Geochemistry of 1.9 Ga MORB- and OIB-like basalts from the Amisk collage, Flin Flon Belt, Canada: Evidence for an intra-oceanic origin

Abstract

Subaqueously-erupted basalts that occur in kilometre-scale allochthons within the 1.9 Ga Flin Flon Belt, Canada, appear to have been generated at oceanic ridges and possibly oceanic plateaus, remote from Archean cratons. The ocean-floor basalts fall into two categories: (1) N-type, resembling N-MORBs and Mariana-type back-arc basin basalts (depleted to flat REE patterns, high Zr Nb , variable Th Nb , and initial ϵ Nd = + 3.3 to + 5.4); (2) E-type, resembling transitional and plume MORBs (slightly enriched REE patterns, lower Zr Nb , initial ϵ Nd = +3.1 to +4.5). In the largest and best-studied allochthon, the Elbow-Athapapuskow ‘assemblage,’ mixing between depleted (N-MORB) and enriched (OIB) sources or melts, coupled with variable addition of a subduction LILE component, can explain the chemical variations in the basalts. Zircon U-Pb dates of 1904 ± Ma for a syn-volcanic diabase sill and 1901 +6 -5 Ma for a gabbro-peridotite cumulate complex demonstrate that crystallization of the ‘ocean-floor’ basalts overlapped with, in part, eruption of the tectonically juxtaposed 1.90-1.88 Ga arc volcanic rocks. The Elbow-Athapapuskow allochthon is interpreted as back-arc basin crust that developed simultaneously with Flin Flon arc magmatism. Subaerially erupted basalts that chemically resemble tholeiitic OIBs (8–14% MgO, relative HREE depletion, initial ϵ Nd = +2.2 to +3.4) occur in tectonic contact with the Elbow-Athapapuskow assemblage. The OIBs may have been generated by deeper (garnet residue) melting of enriched mantle tapped during extension in the Elbow-Athapapuskow back-arc basin, and were possibly erupted onto a remnant arc. Deeper mantle melting is also indicated by the presence of the LREE-enriched oceanic plateau-like basalts of the Sandy Bay assemblage. The back-arc, 01B, and plateau volcanic assemblages were jux-taposed against ca. 1.9 Ga arc assemblages in a Philippines-like intraoceanic accretionary complex by 1.87 Ga.