Triassic olivine-normative diabase from Northumberland Strait, eastern Canada: implications for continental rifting

Abstract

Two intervals of mafic igneous rocks were encountered within a Silurian to Carboniferous sequence in an exploratory offshore well located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, eastern Canada. Geochemical and radiometric analyses show that the lower mafic rocks are Early Silurian continental tholeiite lavas, with their radiogenic clock thermally reset during the Late Devonian. The upper igneous interval consists of several dikes of high-alumina diabase characterized by flat, relatively unenriched REE spectra and a positive Eu anomaly. This diabase resembles olivine tholeiites. Two K/Ar dates suggest a Late Triassic age for these intrusions. The dike composition differs from that of known Late Triassic and Early Jurassic continental tholeiites nearby in Nova Scotia, which are associated with a late stage of continental rifting. The Triassic – Early Jurassic igneous activity shows a pattern of geochemical evolution that we relate to mantle upwelling.