Nicholas Culshaw

Depositional and tectonic setting of the Paleoproterozoic Lower Aillik Group, Makkovik Province, Canada: evolution of a passive margin-foredeep sequence based on petrochemistry and U–Pb (TIMS and LAM-ICP-MS) geochronology

Abstract The Paleoproterozoic Lower Aillik Group is a deformed metasedimentary–metavolcanic succession located in the Makkovik Province of Labrador, eastern Canada. The group is situated near the boundary between reworked Archaean gneiss of the Nain (North Atlantic) craton and juvenile Paleoproterozoic crust that was both tectonically accreted and formed on or adjacent to this craton during the ca. 1.9–1.78 Ma Makkovikian orogeny. The Lower Aillik Group is structurally underlain by Archaean gneiss and structurally overlain by ca. 1860–1807 Ma bimodal, dominantly felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Upper Aillik Group. We present geochemical data from metavolcanic rocks and U–Pb geochronological data from several units of the Lower Aillik Group in order to address the depositional and tectonic history of this group. U–Pb data were obtained using both thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) and laser ablation microprobe-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LAM-ICP-MS). Two quartzite units near the structural base of the Lower Aillik Group contain detrital zircons only of Archaean age, and are interpreted to have been deposited on the Nain craton during post-2235 Ma rifting and initiation of a passive continental margin. Overlying mafic metavolcanic rocks contain thin horizons of intermediate tuff, one of which is dated at 2178±4 Ma. This relatively old age, and an inferred stratigraphic relationship with underlying sedimentary units, suggest that the volcanic rocks represent transitional oceanic crust, consistent with their geochemical similarity to tholeiitic rifted margin sequences of Mesozoic age in eastern North America. A package of interlayered psammitic and semipelitic metasedimentary rocks that appears to stratigraphically overlie the mafic volcanic unit is dominated by Paleoproterozoic detrital zircons but also contains Archaean grains. This package was deposited after 2013 Ma, the age of the youngest concordant zircon. The U–Pb data imply a minimum 165 m.y. time gap between mafic volcanism and sedimentation, and are consistent with deposition of the psammite–semipelite unit in an evolving foredeep that heralded the approach of a Paleoproterozoic arc terrane. Accretion of this terrane to the Nain cratonic margin at ca. 1.9 Ga initiated the Makkovikian orogeny. Although the Lower Aillik Group is highly deformed and may contain internal tectonic boundaries or be incomplete, the U–Pb and geochemical data allow quantitative assessment of a prolonged rift-drift-basin closure cycle that characterized the Early Paleoproterozoic evolution of the southern Nain cratonic margin.

Transect across the northwestern Grenville orogen, Georgian Bay, Ontario: Polystage convergence and extension in the lower orogenic crust

The Grenville orogenic cycle, between ∼ 1190 and 980 Ma, involved accretion of magmatic arcs and/or continental terranes to the Laurentian craton. A transect across the western Central Gneiss Belt, Georgian Bay, Ontario, which crosses the boundary between parautochthonous and allochthonous units at an inferred orogenic depth of 20–30 km, offers some insights on the thermal and mechanical behavior of the lower crust during the development of the Grenville orogen. Prior to Grenvillian metamorphism, this part of Laurentia consisted largely of Meso-proterozoic (∼ 1450 Ma) granitoid orthogneisses, granulites, and subordinate mafic and supracrustal rocks. Grenvillian convergence along the transect began with transport of the previously deformed and metamorphosed (∼ 1160 Ma) Parry Sound domain over the craton sometime between 1120 Ma and 1080 Ma. This stage of transport was followed by out-of-sequence thrusting and further convergence along successively deeper, foreland-propagating ductile thrust zones. A major episode of extension at ∼ 1020 Ma resulted in southeast directed transport of allochthonous rocks along the midcrustal Shawanaga shear zone. The final stage of convergence involved deformation and metamorphism in the Grenville Front Tectonic Zone at ∼ 1000–980 Ma. Peak metamorphism along most of the transect at 1065–1045 Ma followed initial transport of allochthonous rocks over the craton by 15–35 m.y. Regional cooling, which postdated peak metamorphism by >70 m.y., was probably delayed by the combined effects of late-stage extension and convergence. Transport of allochthons at least 100 km over the craton was accomplished along a weak, migmatitic decollement; further propagation of the orogen into the craton followed partial melting and weakening of parautochthonous rocks below this decollement. Extensional deformation was associated with distributed ductile flow, the formation of regional transverse folds with axes parallel to the stretching direction, and reactivation of the allochthon-parautochthon thrust boundary as an extensional decollement. The extensional lower crustal flow was likely the primary cause of the subhorizontal attitude of many structures and seismic reflectors in this part of the Central Gneiss Belt.

The orogenic superstructure-infrastructure concept: Revisited, quantified, and revived

The historical superstructure-infrastructure concept (S-I) expressed contrasts in structural style and metamorphic grade between shallow and deep orogenic levels. Two-dimensional thermal-mechanical models provide a quantitative explanation in terms of progressive crustal shortening and thickening (phase 1), thermal relaxation and rheological weakening (phase 2), and ductile flow at depth (phase 3). Results predict an upper-crustal superstructure, dominated by early steep structures, separated across a subhorizontal high-strain zone from a ductile infrastructure with late gently dipping structures; this is consistent with observations from the western Superior Province. These models can account for contrasts in structural style, metamorphic grade, seismic reflectivity, and age between upper- and lower-crustal levels. In contrast to conventional thrust-tectonics models, the revived S-I model shows how young structures can form beneath older ones during progressive convergence, thereby encouraging reassessment of standard seismic reflection interpretations.

Last gasp of the Grenville Orogeny; thermochronology of the Grenville Front tectonic zone near Killarney, Ontario

We present U-Pb (titanite, zircon) and

Timing and thermal influence of late orogenic extension in the lower crust: a UPb geochronological study from the southwest Grenville orogen, Canada

^{40}Ar/^{39}Ar

1.45 Ga granulites in the southwestern Grenville Province; geologic setting, P-T conditions, and U-Pb geochronology

(hornblende, mica, K-feldspar) data from a transect across the western part of the Grenville Front Tectonic Zone (GFTZ) near Killarney, Ontario. High-grade metamorphic assemblages (~1450 Ma) in this part of the GFTZ pre-date the Grenvillian orogeny and were primarily exhumed, with little or no metamorphic overprinting, by Grenvillian deformation. The titanite and zircon data form a discordant array with an upper intercept of

A40Ar/39Ar study of post-tectonic cooling in the Britt domain of the Grenville Province, Ontario

1454 \pm 8 Ma

Amphibolites of the Shawanaga domain, Central Gneiss Belt, Grenville Province, Ontario: tectonic setting and implications for relations between the Central Gneiss Belt and Midcontinental USA

and a lower intercept of

Structural evolution of the Makkovik Province, Labrador, Canada: Tectonic processes during 200 Myr at a Paleoproterozoic active margin

978 \pm 13 Ma

Sand Bay gneiss association, Grenville Province, Ontario: a Grenvillian rift- (and -drift) assemblage stranded in the Central Gneiss Belt?

. These data are interpreted in terms of partial lead loss during a short-lived thermal event that increased in intensity from west to east across the transect.