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Aagard, Troels Aitken, Alec Akoglu, Ahmet Allard, Michel Ansdell, Kevin Archibald, Donnelly Arnaud, Emmanuelle Atkinson, Gail Averianov, Alexander Azizi, Hossain Baird, Graham Barendregt, Rene Barr, Sandra Bauer, Bernard Bedard, Jean [...]

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has emerged as a practical and effective technique for studying slow and steady geodynamic movements, enabling continuous monitoring and precise quantification of deformation over different timescales. In Morocco, a network of GNSS stations has been established, offering valuable insights into tectonic processes. This paper focuses on investigating the geodynamic motion of the northwest Moroccan Atlantic Margin. By utilizing GNSS data, subsidence rates and horizontal velocity fields were determined for the first time, providing valuable information for oil and gas exploration activities. The study reveals an active uplift rate of 1 mm/year and a westward horizontal motion of 2.04 mm/year in the Essaouira segment. The paper presents a case study of the Essaouira–Agadir basin (EAB) onshore segment and investigates the anomalous displacement observed in this region compared to other coastal GNSS stations. Possible explanations for the observed movements include local processes such as salt tectonics and regional northwest–southeast compression related to Africa–Eurasia convergence. We suggest that the anomalous movement detected in this work is due to the regional northwest–southeast compression related to Africa–Eurasia convergence imparting an extrusion of the EAB to the west. This research contributes to a better understanding of the geodynamics in the northwest Moroccan Atlantic margin, thereby providing valuable insights for ongoing efforts in oil and gas exploration. Furthermore, it indicates the continued activity of the Agadir fault, which would exhibit a sinistral wrench movement, thus posing a threat to the city of Agadir and its inhabitants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cambrian pre-salt dolomite sequence in the Tarim Basin is a target zone of great strategic significance for hydrocarbon exploration in the basin. Using the results of the interpretation of 3D seismic data from Lunnan and 2D seismic data covering the whole basin, and based on a synthesis of outcrop data, drilling data, well logs, core data, and thin-section data, and the findings from previous studies, this paper studies the characteristics of the facies of the Middle–Lower Cambrian in the platform area in the Tarim Basin, the formation and evolution of platform margins, and the sedimentary characteristics, lithofacies, and paleogeographic characteristics of the Middle–Lower Cambrian series. Based on the types of lithofacies and the seismic facies analysis, the sedimentary facies of the Middle–Lower Cambrian strata can be classified into the five types. From bottom to top, the Middle–Lower Cambrian have experienced several development stages, including the deposition of continental shelf sediments of the Yuertusi Formation, gently sloping non-rimmed platform margin sediments of the Xiaoerbulake Formation, weakly rimmed platform margin sediments of the Wusongger and Shayilike formations, and strongly rimmed platform margin sediments of the Awatage Formation. In each stage, the platform margin shifted further east relative to its location in the previous stage. Based on these results and previous studies, the lithofacies and paleogeography maps of the Middle–Lower Cambrian in the Tarim Basin are modified, and the implications for hydrocarbon exploration in this area are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The package PbIso is a free and open R toolbox for commonly used calculations and plots of Pb–Pb isotope data and for generating Pb evolution models. In this paper, we review Pb isotope systematics and the calculations that are commonly used, such as model age, model source μ (238U/204Pb), time-integrated κ (232Th/238U), and initial Pb isotope ratios. These equations are implemented into R functions in the package PbIso. In addition, functions are provided for generating Pb evolution models, paleoisochrons, and isochrons. This allows users to apply calculations to their data in a straightforward way while providing transparency and flexibility of the calculations used. We have implemented some basic features of the PbIso package into an online shiny R application (see https://shereearmistead.github.io/software/pbiso), which makes it easy for users without any R experience to use these calculations with their own data and to generate plots. We have provided a case study from the Superior Province in Canada, showing how different Pb evolution models can be generated in PbIso and compared to Pb isotope data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basal gravel and sand mantling the bedrock floors of buried valleys throughout the Canadian Interior Plains, and conformably overlying proglacial lacustrine sediment, comprise the Empress Group. While previously conceptualized as stratigraphically equivalent deposits of preglacial rivers prior to the first and most extensive continental and montane glaciations, subsequent stratigraphic studies indicated that buried valley basal gravel must have been deposited between, or during, progressively more extensive continental glaciations and could not be stratigraphically equivalent throughout the buried valley network. However, in the general absence of formation-rank stratigraphic description of basal gravel units that might better inform the geologic history of the deposits, most workers simply consider Empress Group sediments time-transgressive. In this paper, we examine basal gravel at provincial and regional scales to understand its genesis and geologic history. At the provincial scale, we map basal gravel in three dimensions using a novel machine learning approach. At the regional scale, we formally define basal gravel formations at either end of the largest buried valley system in Alberta, which informs its glacial history and physiographic development and shows the importance of formation-rank stratigraphic description. Our results indicate that the buried valley network across Alberta is palimpsest in genesis and basal gravel units within it are chronostratigraphically intercalated between tills. We advocate that the Empress