Southeastern Margin Of Laurentia Research Articles

Crustal evolution of the Laurentian continental margin from the Paleo- through Mesoproterozic: A zircon U–Pb and Hf transect through the western Grenville Province, Ontario, Canada

The Great Proterozoic Accretionary Orogeny along the southern and southeastern margin of Laurentia is arguably the first long-lived, modern-style active plate margin on Earth, representing significant crustal growth and reworking. Here, we present new detrital zircon U–Pb and Hf data, along with zircon and monazite metamorphic ages, from tectonic domains in the southwestern Grenville Province that represent depositional basins formed and reworked during a series of events between 2.2 and 1.2 Ga. As such, the data allow a glimpse into the evolution and assembly of this extensive margin. The Nepewassi domain contains Archean basement overlain by mature sandstone characterized by near-unimodal, ca. 2.7–2.6 Ga detrital zircon peaks and likely correlative with Superior Province basement and its Huronian cover. The Nepewassi domain underwent both Archean (ca. 2.65 Ga) and Killarnean (ca. 1.76 Ga) metamorphism. In addition, all units preserve evidence of Grenvillian high-grade metamorphism between ca. 1.05 and 0.99 Ga. The structurally highest parts of the Nepewassi domain also contain younger sedimentary rocks that received detritus from Killarnean sources, with evolved Hf isotopic compositions indicative of reworked Archean crust. Sedimentary rocks in the Tomiko domain preserve detrital zircon of Penokean and Killarnean age (1.9–1.7 Ga) with evolved Hf compositions, along with Labradorian (1.7–1.6 Ga) grains of more juvenile composition. Detrital zircon from the Kiosk domain yield Penokean through Labradorian ages, with Hf compositions ranging from evolved to juvenile. In contrast to the sedimentary rocks found in these Laurentia-derived parautochthonous domains, similar rocks from younger, more allochthonous units, including the Shawanaga and basal Parry Sound domain, dominantly contain zircon ranging from Pinwarian (ca. 1.45 Ga) through ca. 1.20 Ga that show exclusively juvenile isotopic compositions. The data show that sedimentary basins received detritus from nearby active sources as well as from the nearby Superior continent, and that successively younger sources and basins became increasingly less influenced by continental input as the margin grew wider. The data add to a growing database of similar data from other parts of this several thousand-kilometer-long margin that seemingly displayed little along-strike variation in overall evolution, implying the existence of a vast, Pacific-scale ocean.

Reply to Discussion on ‘The Mesoproterozoic Stac Fada proximal ejecta blanket, NW Scotland: constraints on crater location from field observations, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, petrography and geochemistry’, Journal of the Geological Society , 176, 830–846

Simms (2019) states in his discussion: > They dismiss the Lairg Gravity Low as a possible impact crater based on palaeoenvironments, yet the cited paper specifically states ‘the Stoer Group has nothing in common with any of the Moine sequences discussed here' (Friend et al. 2003, p. 254). A direct comparison between the Stoer Group and the Moine Supergroup was never intended; instead the point we made (Amor et al. 2019, p. 844) was that earlier meta-sediments of admittedly uncertain age, as found at the Shin inlier, and over which the much later Moinian sediments were thrust, can be interpreted as marine in origin (Conclusion 1 of Friend et al. 2003), and thus quite different from the sedimentary matrix of the Stac Fada impact debris, which resembles the Stoer Group sediments. These earlier meta-sediments (now metapelites, psammites and marble) lie on a Lewisian-type crustal basement that is located to the east of the present-day outcrop of the Stoer Group, in the vicinity of Lairg, and are presumed to have been thrust an unknown distance from the east during the emplacement of the Moine thrust complex. All geological and plate reconstructions for this time place the deposition of the Stoer Group sediments in a rift valley on the eastern or southeastern margin of Laurentia (Kinnaird et al. 2007; Dalziel 2010). Furthermore, Nicholson (1993), Rainbird et al. (2001), Williams & Foden (2011), Kinnaird et al. (2007), Krabbendam & Rainbird (2012) and Lelpi et al. (2016) agree that this was a discrete and isolated rift, with significant high ground of Lewisian gneiss to the east as evidenced by deeply cut canyons and current direction towards the west (Stewart 2002), although Simms & Ernstson (2019) infer an extension of the Stoer Group deposits much further to the east. While …

Geochemistry of Late Ordovician dalmanelloid brachiopods from Laurentia: testing the effects of paleolatitudinal gradient

