niobium enriched basalts from the wabigoon subprovince canada evidence for adakitic metasomatism above an archean subduction zone abstract late archean niobium enriched basalts from the central sturgeon lake assemblage and neepawa group of the western wabigoon subprovince have mantle normalized nb la between 0 8 and 1 3 and zr y between 4 and 7 they are compositionally similar to basalts attributed to adakite metasomatism of mantle wedge regions in cenozoic subduction zones sajona et al j petrol 37 1996 693 726 in detail their sc ree systematics suggest the archean basalts were generated above the garnet stability field an association with adakite like volcanic rocks an absence of komatiites and the arc like attributes of their host sequences suggest a subduction related origin for the basalts if current models of adakite and niobium enriched basalt genesis are valid then additional examples of these rocks should be relatively common in other archean greenstone belts

archean lamprophyre dikes of the superior province canada distribution petrology and geochemical characteristics shoshonitic lamprophyre dikes of late archean age are a volumetrically minor yet widespread component of magmatism in the superior province and preferentially occur along major structures that delineate subprovince boundaries lamprophyre swarms are most prominently developed in fault graben where they are associated with alkali gabbro and trachytes and molasse sediments mineralogically the dikes are characterized by zoned phlogopite or hornblende phenocrysts restriction of feldspar to the groundmass globular segregations of k feldspar and calcite panidiomorphic texture and the sporadic presence of crustal xenoliths compositionally fresh dikes have contents of sio2 47 51 wt tio2 0 55 0 60 and p2o5 0 36 1 58 and k2o na2o ratios 1 5 2 3 and mg numbers 78 80 comparable to phanerozoic shoshonitic lamprophyres unaltered dikes are characterized by extreme enrichments of the lithophile elements k rb ba cs th u and light rare earth elements lree and enhanced abundances of cr 650 920 ppm co 37 42 ni 264 355 and sc 22 28 mid ocean ridge basalt normalized plots display 1 consistent enrichments of k rb and ba relative to sr and lree 2 variable enrichments of rb and ba relative to k and 3 troughs at ta nb and ti compared with fresh rocks altered samples have systematically lower k rb ba and sr contents but similar ree distributions and profiles from th yb and sc ni on normalized diagrams suites of post archean ultramafic lamprophyres in the superior province are enriched in large ion lithophile elements lile lree and compatible elements relative to their archean counterparts and lack troughs at ta nb and ti emplacement of the lamprophyres was diachronous from north 2705 ma to south 2674 ma probably being related to localized extension during the successive accretion of individual subprovinces archean lamprophyre magmas were derived from a depleted mantle source variably enriched in lile and lree by sediments and altered oceanic crust with small variable degrees of crustal contamination whereas the post archean lamprophyres lacked a plate margin setting

u pb zircon ages from the eastern savant lake crow lake metavolcanic metasedimentary belt northwest ontario five rocks from three areas in the eastern part of the savant lake crow lake metavolcanic metasedimentary belt have been dated by u pb analysis of zircons the sioux lookout area is composed of a sequence of generally fault bounded metavolcanic and metasedirnentary belts the age of a felsic tuff in the central volcanic belt is 2732 72 ma this is possibly the youngest sequence in the area the savant lake volcanic belt comprises the jutten volcanic unit at its base separated by an angular unconforrnity from the handy lake volcanic sequence the age of a dacitic tuff near the base of the handy lake volcanic sequence is 2745 22 i ma the south sturgeon lake volcanic belt is composed of four volcanic cycles the age of a felsic tuff from the top of the uppermost cycle is 2717 92 ma the felsic beidelman bay pluton and the mafic pike lake pluton which both intruded the lower art of the sequence give ages of 2733 82 and 2732 721 a respectively this establishes a minimum time span of 15 921 ma for deposition of the sequence this interval along with the 27 ma span between the ages of the handy lake sample and the volcanic sample from the south sturgeon lake area suggests that the sequences were laid down by a series of discrete volcanic episodes for samples subjected to multistage lead loss the reliability of ages has been greatly enhanced by air abrasion of zircons several cases of suspected biasing of analyses by the air abrasion process have been encountered it appears that this biasing problem can be overcome by selection and abrasion of low uranium grains that are free of imperfections

multistage zircon and titanite growth and inheritance in an archean gneiss complex winnipeg river subprovince ontario abstract the paper presents results from a u pb isotopic investigation of zircon and titanite from three phases of the archean sioux lookout gneiss complex at the margin of the gneissic plutonic winnipeg river subprovince wrs of the superior province the data reveal an intricate data pattern caused by inheritance and multistage crystallization and record the timing of two major orogenic events followed by a protracted post metamorphic evolution a zircon age of 2889 3 ma for a foliated pink granite correlates with that of similar units elsewhere in the superior province and reflects one of the first major episodes of crustal assembly in the pre kenoran evolution of the region tonalite and diorite from the same site yield zircon and titanite ages of 2704 2 and 2705 5 ma which correspond to the timing of major magmatism related to kenoran collision of the wrs with the adjacent wabigoon volcanic domains tonalite and diorite both contain abundant xenocrystic zircon moreover the late kinematic diorite also includes xenocrystic titanite which has a minimum age of 2730 ma and coexists with younger ca 2705 ma titanite and zircon two generations of titanite are also present in both the tonalite and the granite the earliest one reflects the 2704 ma plutonic metamorphic event whereas the second one indicates post metamorphic crystallization at 2650 and 2627 ma caused by superimposed hydrothermal activity and retrogression the data support the concept that the titanite can remain a closed system to pb diffusion at elevated temperatures as long as the crystals escape magmatic or metamorphic recrystallization conversely they also show that titanite can easily be produced by low temperature processes hence generalized interpretation of titanite ages in terms of regional cooling can be inappropriate

basement terrane correlations and crustal recycling in the western superior province nd isotopic character of granitoid and felsic volcanic rocks in the wabigoon subprovince n ontario canada abstract the western superior province represents a collage of mesoarchean continental 3 2 2 8 ga and neoarchean continental arc and oceanic 2 8 2 66 ga crustal fragments nd isotope data presented here for 89 felsic volcanic and plutonic rocks have been combined with compiled data to generate a data set of over 240 analyses from the wabigoon and winnipeg river subprovinces these samples from both oceanic and continental environments have been used as crustal probes their nd isotopic character used to investigate the extent of basement terranes the ancestry of crustal fragments their interaction with each other and the degree of sialic crustal reworking the wabigoon and winnipeg river subprovinces include three isotopically distinct terranes 1 the winnipeg river terrane comprises the winnipeg river subprovince the north central wabigoon and the north eastern wabigoon subprovince this region is dominated by neoarchean granitoid rocks with mesoarchean vestiges of previous workers have suggested that the boundary between the western wabigoon and winnipeg river terranes represents a cryptic suture resulting from a collision at circa 2 71 ga the boundary between the western wabigoon and marmion terranes although obscured by late intrusions may be a continuation of this suture zone the boundary between the winnipeg river and marmion terranes in the central wabigoon is also cryptic isotopic data suggest that the marmion terrane is allochthonous with respect to the winnipeg river terrane common magmatism in these two terranes at 2 93 2 87 ga suggests that they may have collided during this time in the eastern wabigoon subprovince this collision zone is speculated to occur at the humboldt bay high strain zone a complex history of crustal recycling throughout the mesoarchean and neoarchean is revealed which demonstrates the importance of autochthonous development of granite greenstone terranes in a continental environment the data also support models of tectonic accretion during the archean indicated by the presence of granite greenstone terranes of allochthonous origin

geochronology of orthogneiss adjacent to the archean lake of the woods greenstone belt northwestern ontario a possible basement complex deformed and recrystallized amphibolite facies trondhjemitic to granodioritic orthogneiss along the north margin of the archean lake of the woods greenstone belt has an rb sr isochron age of 2950 150 ma and an initial 87sr 86sr ratio of 0 7028 0 0014 preserved primary textures and complex internal intrusive relationships document the original plutonic nature of the orthogneiss based on isotopic age and degree of deformation and recrystallization the orthogneiss is interpreted to be basement to the adjacent metavolcanic sequence of the greenstone belt the contact between the orthogneiss and greenstone belt is the locus of deformation but may be an unconformity it is also the boundary between the english river subprovince on the north and the wabigoon subprovince on the south similar orthogneiss ranging in age from 2800 to 3800 ma is widespread in the canadian shield it is basement to the 2650 2750 ma archean volcanism at least in some areas but is not necessarily basement to the older 2800

crustal evolution of the western minto block northern superior province canada abstract geochemical and nd isotope data are presented for suites of meso to late archean 2 7 2 9 ga granitoid rocks from the western minto block of the northeast canadian superior province the samples provide coverage of the inukjuak and tikkerutuk domains and include biotite amphibole and or orthopyroxene bearing tonalites granodiorites and granites from tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite ttg and monzodiorite suites both suites are characterized by strong light rare earth element ree and large ion lithophile lil element enrichment variably negative to positive eu anomalies and moderate heavy ree depletion high la yb and sr y ratios with correspondingly low yb and y concentrations in both suites likely reflect parental melts that left residual garnet correlations between eu anomalies and fractionation indices suggest that compositional variations in both suites reflect plagioclase accumulation in tonalite samples and plagioclase and fe ti oxide fractionation among granitic samples the nd isotope compositions range from nd values of 2 to 10 the largest range found among granitoids of the minto block and indicate the presence of a crustal contaminant of ca 3 8 ga in age there is a decrease in nd values from east to west across the studied region and a measurable decrease across tikkerutuk and inukjuak domain boundary this suggests increasing addition of an older crustal component in the inukjuak domain possibly as a result of recycling of early archean crust from the nearby ca 3 8 ga nuvvuagittuq sequence

geological characteristics and metallogenesis of iron deposits in western tianshan china abstract the western tianshan metallogenic belt is one of the most significant polymetallic iron metallogenic belts in china important advances have been achieved recently in iron exploration in the awulale mountain in western tianshan china these newly discovered iron deposits are mainly hosted in the basic medium andesitic lavas and volcaniclastics often comprising a number of high grade ores magnetite is predominated in ore mineral assemblages and pyrite chalcopyrite pyrrhotite or sphalerite increase in certain deposits wallrock alterations are intensively developed exemplified as sodic calcic and potassic alterations which display in different patterns as country rocks and ore controlled structures vary skarn assemblages are commonly developed in ore districts like beizhan dunde and chagangnuoer and pyroxene albite k feldspar epidote actinolite alterations are dominated around ore bodies in zhibo deposit whereas the shikebutai deposit develops alteration assemblages comprising of jasper barite sericite and chlorite thus iron deposits can be divided into three types including volcanic sedimentary type volcanic magmatic hydrothermal type and iron skarn type our preliminary interpretation about the tectonic background of this iron mineralization in this area is in the late stage of a collisional accretional orogenic belt around carboniferous with some extrusional extensional tectonic transition locally iron mineralization is likely to have a close genetic relationship with volcanic subvolcanic activity syn or slightly post the volcanism which took place besides continental arc volcanic eruption contributes to majority of mineralizing iron with minor extracted from hydrothermal replacement from wall rocks

new insights into archean crustal development from geochronology in the rainy lake area superior province canada precise isotopic analyses of zircon titanite and rutile from units in the rainy lake area of northwest ontario are combined with structural investigations to develop new stratigraphic interpretations in which lithotectonic sequences were juxtaposed by thrusting prior to steepening by wrenching ages for the oldest volcanic and plutonic rocks in the area range from 2725 pm 2 ma to 2728 4 3 ma the age of metagray wackes of the coutchiching group is bracketed between 2704 pm 3 ma and 2692 pm 2 ma by detrital zircon and a crosscutting intrusion alluvial conglomerate of the seine group is bracketed between 2696 5 3 ma the age of a clast and 2686 2 1 ma the age of the undeformed ottertail lake pluton the coutchiching group is younger than structurally overlying metavolcanic rocks and is therefore allochthon ous these data suggest that sedimentation and deformation were controlled by collisional plate interactions and subsequent transpression at the subprovince boundary combined with dat