Group definition be extended across Alberta with modifications to improve its clarity and utility, and formally define the Old Fort, Unchaga, Ipiatik, and Winefred formations as part of the Empress Group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 2003. With that ratification is an obligation to submit data and information to the U.N. pertaining to the limits of the country's extended continental shelf (ECS); the portion of the juridical continental shelf that extends beyond 200 nautical miles. A team of Canadian scientists, managers, and legal experts that included representation from three Federal Departments (Natural Resources Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Global Affairs Canada) with additional support from other departments, spent 13 years compiling and acquiring data to provide the scientific evidence to support delineation of Canada's seaward most maritime limit. The submission has the potential to provide Canada with 2.4 million km2 of additional submarine landmass in the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans over which Canada exercises sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting its natural resources. Specific information such as the tectonic framework of the continental margin, the geomorphology of the margin and in particular the continental slope, the geologic nature of adjoined ridges, rises, and plateaux, and sediment thickness within adjacent basins are examples of fundamental pieces of geoscientific information needed to substantiate Canada's outermost maritime limits. This paper highlights a number of segments of Canada's continental margins to showcase this scientific evidence and how it is applied in the UNCLOS context. In doing so, the paper demonstrates the geologic complexity of Canada's margins as illustrated in scientific publications that have resulted from these new data collections, while at the same time presenting new scientific evidence and interpretations. This collection of data and information provides a wealth of new knowledge in Canada's offshore regions. The massive data compilation in the Atlantic led to conception of continental margins, in a source-to-sink scenario, as having an equilibrium base level or graded form, comparable to river systems. Departures from this shape relate to the interplay of sedimentary processes and in particular to those processes that do not fit the source-to-sink paradigm. For example, a significant part of the Atlantic margin is shown to be heavily influenced by along-slope geostrophic currents that generated massive contourite drift deposits. These deposits reflect lateral transport of sediment that had a significant impact on the morphology of the margin. The role of mass transport processes in shaping continental margins is also highlighted, and in particular the collapses of entire segments of the margin were observed. The prominent role mass failure processes play in delivering sediment to the adjacent abyssal plain is also critical in the ECS context. These observations challenge the entrenched notion of a continental margin comprising a shelf, slope, and rise and in particular the concept of the "continental rise". Prior to 2006, regions of the Arctic Ocean seaward of the Canadian landmass had fewer than 5000 km of seismic reflection data. The massive efforts of Arctic coastal States to map their margins for ECS purposes have led to a leap in technological advances to acquire data in ice-covered seas and have led to a wealth of new geoscientific knowledge. Perhaps foremost amongst this knowledge is demonstration that Canada Basin is indeed a fully developed ocean basin, albeit significantly infilled with sediment. Based on this knowledge and identification of related structures, new realistic tectonic scenarios for opening of the Amerasia Basin are proposed that include a significant component of transform or strike-slip motions. With seismic velocity and rock sample information, the continental nature of Alpha and Mendeleev ridges has been substantiated. Even bathymetric data were lacking in the Arctic and new editions of seafloor maps now support grids of 500 m spacing; although some regions remain sparse. Once thought to be relatively stagnant, sedimentary processes such as found in many ocean basins were discovered in the Arctic Ocean. Evidence of geostrophic currents, sediment mass failures, and deep-sea turbidity current channels were found to be ubiquitous, even in the deepest parts of the Arctic's basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate plays a key role in the Early Jurassic magmatism evolution in the Yanbian area, Northeast China. In this paper, zircon U–Pb ages, whole-rock geochemical, and Sr–Nd–Hf isotopic compositions are presented. The Early Jurassic gabbros, diorite enclaves, granodiorites, and granites ages range from 183 to 189 Ma. They are characterized by enrichment in large-ion lithophile elements and depletion in high-field strength elements. The gabbros are classified as low- and medium-K tholeiitic, granodiorites and granites are high-K calc-alkaline I-type, and diorite enclaves are calc-alkaline transitional series. The gabbros have zircon εHf(t) values of 6.81–9.89, whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.7043–0.7044, and εNd(t) from 2.72 to 2.80. The diorite enclaves have zircons with εHf(t) values of 8.26–12.80, whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.7051, and εNd(t) from 0.96 to 1.09. The granodiorites and granites have zircon εHf(t) values of 7.59–12.87, whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr(i) = 0.7042–0.7066, and εNd(t) from 2.33 to 2.61. These data indicate that gabbroic magmas were derived from partial melting of a depleted mantle wedge metasomatized by subduction-related fluids. The basaltic magma underplated and heated the juvenile crust, whereas the granodiorites and granites might be the product of fractional crystallization of a mixture of basaltic and felsic magmas or derived from partial melting of the juvenile lower crust. Our data constrain the petrogenesis of these Early Jurassic intrusive rocks which are attributed to subduction of the Paleo-Pacific Plate beneath Eurasia continent in northeastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mesoproterozoic Husky Creek Formation is an interlayered redbed and basalt package that overlies a ca. 2.5 km thick, regionally