Archean terrane docking: upper crust collision tectonics, Abitibi greenstone belt, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The northern (NVZ) and southern volcanic zones (SVZ) of the Abitibi greenstone belt are separated by the major E-trending Destor-Porcupine-Manneville fault zone (DPMFZ). The DPMFZ is interpreted to be the locus of Archean terrane docking between the older diffuse volcanic arc of the NVZ (2730-2710 Ma) and the younger arc segments of the SVZ (2705-2698 Ma). Two distinct evolutionary phases can be documented along the DPMFZ of the Abitibi greenstone belt and include (1) arc-arc collision occurring between 2697 and 2690 Ma, and (2) arc fragmentation between 2689 and 2680 Ma. Identification of these two events along the DPMFZ is based on detailed structural studies, sedimentary basin analysis, and precise UPb age determinations. The thrusting event, representative of the arc-arc collision phase, is characterized by shallow north-dipping foliations (20–40°) and dip-parallel stretching lineations in the eastern Manneville segment of the DPMFZ. Local overturned mafic pillowed units suggest recumbent folding. Late strike-slip or transcurrent movement displayed in the late-orogenic sedimentary Duparquet Basin records the arc fragmentation phase. Basin geometry, E-trending en-echelon folds, shallow E-plunging stretching lineations and a late NE-striking cleavage cross-cutting the folds support a dextral shear sense along the western Destor-Porcupine segment of the DPMFZ. The sedimentary facies observed in the basin are consistent with those of modern strike-slip basins located along the East Anatolian fault, Turkey (Hazar Lake) and the Hope fault, New Zealand (Hanmer Basin). Precise UPb zircon age determinations from porphyry stocks located at the northern and southern limits of the Duparquet Basin, yielded 2681 ± 1 Ma and 2689 +3.2 −2.9 Ma, respectively. These ages constrain the rapid change from thrusting to transcurrent movement. It is apparent that once thrusting ceased the response to oblique subduction continued in the form of strike-slip displacement. Modern fold and thrust belts commonly show this evolution. The deformation pattern is the result of oblique convergence. The Abitibi greenstone belt is considered to be an Archean analogue of modern subducting oceanic plates such as those found in the western Pacific.