u pb zircon geochronology of the yellowknife volcanic belt nwt canada new constraints on the timing and duration of greenstone belt magmatism volcanic and sedimentary rocks in the slave province collectively termed the yellowknife supergroup have long been considered to represent laterally continuous and correlative stratigraphically coherent homoclinal sequences correlation based on the lithologic analysis of certain distinctive units has been most intensely applied to the yellowknife volcanic belt in the southern slave province u pb zircon data for seven samples collected from within the belt are reported here the distinctiveness of the townsite formation a term applied to three lenticles of rhyodacitic to dacitic tuffs breccias and pillowed flows in comparison to the overlying and underlying tholeiitic basalts kam group has led to its use as a key marker unit for stratigraphic correlations and palinspastic restorations of offsets on proterozoic faults in the area a sample from each of the three segments was collected for u pb zircon geochronology in addition numerous thinner tuffaceous beds from the kam group were also dated

scandinavian glacial and climatic fluctuations during the holocene abstract historical documents and lichenometric studies give a detailed picture of the little ice age in scandinavia there was a large advance in norway which has been dated at a few places to 1750 small readvances during the retreat occurred around a d 1780 1810 1840 1850 1850 1870 1890 1910 and 1930 in sweden most of these advances have been recognized and in addition extensive advances are dated by lichenometry to around a d 1600 1650 and 1700 1720 soils buried beneath moraines often yield radiocarbon dates that are much too old methods dependent on these must therefore be used with care evidence for pre little ice age advances are often considered equivocal the most reliable information is probably provided by studies of lacustrine sediments combining information from all sources the most significant pre little ice age glacier advances most likely occurred in 7 5 5 1 4 5 3 2 2 8 2 2 1 9 and 1 5 1 1 radiocarbon ka bp advances that were less extensive or for which there is less evidence occurred around 6300 5600 2500 940 600 560 and 380 bp

a review of the superior province of the canadian shield a product of archean accretion abstract the superior province consists of northern and southern high grade gneiss subprovinces and a central region of alternating granite greenstone and metasedimentary belts subprovinces are commonly fault bounded and display contrasting lithological assemblages metamorphic and structural styles geophysical characteristics and ages they are comparable to phanerozoic suspect terranes the middle and late archean rocks of the superior province are of mantle and juvenile crustal origin with little evidence of inheritance of components older than ca 3 1 ga high grade gneiss subprovinces are mainly deeper level equivalents of the supracrustal rich belts but one minnesota river valley is part of an older ca 3 6 ga terrane that was juxtaposed late in the tectonic history granite greenstone terranes are characterized by low grade volcano sedimentary sequences tholeiitic komatiitic submarine lava plain tholeiitic calc alkalic submarine to subaerial central complexes early platform type quartz arenite stromatolitic carbonate late timiskaming type shoshonitic alkalic volcanic fluvial sediment that range in age from ca 3 0 ga to 2 7 ga the volcanics represent oceanic island arc and continental arc volcanism the quartz arenite carbonate sequences deposition on relatively stable early formed ca 3 0 ga crust and the timiskaming type sequences deposition in pull apart basins developed along strike slip faults late archean ca 2 75 2 70 ga greenstone sequences occur throughout the superior province middle archean ca 3 0 2 8 ga sequences are common in northern and central superior province rare or absent in the south volcanism was accompanied by mafic to trondhjemitic plutonism the metasedimentary belts consist of variably metamorphosed volcanogenic turbidites with detrital zircons ranging in age from ca 3 0 ga to 2 7 ga the metasediments were deposited after major volcanism and probably represent accretionary prisms late archean orogenesis accompanied and followed by calc alkalic plutonism youngs southward from about 2 73 2 72 ga to 2 70 2 68 ga it involved large scale north south compression and dextral transpression and displays thin to thick skinned transitions the contemporaneity of events along the lengths of the belts and their southward younging coupled with the evidence of major compression are consistent with subduction driven oblique accretion of oceanic and continental volcanic arcs accretionary sedimentary wedges older microcontinental fragments etc in a convergent margin setting analogous to parts of the pacific rim differences eg abundance of komatiites and tonalitic plutonic suites are attributable to a hotter archean mantle

u pb age constraints for deposition of clastic metasedimentary rocks and late tectonic plutonism michipicoten belt superior province the study investigates the ages of clastic metasedimentary rocks and of late tectonic alkalic to calc alkalic intrusions and puts constraints on the timing of major deformation in the michipicoten greenstone belt of the wawa subprovince a trondhjemitic boulder in the dore conglomerate of the southern metasedimentary belt is dated at 2698 2 ma this is a maximum age of sedimentation that is also supported by ages of detrital zircons in the matrix and may directly reflect the time of synvolcanic deposition detrital zircons in metapsammites of the central and northern sedimentary belts yield younger ages of 2682 3 and 2680 3 ma respectively suggesting that sedimentation occurred significantly later in the northern than in the southern parts of the greenstone belt the 2682 ma sedimentary rocks were affected by multiphase deformation that is related to the development of a large scale recumbent fold and superimposed folds and faults this tectonism was followed by the emplacement of the granodiorit

crustal evolution of archean rocks in the kakagi lake area wabigoon subprovince ontario as interpreted from high precision u pb geochronology the evolution of the archean volcanic plutonic complex in the kakagi lake area occurred during a time interval of ca 32 ma the earliest age is from analysis of zircon and baddeleyite in a gabbro intruding the lowermost katimiagamak volcanic group an age of 2723 2 1 8 ma on a tonalite gneiss from the interior of the underlying sabaskong batholith is indistinguishable from a previously dated massive border phase of the batholith and shows no evidence for inheritance from an older sialic component an early tonalite phase from the adjacent aulneau batholith is dated at and the latest granodiorite phase is dated at this defines a time span of about 7 ma for intrusion of the bulk of the batholith and indicates that previously dated felsic volcanism from the uppermost sequence above the kakagi lake volcanic group is coeval with late plutonic activity in the aulneau batholith the end of regional deformation in the area is given by the ages of two late tectonic intrusions the heronry lake pluton and

sedimentary and structural evidence for 2 7 ga continental arc oceanic arc collision in the savant sturgeon greenstone belt western superior province canada the western superior province sustained rapid crustal growth in the interval 2 72 2 68 ga through amalgamation of microcontinental crustal blocks and juvenile oceanic terranes recent field isotopic and geophysical surveys provide insight on the nature timing and scale of this accretionary growth however few places offer the rich tectono stratigraphic and structural detail with which to establish accretion of oceanic and continental blocks as does the savant sturgeon area here 3 4 2 8 ga continental crust of the winnipeg river terrane is juxtaposed with 2 775 2 718 ga juvenile oceanic rocks of the western wabigoon terrane across a 2 85 2 75 ga southwest facing continental margin sequence the continental margin was reactivated at 2 715 ga with the establishment of an arc recorded by 2 715 2 70 ga tonalite and associated intermediate volcanic rocks this magmatic activity is interpreted to reflect north and east dipping subduction that led to consumption of a small tract of oceanic crust betwe

holocene glacier fluctuations a global overview of glacier advances and retreats grouped by regions and by millennia for the holocene is compiled from previous studies the reconstructions of glacier fluctuations are based on 1 mapping and dating moraines defined by 14 c tcn osl lichenometry and tree rings discontinuous records time series and 2 sediments from proglacial lakes and speleothems continuous records time series using 189 continuous and discontinuous time series the long term trends and centennial fluctuations of glaciers were compared to trends in the recession of northern and mountain tree lines and with orbital solar and volcanic studies to examine the likely forcing factors that drove the changes recorded a general trend of increasing glacier size from the earlyemid holocene to the late holocene in the extra tropical areas of the northern hemisphere nh is related to overall summer temperature forced by orbitally controlled insolation the glaciers in new zealand and in the tropical andes also appear to follow the orbital trend i e they were decreasing from the early holocene to the present in contrast glacier fluctuations in some monsoonal areas of asia and southern south america generally did not follow the orbital trends but fluctuated at a higher frequency possibly triggered by distinct teleconnections patterns during the neoglacial advances clustered at 4 4e4 2 ka 3 8e3 4 ka 3 3e2 8 ka 2 6 ka 2 3e2 1 ka 1 5e1 4 ka 1 2e1 0 ka 0 7e0 5 ka corresponding to general cooling periods in the north atlantic some of these episodes coincide with multidecadal periods of low solar activity but it is unclear what mechanism might link small changes in irradiance to widespread glacier fluctuations explosive volcanism may have played a role in some periods of glacier advances such as around 1 7e1 6 ka coinciding with the taupo volcanic eruption at 232 5 ce but the record of explosive volcanism is poorly known through the holocene the compilation of ages suggests that there is no single mechanism driving glacier fluctuations on a global scale multidecadal variations of solar and volcanic activity supported by positive feedbacks in the climate system may have played a critical role in holocene glaciation but further research on such linkages is needed the rate and the global character of glacier retreat in the 20th through early 21st centuries appears unusual in the context of holocene glaciation though the retreating glaciers in most parts of the northern hemisphere are still larger today than they were in the early and or mid holocene the current retreat

plutonism in the southern abitibi subprovince a tectonic and petrogenetic framework studies of plutonic rocks in archean terranes such as the southern abitibi subprovince have been an important component in the development of an accretionary tectonic model for the superior province in the southern abitibi subprovince pretectonic approximately 2 75 2 70 ga low k tholeiitic calc alkaline dioritic to tonalitic plutons e g bourlamaque batholith flavrian pluton are associated with volcanism and are interpreted to be derived from both partial melting of hydrated mantle during oceanic arc formation and fractionation of tholeiitic to calc alkaline basalt andesite pretectonic synvolcanic tholeiitic intrusions e g dundonald sill kamiskotia gabbroic complex 2 72 2 70 ga show in situ fractionation trends and locally have mixed magma textures with contemporaneous calc alkaline granitoids they are believed to be derived from a midocean ridge basalt morb like depleted mantle with little evidence for contamination by an older crustal component pre to syntectonic approximately 2 72 2 69 ga porphyry and tonalite plutons e g timmins porphyries round lake batholith have geochemical characteristics typical of archean tonalite trondhjemite suites considered to be derived from melting of basaltic rocks at high metamorphic grades late to post tectonic 2 69 ga diorite monzonite and syenite plutons e g watabeag batholith lamaque stocks otto stock have large ion lithophile element enriched calc alkaline to sho shonitic compositions these intrusions and associated timiskaming type volcanic rocks are attributed to melting of large ion lithophile element enriched mantle in the late stages of subduction late to post tectonic biotite muscovite granite intrusions contain a significant contribution of evolved crust e g s type characteristics of the preissac lacorne batholith in the southern abitibi subprovince the tectonic setting of mantle and crust derived intrusions is broadly comparable to magmatic processes in phanerozoic arcs and accreted terranes the plutonic rocks record a transition from pre to synaccretionary subduction related plutonic suites to late to postaccretionary suites derived from enriched mantle and crustal sources this framework provides a basis for understanding mineral deposits associated with intrusive rocks of the southern abitibi subprovince which range from ni cu sulfides in layered synvolcanic tholeiitic intrusions e g kamiskotia gabbroic complex ontario to volcanogenic sulfides in early tholeiitic and calc alkaline sequences e g flavrian pluton noranda district quebec to the spatial association of gold with late large ion lithophile element enriched intrusions e g lamaque plugs val d or district quebec