extensive basaltic plateau linked to the 1.27 Ga Mackenzie Large Igneous Province. This succession provides an opportunity to study the interaction between contemporaneous fluvial sedimentation and flood basalt volcanism. The Husky Creek Formation is approximately 1900 m thick, consisting predominantly of fluvial channel and subordinate floodplain and eolian strata dominated by lithic detritus intercalated with basalt flows. U–Pb dating of detrital zircon grains collected from four stratigraphic levels in the Husky Creek Formation reveals two main age groupings: (1) a 1270 Ma peak attributed to the Mackenzie Large Igneous Province; and (2) Pre-1.6 Ga detrital zircon ages, which reflect sources from a broad region of northwestern Laurentia and are interpreted to be recycled from underlying sedimentary rocks of the Hornby Bay Basin. An upsection decrease in the proportion of ca. 1270 Ma zircon grains, coupled with increasing sandstone compositional maturity, reflects the expansion of the drainage basin during burial of a volcanic pile, with recycling becoming more dominant as the Husky Creek Formation accumulated. The Husky Creek Formation was deposited in the waning stages of the Mackenzie Igneous Event by west-flowing rivers into a geographically restricted basin above an extensive mafic volcanic plateau. This paper provides insight into fluvial basin development during the aftermath of one of Earth's largest igneous events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subaerial rise of Earth's first continents took place 3.3–3.2 Ga years ago. This had significant influence on the ocean, atmosphere, and biosphere. Two important sedimentological consequences of continental emersion were (1) development of terrestrial (alluvial fan–fluvial–aeolian) depositional systems and (2) formation of shallow-marine sedimentary basins near the continental margin. Late Paleoarchean–Neoarchean terrestrial deposits, including development of an extensive paleosol around 3.2 Ga, and Meso–Neoarchean shallow-marine deposits have been reported from the Singhbhum Craton, eastern India from several localities. However, lateral and vertical changes in sedimentary facies associations and stratigraphic correlation between these terrestrial to shallow-marine sedimentary deposits have not yet been investigated. In this paper, we have reviewed the sedimentological characteristics of Late Paleoarchean to Neoarchean (3.2–2.8 Ga) stratigraphic successions of the Singhbhum Craton and have discussed sea level change and mode of stratigraphic sequence building. Our analysis shows that Singhbhum granitoid complex was emplaced around 3.3 Ga in an intracontinental setting, resulting in high continental freeboard conditions that triggered terrestrial (alluvial fan–braided fluvial) sedimentation (Dhosrapahar Formation). Continental sedimentation continued until ca. 3.0 Ga. In the eastern (Simlipal Group), western (Birtola Formation), and southwestern (the Mankarchua, Mahagiri, and Keonjhar formations) parts, shallow-marine sedimentation occurred after 3.0 Ga as a result of transgression. However, in the northern part (Dhanjori Formation), continental sedimentation prevailed throughout the Archean. These Late Paleoarchean to Neoarchean terrestrial and near-coastal successions of Singhbhum Craton should be the prime targets for intense geobiological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Quaternary sediment in the Labrador Sea was derived from many proglacial sources in Greenland and eastern Canada. Understanding the spatial and temporal changes in sediment provenance provides information on ice extent and sediment dispersal patterns. Variations in mineral composition of sediment from late Quaternary cores has been determined by a whole pattern of quantitative X-ray diffraction procedure. Mineral facies were extracted statistically by a supervised analysis of 90 samples from bedrock and ice-rafted clasts, which were then used to predict the most probable mineral facies in 1443 marine sediment samples. We used a non-parametric Classification Decision Tree (CDT) to validate that decision. Only 26% of the samples were misclassified in the CDT. The six facies identified consisted of four facies reflecting differences in the composition of Canadian and Greenland Precambrian igneous and metamorphic bedrock, a set of samples dominated by high weight percentages of calcite and dolomite (detrital carbonate (DC) and Hudson Strait Heinrich (HS-H) events), and a "shale" facies. We isolated 284 sediments from the HS-H DC facies and determined that they could be divided into four categories based on differences in their mineral proportions. These categories vary geographically, based on non-carbonate sediment supply during these events from Greenland, the Canadian Shield, the Appalachians, and the outer continental shelf. In the Holocene of the Labrador Sea, dolomite is derived from Baffin Bay and abundance of calcite is influenced by both biogenic productivity and dissolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detrital zircon from three coarse-grained marine siliciclastic rocks was analyzed for U–Pb, Lu–Hf, and trace element compositions to constrain the timing of deposition and sediment provenance of the Cunningham Lake formation (formerly siliciclastic unit of the Sitlika assemblage) in north-central British Columbia. This strategy tests previously proposed sedimentary linkages between the Cache Creek terrane and the westerly rocks of the Stikine terrane. All three samples indicate maximum depositional ages at ca. 205–202 Ma (Rhaetian). The samples contain a predominant ca. 225–215 Ma detrital population, sourced from proximal contemporaneous volcanic arcs, and minor Permian to Middle Triassic and Carboniferous arc-derived detrital populations. The absence of Precambrian grains is consistent with the strongly suprachondritic zircon compositions (εHf(t) = +7 to +20), and indicates exclusively juvenile sources for the Cunningham Lake formation. Late Triassic sources of zircon are not known in the Cache Creek terrane and, except within western Stikine terrane, are uncommon among the Intermontane terranes that amalgamated with the Cache Creek terrane during Late Triassic–Early Jurassic. The Stikine suite (ca. 230–214 Ma) and coeval volcanic rocks in western Stikinia are the most probable sources of Late Triassic detritus for the Cunningham Lake formation. Stikinia's