The Arrowsmith orogeny: Geochronological and thermobarometric constraints on its extent and tectonic setting in the Rae craton, with implications for pre-Nuna supercontinent reconstruction

Berman, R G; Pehrsson, S J; Davis, W J; Ryan, J J; Qui, H.; Ashton, K

doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2012.10.015

Cited by 122 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…2333 Ma detrital metamorphic zircon in sample DS37A (grain 7287-66 with a Th/U of 0.08; Table DR1; Fig. 6H) is similar in age to the time of "Arrowsmith" metamorphic events documented in the central and southwestern parts of the Rae craton (e.g, Berman et al, 2005Berman et al, , 2013Hartlaub et al, 2007, and references therein). Older Paleo-to Neoarchean zircon ages (3280-2710 Ma) in the two quartzite samples can be linked to (volcano-) plutonic units across the Rae craton, including the local ca.…”

Section: Provenance Of the Piling Groupsupporting

confidence: 61%

Did a proto-ocean basin form along the southeastern Rae cratonic margin? Evidence from U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry (Sm-Nd and whole-rock), and stratigraphy of the Paleoproterozoic Piling Group, northern Canada

Wodicka

St-Onge

Corrigan

et al. 2014

Geological Society of America Bulletin

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The Paleoproterozoic Piling Group along the southeastern Rae margin, northern Canada, is characterized by thick, deep marine turbidite deposits not observed in timeequivalent, intracratonic basin units further southwest. Models invoked to explain this feature include development of a full-ocean, back-arc, or proto-ocean basin followed by turbidite sedimentation. We present new and existing U-Pb geochronological, Nd isotope, geochemical, and stratigraphic evidence that support a proto-ocean basin model, and we explore the events leading to the formation and closure of such a rift basin during the middle Paleoproterozoic. Sedimentation initiated largely after ca. 2160 Ma with deposition of craton-derived, shallow marine siliciclastic strata (Dewar Lakes formation). Continued extension resulted in accumulation of south-facing carbonate beds (Flint Lake formation) and likely concomitant, arclike tholeiitic to picritic volcanism and voluminous volcani clastic sedimentation (lower Bravo Lake formation) farther outboard at ca. 1980 Ma. Accumulation of intra basinal siliciclastic strata above lower Bravo Lake formation rocks may mark a hiatus in mafi cultramafic magmatism. By ca. 1923 Ma, upper Bravo Lake formation, within-platetype alkaline sill emplacement and vol canism occurred within highly extended crust. The oceanic island basalt-like signatures of the Bravo Lake formation rocks (but lack of depleted, mid-ocean-ridge basalt-type compositions) suggest that by this time the thinned Rae continental lithosphere had fragmented into small crustal block(s) and narrow zone(s) of incipient oceanic crust farther outboard of the Piling Group basin. Rapid subsidence of the southeastern Rae margin ensued, leading to deposition of euxinic (Astarte River formation) and overlying turbiditic strata (Longstaff Bluff formation). The post-ca. 1915 Ma northern turbiditic sedimentary units were likely derived from a thoroughly mixed, two-component source with possible input from the Snowbird tectonic zone and Bravo Lake formation, whereas the post-ca. 1930 Ma southern turbidite unit may have been sourced from the Meta Incognita microcontinent, presently exposed further south. We favor a rift margin over a foreland basin setting for the deposition of the northern turbidite deposits. Subsequent mantle upwelling associated with incipient ocean formation may have triggered melting of highly thinned continental crust resulting in emplacement of latestage, ca. 1897 Ma, contaminated rapakivi granite and highly differentiated mafi c sills. Our results are most consistent, albeit not exclusively, with the much debated model of asthenospheric upwelling and incipient rifting along the Rae-Hearne boundary farther southwest at ca.