Dalmanelloid brachiopod shells were collected from the Upper Ordovician Lexington Formation (lower Katian) of Kentucky, Sheguindah Shale (middle Katian) on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, and the Stony Mountain Formation (upper Katian) in the Winnipeg area, Manitoba. They were investigated to test the hypothesis of paleo-latitudinal zonation of the shelly benthos. A multi-technique approach was applied to evaluate the petrographic and geochemical (isotopic and elemental) preservation of the secondary layer of shells. Preliminary conventional microscopy, cathodoluminescence (CL), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the retention of primary shell ultrastructure (prismatic low-Mg calcite). The geochemical diagenesis proxies (e.g., Sr, Mn, Fe, and ΣREE) show insignificant correlations with the δ18O and δ13C values, thus supporting the preservation of at least near-primary geochemical compositions. Among the three lots of shells, the mean δ18O value is the highest in those from the Lexington Formation (–4.5‰ ± 0.3‰ VPDB), lowest from the Stony Mountain Formation (–6.8‰ ± 0.4‰ VPDB), and intermediate from the Sheguindah Shale (–6.0‰ ± 0.8‰ VPDB). The relative gradient in δ18O increase is in agreement with the paleo-latitudinal gradient, with Kentucky in subtropical, southern Ontario in mid-tropical, and southern Manitoba in subequatorial latitudes. The Lexington Formation shells also have the highest mean δ13C value (0.8‰ ± 0.2‰ VPDB) and relatively high P contents (170 ± 27 ppm), suggesting higher organic productivity, which is consistent with previous interpretation of frequent upwelling of nutrient-rich cool waters along the southeastern margin of Laurentia during the Katian. The Lexington shells also have a lower mean Th/U (0.6 ± 0.6), which is consistent with blooming organic productivity that likely led to more consumption of oxygen in the water column.

Regional Geologic and Petrologic Framework for Iron Oxide ± Apatite ± Rare Earth Element and Iron Oxide Copper-Gold Deposits of the Mesoproterozoic St. Francois Mountains Terrane, Southeast Missouri, USA

This paper provides an overview on the genesis of Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks and associated iron oxide ± apatite (IOA) ± rare earth element, iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG), and iron-rich sedimentary deposits in the St. Francois Mountains terrane of southeast Missouri, USA. The St. Francois Mountains terrane lies along the southeastern margin of Laurentia as part of the eastern granite-rhyolite province. The province formed during two major pulses of igneous activity: (1) an older early Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1.50–1.44 Ga) episode of volcanism and granite plutonism, and (2) a younger middle Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1.33–1.30 Ga) episode of bimodal gabbro and granite plutonism. The volcanic rocks are predominantly high-silica rhyolite pyroclastic flows, volcanogenic breccias, and associated volcanogenic sediments with lesser amounts of basaltic to andesitic volcanic and associated subvolcanic intrusive rocks. The iron oxide deposits are all hosted in the early Mesoproterozoic volcanic and volcaniclastic sequences. Previous studies have characterized the St. Francois Mountains terrane as a classic, A-type within-plate granitic terrane. However, our new whole-rock geochemical data indicate that the felsic volcanic rocks are effusive derivatives from multicomponent source types, having compositional similarities to A-type within-plate granites as well as to S- and I-type granites generated in an arc setting. In addition, the volcanic-hosted IOA and IOCG deposits occur within bimodal volcanic sequences, some of which have volcanic arc geochemical affinities, suggesting an extensional tectonic setting during volcanism prior to emplacement of the ore-forming systems. The Missouri iron orebodies are magmatic-related hydrothermal deposits that, when considered in aggregate, display a vertical zonation from high-temperature, magmatic ± hydrothermal IOA deposits emplaced at moderate depths (~1–2 km), to magnetite-dominant IOA veins and IOCG deposits emplaced at shallow subvolcanic depths. The shallowest parts of these systems include near-surface, iron oxide-only replacement deposits, surficial epithermal sediment-hosted replacement deposits, synsedimentary ironstone deposits, and Mn-rich exhalite deposits. Alteration associated with the IOA and IOCG mineralizing systems of the host volcanic rocks dominantly produced potassic with lesser amounts of calcic- and sodic-rich mineral assemblages. No deposits are known to be hosted in granite, implying that the mineralizing systems were operative during a relatively short, postvolcanic period yet prior to intrusion of the granitoids. Companion studies in this special issue on mineral chemistry, stable isotopes, and iron isotopes suggest that the magnetite within the IOA deposits formed from high-temperature fluids of magmatic or magmatic-hydrothermal origin. However, the data do not discriminate between a magmatic-hydrothermal source fluid exsolved from an Fe-rich immiscible liquid or an Fe-rich silicate magma. Mineral chemical, fluid inclusion, and stable isotope data from these new studies record the effects of metasomatic fluids that interacted with crustal reservoirs such as volcanic rocks or seawater.

The role of the Highland Border Ophiolite in the ∼ 470 Ma Grampian Event, Scotland

Field and petrological studies of the Highland Border Ophiolite demonstrate that it was obducted onto the Neoproterozoic–Ordovician rocks of the Dalradian block, and not emplaced against them by post-orogenic strike-slip movement. It was welded onto the upper, southward-younging limb of the already recumbent Tay Nappe (D1), and deformed by the Downbend Antiform (D4). However, its emplacement was not accompanied by significant internal deformation of the Dalradian block. As the ophiolite is correlated with those at Clew Bay, Tyrone and Shetland, this result will necessitate complete revision of the current model for basin closure on the southeastern margin of Laurentia.