Paleozoic basement is the probable source of Carboniferous detrital zircon. Volcanic arc–backarc complexes in the Cache Creek terrane are the most likely sources of Permian to Middle Triassic detritus in the Intermontane terranes. Accordingly, the siliciclastic rocks of the Cunningham Lake formation represent an overlap sedimentary succession that links Stikinia to the Cache Creek terrane by the latest Triassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Three Orosirian basins and associated foreland thrust-fold belts are preserved on the margins of the Slave craton. All three are related to orogenic belts where oceans opened and later closed, uniting new crustal partners. The Great Slave basin differs from the Kilhigok and Coronation basins in ways that have defied explanation. It lacks a passive margin sequence and hosts two discrete igneous suites, separated by large-scale thrusting, that occurred well after the adjacent paleocean had closed. Here we report U–Pb zircon geochronology by chemical abrasion isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry for a member of each suite to constrain the age and origin of postcollisional thrusting. A widespread pulse of mainly phreatic alkaline volcanism, coeval with renewed foredeep flexure, occurred at 1889.0 ± 0.7 Ma (2σ internal error). A quartz-monzodiorite body, one of a belt-parallel chain of laccoliths that postdate thrusting, was emplaced at 1866.9 ± 0.9 Ma. These ages bracket renewed foredeep sedimentation and thrusting that telescoped major facies zones and was rooted within the basin. The older age is 70 and 30−60 Myr younger than collision in the Thelon and Taltson orogens, respectively. We attribute postcollisional thrusting and foredeep subsidence to "eduction"—the upward and outward ejection of partly subducted crust—and postulate that the top of the ejected wedge was a normal-sense detachment fault projecting beneath the Nonacho basin. We infer that eduction was triggered by slab failure, producing alkaline volcanism, and ended with delamination and laccolith emplacement. Eduction was facilitated by tradewind-driven erosion. Delamination was enabled by crustal transfer to the educted wedge, reducing footwall buoyancy. Slab failure and/or delamination removed the passive margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Isopachs of Huronian strata of the Elliot and Hough Lake groups in the southern part of the Cobalt Basin can be used to define the geometry of a 4 km wide valley system that directly influenced the location of gravel-bed rivers bearing detrital gold and auriferous pyrite in the Mississagi Formation. Distribution and thickness of these and underlying formations can be directly linked to initial valley formation parallel to existing north-south-oriented faults in the Archean basement. Thickness distributions were directly influenced by active subsidence associated with transverse, east-south-east (ESE)-oriented, normal faults, related to extension along the Huronian transform-rift margin further south. Strata underlying the Mississagi Formation were largely removed by erosion in the northern part of the paleovalley system, but thickened and then thinned south of the ESE faults. Pyrite and detrital gold in the Mississagi Formation may have been concentrated from reworking of coarse clastic rocks of the Matinenda and Ramsay Lake formations, along with significant contributions from erosion of proximal Archean basement within 3–5 km of the preserved basin margins. There is strong evidence to suggest that stream flow was initially concentrated in three main structurally influenced valley systems in the north, with one lateral tributary in the south-eastern part of the basin. The fluvial systems merged, and thickened, south of the Tee Lake fault, possibly reflecting trans-tensional influences on the basin margin faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly assumed that the gradients of pre-vegetation fluvial systems were greater than those of modern rivers. If the measured thickness of crossbeds is first corrected for post-depositional compaction, using thin-section-based observations, the corrected thickness data can be applied to a new suite of formulae, based on observations of >4000 modern rivers, to provide more realistic paleohydrological reconstructions of ancient river systems. Using this approach, after correction for 36% compaction, the average slope of the rivers that deposited the Mississagi Formation was calculated as 0.0013 m/m (0.0005–0.0026), with an average bankfull channel depth of 2.67 m. The slope of Serpent Formation rivers, after correction for 33.5% compaction, averaged 0.0007 m/m (0.0003–0.0016), with an average bankfull channel depth of 5.85 m. The calculation of slopes using this approach on these Paleoproterozoic and other Precambrian systems indicates that primary river gradients were similar to modern rivers, falling well below the "depositional gap", of 0.007–0.026 m/m, between modern rivers and arid-region fans, negating the long-held idea that pre-vegetation rivers had higher slopes than their modern counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

New U–Pb zircon geochronology identifies a latest Triassic (ca 214–201 Ma) igneous suite of tuff, hypabyssal dikes, and a pluton on the southern Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The igneous suite was emplaced within Upper Triassic sedimentary rocks along the southern margin of Western Wrangellia, the western-most fragment of the Wrangellia composite terrane. The igneous rocks range from mafic (50.6% SiO2) to felsic (78.3% SiO2), characteristically have less than 1.55% K2O, and generally have low trace element abundances. The tonalitic and trondhjemitic magmas were largely sourced in mafic-rich lower crust and incompletely assimilated quartz and other mineral xenocrysts are common. Fractionation involving plagioclase and amphibole is indicated for some magmas and composite intrusions and igneous xenoliths indicate magma mixing was possible. Paleozoic and Precambrian inherited zircons and initial 87Sr/86Sr (0.704103–0.705609) and 143Nd/144Nd (0.512396–0.512777) ratios indicate that the Western Wrangellia crustal sources are heterogeneous and contain sialic components. The latest Triassic magmatism reflects processes that preceded Early Jurassic subduction along the Wrangellia composite terrane and Pacific Ocean