holocene tree line dynamics and inferred climatic changes in the abisko area northern sweden based on macrofossil and pollen records lake sediment records of pollen and macroscopic plant remains of terrestrial origin provide evidence of long term changes in forest composition close to the altitudinal tree line in the abisko area northernmost sweden a dominance of mountain birch betula pubescens ehrh ssp tortuosa ledeb nyman with a field layer of ferns grasses and sedges suggests that an oceanic climate with relatively high precipitation existed during the early holocene macrofossils of mountain birch were found 300 400 m above the present tree line which corresponds to a 1 5 2 c higher summer temperature than at present scots pine pinus sylvestris was present to some extent at altitudes above its present limit during the early holocene a pronounced expansion of pine took place above its present limit around 6300 cal bp 5500 bp this is interpreted as a result of successively drier and more continental climatic conditions a decreased abundance of pine from c 5200 cal bp 4700 bp followed by a gradual retraction of

zircon u pb and lu hf systematics of the major terranes of the western superior craton canada mantle crust interaction and mechanism s of craton formation abstract paleo to neoarchean granitoid gneisses ca 3 30 to 2 49 ga are well preserved in the western superior craton protoliths of these gneisses are mainly i type granitoids characterized by high sr y and la yb ratios and low mg consistent with archean tonalite trondhjemite granodiorites zircons from granitoid gneisses commonly contain three growth phases inherited cores zircon i magmatic rims zircon ii and outer rims that have undergone pb loss zircon iii the 3 12 ga to 2 86 ga zircon i represent early crustal material that was captured in younger zircons zircon ii preserve crustal re working and younger crustal additions that are constrained between 2 85 to 2 72 and 2 69 to 2 65 ga zircon ii contains both positive and negative ehf t values 6 3 to 8 1 with both depleted mantle and older crustal signatures half of the magmatic rims ii are characterized by depleted mantle signatures with positive ehf t values representing juvenile crust forming events whereas the other half are characterized by recycled crustal signatures with negative ehf t values ehf t results show that the north caribou and the island lake terranes and the northern uchi domain are isotopically more enriched than the southern uchi english river wabigoon and winnipeg river terranes suggesting the northern uchi margin represents a major terrane boundary based on mass balance calculations large volumes of juvenile material at circa 3 0 ga mixed with smaller amounts of older crust the vast majority of the granites were derived from a source with about 50 mantle material during the peak crust formation events after 2 8 ga the decline in the volume of felsic magmatism in the later archean is coeval with a reduced supply of both heat and material from depleted mantle sources combined with previously published geochemical geochronological and isotopic data this suggests an evolution in felsic magma sources consistent with crustal thickening

archaean stromatolites from the steep rock group northwestern ontario canada reinvestigation of the late archaean stromatolites of the steep rock group has shown that a wide variety of forms is present including domed and tabular bioherms and biostromes both columnar and noncolumnar structures are present branching is common in some columnar forms facing directions in the stromatolites are consistent with other field evidence showing that the base of the steep rock group is an unconformity

nd isotopic evidence for early to late archean 3 4 2 7 ga crustal growth in the western superior province ontario canada abstract new sm nd analyses of archean metavolcanic plutonic gneissic and metasedimentary rocks from sachigo and berens river subprovinces north caribou terrane and winnipeg river and wabigoon subprovinces in conjunction with previously published data are used to trace the crustal evolution of the western superior province wsp from ca 3 4 to 2 7 ga the extensive wsp geochronological database which contains 3 17 2 55 ga plutonic rocks allows the calculation of precise e t nd values and the identification of the main periods of new crustal addition at 3 4 0 1 3 02 2 92 and 2 76 2 69 ga mass balance calculations indicate that the western superior province represents a collage of archean crusts comprising 7 44 and 48 wt of crust created at 3 4 3 0 and 2 7 ga respectively although these calculations depend on the isotopic signatures of the mantle and those of the average crust at different times several important observations can be made 1 the importance of pre 2 7 ga terranes recycled in the 2 7 ga orogen 2 the existence of time intervals of 150 300 ma dominated by intra crustal processes resulting in a large range of crystallization ages u pb zircon ages that do not reflect new additions from the mantle 3 much of the new crustal additions at 2 7 ga were contaminated by crustal material subducted into the source region ttg suites or were contaminated during intrusion into the crust sanukitoids

nature of assean lake ancient crust manitoba a combined shrimp id tims u pb geochronology and sm nd isotope study abstract the assean lake crustal complex alcc located at the northwest periphery of the superior province in northern manitoba canada hosts an ancient assembly of rocks that record a complex and prolonged crustal history spanning more than two billion years from 3 9 to 1 8 ga a supracrustal assemblage consisting of amphibolite grade greywacke quartz arenite arkose mafic to intermediate volcanics and to a lesser extent iron formation dominates the alcc and likely formed in a shallow marine arc back arc setting the supracrustal rocks are intruded by amphibolite grade calc alkaline tonalite to granite orthogneiss nd model ages for felsic para and orthogneisses range from 3 5 to 4 2 ga and suggest that paleoarchean basement may be preserved at assean lake shrimp u pb zircon ages and id tims conventional u pb zircon and monazite ages show that felsic magmatism occurred at 3 1 3 2 ga whereas a record extending back to at least 3 9 ga is preserved in detritus in paragneiss that may have a depositional age of 3 2 ga orthogneiss was metamorphosed at 2 68 ga whereas local migmatisation of paragneiss occurred at 2 61 ga monazite growth events at 2 6 2 45 and 1 8 ga might represent episodes of accretion of archean crustal segments including the alcc and possibly the sask craton trans hudson basement along the northwest superior province margin at present matching segments of the exotic alcc are unknown but remnants may exist in parts of the sask craton

lake level fluctuations at ljustjarnen central sweden and their implications for the holocene climate of scandinavia abstract a detailed reconstruction of water level fluctuations in ljustjarnen a small kettle lake in south central sweden provides a preliminary outline of holocene changes in water balance for that region lake levels were generally high from 9200 to 8000 yr b p falling from then until c 6500 6000 yr b p and rising again by 5000 yr b p temporary lowerings were recorded c 4000 yr b p and c 2000 yr b p and water levels have risen dramatically since c 500 yr b p the reconstruction is based on sedimentologic and fossil analyses of multiple cores as well as on geomorphological evidence comparison of lake level fluctuations in south central sweden with those from southern sweden and western finnish lapland and with records of glacier fluctuations in the scandinavian mountains suggest a distinct north south contrast in water balance from 9000 to 5000 yr b p consistent with strongly zonal atmospheric circulation during that period between 7000 and 5000 yr b p the mid holocene dry period appears to have been time transgressive across scandinavia perhaps as a result of a gradual shift in the position of the atlantic polar front and its associated cyclonic stormtrack since 4000 yr b p however most detectable fluctuations are synchronous across scandinavia with the most prominent and widespread change being increased net moisture during the little ice age

glacier fluctuations equilibrium line altitudes and palaeoclimate in lyngen northern norway during the lateglacial and holocene based on lacustrine and morpho stratigraphical evidence from lyngen in troms northern norway 13 marginal moraines have been mapped in front of lenangsbreene in strupskardet moraines m1 m13 are inferred to represent glacier halts or advance readvance taking place during the lateglacial and holocene the presence of collapse depressions suggests that some of them were ice cored m1 m3 a chronological framework taking into account a combination of former shorelines and related glacier meltwater channels lichenometry and ams radiocarbon dated lacustrine sediments spanning the last 20 000 cal yr bp has been established the distal glacier fed lake aspvatnet was isolated from the sea c 10 300 cal yr bp and the lacustrine sediments have been investigated by use of loss on ignition loi magnetic susceptibility water content wet and dry bulk density dbd and the magnetic parameters anhysteretic remanent magnetization arm and saturation remanent magnetization sirm there is in general good agr

geochronological constraints on the development of the cross lake greenstone belt northwest superior province manitoba recent 1 20 000 mapping combined with 11 age determinations from metavolcanic metaplutonic and metasedimentary rocks in the cross lake greenstone belt provide a framework for interpreting the stratigraphic structural intrusive and metamorphic evolution of the belt these data in combination with u pb ages from adjacent granitoid domains are used to model a cratonizing event in the northwest superior province the cross lake greenstone belt is made up of three distinct unconformable groups of supracrustal rocks i the pipestone lake group 2760 ma a thick sequence of pillowed and massive tholeiitic basalt flows and related high level gabbros inter preted as a back arc spreading sequence ii the gunpoint group 2730 ma a fining upward sequence of clastic sediments interbedded with rhyodacitic fragmental volcanic rocks and iii the cross lake group 2710 ma a fining upward fluvial marine clastic sedimentary sequence with shoshonitic volcanic rocks near the top deposited in a restricte

14c dating and palaeoenvironment of the historic little ice age glacier advance of nigardsbreen southwest norway moss and grass remains associated with a well developed in situ palaeosol buried beneath a moraine ridge in front of nigardsbreen jostedalsbreen ice cap southern norway have been 14c dated pollen preserved with the plant remains suggests the existence of an agricultural landscape prior to the deposition of the moraine the calibrated dates and the pollen spectra are in close accord with historically documented evidence for the timing and palaeoenvironment of the little ice age advance of the glacier considerable potential is indicated for estimating the maximum ages of moraine ridges and for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction where such documentary evidence does not exist

a model of ocean crust accretion for the superior province canada abstract one of the keys to understanding the origin of archaean greenstone belts lies in the geological relationships between mafic and ultramafic greenstones felsic to intermediate volcanic rocks and terrigenous sediments traditional models for greenstone belt evolution have been based on in situ stratigraphic relationships most of these models for example an oceanic island arc developed on oceanic basement back arc basins and the recently popular plume model predict concordant stratigraphic relationships among the various greenstone belt lithologies however rather than being depositional in nature several authors have indicated that many of the relationships between the different lithologies in greenstone belts are in fact tectonic suggesting an allochthonous origin for most greenstone sequences all of these latter models make analogies to phanerozoic tectonic processes involving accretion of oceanic materials with volcanism related to both plate subduction and rifting in this paper we have evaluated the geological relationships between volcanic rocks and sediments in three regions in the superior province where the accretion of oceanic material can be documented and direct comparisons are made to geological processes in phanerozoic accretionary complexes in the malartic area in the southeastern abitibi subprovince 3 to 4 km thick slices of komatiite and tholeiite with intercalated terrigenous sediment are tectonically imbricated and are overlain by calc alkaline volcanics which postdate tectonic stacking in both the larder lake region of the southwestern abitibi belt and in the beardmore geraldton belt at the south eastern limit of the wabigoon belt slices of iron rich tholeiite and chemical sediments of an oceanic origin are tectonically imbricated with terrigenous sediment the malartic val d or area is considered to be an example of accretion of an archaean oceanic plateau while the larder lake and the beardmore geraldton regions are potentially typical of accretion of normal oceanic crust in an arc environment phanerozoic accretion of oceanic crust is accompanied by a step back in subduction and in this paper we suggest that oceanic crust accretion may have been the principal mechanism by which the locus of subduction migrated towards the south of the superior province asthenospheric upwelling associated with the isolated sinking plate may have been responsible for widespread late magmatism this scenario requires that magmas be erupted through previously accreted volcanic plutonic and sedimentary material furthermore later ridge subduction will result in transpressional tectonics and eruption of mafic sequences over mature and immature volcano plutonic sequences the combined result of the plate tectonic scenario envisaged would result in the well described cyclic stratigraphy of many granite greenstone sequences

