On the basis of geological, geophysical, and geochronological data, the Grenville Province has been divided into three first-order longitudinal belts, the Parautochthonous Belt (PB), Allochthonous Polycyclic Belt (APB), and Allochthonous Monocyclic Belt (AMB). These are set apart by three first-order tectonic boundaries, the Grenville Front (GF), Allochthon Boundary Thrust (ABT), and Monocyclic Belt Boundary Zone (MBBZ). The belts are subdivided into terranes based on internal lithological character. The GF separates the Archcan to Proterozoic foreland northwest of the orogen from reworked equivalents to the southeast. Continuous at the scale of the orogen, its main characteristic is that of a crustal-scale contraction fault. The PB, although less clearly identified along the length of the orogen, in most places represents upgraded and tectonically reworked rocks of the adjacent foreland. The boundary between the PB and the APB to the southeast, the ABT, is most clearly delineated in the eastern half of the province. It is the locus of major crustal delamination along which high-grade, mostly middle Proterozoic, polycyclic terranes were tectonically transported northwest toward and onto the PB. The AMB comprises two separate areas underlain by the Wakeham Supergroup and what is currently known as the Grenville Supergroup, respectively; its basal contact, the MBBZ, is a d•collement zone of variable kinematic significance between older polycyclic rocks Copyright 1989 by the American Geophysical Union. Paper number 88TC03358. 0278-7407/89/88TC-03358510.00 and tectonically overlying monocyclic rocks. This first-order zonation implies a tectonic polarity to the Grenville Province, superimposed on which are second-order features evident from contrasting tectonic styles and radiometric ages. These characteristics are consistent with a diachronous or oblique collisional model for the Grenville orogen. Rivers et al.' Tectonic Divisions of the Grenville Province c• 80øW SUPE R I •' SOUTHERN --

The geological evolution of the eastern Grenville Province can be subdivided into three stages. During the first stage, namely pre-Labradorian (> 1710 Ma) and Labradorian (1710–1600 Ma) events, a continental-marginal basin was created and subsequently destroyed during accretion of a magmatic arc formed over a south-dipping subduction zone. Subduction was short-lived and arrested, leading to a passive continental margin. The second stage addresses events between 1600 and 1230 Ma. The passive margin lasted until 1520 Ma, following which a continental-margin arc was constructed during Pinwarian (1520–1460 Ma) orogenesis. Elsonian (1460–1230 Ma) distal-inboard, mafic and anorthositic magmatism, decreasing in age northward, is explained by funnelled flat subduction, possibly associated with an overridden spreading centre. As the leading edge of the lower plate advanced, it was forced beneath the Paleoproterozoic Torngat orogen root between the Archean Superior and North Atlantic cratons, achieving its limit of penetration by 1290 Ma. Static north-northeast-trending rifting then ensued, with mafic magmatism flanked by felsic products to the north and south. Far-field orogenic effects heralded the third stage, lasting from 1230 to 955 Ma. Until 1180 Ma, the eastern Grenville Province was under the distal, mild influence of Elzevirian orogenesis. From 1180 to 1120 Ma, mafic and anorthositic magmatism occurred, attributed to back-arc tectonism inboard of a post-Elzevirian Laurentian margin. Quiescence then prevailed until Grenvillian (1080–980 Ma) continent–continent collision. Grenvillian orogenesis peaked in different places at different times as thrusting released stress, thereby precipitating its shift elsewhere (pressure-point orogenesis). High-grade metamorphism, thrusting and minor magmatism characterized the Exterior Thrust Zone, in contrast to voluminous magmatism in the Interior Magmatic Belt. Following final deformation, early posttectonic anorthositic–alkalic–mafic magmatism (985–975 Ma) and late posttectonic monzonitic–syenite–granite magmatism (975–955 Ma) brought the active geological evolution of this region to a close.

No abstract

As part of the Eastern Canadian Shield Onshore–Offshore Transect (ECSOOT), Lithoprobe acquired 1250 km of deep seismic reflection data along the coast of Labrador and across Ungava Bay, to image evidence of Proterozoic crustal accretion to the Archean nuclei of the Nain and Superior provinces of the Canadian Shield. The relatively pristine Archean crust of the Nain Province has low reflectivity and generally lacks systematic reflector orientations. Reworking of Archean crust on the margins of the Makkovik Province has little effect on this weak signature. In contrast, the Archean crust in the Eastern Churchill (Rae) Province appears to have been overprinted by a strongly developed, whole-crustal, easterly dipping reflection fabric, interpreted to result from Proterozoic collision of the Nain and Superior provinces in the paired New Quebec and Torngat orogens. Juvenile Proterozoic crust in the Makkovik and Grenville provinces also shows strong whole-crustal dipping reflection fabrics, interpretable as outwardly verging structures associated with collisional mobile belts. Crustal thickness varies from 35 to 45 km in Proterozoic provinces, except where thinner in areas probably affected by Mesozoic extension associated with rifting of the Labrador Sea. Dipping reflectors in the mantle are commonly associated with strong lower-crustal dipping reflections in a manner similar to that observed in some modern orogens. The ECSOOT data show that Proterozoic crust in this area has structural forms comparable with those of modern orogens and, inferentially, its tectonic development was controlled by very similar collisional processes.

No abstract