plate boundary. These processes involved heating and melting of mantle lithosphere and lower crust as mantle instabilities accompanied the breaking of the plate boundary linkages. The Late Triassic transition to subduction along the Wrangellia composite terrane margin coincided with the transition to subduction cessation in the Late Triassic arcs of the western Intermontane terranes of Canada. The shift to subduction along the outboard Wrangellia composite terrane margin marks the beginning of the Pacific Ocean–Cordillera plate interactions that came to dominate the tectonic evolution of the northern Cordillera from the Early Jurassic to today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mount Grace metamorphosed carbonatites (Late Devonian) outcrop as thin (0.5–4 m), laterally discontinuous, strata-bound mappable lenses within the Monashee complex of the southeastern Canadian Cordillera. The host stratigraphic sequence (Monashee cover gneiss) was metamorphosed and deformed in the Late Cretaceous to early Eocene followed immediately by exhumation of the Frenchman Cap and Thor Odin domes. We present seven stratigraphic logs for Mount Grace carbonatites including new and previously described outcroppings spanning ∼30 km. The Mount Grace carbonatite units were deposited regionally within or near the top of a shallow marine sedimentary sequence within miogeoclinal strata of the western margin of paleo-North America (Laurentia). The distribution of the Mount Grace carbonatite lithofacies and the preserved depositional structures and textures suggest that these are pyroclastic deposits resulting from phreatomagmatic eruptions. Our new data enhance the volcanological story with an eruption scenario involving phreatomagmatic reactions and deposition from pyroclastic density currents, sourced from multiple centers within a field of monogenetic maar volcanoes. The distribution of the Mount Grace carbonatites parallel to the western margin of the paleo-North American continent correlates well with regional Late Devonian alkaline magmatism associated with development of an extensional back-arc basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using new and published data, we synthesize the tectonic evolution of the Ottawa River Gneiss Complex (ORGC), the metamorphic core and detachment zone of a large mid- to late-Ottawan metamorphic core complex in the western Grenville Province. Field and petrologic data indicative of retrogression and exhumation, combined with maps and schematic crustal-scale sections, are used to document spatial and temporal relationships of multi-scale structures developed during its formation, of which the largest, termed mega-cross-folds and megaboudins, occur within and define the detachment zone. Mega-cross-folds, orogen-normal structures up to 70 km in length with coaxial constrictional fabrics in their hinge-lines, formed in a single phase of deformation during retrogression and exhumation. A cluster of asymmetric megaboudins, individually from 10–50 km long with granulite-facies cores and high-strain amphibolite-facies rims, similarly formed during syntectonic retrogression and exhumation of granulite-facies precursors. We argue the mega-cross-folds developed in a regime of regional transtension, whereas the megaboudin cluster formed by extensional inversion of an anastomosing early-Ottawan thrust system, with the strain patterns of both suggesting the detachment zone was the site of intense ductile flow between the stronger metamorphic core and cover. Comparison of these results with generic numerical models of extensional collapse of overthickened continental crust suggests the first-order tectonometamorphic features of the ORGC developed during necking of the upper crust and associated large-scale extensional flow of the mid and lower crust into the domiform necked region during collapse of the early-Ottawan thrust stack. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mines Gaspé area hosts multiple Cu–Mo skarn and porphyry orebodies near the town of Murdochville in the northeastern part of the Gaspé Peninsula, Québec. The orebodies occur within overlapping alteration aureoles in calcareous Lower Devonian sedimentary rocks. The strata are intruded by numerous multiphase porphyry sills, dykes, and plugs of Devonian age. The Porphyry Mountain intrusion and a sill in the Copper Mountain pit have been dated at 378.80 ± 0.37 and 377.60 ± 0.45 Ma, respectively, refining the results of previous studies, and demonstrating Porphyry Mountain intrusion emplacement at least 0.38 m.y. before Copper Mountain. Circa 392 Ma inherited zircon grains at Mines Gaspé suggest an early phase of magmatism that produced the extensive skarn alteration aureoles throughout the Gaspé Peninsula at sites such as Mines Gaspé and the nearby McGerrigle Complex, followed by significantly later (>10 m.y.) porphyritic intrusions and associated mineralization that added to existing skarn resources. Epidote at both Mines Gaspé and Sullipek occur as disseminated/granular crystals within the host groundmass and as larger crystals within veinlets or veinlet halos in metasomatised sedimentary rocks. Epidote ages suggest that there are several different propylitic hydrothermal events within the region at Mines Gaspé and Sullipek, which combined with new zircon U–Pb ages implies a prolonged and complex history of propylitic alteration within Gaspésie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insights into the source and partial melting conditions of tonalite–trondhjemite–granodiorite (TTG) intrusive suites provide essential constraints on the tectonic regimes prevailing before 2.5 Ga. As case studies on individual suites increase, the TTG group becomes more heterogeneous, offering detailed insights into the evolution of the Archean crust. This study focuses on the La Dauversière pluton, a TTG suite in the Chibougamau area, Abitibi greenstone belt, Canada, to unravel complex differentiation processes in a pluton with a relatively limited volume. According to whole-rock and zircon chemistry, the La Dauversière pluton is a TTG suite that contains less Na and light rare earth elements (LREE) than other TTG suites of the Abitibi greenstone belt. Whole-rock chemistry and melt inclusions in zircon also point to an atypical fractional crystallization process that favors K enrichment, contrasting with the Na enrichment trends