role of strike slip faulting in the evolution of allochthonous terranes in the philippines concepts of allochthonous terrane transport and emplacement are dominated by the assumption that most terranes originate on the subducting plate collide with the upper plate and are emplaced there movement of terranes along the convergent margin is recognized but is generally attributed to postcollision slip in the northern philippines allochthonous terranes originate primarily within the arc system have been translated along it by strike slip faults and were emplaced by cessation of that slip the authors suggest that in the philippines some originally vertical strike slip boundaries may have evolved into shallow dipping sutures marked by fold and thrust systems this mode of terrane evolution may be more common than generally appreciated particularly in orogenic belts developed in response to oblique convergence

structural analysis of the miniss river and related faults western superior province post collisional displacement initiated at terrane boundaries mountain building in the western part of the archean superior province culminated with the formation of regional strike slip faults this paper reports on the kinematics and timing of several major faults at the juncture between the uchi english river winnipeg river and western wabigoon subprovinces sinistral oblique mylonitization along the northeast striking miniss river fault occurred at 2681 ma this involved 40 km of sinistral offset and a scissor like motion whereby vertical displacement increased southwestward toward a restraining bend near sioux lookout to the north the miniss river fault is intersected by the east striking dextral strike slip sydney lake lake st joseph fault the latter merges along strike with the pashkokogan fault restoration of respective displacements indicates that the faults formed sequentially not simultaneously in response to tectonic indentation dextral strike slip motion along the sydney lake lake st joseph pashkokogan fault was instigated at 2670

geochemistry nd pb and sr isotope systematics and u pb zircon ages of the neoarchean bad vermilion lake greenstone belt and spatially associated granitic rocks western superior province canada abstract the ca 2720 ma neoarchean bad vermilion lake bvl greenstone belt in the western superior province canada is composed of a suite of tholeiitic to calc alkaline basalts to rhyolites volcaniclastic rocks gabbros and timiskaming type siliciclastic sedimentary rocks the greenstone belt was intruded by neoarchean granitic rocks and underwent greenschist facies metamorphism and intense deformation resulting in mobilization of many elements e g rb ba sr k u pb the high field strength element and rare earth element systematics of the volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks and gabbros are consistent with subduction zone geochemical signatures suggesting that the bvl greenstone belt formed in a magmatic arc setting on the basis of lithological associations and trace element systematics the bvl greenstone belt is defined as a fragment of a neoarchean subduction related ophiolite three rhyolite samples from the belt have yielded 2722 18 ma 2706 13 ma and 2710 28 ma u pb zircon ages representing the approximate age of the arc volcanism in the study area and development of a subduction zone between the western wabigoon terrane to the north and the wawa abitibi terrane to the south the intrusion of the ca 2664 15 ma late to post tectonic potassic ottertail lake granite marks the end of tectonic accretion in the study area both the volcanic rocks and gabbros display large ranges of nd 143 nd 144 nd 0 511600 0 512849 e nd 2720 ma 0 8 to 4 0 pb 206 pb 204 pb 13 80 60 67 and sr 87 sr 86 sr 0 701481 1 01154 isotopic compositions suggesting that these isotope systems were variably affected by post magmatic element mobility neither the sm nd 2921 200 ma nor rb sr 2130 610 ma system has yielded reliable regression isochron ages reflecting the open system behavior of these systems during metamorphism despite large uncertainties pb pb regression ages yielded by all rock types 2661 60 ma and basalts and gabbros 2725 83 ma agree with the zircon u pb ages of the rhyolites suggesting that the u pb system was the most robust among all three systems

archean magmatism and deformation were not products of plate tectonics abstract the granite and greenstone terrains that dominate upper crust formed from about 3 6 to about 2 6 ga and record magmatic and tectonic processes very different from those of a younger time they indicate heat loss by the archean earth primarily by voluminous magmatism from a mantle much hotter than that of the present plate tectonic processes were not then operating the distinctive array of petrologic structural and stratigraphic features that characterize phanerozoic convergent plate systems ophiolites magmatic arcs accretionary wedges fore arc basins etc have no viable analogues in archean terrains purported archean plate tectonic indicators consist merely of rock types that even superficially resemble actual phanerozoic indicators only when considered in isolation from their association and structure archean ultramafic and mafic volcanic rocks neither resemble ophiolitic rocks in petrology nor occur in ophiolite type successions they often depositionally overlie felsic basement rocks and often overlie and are intercalated with sedimentary and felsic volcanic rocks and they require a mantle about 200 c hotter than now archean graywackes are coherent strata derived from nearby volcanic rocks late in the histories of their regions and they lack the setting and disruption that characterize modern accretionary wedges the lithologic structural and stratigraphic assemblages that typify proterozoic and phanerozoic rifted and reassembled margins also lack archean analogues and no evidence has been found for archean rifting rotation and reassembly of continental plates conversely characteristic archean assemblages lack modern equivalents in any tectonic setting ultramafic lavas erupted at liquidus temperatures are voluminous granite and greenstone terrains have no modern analogues greenstone belts are typically anastomosing networks of upright synforms formed by crowding aside by and sinking between large rising diapiric elliptical composite batholiths the batholiths include both the products of new crustal melts and variably remobilized mid crustal gneisses the greenstone belts are defined by late deformation of regionally semiconcordant volcanic and sedimentary successions and are not relics of successively formed volcanic chains little deformation generally preceded the diapirism and metamorphism was primarily of contact type the regionally uniform areal density and accordant crustal level of the diapiric batholiths their contacts primarily against the oldest strata of the synforms their general age 10 20 million years younger than most of the flanking stratiform rocks and considerations of high archean radiogenic heat productivity all fit the explanation that the batholiths were mobilized by partial melting of hydrous lower crust by radiogenic heating diapirism was accompanied by modest regional orthogonal shortening and extension of the hot upper crust producing the orientations of the batholiths rise of the batholiths greatly increased the petrologic fractionation of the crust and the concentration of radionuclides high in it resulting in cooling of the deeper crust and subjacent mantle and thus cratonization the upper crust containing the granite and greenstone aggregates was decoupled from the gneissic middle crust which underwent flattening and extension subparallel to the elongation of the shallow batholiths this deep deformation may have been driven by flow of dense restites toward delamination loci from which they sank into the mantle the early earth was probably wholly molten the surface of the earth like that of the moon must have been wholly recycled by impacts before 3 9 ga and heavily modified by them until 3 8 ga zircons as old as 4 2 ga have been found as clastic grains in much younger archean quartzites and polycyclic migmatites last partly melted and reconstituted under hydrous conditions only after 3 6 ga contain relict zircons as old as 4 0 ga the lithologies of the early earth protoliths in which these zircons formed have not been established but impact melts and breccias must be represented and magma ocean fractionates may be the nature of the transition in tectonic style into the granite and greenstone mode is unknown plate tectonic rifting and convergence were operating by about 2 0 ga and were in an essentially modern mode by about 0 8 ga the nature of the transition from the granite and greenstone mode at about 2 6 ga to plate mode by about 2 0 ga has yet to be defined the change may have been facilitated by the increasing content of water and carbon dioxide in the mantle as dense but hydrated delaminated archean crust sank into it

u pb ages constraining structural development of an archean terrane boundary in the lake of the woods area western superior province canada layered gneisses in the winnipeg river subprovince contain magmatic zircon with u pb ages of 3317 9 and 3055 4 ma at tannis lake and 3170 and 3255 5 ma at cedar lake indicating widespread occurrence of mesoarchean crust this is in contrast to the well documented neoarchean age of the western wabigoon subprovince further geochronology using both shrimp sensitive high resolution ion microprobe and id tims isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry combined with structural observations in the kenora area and lake of the woods greenstone belt show the effects of juxtaposition of these two terranes isoclinally folded gneiss north of the subprovince boundary zone near kenora gives a magmatic age of 2882 2 ma with 3051 6 ma inheritance ages of syntectonic dykes show that asymmetric refolding of these gneisses occurred between 2717 2 and about 2713 1 ma subsequent regional vertical flattening and horizontal extension are dated at 2708 2 ma by syntectonic tonalite sheets t

strike slip juxtaposition of ca 2 72 ga juvenile arc and 2 98 ga continent margin sequences and its implications for archean terrane accretion western superior province canada the north caribou terrane of the western superior province attained continental thickness 35 km by 2997 ma it records a subsequent 300 million years history of continental fragmentation arc magmatism and terrane accretion at lake winnipeg the 2978 ma lewis storey quartzite komatiite iron formation assemblage marks mesoarchean breakup unlike the relatively continuous 2980 2735 ma stratigraphic record of the red lake and birch uchi greenstone belts to the east little of this interval is recorded at lake winnipeg rather two belts of younger juvenile rocks are tectonically juxtaposed the black island assemblage of isotopically depleted 2723 ma basalt and calc alkaline andesite and rice lake greenstone belt of basalt calc alkaline andesite and dacite 2731 2729 ma collectively these terranes represent a short lived island arc back arc system that docked with the southwestern north caribou margin along a northwest trending dextral transpressive d1 suture this zone is marked by the highl

convergent margin tectonics central wabigoon subprovince superior province canada abstract best known for its neoarchean greenstone granite terranes in the east and west the wabigoon subprovince of the superior province features a central transverse corridor of meso and neoarchean gneissic granitoid and minor supracrustal rocks resembling an eroded intermontane plateau structural analysis and u pb geochronology in the north central wabigoon subprovince reveal a complex history of plutonism supracrustal rock deposition polyphase deformation and amphibolite facies metamorphism between 3075 and 2670 ma the geometric and kinematic character of d 1 and d 2 deformational events recorded in 2890 2718 ma tonalitic gneisses remain cryptic as a result of magmatic and structural d 3 5 overprinting but the early structures are bracketed in age between 2725 and 2713 ma by a polydeformed gneiss and tonalite dyke these events occurred deep within an active continental magmatic arc and correspond in age to a collision between the juvenile wabigoon and continental winnipeg river subprovinces recognized to the west clastic sediments deposited after 2701 ma are the youngest rocks involved in subsequent regional deformation a d 3 event is responsible for rapid burial of supracrustal units to 15 km within warm arc crust and imposition of a regional penetrative s 3 foliation that accommodated some relative uplift prior to 2697 ma the age of a discordant granodiorite dyke this event corresponds to variably preserved steep north trending d 1 structures recognized in adjacent greenstone belts subsequent d 4 ductile deformation defines the map pattern in the deep crustal rocks of the central wabigoon subprovince upright east trending f 4 folds developed synchronously with d 2 dextral transpressive structures that formed throughout the wabigoon subprovince prior to 2698 ma the final d 5 sinistral shearing event occurred during emplacement of mantle derived granodiorites of sanukitoid affinity 2688 ma and crust derived granites 2685 ma this event appears to have triggered rapid cooling reflected in 2680 2670 ma titanite dates and late brittle increments of displacement

unscrambling the stratigraphy of an archean greenstone belt a upb geochronological study of the favourable lake belt northwestern ontario canada abstract new zircon and baddeleyite u pb ages show that the major units of the archean favourable lake greenstone belt in the northern superior province were formed by episodic magmatism spanning more than 250 ma and demonstrate that the original stratigraphy is disrupted by thrusts that juxtaposed older supracrustal rocks on top of younger ones the oldest rocks of the area are a 2950 ma gneissic tonalite and a 3000 2960 ma granodiorite clast from a ca 2725 ma conglomerate five distinct volcanic and sedimentary groups formed during presumably short lived episodes at 2925 ma i 2870 ma ii 2858 ma iii 2734 ma iv and 2725 ma v the youngest group contains the thickest sedimentary unit a turbiditic and alluvial fluvial sequence compression caused thrusting that placed groups i and v on top of iv iii on v and ii on iii the thrust complex was subsequently isoclinally folded compression was accompanied by major plutonism that emplaced the bulk of the bounding batholiths between 2732 and 2711 ma ago the late tectonic mo mineralized setting net lake stock in the centre of the belt has an age of about 2708 ma and was overprinted by younger hydrothermal events that produced monazite 2706 ma titanite ca 2695 2690 ma and rutile the youngest rutile at 2657 ma similar late hydrothermal pulses are recorded by secondary titanite elsewhere in the belt and within the batholiths the protracted magmatic evolution of the belt is typical of that observed in a number of greenstone belts of the northern superior province but is uncommon farther to the south in contrast the structural complications and put of sequence stratigraphy appear to be a quite common tectonic characteristic of greenstone belts of the whole superior province