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Section: Provenance Of the Piling Groupsupporting

confidence: 61%

Did a proto-ocean basin form along the southeastern Rae cratonic margin? Evidence from U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry (Sm-Nd and whole-rock), and stratigraphy of the Paleoproterozoic Piling Group, northern Canada

Wodicka

St-Onge

Corrigan

et al. 2014

Geological Society of America Bulletin

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“…The Holly Lake metamorphic complex metasedimentary rocks have a detrital zircon provenance that strikingly matches the igneous history of the western Rae craton (Davis et al 2015), including a record of the Queen Maud, Arrowsmith, Taltson-Thelon, and Ksituan magmatic events (Bostock and Loveridge 1988;van Breemen and Henderson 1988;Villeneuve et al 1993;Ross 2002;Berman et al 2013). These domains were potentially tied to Slave craton prior to the deposition of the Holly Lake metamorphic complex (Hoffman 1987(Hoffman , 1988a.…”

Section: Whence Came Hottah Terrane?mentioning

confidence: 83%

Chronostratigraphy of the Hottah terrane and Great Bear magmatic zone of Wopmay Orogen, Canada, and exploration of a terrane translation model

et al. 2015

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Abstract:The Paleoproterozoic Hottah terrane is the westernmost exposed bedrock of the Canadian Shield and a critical component for understanding the evolution of the Wopmay Orogen. Thirteen new high-precision U-Pb zircon crystallization ages are presented and support field observations of a volcano-plutonic continuum from Hottah terrane through to the end of the Great Bear magmatism, from >1950 to 1850 Ma. The new crystallization ages, new geochemical data, and newly published detrital zircon U-Pb data are used to challenge hitherto accepted models for the evolution of the Hottah terrane as an exotic arc and microcontinent that arrived over a west-dipping subduction zone and collided with the Slave craton at ca. 1.88 Ga. Although the Hottah terrane does have a tectonic history that is distinct from that of the neighbouring Slave craton, it shares a temporal history with a number of domains to the south and east -domains that were tied to the Slave craton by ca. 1.97 Ga. It is interpreted herein that Hottah terrane began to the south of its current position and evolved in an active margin over an always east-dipping subduction system that began prior to ca. 2.0 Ga and continued to ca. 1.85 Ga, and underwent tectonic switching and migration. The stratigraphy of the ca. 1913-1900 Ma Hottah plutonic complex and Bell Island Bay Group includes a subaerial rifting arc sequence, followed by basinal opening represented by marginal marine quartz arenite and overlying ca. 1893 Ma pillowed basalt flows and lesser rhyodacites. We interpret this stratigraphy to record Hottah terrane rifting off its parental arc crust -in essence the birth of the new Hottah terrane. This model is similar to rapidly rifting arcs in active margins -for example, modern Baja California. These rifts generally occur at the transition between subduction zones (e.g., Cocos-Rivera plates) and transtensional shear zones (e.g., San Andreas fault), and we suggest that extension-driven transtensional shearing, or, more simply, terrane translation, was responsible for the evolution of Bell Island Bay Group stratigraphy and that it transported this newly born Hottah terrane laterally (northward in modern coordinates), arriving adjacent to the Slave craton at ca. 1.88 Ga. Renewed east-dipping subduction led to the Great Bear arc flare-up at ca. 1876 Ma, continuing to ca. 1869 Ma. This was followed by voluminous Great Bear plutonism until ca. 1855 Ma. The model implies that it was the westerly Nahanni terrane and its subducting oceanic crust that collided with this active margin, shutting down the >120 million year old, east-dipping subduction system.

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“…2.35 Ga ages, is documented primarily on the western flank of the Rae craton (Fig. 2b;Berman, 2010;Berman et al, 2013), whereas rare K-Ar metamorphic hornblende (ca. 2.24, 2.27, and 2.29 Ga; Wanless et al, 1979), U-Pb metamorphic titanite ages (ca.…”

Section: Regional Geologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2.33 Ga; Sanborn- Barrie et al, 2001), and U-Pb zircon crystallization and metamorphic ages (Davis et al, 2015) of uncertain significance are also recorded along the surficial trace of the Snowbird tectonic zone (discussed further below). The evolution and spatial extent of these earliest Paleoproterozoic orogenic episodes is the subject of continued study (e.g., Berman et al, 2013;Pehrsson et al, 2013a, b;Davis et al, 2015). Younger tectonothermal events at 2.0 to 1.9 and 1.9 to 1.8 Ga are linked to the Thelon-Taltson Orogeny and Trans-Hudson Orogeny, respectively (e.g., Berman, 2010;Fig.…”

