The Grenville Orogenic Cycle (ca. 1350-1000 Ma): an Adirondack perspective

Abstract

The Adirondack Mountains are characterized by three major events that took place during the interval ca. 1350-1000 Ma. The earliest of these is the arc-related Elzevirian Orogeny (ca. 1350-1185 Ma) during which substantial volumes of juvenile calc-alkaline crust were added to the Adirondacks as well as to the northwest segment of the Central Metasedimentary Belt. Data from the southwestern United States as well as from Ireland and Baltica indicate that Elzevirian magmatism and orogeny were of global dimensions. Within the southwestern sector of the Grenville Province, the Elzevirian Orogeny culminated at ca. 1185 Ma when accretion of all outboard terranes was completed. Compressional orogeny related to this convergence resulted in overthickened crust and lithosphere which subsequently delaminated giving rise to orogen collapse and AMCG magmatism that swept southeastward from the Frontenac Terrane into the Adirondack Highlands during the interval ca. 1180-1130 Ma. Localized compressional events within neighboring parts of the Grenville Province emphasize the continued existence of contraction during this interval, although crustal extension caused local in sedimentary basins in which were deposited the Flinton and the St. Boniface Groups. The Adirondacks have not yet provided any record of events within the interval ca. 1125-1100 Ma, although there is evidence of contraction elsewhere in the southwestern Grenville Province at that time. At 1100-1090 Ma the northern Adirondack Highlands were invaded by mildly A-type hornblende granites (Hawkeye suite) that are interpreted to be the result of local crustal thinning contemporaneous with rifting and mafic magmatism taking place in the Midcontinent rift. Immediately following, at ca. 1090 Ma, the global-scale continental collision of the Ottawan Orogeny was initiated. Strong convergence, deformation, and metamorphism continued to at least ca. 1070 Ma, and rocks older than this are profoundly affected by this event. During the waning stages of the Ottawan Orogeny, overthickened crust and lithosphere delaminated and the orogen underwent collapse. Large extensional faults such as the Carthage-Colton-Labelle shear zone developed and rapidly exhumed granulite facies rocks in the mobile core of the orogen which centers on the Adirondack-Morin terranes and extends southeastward into the New York-New Jersey Highlands. Extensional faulting along the Carthage-Colton mylonite zone dropped the amphibolite facies Lowlands down to the west and into juxtaposition with granulite facies rocks of the Highlands. UPb cooling ages from garnet, monazite, and titanite exhibit a sufficiently broad spectrum to accommodate an initial rapid rate of rebound-related cooling followed by a slower, erosion-controlled cooling history. During delamination, late- to post-tectonic granites of the Lyon Mt. Gneiss (ca. 1070-1045 Ma) were emplaced. The youngest member of this suite is an undeformed fayalite granite dated at ca. 1045 Ma which crosscuts all older rocks and fabric. High-potassium, post-tectonic granites of similar age are common in other parts of the southwestern Grenville Province. Renewed contraction and metamorphism at ca. 1030 Ma demonstrate that the Ottawan Orogen was still experiencing convergence well after the peak of orogeny. However, most of the manifestations involve reactivation of older thrust faults, including the Grenville Front Tectonic Zone. The intrusion of small bodies of anorthosite at ca. 1015 Ma (i.e., Labrieville) provide further evidence for the emplacement of these rocks within collisional orogens, albeit in their collapsing phase.