Detrital zircon geochronology of the Archean volcano-sedimentary sequence of the Barclay belt and the Paleoproterozoic marble-quartzite sequence of the Northern Chantrey group, Boothia mainland area, Kitikmeot region, Nunavut

Abstract

The 'Boothia mainland area', in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, is located in the northern Rae Domain of the western Churchill Province. The area is characterized by variable deformed and metamorphosed volcano-sedimentary rocks of the Barclay belt; metaplutonic rocks, which dominate the region; and a marble-quartzite sequence that is informally referred to as the Northern Chantrey group. Detrital zircon geochronology studies of three samples were conducted using the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Micro Probe to constrain the timing of deposition of the supracrustal sequences in the mapping area. Asample of psammitic schist from the volcano-sedimentary Barclay belt gave a maximum depositional age of 2764 ± 23 Ma based on the youngest detrital zircon. Two samples of psammitic schist from different stratigraphic levels within the Northern Chantrey group gave a maximum depositional age of 2454 ± 13 Ma based on the youngest detrital zircon age.