Tectonic burial, thrust emplacement, and extensional exhumation of the Cabot nappe in the Appalachian hinterland of Cape Breton Island, Canada

Abstract

Silurian imbricate thrusting, Early Devonian high‐grade metamorphic nappe emplacement, and Devonian‐Carboniferous extensional denudation characterize deformation in the Appalachian hinterland of Cape Breton Island. Compressional deformation following Early Silurian arc volcanism features imbrication of Cambrian‐Precambrian basement rocks of Gondwana derivation with Ordovician‐Silurian cover sequences across thick zones of mylonite during south directed transport. High grade metamorphism and gneissic rocks of late Silurian age in the region indicate that significant tectonic burial and crustal thickening occurred as a result of the thrusting. Partial denudation of the high grade assemblages occurred during Early Devonian thrust emplacement of the Cabot nappe toward the northwest, along the Highlands Shear Zone. The nappe is characterized by an amphibolitic gneiss and high‐grade schist complex defining a large folded klippe above Silurian units. Kyanite is widespread within the nappe, and a distinctive feature of the thrust sheet is the dynamothermal metamorphism of cooler greenschist‐grade footwall rocks producing inverted isograds; staurolite is regionally distributed and occurs in pelitic units in the immediate footwall of the Highlands Shear Zone forming a discontinuous halo around the klippe. Greenschist‐grade footwall rocks are exposed in structural windows as a result of folding and faulting. Shear sense indicators along the margins of the Cabot nappe have been rotated into their present positions due to superposed folding, providing apparent movement directions for the nappe. Complete exhumation to surface occurred during Late Devonian extension along the low‐angle Margaree Shear Zone.