observed in most TTG suites globally. Magma hybridization, with late magma pulses interacting with early phases partially crystallized at depth, likely explains the chemistry of the La Dauversière pluton. The source of these magmas differs from the basaltic source that gave rise to most TTG suites of the Abitibi greenstone belt, possibly because older basement occurs in the Chibougamau area and is lacking in the rest of the greenstone belt. The La Dauversière pluton underscores the importance of interpreting the petrogenesis of individual TTG suites before inferring global source processes and geodynamic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a larger project identifying and directly radiocarbon dating Late Pleistocene megafaunal remains in British Columbia (B.C.), Canada, we have confirmed the identity of many newly identified mammoth (Mammuthus sp.) specimens (n = 32) from Vancouver Island in Southwestern B.C. We undertook radiocarbon dating on all specimens and were able to obtain dates (due to preservation) on 16 of these remains, including redating a previously dated mammoth using newer radiocarbon extraction methods. The mammoth dates span a wide range, from >47 500 to 18 000 radiocarbon years B.P. (uncalibrated). These later new dates support other lines of evidence for portions of Vancouver Island remaining ice-free until well into the Fraser Glaciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specimens of a small bellerophontid mollusc, considered conspecific with Planorbis bilobatus Conrad 1839 from coeval strata in New York State, were recovered from the Grimsby Formation (lower Llandovery, lower Silurian), exposed in the Niagara Escarpment of western Hamilton, Ontario. Because Conrad's species name is pre-occupied and is a secondary homonym, the new material is assigned to Tritonophon grimsbyensis n. sp. As Conrad's original specimens are lost and where he collected them is unknown, a neotype from the Grimsby Formation is designated. These bellerophonts are preserved as casts on the soles of thin, fine-grained, sandstone beds interbedded with shale. These beds are probably tempestites Most are juvenile forms oriented on their sides, but in some beds adults with a widely expanded aperture are oriented aperture-down. Some specimens exhibit a V-shaped sinus on the median lobe, which is rarely preserved in Silurian examples. The aperture-down orientation suggests that this was the stable position during gentle wave action as well as probably their life position. Beds containing only juveniles may be evidence that the bellerophonts occasionally experienced a population boom but then were killed off during the storm event. Fine-grained sandstone fills the shell interiors, likely emplaced during wave-induced agitation. However, the shell walls are cast in mudstone, indicating that they dissolved during shallow burial and mud was pumped into the moulds. This may have been aided by episodic ground motion due to earthquakes that mobilized the adjacent sediment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mesoproterozoic Frontenac terrane in the southern Grenville Province of Ontario is separated by shear zones from the Composite Arc Belt to the west and the Adirondack Lowlands to the east. The majority of the terrane is made up of granulite-facies metasedimentary rocks that are the oldest lithologies recognized in the terrane. Five samples were selected for U–Pb geochronology to constrain (1) metamorphic age, (2) depositional age of sedimentary protoliths, and (3) source regions of detrital zircon. Two pelitic gneisses and a marble are dominated by metamorphic zircon, whereas two quartzites contain a diverse population of detrital zircon that are surrounded by metamorphic overgrowths. Metamorphic zircon have 206Pb/207Pb ages of 1.19–1.16 Ga, and a small population is 1.22 Ga. These ages correspond to the Shawinigan and Elzevirian orogenies and provide minimum ages for deposition. The youngest detrital grains with ages of 1.25–1.24 Ga provide maximum depositional ages. Quartzites (and pelitic gneisses) have a wide range of detrital zircon ages that reflect local Mesoproterozoic Grenville sources and Paleoproterzoic and Archean sources in the northern Grenville Province and elsewhere in Laurentia. Most notable is a large population of 1.9–1.8 Ga zircon, which points towards derivation from the Penokean orogen in the midcontinent or Makkovikian–Ketilidian orogen of Labrador and Greenland, indicating long sedimentary transport distances. The similarities in depositional ages and detrital zircon ages between Frontenac terrane and Adirondack metasedimentary rocks suggest a shared sedimentary history, which we interpret as deposition in the same Trans-Adirondack backarc basin at ca. 1.25 Ga. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dale Russell described the osteology, morphology, and ecology of the small theropod 'Stenonychosaurus inequalis' in two papers, speculating on its life habits, brain power, vision, movement, feeding, and hand capabilities. Russell even pondered a tool-using dinosauroid, the hypothetical troodontid descendant if the lineage had survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. We revisit the life habits of the North American troodontids Troodon formosus and Latenivenatrix mcmasterae in part by reviewing various trace fossils of T. formosus discovered in Montana. These fossils include egg clutches, a nest, and recently discovered regurgitalites. We also contemplate the possibility of dinosaur tool use. Troodon likely constructed earthen nests in the same way that ratites and other birds did to create their nesting scrapes through backward hindlimb kicks. The more complex clutch architecture suggests dexterous movement of the eggs, potentially requiring manual manipulation. Functionally, reproductive traces support elevated body temperatures and a metabolic output that approach but do not equal that of modern birds. Brooding would require very high energy investment from the adult. The regurgitalites largely contain multi-individual aggregations of the marsupialiform Alphadon and support Russell's hypotheses of troodontids as crepuscular to nocturnal, intelligent, small game hunters with elevated metabolism and enhanced vision. Tool use in a few crocodilians and widely among extant birds suggests a reasonable possibility of this behavior in nonavian dinosaurs. Whether