U–Pb age constraints on arenaceous and volcanic rocks of the Wakeham Group, eastern Grenville Province

Combined sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) U–Pb zircon data from a tightly constrained stratigraphic context of the Wakeham Group provide a precise depositional age for sedimentation within this extensive basin of the Grenville Province. Metavolcanic rocks at the eastern exposure of the Wakeham Group yield ages of 1511 ± 13, 1506 ± 11, 1502 ± 9, and 1491 ± 7 Ma. A crosscutting 1493 ± 10 Ma porphyry vein marks the end of volcanism. The older two volcanic rocks rest stratigraphically above metasediments, with a 1517 ± 20 Ma maximum age of sedimentation derived from the youngest detrital zircons of an arenite. Five 1.61–1.55 Ga inherited zircons in the volcanics, reinforced by coeval inheritance in nearby plutons, indicate a Labradorian basement source to the supracrustals. The predominant arenite detrital zircons dates are in the 1.95–1.75 Ga range, however, and feature both trace element and morphological evidence for metamorphism in the source terrane. Together with zircons as old as 2.95 Ga, the detrital age spectrum is consistent with a circum-Superior provenance. The ages obtained imply that Wakeham Group volcanism and sedimentation were, at least in part, coeval with the onset of 1.52–1.46 Ga Pinwarian plutonism along the southeastern margin of Laurentia. U–Pb zircon analyses record a late Grenvillian metamorphic event around 1019 Ma. U–Pb monazite analyses from one sample yield 1010–1000 Ma ages, and the end of Grenvillian metamorphism is marked by 990 Ma U–Pb titanite ages.

GRENVILLIAN METAMORPHISM OF MONOCYCLIC ROCKS, GEORGIAN BAY, ONTARIO, CANADA: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONVERGENCE HISTORY

The Parry Sound and Shawanaga domains of the Central Gneiss Belt along Georgian Bay, Ontario, contain monocyclic rocks that originated at or near the southeastern margin of Laurentia between ca. 1450 and 1120 Ma. Their deformation and metamorphism are entirely attributable to Grenvillian orogenesis. Metamorphic assemblages, fabrics, and P–T–t paths from these rocks therefore provide important constraints on Grenvillian thermal and tectonic history. Rocks in the interior and basal Parry Sound assemblages of the northern Parry Sound domain were metamorphosed to granulite-facies conditions during an early phase of Grenvillian tectonism, i.e. , at ca. 1161 and 1163 Ma, respectively. The most likely setting for high-P – high-T granulite-facies metamorphism in the interior Parry Sound assemblage was at or near the base of crust that was underplated by voluminous mafic magma. In contrast, heat advected from anorthosite could account for intermediate-P granulite-facies metamorphism in the basal Parry Sound assemblage. In the upper part of the basal Parry Sound assemblage, retrogression from the granulite to upper-amphibolite facies likely occurred in response to thrust emplacement of the interior Parry Sound assemblage onto this part of the basal Parry Sound assemblage at ca. 1159 Ma. In the lower part of the basal Parry Sound assemblage, thrust deformation and re-equilibration at lower-amphibolite-facies conditions took place at ca. 1120 Ma. In the southern Parry Sound domain, a highly attenuated sequence of quartzites and mafic rocks, deposited some time after 1140–1120 Ma, was affected by upper-amphibolite-facies metamorphism before or at 1080 Ma. Northwest of and structurally below the Parry Sound domain, rocks in the Shawanaga domain were affected by eclogite-facies metamorphism at ca. 1090–1085 Ma, suggesting deep burial or partial subduction of the Laurentian margin beneath the Central Metasedimentary Belt at this time. Widespread upper-amphibolite-facies metamorphism after ca. 1080 Ma was associated with a major phase of northwest-directed thrusting and crustal thickening. Sillimanite-grade conditions in the Shawanaga domain were maintained until at least ca. 1020 Ma, the time of major extensional deformation. Data on metamorphic grade and age are consistent with progressive northwest-directed juxtaposition of lithotectonic assemblages metamorphosed at progressively later times, and may thus record progressive or multistage convergence at the southeastern margin of Laurentia. Evidence for multiple phases of Grenvillian high-grade metamorphism in the Parry Sound and Shawanaga domains suggests that construction and interpretation of P–T–t paths from these rocks require careful assessment of timing and overprinting relationships. Derived P–T–t paths suggest that exhumation of interior Parry Sound granulites resulted from thrusting soon after peak metamorphism, whereas those for rocks of the Shawanaga domain suggest that exhumation was likely associated with both thrusting and extension.