Section: Regional Geologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Unraveling the Western Churchill Province Paleoproterozoic Gold Metallotect: Constraints from Re-Os Arsenopyrite and U-Pb Xenotime Geochronology and LA-ICP-MS Arsenopyrite Trace Element Chemistry at the BIF-Hosted Meliadine Gold District, Nunavut, Canada

et al. 2015

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The gold endowment of the western Churchill Province is conventionally attributed to reworking and attendant metamorphism during the Trans-Hudson Orogeny (1.9-1.8 Ga). The Meliadine gold district is regarded as a type example of this inferred Paleoproterozoic gold metallotect and also represents one of Canada's largest emerging orogenic greenstone-and banded iron formation (BIF)-hosted gold districts (2.8 Moz contained Au in reserves and total resource of 5.8 Moz Au). The largest gold deposits are cospatial with the Pyke fault and associated quartz (± ankerite) veining, which cuts Neoarchean (ca. 2.66 Ga) plutonic and supracrustal rocks comprising the Rankin Inlet greenstone belt.Meliadine gold occurs as inclusions within idioblastic arsenopyrite crystals, at sulfide crystal boundaries, and/ or as sulfide fracture fills in hydrothermally altered, sulfidized, and veined BIF. Clusters of gold, Bi-Mo telluride, chalcopyrite, and galena inclusions characterize high-grade ore zones and are spatially associated with sieve-textured arsenopyrite domains. These microtextural relationships suggest that incipient sulfide recrystallization liberated gold, which, along with other precious and base metals, was redistributed during late, fluidassisted and deformation/metamorphic-driven remobilization. Late precious and base metal enrichment is also demonstrated by in situ laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) arsenopyrite mapping. Hydrothermal xenotime crystals occur with gold in low-strain microtextural sites and yield U-Pb ages at ca. 1.86 Ga, suggesting that remobilization was concomitant with Trans Hudson orogenesis.New Re-Os arsenopyrite model ages range from 2.3 to 1.8 Ga and document a hitherto unrecognized, pre-1.86 Ga hydrothermal activity. The range of Re-Os model ages tends to support partial open-system behavior and/or mixing of disparate arsenopyrite generations that are evident from microtextural observations and in situ LA-ICP-MS element mapping. Replicate analyses of the two most rhenium rich arsenopyrite samples yield reproducible Re-Os model ages at ca. 2.27 and 1.90 Ga. These rhenium-rich samples are also gold poor and likely yield ages that predate gold remobilization and subsequent enrichment along arsenopyrite crystal boundaries and fractures. We suggest that pre-1.86 Ga hydrothermal activity was likely critical to the gold endowment of the district, but is obscured by reworking during the later stages of the Trans-Hudson Orogeny at 1.86 Ga. If correct, these new ages imply that the Paleoproterozoic gold metallotect, which is recorded across the western Churchill Province, in fact comprises multiple, temporally distinct gold events. Differentiating between disparate Paleoproterozoic gold events represents a critical step for effective mineral exploration in the western Churchill Province and at other reworked Archean terranes.

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The Arrowsmith orogeny: Geochronological and thermobarometric constraints on its extent and tectonic setting in the Rae craton, with implications for pre-Nuna supercontinent reconstruction

Cited by 122 publications

References 69 publications

Did a proto-ocean basin form along the southeastern Rae cratonic margin? Evidence from U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry (Sm-Nd and whole-rock), and stratigraphy of the Paleoproterozoic Piling Group, northern Canada

Did a proto-ocean basin form along the southeastern Rae cratonic margin? Evidence from U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry (Sm-Nd and whole-rock), and stratigraphy of the Paleoproterozoic Piling Group, northern Canada

Chronostratigraphy of the Hottah terrane and Great Bear magmatic zone of Wopmay Orogen, Canada, and exploration of a terrane translation model

Unraveling the Western Churchill Province Paleoproterozoic Gold Metallotect: Constraints from Re-Os Arsenopyrite and U-Pb Xenotime Geochronology and LA-ICP-MS Arsenopyrite Trace Element Chemistry at the BIF-Hosted Meliadine Gold District, Nunavut, Canada

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