an avian-comparable encephalization quotient and freed forelimbs would make North American troodontids good candidates for exhibiting such behavior remains an open and speculative question. However, given the minimal modification made to tools by modern archosaurs, recognition of fossil tools poses a challenging problem. Key words: Troodon, troodontid, reproduction, encephalization quotient, regurgitalites, gastric pellets, trace fossils, tool use, physiology. Dale Russell a decrit l'osteologie, la morphologie et l'ecologie du petit theropode [much less than] Stenonychosaurus inequalis [much greater than] dans deux articles, emettant des hypotheses sur ses habitudes de vie, ses capacites cerebrales, sa vision, ses deplacements, son alimentation et sa dexterite. Il a meme envisage un dinosauroide se servant d'outils, ledescendant hypothetiquede troodontides, si cette lignee devait avoir survecu a l'extinction du Cretace-Paleogene. Nous reexaminons les habitudes de vie des troodontides nord-americains Troodon formosus et Latenivenatrix mcmasterae en partie par l'examen de differents ichnofossiles de T. formosus decouverts au Montana. Ceux-ci comprennent des pontes, un nid et des regurgitalites decouvertes recemment. Nous considerons egalement la possibilite d'utilisation d'outils par des dinosaures. Les Troodon construisaient vraisemblablement des nids de terre a l'instar de ratites ou autres oiseaux qui font leurs nids en creusant la terre par des coups de leurs membres posterieurs vers l'arriere. L'architecture complexe des pontes semble indiquer une grande dexterite pour deplacer les ceufs, necessitant potentiellement une manipulation manuelle. Du point de vue fonctionnel, les ichnofossiles associes a la reproduction appuient l'interpretation de temperatures elevees du corps et d'un metabolisme s'approchant de celui des oiseaux modernes, sans toutefois l'egaler. La couvaison aurait requis un tres grand investissement energetique des adultes. Les regurgitalites contiennent principalement des agregations de restes de plusieurs individus du marsupialiforme Alphadon et appuient les hypotheses de Dale Russell selon lesquelles les troodontides etaient des chasseurs crepusculaires a nocturnes et intelligents de petit gibier caracterises par un metabolisme eleve et une excellente vue. L'utilisation d'outils chez quelques crocodiliens et tres repandue chez les oiseaux actuels laisse entrevoir une possibilite raisonnable d'un tel comportement chez des dinosaures non aviens. La question a savoir si un quotient d'encephalisation semblable a celui des oiseaux et des membres anterieurs liberes pourraient faire des troodontides nord-americains des bons candidats pour presenter un tel comportement demeure ouverte et hypothetique. Etant donne le peu de modifications apportees aux outils par les archosaures modernes, la reconnaissance d'outils fossiles constitue un defi problematique. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: Troodon, troodontides, reproduction, quotient d'encephalisation, regurgitalites, boulettes gastriques, ichnofossiles, utilisation d'outils, physiologie., Introduction Dale Russell summarized the osteology, morphology, and ecology of the troodontid dinosaur 'Stenonychosaurus inequalis' in two papers (Russell 1969; Russell and Seguin 1982). In the first paper, Russell (1969) [...]

Three new fossil mayfly (Ephemeroptera) larvae from the Redmond Formation (Cenomanian) of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, are described: Alatuscapillus icarus gen. et sp. nov. (family Oligoneuriidae), Cruscolli sheppardae gen. et sp. nov. (family Heptageniidae), and Protoligoneuria borealis sp. nov. (family Hexagenitidae). This discovery marks the first juvenile insect nymphs to be described from this formation and helps fill gaps in our understanding of the global and temporal distribution of mayflies during the Cretaceous period. Of these, C. sheppardae marks the oldest occurrence of the family Heptageniidae in the fossil record, while A. icarus and P. borealis mark the first fossil occurrences of the families Oligoneuriidae and Hexagenitidae in North America. The anatomy, preservation, and behaviour of these new mayfly species inferred from modern taxa consolidate the hypothesis that the Redmond Formation's palaeoenvironment was lacustrine in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous oral traditions of the Líl̓wat Nation recount observations of Qw̓elqw̓elústen (Mount Meager), a Garibaldi Volcanic Belt volcano in southwestern British Columbia, Canada; and associated eruptive activity, mass-wasting, and outburst flooding. We present Líl̓wat observations relating to Qw̓elqw̓elústen's ∼2360 cal year B.P. eruption and its aftermath, a devastating outburst flood down the Lillooet valley. The Copper Canoe story correlates with the event sequence of pyroclastic damming of the Lillooet River and an outburst flood traveling far downstream, interrupting salmon runs and displacing people. Other stories suggest an eruptive plume and fumaroles. Recounted valley-floor changes, with proximal scouring and downstream filling of marshes allowing human resettlement, closely parallel and augment geological evidence, showing that oral traditions are equally important in holding landscape history. Oral traditions portray dramatic landscape changes, some by the Transformers, said to have traveled this land to make imperfect things right. Geologically documented debris-flow delta progradation and infill of the upper 50 km of Lillooet Lake since ∼12 000 cal B.P. underscore the land's dynamism and the need for both sources to inform planning for future eruptive, mass-wasting, and flooding events. Traditional landscape knowledge, like Western science, is observational and evidence-based, though interpretations can differ given Indigenous belief in a sentient landscape, capable of acting with intention. Binding of stories to geographical locations has functioned as a powerful mnemonic device to preserve orally transmitted information across many generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dinosaur skeletal material from the mid-Cretaceous of Canada is rare; however, the Cenomanian-aged Dunvegan Formation of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta is rich with ichnofossils attributed to nodosaurid ankylosaurs. A long bone (Hudson's Hope Museum specimen HH 2017.010.002) collected in 1993 from