Gravity modelling along a Lithoprobe seismic traverse, northern Grenville Province, western Quebec

Abstract

High-precision gravity data were collected along Lithoprobe seismic reflection lines in the northern part of the Grenville Province, in western Quebec. An interpretation is presented for line 52, which starts some 60 km southeast of the Grenville Front, traverses the parautochthonous Reservoir Dozois Terrane including the allochthonous slice of the Réservoir Cabonga Terrane, and ends near the town of Mont-Laurier, in the allochthonous Mont-Laurier Terrane. On the regional scale, the Bouguer gravity anomaly is consistent with the interpretation of the seismic reflection data. It supports crustal thinning southward of the Grenville Front, under the Cabonga allochthon. This thinning may be related to postorogenic extension. The gravity modelling shows dramatic thinning of the lower crust and suggests that extension was accommodated by extrusion of the lower crust. The gravity modelling also requires a steep boundary between the Réservoir Cabonga and the Réservoir Dozois terranes extending to ~ 15 km. The geometry of the Baskatong ramp derived from gravity data is also consistent with the seismic interpretation. This supports the suggestion that the Baskatong ramp is a major discontinuity along which Proterozoic terranes were accreted. In the Réservoir Cabonga Terrane in the northern part of the profile, the residual gravity anomalies (short wavelength variations) are related to outcropping mafic intrusions. Modelling of these anomalies complements the seismic reflection data, which did not image the base of the intrusions. The interpretation calls for three small distinct gabbroic bodies that extend no deeper than 3 km. The total volume of the intrusions is ~ 3000 km3.