differential response of u pb systems in coexisting accessory minerals winnipeg river subprovince canadian shield implications for archean crustal growth and stabilization the u pb isotopic systems of zircon monazite titanite and some apatite and the pb isotopic composition of k feldspar have been investigated in three areas of the winnipeg river subprovince wrs of the superior province canada in order to define the timing of magmatic and metamorphic processes in this archean gneissic granitoid terrain

time transgressive archean unconformities underlying molasse basin fill successions of dissected oceanic arcs superior province canada abstract late archean diachronous unconformities underlying tectonically controlled coarse clastic successions are located throughout the superior province of canada examples studied in detail include hiatuses at the base of the timmins and kirkland basins in the abitibi greenstone belt and the crowduck and stormy basins in the wabigoon subprovince the timmins molasse basin fill succession overlies a high angle subaerial unconformity separating deepwater turbiditic deposits from fluvial conglomerates a subaerial erosional unconformity defines the contact between mafic flows and overlying felsic volcaniclastic deposits and fluvial conglomerates of the kirkland basin the crowduck and stormy successions are characterized by shallow water and subaerial unconformities between quartz feldspar porphyry stocks and clastic deposits the pronounced characteristics of the molasse basins which include 1 basal unconformities with older sedimentary volcanic or plutonic rocks 2 bounding fault systems 3 ba

u pb geochronology of archean metasedimentary rocks in the pontiac and abitibi subprovinces quebec constraints on timing provenance and regional tectonics abstract u pb isotopic ages of single detrital zircons have been obtained from metasandstones in the northern part of the pontiac subprovince and from the cadillac kewagama and lac caste groups within the southern abitibi subprovince youngest detrital zircon ages from these sequences are 2685 2686 2687 and 2693 ma respectively the lac fourniere pluton which intrudes pontiac group metasedimentary rocks is dated at 2682 1 ma a similar age was previously measured from a pluton that cuts the kewagama group these data bracket deposition of greywacke in the pontiac and abitibi subprovinces to 2685 3 ma in contrast the youngest zircon found in a volcaniclastic unit interbedded with timiskaming group metawacke is 2673 2 ma while the age of a pluton that intrudes the timiskaming is 2672 1 ma thus the timiskaming group is distinctly younger than the other metasedimentary rocks the normalized probability distributions of detrital zircon ages from the pontiac and the abitibi metasedimentary rocks as well as of dated igneous rocks from the southern abitibi subprovince all show that their major zircon populations formed in the age range 2685 2710 ma the distributions for the abitibi metaturbidites and dated igneous rocks are very similar suggesting that metasedimentary rocks in the abitibi belt were mostly derived from the surrounding granite greenstone terrain the largest peak of the pontiac distribution is a few million years younger than that from the abitibi metasedimentary rocks but there is a correlation between major peaks and both groups show similar age ranges for older pre abitibi components 2750 2850 and 3020 3030 ma deposition of the ca 2685 ma sediments was virtually syn deformational based on previous field geochemical and isotopic studies as well as the detrital zircon age data the pontiac group may represent a foreland basin that may have developed from an accretionary prism the source of much of the sediment may have been an uplifted extinct continental arc to the north the arc was mostly eroded into the sediment basin and perhaps tectonically overridden by a southward advancing nappe complex comprised of its back arc basin now partly preserved in the southern volcanic zone of the abitibi subprovince metaturbidites exposed between metavolcanic assemblages within the greenstone belt may represent overturned unconformities at the structural base of the greenstones these were brought up by high angle faults which also localized deposition of non marine timiskaming type sediments it is tentatively suggested that pontiac type metasedimentary rocks extend most of the way beneath the abitibi subprovince the oldest part of the basin emerging as the quetico group in the western superior province

shallow three dimensional structure from two dimensional crooked line seismic reflection data over the sturgeon lake volcanic complex in principle partial three dimensional structural information can be obtained from two dimensional crooked line seismic reflection data by processing the traces as swath three dimensional data but this potential has rarely if ever been fully exploited here we apply procedures newly designed for this purpose to mining exploration data from a high resolution two dimensional crooked line survey over a part of the sturgeon lake archean greenstone belt in northwest ontario canada we then examine the results in the light of geologic data based on about 20 years of mining activity in the immediate area the area appears highly reflective even when using standard two dimensional data processing methods but because geologic dips in the section are typically steep and the majority of viewable contact surfaces do not lie directly below the processing and acquisition lines special data processing procedures have been essential despite appreciable background noise in the constructed images owing to the limitations of the crooked line data set a large variety of reflection events are quite clearly positioned in three dimensions the acquisition and processing lines run northeast southwest and most of the observed reflection events strike approximately east west and dip northward in the upper 1 5 km they correlate well with expected layering of the mafic felsic volcanic rocks and in the vicinity of the cu zn volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit at lyon lake they agree well with information from drilling the three dimensional processing has successfully imaged an ore controlling thrust fault at the lyon lake deposit contacts within the volcanic pile including the top of the beidelman bay subvolcanic intrusive complex and fold structures in the volcanic stratigraphy the results suggest that simple three dimensional seismic surveys of limited offset and azimuth range may be sufficient for imaging structures in this type of geologic environment

tectonic setting of late archean bimodal volcanism in the michipicoten wawa greenstone belt ontario the tectono stratigraphic relationships depositional environments rock associations and major and trace element compositions of the late archean 2744 2696 ma bimodal basalt rhyolite volcanic rocks of the michipicoten wawa greenstone belt ontario are compatible with an origin along a convergent plate margin that varied laterally from an immature island arc built on oceanic crust to a more mature arc underlain by continental crust this environment is similar to that of the cenozoic taupo kermadec tonga volcanic zone michipicoten basaltic rocks most of which are proximal deposits compositionally similar la yb n 0 63 1 18 to modern oceanic island arc tholeiites are interpreted as having formed along the largely submerged island arc voluminous michipicoten rhyolitic pyroclastic rocks la yb n 4 3 18 7 ybn 5 7 15 9 probably erupted subaerially from the continental arc with distal facies deposited subaqueously on the adjacent oceanic island arc and proximal facies deposited in subaeri

a mainly crustal origin for tonalitic granitoid rocks superior province canada implications for late archean tectonomagmatic processes the central wabigoon subprovince of the superior province like introduction most plutonic domains within archean cratons is dominated by over the last decade information fundamental to undergranitoid rocks of the tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite ttg standing and resolving many questions regarding arseries heterogeneous 2 74 throughout archean time documentation of alterative ga tonalite gneiss crust by younger tonalite magmas was probably petrogenetic models for archean ttg or ttd suites is an important process unlike the model of ttgs representing direct of particular relevance to archean tectonic processes see partial melts of subducting slabs in an arc setting this model de wit 1998 hamilton 1998 smithies 2000 as well requires no direct tie to subduction careful re evaluation of the as processes of archean continental crustal growth and ttg classification is required for it can mistakingly pigeon hole recycling e g ireland et al 1994 de wit 1998 hamilton temporally and genetically unrelated rocks and perhaps assume an 1998 henry et al 1998 2000 nutman et al 1999 incorrect petrogenetic or tectonic model an important role of crustal as in most archean shield terrains plutonic domains recycling processes in central wabigoon tonalite petrogenesis is in of the western superior province typically consist mainly keeping with evidence that supports substantial rates of continental of ttg or ttd compositions but also include more recycling as far back as the earliest archean mafic and more evolved granitoid compositions thurs

petrogenetic and geodynamic origin of the neoarchean dore lake complex abitibi subprovince superior province canada the neoarchean ca 2728 ma anorthosite bearing dore lake complex in the northeastern abitibi subprovince quebec was emplaced into an association of intra oceanic tholeiitic basalts and gabbros known as the obatogamau formation the obatogamau formation constitutes the lower part of the roy group which is composed of two cycles of tholeiitic to calc alkaline volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks siliciclastic and chemical sedimentary rocks and layered mafic to ultramafic sills in this study we report major and trace element results and nd sr pb and o isotope data for anorthosites leucogabbros gabbros and mafic dykes from the dore lake complex and spatially associated basalts and gabbros of the obatogamau formation to assess their petrogenetic origin and geodynamic setting field and petrographic observations indicate that the dore lake complex and associated volcanic rocks underwent extensive metamorphic alteration under greenschist facies conditions resulting in widespread epidotization 20 40 and chloritization 10 40 of many rock types plagioclase recrystallized mainly to anorthite and albite endmembers erasing intermediate compositions metamorphic alteration also led to the mobilization of many elements e g lile and transition metals and to significant disturbance of the rb sr and u pb isotope systems resulting in 1935 150 and 3326 270 ma errorchron ages respectively the sm nd isotope system was less disturbed yielding an errorchron age of 2624 160 ma on many binary major and trace element diagrams the least altered anorthosites and leucogabbros and the gabbros and mafic dykes of the dore lake complex plot in separate fields signifying the presence of two distinct magma types in the complex the gabbros and mafic dykes in the dore lake complex share the geochemical characteristics of tholeiitic basalts and gabbros in the obatogamau formation suggesting a possible genetic link between the two rock associations initial end 2 6 to 5 0 and 18o 6 1 to 7 9 values for the dore lake complex and gabbros of the obatogamau formation end 2 8 to 4 0 18o 7 3 to 8 0 are consistent with depleted mantle sources all rock types in the dore lake complex and the roy group share the trace element characteristics of modern arc magmas suggesting a suprasubduction zone setting for these two lithological associations on the basis of regional geology and geochemical data we suggest that the dore lake complex and the obatogamau formation represent a dismembered fragment of a suture zone like many phanerozoic ophiolites resulting from closure of a back arc basin between 2703 and 2690 ma

zircon u pb ages from the wabigoon manitou lakes region wabigoon subprovince northwest ontario three distinct stratigraphic units have been recognized in the crow lake savant lake belt these are a basal unit consisting of high magnesium tholeiitic flows a middle unit consisting mostly of tholeiitic to calc alkaline pyroclastic rocks and flows and an upper unit of high iron tholeiitic flows a zircon u pb study has been carried out on seven rocks from the wabigoon manitou lakes region of this belt in the manitou lakes area a minimum age of 2755 ma on a porphyry pluton intruded into the wapageisi volcanics gives a minimum age for the high magnesium tholeiitic sequence a trondhjemite phase of the atikwa batholith near wabigoon lake that is dated at 2732 2 2 9 ma has the same age within experimental error as a rhyolite flow from the lower wabigoon volcanics in the same area that is dated at however a trondhjemite phase of the atikwa batholith at eagle lake that is dated at is distinctly younger than a dacite flow collected nearby from the lower wabigoon volcanics that is dated at both thes

