Conodonts recovered from the carbonate xenoliths in the kimberlites confirm the Paleozoic cover on the Hall Peninsula, Nunavut

Abstract

Hall Peninsula, located on southeastern Baffin Island, Nunavut, hosts the newly discovered Chidliak kimberlite province. Presently, this area lacks Phanerozoic sedimentary cover, except for the unconsolidated glacial deposits; however, Late Ordovician and Early Silurian microfossil conodonts have been recovered from carbonate xenoliths preserved in the Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous kimberlites. Over 1300 conodont specimens were recovered, among which 32 species representing 23 genera are recognized, with four elements indeterminate. The well-preserved conodont faunas provide reliable evidence on the Hall Peninsula for (i) reconstructing the Lower Paleozoic stratigraphic units, including the Upper Ordovician Frobisher Bay, Amadjuak, Akpatok, and Foster Bay formations, and the Lower Silurian Severn River Formation, (ii) estimating a total of 270–305 m in thickness of Lower Paleozoic sedimentary cover prior to the emplacement of the kimberlites, (iii) tracing the erosion history after the emplacement of the kimberlites, and (iv) calculating a minimum erosion rate of 2 m/Ma. The conodonts have a wide range of conodont Color Alteration Index (CAI) values between 1.5 and 8, which is the largest range recorded in any known suite of xenoliths entrained in kimberlites.