SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology of detrital zircons from the Treasure Lake Group — new evidence for Paleoproterozoic collisional tectonics in the southern Hottah terrane, northwestern Canadian Shield

Abstract

The recently defined Treasure Lake Group is a platformal sedimentary sequence more than 3 km thick that was deformed and metamorphosed prior to formation of the Great Bear continental arc during 1875–1845 Ma. The group is exposed as remnants in the southern part of the arc. Its basement is not exposed, but is interpreted to comprise the Paleoproterozoic Hottah terrane, which is exposed at Hottah Lake in the northern part of the arc. Studies in that region show that the Hottah terrane collided with the Archean Slave craton to the east ca. 1883 Ma following reversal of subduction polarity from west to east. Continued eastward subduction under the collision zone formed the Great Bear arc. The present study was undertaken to determine the age and provenance of the Treasure Lake Group. Thirty-nine detrital zircon grains from a sample of a quartz arenite unit in the middle part of the Treasure Lake Group were analyzed by SHRIMP (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe). They show an age range from ca. 2729 to ca. 1880 Ma, with main modes at ca. 1895, 1985, 2090, and 2330 Ma. These data confirm a mainly Paleoproterozoic provenance for the group. The youngest group of five zircon analyses places the maximum depositional age at 1886 ± 8 Ma. The Treasure Lake Group is close to the north-trending Wopmay medial zone formed during collision of the Hottah terrane and the Slave craton. Deformation and metamorphism of the group can now be attributed to the collisional event. The group may in part be coeval with the Bell Island Bay and Akaitcho groups of the northern Hottah terrane, the lower parts of which were deposited ca. 1900 Ma. The wide range of detrital zircons ages found in this study is interpreted to reflect a complex Paleoproterozoic evolution of the Hottah terrane.