u pb ages of ophiolites and arc related plutons of the norwegian caledonides implications for the development of iapetus u pb zircon ages are reported for four ophiolites and three crosscutting arc related plutons from the norwegian caledonides plagiogranite differentiated from gabbro of the karmoy ophiolite is dated at 493 7 4 ma whereas arc related trondhjemite cutting this ophiolite crystallized at 485 2 ma a crosscutting clinopyroxene phyric gabbro intrusion is dated at 470 9 5 ma by near concordant magmatic titanite sphene and discordant u rich 2903 6677 ppm zircon lower intercepts of 247 68 and 191 70 ma defined by the plagiogranite and clinopyroxene phyric gabbro best fit lines may reflect a real low t alteration rift related event

archean tectonic and metallogenic evolution of the superior province of the canadian shield abstract the superior province of the canadian shield has mainly experienced an archean tectonic history comprising several cycles of volcanism plutonism and tectonism although the rocks of the superior province span more than 500 million years of archean time most mineral deposits formed in an interval of 100 million years or less corresponding to a period of accretion of oceanic and pre existing continental fragments in the late archean at 2 7 ga in accord with recent tectonic syntheses which argue for the accretionary origin of the superior province the metallogenic history of the superior province can also be interpreted in the same context provided secular anomalies in the early history of the earth are acknowledged for relatively unique deposit types such as komatiitic nickel deposits and voluminous iron formations volcanogenic massive sulphide iode gold and granitoid associated deposits as well as ni cu pge cr and ti deposits associated with mafic ultramafic intrusions are readily interpreted in terms of the construction and accretion of late archean island arcs

varve studies at hector lake alberta canada and the relationship between glacial activity and sedimentation glacial lake sedimentary records from hector lake in banff national park alberta are examined with the aim of clarifying the relationship between glacial activity and outwash sedimentation rhythmic couplets in lake bottom sediments provide a method for accurate documentation and dating of recent sedimentation chronology as analysis of 137cs content indicates that the couplets are of annual periodicity i e varves a comparison of sedimentation rate records with recent regional glacial history indicates that high sedimentation rates of one to a few decades duration occur either during and immediately following periods of moraine deposition ie maximum ice stands or during periods of rapid ice recession comparison of sedimentary records with somewhat longer term glacial and vegetation records indicates that sedimentation rate variations of several centuries duration closely parallel changes in upvalley ice extent over this time scale high sedimentation rates occur during periods of relatively increased ice extent low rates during periods of reduced ice extent within this general pattern however sedimentation rates may remain very high for nearly a century following maximum ice stands due to the exposure of unstable glaciogenic deposits to fluvial reworking during ice recession

stratigraphy and petrology of the lower part of the mulcahy gabbro northwestern ontario origin of reverse and normal fractionation trends and implications for tectonic setting of late archean mafic magmatism the mulcahy gabbro 2 73 ga is an exceptionally well preserved tholeiitic layered intrusion located in the wabigoon subprovince of the superior province the intrusion has a 900 m thick marginal z

rare earth element geochemistry of the betts cove ophiolite newfoundland complexities in ophiolite formation the betts cove ophiolite includes the components of typical ocean crust pillow lavas sheeted dikes gabbros and ultramafics however the trace element geochemistry of basaltic rocks is unusual three geochemical units are recognized within the lava and dike members within the pillow lavas the geochemical units correspond to stratigraphic units upper lavas have normal i e typical for ocean floor basalts tio2 contents 0 75 to 2 0 wt heavy rare earth elements hree values in the range 6 20 chondrites and chondrite normalized ree patterns with relative lree depletion intermediate lavas have tio2 contents between 0 30 and 0 50 wt hree contents from 4 7 chondrites and extreme relative lree depletion lower lavas have anomalously low tio2 contents 0 30 wt and unusual convex downwards ree patterns with ree abundances around 2 5 chondrite these geochemical differences can be explained if the three groups were derived from different mantle sources independent mantle sources for the three units are consistent with their different 143nd144nd ratios varying at 480 m y b p from 0 51222 in a lower lava to 0 51238 in an upper lava the upper lavas may be partial melts of a source similar in composition to that of modern morb the intermediate lavas may be from a very depleted oceanic mantle second stage melt and the lower lavas may have formed by melting an extremely depleted mantle that had been invaded by a lree enriched fluid a possible tectonic environment where these different sources could be juxtaposed is a back arc or inter arc basin

geochronological constraints on the tectonic evolution of a late archaean greenstone belt wabigoon subprovince northwest ontario canada abstract u pb isotopic age analyses have been carried out on zircon and titanite from rocks near the contact between the kakagi lake savant lake volcanic belt ksvb within the wabigoon subprovince and the english river subprovince in northwest ontario canada two tonalite gneisses intruded by mafic dykes at tannis lake and caribou lake have minimum zircon ages of 3051 ma and 3075 ma respectively this contrasts with a 2775 1 ma age on zircon from a felsic tuff located within a lower predominantly mafic volcanic sequence in the interior of ksvb these data combined with previous studies indicate that ksvb is presently flanked by older sialic crust in the sioux lookout and kashaweogama lake areas lower mafic volcanic sequences are unconformably overlain by sedimentary units that are in sheared contact with overlying calc alkaline volcanic units titanite and zircon analyses from clasts within a basal conglomerate indicate a maximum age for deposition of 2698 4 ma this late age is confirmed by a 2703 2 ma zircon age for an unconformably underlying porphyry intrusion one clast gives a zircon age of 2903 16 ma suggesting that the sediments were at least partly derived from older material in the english river subprovince data from previous studies show that the structurally overlying calc alkaline volcanic sequences are at least 30 ma older than the sediments the absence of zircon inheritance in all but the youngest ksvb sequences as well as geological and geochemical arguments suggest that the greenstone belt evolved largely in an ensimatic environment in isolation from older sialic material the intervening oceanic crust must therefore have been consumed by subduction which led to arc magmatism and eventual collision between the arc ksvb and continental material english river subprovince the sediments unconformably overlying the lowermost mafic volcanic sequences were deposited in a partly subaerial continental environment since chemical and textural evidence suggests the lower mafic volcanic sequences were deposited in an oceanic environment they must have been obducted onto the edge of a continental block this was perhaps followed by nappe and thrust emplacement on top of the sediments of calc alkaline sequences derived from earlier arc magmatism continued compression resulted in isoclinal folding of the supracrustal sequences into their present vertical positions

zircon dating of polycyclic volcanism at sturgeon lake and implications for base metal mineralization the south sturgeon lake sequence consists of four volcanic cycles the lower two cycles host cu zn massive sulfide mineralization economic mineralization has not been found in the third and fourth cycles trace element and rare earth analyses performed previously and in the present study indicate that the lower three cycles have a similar petrogenetic history and are cogenetic with the beidelman bay pluton a subvolcanic trondhjemite sill which intrudes the base of the lower cycle the upper cycle is distinctly different u pb zircon analyses have been performed on seven rocks from the lower three cycles in an effort to resolve the ages all age analyses agree within error giving an average of 2 735 5 m y with a range of 1 5 m y a previously determined age of 2 733 8 super 1 4 sub 1 3 m y on the subvolcanic intrusion is marginally younger the uppermost cycle was previously dated at 2717 9 super 2 7 sub 1 5 m y 18 m y younger than the lower cycles moreover rare earth element data indicate that this upper cycle is not comagmatic with the lower cycles the data indicate rapid evolution of a volcanic pile followed by a long period of quiescence and later reactivation from a different magmatic source the younger age of the beidelman bay pluton indicates that it probably is not directly related to volcanism and ore forming hydrothermal activity however it may occupy the magma chamber which previously fed rhyolitic volcanism and acted as a heat source driving hydrothermal convection which transported and deposited base metals this would require the subvolcanic magma chamber to be coupled to a much larger magma system which fed eruptive and high level intrusive activity remaining molten for about 1 7 m y

zircon u pb ages from the kakagi lake area wabigoon subprovince northwest ontario five rocks have been dated from the kakagi lake area of the wabigoon subprovince by means of u pb analysis of zircons using the techniques of air abrasion and high gradient magnetic separation zi

geochronology of the lumby lake greenstone belt a 3 ga complex within the wabigoon subprovince northwest ontario the lumby lake greenstone belt lies within the central predominantly metaplutonic terrane of the western wabigoon subprovince it is conformable with gneiss of the marmion lake tonalite batholith u pb analyses of zircons from two felsic tuffs and a quartz porphyry within the greenstone belt give a scattered lead loss pattern indicative of early disturbance the ages of the oldest concordant fractions agree however and define an age of 2999 1 m y for emplacement of these felsic units zircons from a tonalite gneiss within the marmion lake batholith are also somewhat disturbed the oldest abraded fraction is concordant and has an age of 3003 5 m y indicating that the gneiss is probably close in age to the supracrustal rocks u pb analyses of rutile from one of the felsic units give an age of 2690 5 m y and record the effect of late archean metamorphism three titanite fractions from the tonalite gneiss agree within error and have an age of 2809 1 m y the age and consistency of the titanite fractions indicate that titanite in this rock was formed as a result of a metamorphic event and was never subsequently disturbed this age is therefore a minimum estimate for high grade metamorphism of the gneiss the presence of a pre 2809 ma fabric in a gneiss of regional extent suggests that an early metamorphic deformational event affected this area these data constitute the first firm evidence for extensive 3 0 ga crust in the southern superior province and give the first evidence of a regional deformational event which predates cratonization of the superior province

u pb age and nd isotopic evidence for archean terrane development and crustal recycling in the south central wabigoon subprovince canada u pb geochronology is presented for 19 volcanic and associated plutonic rocks from nine greenstone belts within the southern part of the central wabigoon subprovince cws western superior province data indicate that early felsic volcanism 3 014 2 999 ma was coeval with emplacement of the marmion batholith at 3 002 ma this was followed by periods of mafic volcanism with minor felsic and komatiitic compositions between 2 963 and 2 898 ma across the south cws plume driven mafic and komatiitic volcanism occurred in the lumby lake and lac des mille lacs belts at ca 2 828 ma eruption of komatiitic tuffs in the steep rock belt at 2 780 ma was proceeded by more widespread mafic and minor intermediate to felsic volcanism at 2 729 2 726 ma zircon inheritance and nd isotope data indicate that the cws south of the garden lake belt comprises a juvenile 3 0 ga terrane the marmion terrane subsequent magmatism was ensialic occurring in a continental although submerged setting recycling of the 3 0 ga marmion basement during successive volcanic events although somewhat cryptic was widespread and represents a significant archean process 2 726 ma rhyolite in the garden lake belt has a 3 22 ga nd model age and lies at the southern boundary of the distinct north cws which has a 3 3 3 2 ga crustal prehistory the north cws may represent a heavily reworked extension of the adjacent 3 3 ga winnipeg river subprovince and was probably separate from the marmion terrane at 3 0 ga these two recycled terranes differ significantly from the juvenile neoarchean volcanic dominated western wabigoon although the boundaries between these terranes are in most places cryptic they may indeed represent suture zones which were fundamental to the development of the wabigoon subprovince

long lived transpression in the archean bird river greenstone belt western superior province southeastern manitoba abstract the archean bird river greenstone belt brgb is located on the southwestern edge of the superior province between the 3 2 ga old winnipeg river subprovince to the south and the metasedimentary belt of the english river subprovince ersp to the north this position between two major subprovinces makes the brgb a primary target for investigating the geodynamic and kinematic evolution of a major structural boundary new structural and geochronological data have allowed us to present an evolutionary framework for the southern boundary of the north caribou superterrane the brgb underwent 3 main deformation phases the d1 event took place ca 2698 ma and displays a north side up shearing the d2 event occurring at ca 2684 ma in a transpressive context presents a complex structural pattern mixing vertical tectonics in the brgb and strike slip tectonics along the boundaries of the greenstone belt with other subprovinces between the brgb and the ersp the 2832 2858 ma old maskwa batholith acted as a rigid passive block during the collision and marks the boundary between pure dextral strike slip tectonics along his northern boundary with the ersp and vertical south side up motion in the brgb the brgb can be considered as a pop up structure with anastomosed shear zones displaying different horizontal offset according to the orientation of the shear zones the southern boundary with the winnipeg river subprovince is represented by a sinistral south side up shear zone the same pattern is found at the regional scale where major shear zones acted as a conjugate set in the horizontal plane at ca 2640 ma the d3 event occurred in a general dextral transpressive tectonic regime coeval with the emplacement of rare elements pegmatitic plutons in a still hot 400 500 c country rock the geodynamical and mechanical significance of the partitioning between pure strike slip tectonics in the english river subprovince and vertical motion in the brgb can be explained by the rheological behaviour of a hot and weak lithosphere undergoing transpressive strain the structural framework of the brgb is the result of strong interactions between hot and weak domains coeval with widespread plutonism and a rigid older domain maskwa batholith during the d2 transpressive event

