-wave velocity (Vp) models to produce cross sections of the ratio Vp/Vs for the crust and upper mantle. The Vp/Vs values are related to rock types through comparisons with published laboratory data. The Slave craton has low Vp/Vs values of 1.68–1.72, indicating a predominantly silicic crustal composition. Higher values (1.78) for the Great Bear and eastern Hottah domains of the Wopmay orogen imply a more mafic than average crustal composition. In the western Hottah and Fort Simpson arc, values of Vp/Vs drop to ∼1.69. These low values continue westward for 700 km into the Foreland and Omineca belts of the Cordillera, providing support for the interpretation from coincident seismic reflection studies that much of the crust from east of the Cordilleran deformation front to the Stikinia terrane of the Intermontane Belt consists of quartzose metasedimentary rocks. Stikinia shows values of 1.78–1.73, consistent with its derivation as a volcanic arc terrane. Upper mantle velocity and ratio values beneath the Slave craton indicate an ultramafic peridotitic composition. In the Wopmay orogen, the presence of low Vp/Vs ratios beneath the Hottah – Fort Simpson transition indicates the presence of pyroxenite in the upper mantle. Across the northern Cordillera, low Vp values and a moderate-to-high ratio in the uppermost mantle are consistent with the region's high heat flow and the possible presence of partial melt.

scholarly journals Slave Craton bedrock geology, Thaidene Nene MERA study area

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
B A Kjarsgaard ◽  
J Marshall ◽  
D G Pearson ◽  
D Lemkow ◽  
O van Breemen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Slave Craton ◽  
Bedrock Geology

Electromagnetic images of the Trans-Hudson orogen: the North American Central Plains anomaly revealed

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G Jones ◽  
Juanjo Ledo ◽  
Ian J Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Properties ◽  
North American ◽  
Upper Mantle ◽  
Lithospheric Mantle ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Conductivity Anomaly ◽  
Central Plains ◽  
Slave Craton ◽  
The North ◽  
Kimberlite Field

Magnetotelluric studies of the Trans-Hudson orogen over the last two decades, prompted by the discovery of a significant conductivity anomaly beneath the North American Central Plains (NACP), from over 300 sites yield an extensive database for interrogation and enable three-dimensional information to be obtained about the geometry of the orogen from southern North Dakota to northern Saskatchewan. The NACP anomaly is remarkable in its continuity along strike, testimony to along-strike similarity of orogenic processes. Where bedrock is exposed, the anomaly can be associated with sulphides that were metamorphosed during subduction and compression and penetratively emplaced deep within the crust of the internides of the orogen to the boundary of the Hearne margin. A new result from this compilation is the discovery of an anomaly within the upper mantle beginning at depths of ~80–100 km. This lithospheric mantle conductor has electrical properties similar to those for the central Slave craton mantle conductor, which lies directly beneath the major diamond-producing Lac de Gras kimberlite field. While the Saskatchewan mantle conductor does not directly underlie the Fort à la Corne kimberlite, which is associated with the Sask craton, the spatial correspondence is close.

Deep Electromagnetic Probing of the Slave Craton

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Jones ◽  
I.J. Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
Slave Craton
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