neoarchean disaggregation and reassembly of the superior craton the southern and western superior craton of canada swsc is widely considered to be a tectonic collage accreted from north to south by multiple coeval subduction zones we propose an alternative non plate tectonic scenario where swsc continental fragments are not exotic but derived by partial disaggregation of a heterogeneous older superior i craton in response to a mantle overturn event that started at ca 2780 ma during overturn radial mantle outflow stretched and disaggregated the lithosphere to create the concentric neoarchean fabric of the superior craton the southern part of which swsc broke up into ribbon continents separated by oceanic tracts neoarchean calc alkaline magmas record interaction between plume related magma and older crust a change in the mantle flow field at ca 2720 ma caused southward drift of the northern superior cratonic block as a result of mantle traction on its lithospheric keel and swsc terranes accreted to its leading edge

geochemical and isotopic nd o evidence bearing on the origin of late to post orogenic high k granitoid rocks in the western superior province implications for late archean tectonomagmatic processes abstract the granitoid rock dominated central wabigoon subprovince of the superior province records low k trondhjemite tonalite granodiorite ttg type magmatic episodes at

surface displacements and surface age estimates for creeping slope landforms in northern and eastern iceland using digital photogrammetry abstract in this study three areas of different active coarse debris slope processes are investigated in northern and eastern iceland surface displacement of some glacier derived rock glaciers and a debris covered glacier in the holar area a moving debris accumulation close to siglufjor ur and a debris layer in sey isfjor ur are measured the displacement fields are obtained by cross correlation matching of multi temporal orthophotos orthophotos are generated using a z i imaging digital photogrammetric workstation and various series of air photos from 1964 to 1994 cross correlation matching is done with the cias software the results are analyzed and used for rough surface age estimates in addition type and cause of movement are discussed the velocity of the debris covered glacier and the rock glaciers in the holar area averages from 0 14 to 0 67 m a 1 the debris accumulation at almenningsnof close to siglufjor ur shows an average displacement of 0 19 m a 1 with a maximum value of 0 84 m a 1 the displacements at almenningsnof agree well with displacements surveyed by gps by the icelandic road authorities the measured velocities in sey isfjor ur although using air photos taken 30 years apart turned out not to be significant but the homogenous direction of the displacement vectors suggests that the debris is currently creeping based on the surface age results all the landforms in holar are suggested to have developed during the late holocene cooling period with ages from around 1500 and 3000 to around 5000 years for the different landforms these surface age estimates coincide with data from moraine datings nearby and holocene climatic development in the north atlantic region

secular variation in greenstone sequence development emphasizing superior province canada abstract evidence from the superior province of the canadian shield suggests the existence of several distinct lithostratigraphic associations in greenstone belts 1 quartz arenite and carbonate bearing sequences 2 mafic ultramafic volcanic sequences 3 mafic to felsic volcanic cycles and 4 timiskaming type sequences of fluviatile sediments and calc alkaline to alkaline volcanics recently recognized quartz arenite bearing sequences in the sachigo and wabigoon subprovinces are from base to top quartz arenite stromatolite bearing carbonate oxide facies iron formation and komatiite or tholeiite primary structures in the quartz arenites indicate shallow water deposition and represent mature sedimentation granitoid provenance of these sediments is postulated based upon petrography of coarse arenites and clasts of associated conglomerates the few dated superior province quartz arenite bearing sequences are 2 85 ga the shallow water origin of the primary structures and biota and the areal extent of the quartz arenite and carbonate sequences invite comparison with platform sediments at passive margins platform sequences unconformably overlie 3 ga granitoid rocks and older mafic volcanics where original lower contacts are preserved in two localities mafic volcanic sequences contain sheet flows iron formations and deep water argillites based on physical volcanology and sedimentology these sequences are compared to modern deep water mafic plain and hawaiian volcanism they generally underlie mafic to felsic volcanic cycles and overlie platform sequences mafic sequences are 2740 2700 ma in age mafic to felsic volcanic cycles consist of deep water tholeiitic flows overlain by shallow water to subaerial intermediate to felsic pyroclastics and flows the facies style of volcanism petrography and geochemistry of the mafic to felsic cycles most closely resemble the characteristics of crust in continental magmatic arc systems this type of lithostratigraphic association varies in age from 2775 to 2700 ma in the superior province with minor exceptions timiskaming type sequences consist of fluviatile conglomerate immature arenites and wackes with subaqueous to subaerial volcanics of variable chemistry longitudinal and lateral variation within fault bounded basins is extreme and the sequences have generally been affected by only late stages of deformation the combination of rock types facies distribution the fault bounded nature of the repositories and the locus of sedimentation along zones of transcurrent displacement suggest timiskaming sequences are best compared with modern pull apart basins superior province timiskaming sequences are within the superior province platform sequences are the earliest postorogenic lithostratigraphic unit in greenstone belts followed by mafic plain sequences arc volcanics and pull apart basins we suggest that platform sequences based upon limited evidence are preceded by an orogeny and that pull apart basins represent a subsequent orogeny the lithostratigraphic units above have distinct metallogenic associations 1 platform sequences based upon compilation of several shields may contain detrital au and u and oxide facies iron formations associated felsic volcanics contain no recognized volcanogenic cu zn deposits in the superior province the following metallogenic associations are noted 2 mafic plain sequences contain komatiite flow related ni deposits cu ni and platinum group deposits are associated with flows and coeval intrusions 3 arc volcanic sequences contain volcanogenic cu zn sulphide deposits and scarce deposits of porphyry type cu mo and 4 timiskaming sequences and related plutonism are related to lode au

the age and provenance of metasedimentary rocks in the quetico subprovince ontario from single zircon analyses implications for archean sedimentation and tectonics in the superior province abstract u pb isotopic analyses have been performed on single detrital zircon grains from greywacke samples collected along the northern boundary of the quetico subprovince in northwest ontario secondary lead loss was virtually eliminated by choosing crack free grains and removing the outer surface using air abrasion thus the 207 pb 206 pb age can be considered a good approximation to the age of crystallization of each grain zircons in the quetico metasediments show a range of ages from 2698 3 ma to 3009 4 ma deposition and metamorphism of the metasediments is bracketed within a 10 5 ma time span between crystallization of the youngest detrital zircon grain and a late tectonic intrusion the blalock pluton which cuts the sediments and has a zircon age of 2688 4 ma the most easterly metasediment sample contains zircons with ages which cluster around 3007 6 ma which is within error of the age of a batholith dated in the adjacent marmion lake area of the wabigoon subprovince this along with the fact that most detrital zircons were only slightly abraded by sedimentary transport suggests that the source of many zircons may have been proximal from the north there is also a significant cluster of young zircon ages in the range 2698 2709 ma surprisingly only a few ages correspond to the time of most intense arc type felsic volcanism 2710 2745 ma in the main greenstone belt of the western wabigoon subprovince sedimentary deposition occurred at a time of extensive deformation in the adjacent wabigoon subprovince the pattern of detrital grain ages indicates that this involved uplift of a complex older sialic landmass petrographic evidence for the presence of substantial felsic volcanic detritus as well as the fact that many of the zircons only slightly pre date deposition indicates that much of the sediment was probably derived from erosion of active felsic volcanic centers these data combined with regional geochronological and field studies favour deposition in a basin formed by late orogenic collisional events

structure of the high grade opatica belt and adjacent low grade abitibi subprovince canada an archaean mountain front plutonic gneisses in the archaean opatica belt in canada record crustal scale wsw vergent i e longitudinal high temperature d1 ductile shearing similar structures occur in adjacent greenstone belts but only in narrow amphibolite facies zones near the base metavolcanics in the greenschist facies portions do not record penetrative d1 structures the greenstone belts are interpreted as allochthonous on the gneisses they form the uppermost d1 thrust sheets sse vergent i e approximately transverse d2 thrusting imbricated the opatica belt and formed a large antiform either a culmination or an antiformal stack in the southern opatica the imbricated opatica belt wedged under the northern part of the abitibi subprovince and created a tight syncline with nnw vergent d2 thrusts interpreted as backthrusts on its northern limb the opatica belt abitibi subprovince contact therefore resembles some phanerozic mountain fronts further southwards propagating imbrication of the crust beneath the abitibi subprovince created a s vergent foreland fold and thrust belt in the overlying greenstones high grade opatica gneisses and adjacent low grade abitibi greenstones contain complementary structural patterns and may therefore represent the internal and foreland parts of an archaean mountain belt similar in many respects to phanerozoic examples

geochemical and metallogenic relations in volcanic rocks of the southern slave province implications for late neoarchean tectonics late neoarchean volcanic belts in the southern slave province include 1 in the east the cameron river beaulieu river belts which are characterized by stratigraphically thin flow rich classic calc alkaline arc type sequences with accompanying syngenetic volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits and 2 in the west the yellowknife belt which is characterized by stratigraphically thick structurally complex pyroclastic rich adakitic back arc basin type sequences with accompanying epigenetic lode gold deposits the volcanic belt association bears persuasive chemical evidence of subduction initiated magma generation however the greenstone belts together with coeval matching patterned belts in superior province of the southern canadian shield bear equally persuasive evidence of prevailing autochthonous parautochthonous relations with respect to component stratigraphic parts and to older gneissic basement the eastern and western volcanic belts in question are petrogenetically ascribed to a westerly inclined present geography subduction zone s that produced shallower east to deeper west slab initiated mantle wedge generated parent magmas this early stage microplate tectonic process involved modest mantle subduction depths small tectonic plates and small sialic cratons in the larger context of earth s progressively cooling hence subduction deepening mantle this late neoarchean greenstone belt development 2 73 2 66 ga merged with the massive end archean tonalite trondhjemite granodiorite granite ttgg bloom 2 65 2 55 ga resulting in greatly enhanced craton stability successive subduction deepening plate craton enlarging stages with appropriate metallotectonic response across succeeding proterozoic time and beyond led to modern mode plate tectonics

formation of the neoarchean bad vermilion lake anorthosite complex and spatially associated granitic rocks at a convergent plate margin superior province western ontario canada abstract the bad vermilion lake anorthosite complex henceforth the bvla complex in western ontario is one of the well exposed anorthosite bearing archean layered intrusions in the superior province canada this study presents new whole rock major and trace element data for the various units of the complex oxygen isotope data for the anorthosite and major and trace element data for the spatially associated granitic rocks intruding the bvla complex to constrain their petrogenetic and geodynamic origin zircons from granitic rocks have yielded a 207pb 206pb age of 2716 18 ma constraining the minimum intrusion age of the complex despite deformation and greenschist facies metamorphism primary igneous textures are locally well preserved in the bvla complex its whole rock major and trace elemental compositions and the oxygen isotopic systematics appear not to have been substantially modified by deformation and metamorphism mantle like oxygen isotope signatures and major and trace element compositions are inconsistent with significant crustal contamination of the bvla complex during its emplacement the existence of primary calcic igneous plagioclase coherent negative nb anomalies nb nb 0 08 0 88 and geochemical similarities between gabbros from the bvla complex and gabbros from cenozoic arcs collectively suggest an intra oceanic subduction zone geodynamic setting for the complex near flat ree patterns in the various units of the bvla complex suggest that they were derived from melting of a shallow source beneath a subarc mantle wedge trends in immobile major e g mgo and trace e g zr element data indicate that the mineralogical composition of the complex can be explained by fractional crystallization and accumulation of olivine orthopyroxene clinopyroxene plagioclase and possibly amphibole compositionally the bordering granitic rocks are a2 type and strongly enriched in th and ree 100 times chondrite and depleted of ba sr eu and ti we suggest that they formed in a post collisional extensional tectonic regime following emplacement of the bvla complex in an oceanic arc

age and isotopic composition of late archean leucogranites implications for continental collision in the western superior province u pb and sm nd isotopic data are presented for leucogranites and pegmatites from the boundary zones of the english river winnipeg river and wabigoon subprovinces in the late archean superior prov

mafic to felsic magmatism and crustal recycling in the obonga lake greenstone belt western superior province evidence from geochemistry nd isotopes and u pb geochronology abstract the central wabigoon subprovince of the western superior province contains mesoarchean granitoid and supracrustal rocks 3 01 2 83 ga and 2 78 2 69 ga granitoid plutons and supracrustal sequences it is a key area for understanding the relationship between greenstone belts and surrounding granitoid rocks that may have acted as basement the obonga lake greenstone belt contains two distinct assemblages 1 a ta nb th they have end values of 0 7 to 2 4 a dacitic unit in the northern assemblage has high la yb high sr y low nb y and heavy ree and is interpreted to represent a mantle modified slab melt similar to adakites in cenozoic arcs the associated enriched basalts may represent melts from the mantle wedge modified by slab melt adakitic metasomatism or they may represent an enriched oib like asthenospheric source rocks of the southern assemblage mostly show th and light ree enrichment and negative nb and ta anomalies low end values down to 0 9 can be modelled through contamination of a mafic liquid by 3 3 3 2 ga sialic crust although rocks of that age have not been observed suggested mesoarchean basement to the southern assemblage may therefore have had a complex history spanning several hundred million years the southern assemblage volcanism may have occurred in a continental arc to continental back arc system where crustal recycling played an important role

u pb geochronology of the central uchi subprovince superior province u pb zircon and titanite ages for rocks of the central uchi subprovince in northwestern ontario indicate a late archean magmatic and tectonic development spanning over 200 ma an early period at 2900 2800 ma formed volcano plutonic complexes presumably linked to 3 1 2 8 ga terrains of the northwestern superior province a later period of southward growth by magmatic and tectonic accretion occurred at 2750 2710 ma and was concluded by large scale compression and plutonism at 2700 ma the oldest 2890 2860 and 2840 2820 ma components occur in the pickle lake and meen dempster greenstone belts and as gneisses in the seach achapi and the lake st joseph batholiths in northern and central sectors of the region together with distinct 2750 2740 ma volcano plutonic complexes they form a collage assembled by multiple episodes of tectonic juxtaposition and magmatic accretion plutons of 2730 2710 ma age are intrusive into these older northern domains whereas their volcanic counterparts compose the lake st joseph and miminiska fort hope greenstone belts to the south late tectonic to posttectonic granitoid rocks intruded a region extending from the northern berens river subprovince to the southern english river subprovince at 2700 ma these plutons were cut by regional scale faults formed by residual north northwest directed shortening the timing of this movement seems to be recorded by titanite ages of 2690 2670 ma reactivation of the same faults may account for proterozoic pb loss observed in some of the zircon populations the age patterns are consistent with crustal growth along a continental margin in a north dipping subduction environment

u pb geoehronology and evolution of the english river subprovince an archean low p high t metasedimentary belt in the superior province u pb isotopic data for zircon monazite and titanite are used to assess the evolution of the late archean english river subprovince ers and adjacent domains of the winnipeg river subprovince in the northern superior province ontario the ers consists of turbiditic metasedimentary rocks deposited during the final stages of magmatic and tectonic accretion within the greenstone granite uchi subprovince to the north at around 2720 to 2710 ma the sedimentary rocks were intruded by a suite of calc alkalic plutons at 2698 ma major regional deformation amphibolite to granulite facies metamorphism anatexis and emplacement of an extensive peraluminous granitic suite culminated at 2691 ma late episodes of metamorphism metasomatism and emplacement of pegmatites occurred locally at circa 2680 and 2669 ma in contrast the winnipeg river subprovince to the south consists of widespread tonalitic suites formed mainly between 3200 and 2800 ma and granodioritic to granitic intrusions formed between 2710 and 2690 ma metamorphism occurred at around 2710 ma in southern domains and a distinct granulite facies event at around 2680 ma affected central and northern domains of the winnipeg river subprovince the rapid sequence of events recorded in the ers supports the notion that metamorphism was caused by thermal perturbations related to injection of granitic magmas these melts were generated through partial melting of the lower crust by a thermal anomaly presumably caused by mantle upwelling related to collapse of the inactivated subducting plate the short lived nature of the metamorphic events and their cyclicity follow the behaviour predicted by recent models linking the evolution of strain rates to episodes of segregation and upward magma transfer in the course of prolonged orogenic events

accretion of japanese island arcs and implications for the origin of archean greenstone belts the present day region of arc arc collision between the izu bonin arc and mainland japan honshu arc in the western pacific called the izu collision zone or icz provides a useful kinematic model for the development of many archean greenstone belts the compositional assemblage thermal structure and structural style of the crust in the icz are very similar to those inferred for many archean greenstone belts in both cases thick young and flaky arc crust with a high heat flux is in collision with another crustal block the icz has resulted in the imbrication of very thick slices of crust and associated sediments juxtaposed against older accretionary prisms many archean greenstone belts show similar geological features and we suggest that the incremental imbrication of the crust was a common tectonic style in some archean convergent margins

reconstruction of holocene glacier history from distal sources glaciofluvial stream bank mires and a glaciolacustrine sediment core near sota saeter breheimen southern norway this study attempts to reconstruct the holocene glacier history of breheimen southern norway from four stream bank mire sites and a downstream lake sediment core near sota saeter based on lithostr

u pb zircon geochronology in the southwestern abitibi greenstone belt superior province the abitibi belt is the largest continuous greenstone belt in the superior province of the canadian shield it comprises several composite komatiitic tholeiitic calc alkalic and sedimentary sequences that are folded transected by major faults and intruded by various generations of plutonic rocks precise u pb geochronology has been carried out in the belt for the past decade to solve chronostratigraphic and metallogenetic problems this paper presents new zircon ages and reassesses previously published ones now refined by the addition of abraded and concordant zircon analyses volcanic and subvolcanic units of the timmins area yield the following ages 2727 1 5 ma for a tuff of the upper deloro formation 2703 1 5 ma for a tuff of the upper tisdale formation and 2698 4 ma for the krist fragmental assigned to the top of the tisdale formation the age of a dunite intrusive into the upper deloro formation is revised at 2707 3 ma whereas the aquarius diorite east of timmins yields a poorly define

contrasting types of late archean plutonic rocks in northwestern ontario implications for crustal evolution in the superior province abstract the late archean aulneau and lount lake batholiths have contrasting geochemical characteristics that are interpreted to be a consequence of derivation from different sources the aulneau batholith which was intruded into low grade metavolcanic rocks of the wabigoon subprovince is characterized by high na2o and low k2o rb and y together with enriched light rare earth elements lree near chondritic heavy rare earth elements hree negligible eu anomalies and mantle type initial sr and nd isotopic compositions these geochemical characteristics are consistent with derivation from the partial melting of metamorphosed tholeiitic basalt in contrast the lount lake batholith which was intruded into older 2 83 3 17 ga tonalitic plutonic rocks of the winnipeg river subprovince has relatively high k2o rb y and ree low na2o and prominent eu anomalies the initial sr and nd isotopic compositions of the lount lake batholith are consistent with a crustal source at least 200 400 ma older than the crystallization age of the batholith these geochemical characteristics indicate that the lount lake batholith originated from the partial melting of deeper level equivalents of the tonalitic metaplutonic rocks 2 83 3 17 ga which they intrude these results suggest that reworked 3 0 ga crust may be extensive in the winnipeg river subprovince and that the geochemical and isotopic signature of late archean plutonic rocks may be a useful reconnaissance tool in the identification of areas of extensive older crust the results can be interpreted within a uniformitarian model diachronous ensimatic magmatic arcs represented by the winnipeg river and western wabigoon subprovinces developed independently collision of these arcs at 2707 8 ma marks the cessation of subduction and related magmatic activity and the initiation of high grade metamorphism and melting in tectonically thickened portions of the crust

polyphase deformation and crustal evolution in the pipestone lake area of the archean wabigoon subprovince superior province canada archean supracrustal rocks in the western wabigoon subprovince superior province canadian shield have undergone four phases of deformation d1 d4 d1 confined to the oldest rocks includes a large refolded reclined isoclinal anticline f1 with moderately developed axial planar cleavage s1 rocks affected by d1 are overlain by a regional unconformity d2 includes post unconformity steeply plunging north northeast south southwest striking isoclinal folds f2 that are approximately coaxial with f1 but have contorted the f1 axial trace d3 is represented by east west striking steeply plunging folds at various scales f3 which occur mainly in rocks near the regional manitou stretch pipestone lake shear zone also interpreted to be a d3 structure d4 is represented by pervasive cleavage s4 locally penetrative but mainly spaced including crenulation cleavage fractures small faults and brittle ductile shears s4 is parallel to the margin of the jackfish lake pluton d1 d3 are ascribed to convergence of the wabigoon subprovince with adjacent subprovinces ending with formation of the manitou stretch pipestone lake shear zone as a presently steep thrust and oblique ramp structure d4 is the result of either diapiric emplacement of the jackfish lake pluton or marginal strain intensification due to the rigidity of the older ash bay dome during late north south compression previously available zircon u pb geochronology provides a maximum age for d1 of 2728 ma and an approximate age for d4 of 2698 ma the unconformity developed between d1 and d2 2725 2713 ma

stacking of disparate volcanic and sedimentary units by thrusting in the archean favourable lake greenstone belt central canada abstract in the favourable lake greenstone belt older volcanic sedimentary units have been stacked concordantly on younger units by three thrust faults units above and below thrusts differ in age and or lithology and unlike many thrust terranes elsewhere there is no stratigraphic repetition the lack of repetition may reflect rapid lateral facies changes the lowest thrust sheet is at least 6 km thick and includes rock units of two distinct ages 2925 ma ultramafic to intermediate flows and intermediate fragmental rocks in the lower part and 2725 ma mafic flows and a conglomerate greywacke fan in the upper part this sheet was thrust northward over a 2734 ma felsic to intermediate stratovolcano at least 4 km thick this implies at least 7 km of vertical movement of the thrust sheet the stratovolcano is the facies equivalent of and probable provenance for the greywacke fan in the upper part of the thrust sheet the two upper thrust sheets are relatively thin and comprise rock units of 2870 2858 ma age rocks of this age were not found in underlying units the thrust faults apparently developed in a relatively undeformed volcanic sedimentary sequence they predated regional isoclinal folding many discordant faults and emplacement of bordering granitoid batholiths the root zone for the thrust sheets is hidden in an area now occupied by granitoid batholiths but thrusts could have been generated by either horizontal compression at colliding plate margins and or gravity sliding triggered by vertical uplift associated with emplacement of granitoid plutons