the Murray River of northeastern British Columbia is identified here as an ankylosaur femur. Femoral measurements of the bone plotted against femoral measurements of major dinosaur clades, combined with observations on femoral features, indicate that the bone belongs to an ankylosaur. The specimen is too damaged to assign to Nodosauridae or Ankylosauridae. HH 2017.010.002 represents the first limb bone material recovered from the Dunvegan Formation; previous ankylosaur material described from the Dunvegan Formation includes associated vertebrae and ribs from British Columbia and osteoderms from Alberta, as well as the presumed nodosaurid footprints Tetrapodosaurus borealis Sternberg, 1932. The Cenomanian is a time of great ecological change in North America, including the possible extirpation of ankylosaurid ankylosaurs. Fossils from the Dunvegan Formation can thus yield important insight into the responses of fauna to this major transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Laird Lake property, southwest Red Lake greenstone belt, straddles the contact between the Balmer (2.99–2.96 Ga) and the Confederation (2.74–2.73 Ga) assemblages. The property is 10 km along strike from the Madsen and Starrat–Olsen Au mines that are hosted near the contact. The Balmer assemblage consists of fine-grained, aphyric, locally pillowed mafic volcanic rocks, ultramafic intrusive and volcanic rocks with flow breccia textures hosting local spinifex-bearing clasts, and banded-iron formations. In contrast, the Confederation assemblage comprises porphyritic mafic volcanic rocks intercalated with intermediate to felsic volcanic rocks that include crystal lapilli tuffs, crystal tuffs, and tuffs. The Balmer assemblage is composed of tholeiitic mafic volcanic rocks with minor Al-undepleted komatiites, whereas the Confederation assemblage is calc–alkalic. Neodymium isotopes, in conjunction with trace element geochemistry, suggests that parts of the Balmer assemblage were weakly contaminated by an older intermediate basement. Both arc and back-arc volcanism occurs in the Confederation assemblage, with the arc rocks showing a stronger crustal component than the back-arc rocks. A maximum U–Pb age of 2741 ± 19 Ma for a crystal tuff and an age of 2737.68 ± 0.79 Ma for a diorite are consistent with a Confederation assemblage affinity for the intermediate calc–alkaline rocks south of the Au-bearing horizon. The Balmer assemblage represents an oceanic plateau formed by plume magmatism on the margins of the North Caribou Terrane, whereas the Confederation assemblage at Laird Lake formed in an oceanic arc setting where both arc and back-arc volcanism occurred simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canoe Reach is a region of high geothermal potential on a segment of the Southern Rocky Mountain Trench fault (SRMTF) with highly metamorphosed and structurally complex wall rocks, near Valemount, British Columbia. This study contains analyses of magnetotelluric data collected at Canoe Reach accounting for electrical anisotropy, which is not often considered during geothermal exploration. Isotropic and anisotropic 3D inversions are used due to signs of electrical anisotropy in the Canoe Reach magnetotelluric data and the presence of visibly anisotropic geological structure. At Canoe Reach North, the anisotropic model is preferred for its simpler structure and consistency with the mapped geology. An anisotropic feature in the footwall of the steeply southwest-dipping SRMTF has a low resistivity in the fault-perpendicular direction and a high resistivity in the vertical direction, which is more easily explained by conductive minerals than by fluids in the highly metamorphosed gneiss. An exploration well in the SRMTF footwall encountered two graphite seams with thicknesses ≥1 m, supporting the interpretation of anisotropic resistivity due to conductive minerals. A strong resistivity contrast across the SRMTF suggests juxtaposition of different lithologies, challenging existing interpretations of SRMTF displacement at Canoe Reach. At Canoe Reach South, anisotropic features near the Canoe River thermal spring with a high resistivity in the fault-perpendicular direction and low resistivity in the vertical direction are consistent with fault core and damage zone models. Magnetotelluric data may be sensitive to permeability anisotropy of fault zones, and the use of electrically anisotropic inversions should be considered for these settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detrital chromite is currently accumulating in the wave-influenced gravel-dominated shoreface of eastern Port au Port Bay of western Newfoundland adjacent to the mouth of Fox Island River. Chromium (Cr) concentrations of up to 7485 ppm occur in modern cross-bedded shallow marine gravel and pebbly sand facies sourced from rapidly eroding coastal cliffs cut in a lateglacial and early postglacial fan delta and raised beach facies. These sediments fill a broad coastal embayment and were deposited by a glacially influenced Fox Island River during a phase of low relative sea level following final deglaciation of the Newfoundland Ice Cap between approximately 13 700 years B.P. (ybp) and 9500 ybp. Since then, coastal outcrops of these raised sediments have undergone rapid erosion in response to ongoing postglacial sea level rise outpacing the rate of crustal recovery. Geochemical analysis of 1149 sediment samples across the entire Fox Island River watershed identifies relatively low Cr concentrations (maximum 1860 ppm) in glacial and fluvial sediments, including those areas adjacent to chromite-bearing rocks of the Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex. Conversely, uplifted lateglacial shallow marine gravels and associated raised beach/nearshore deposits along the coast show elevated Cr concentrations up to 5400 ppm, highlighting the importance of marine concentration of glacially derived sediment during deglaciation. At the present day, chromite-bearing lateglacial sediment is being reworked and transported southwards by shore-parallel littoral currents resulting in reconcentration of Cr within a nearshore placer about 8 km long and 2 km wide, though the deposit may be more extensive offshore where it is likely covered by transgressive marine muds. The glacial and postglacial history of the Port au Port Bay area was widely replicated in other areas of ultrabasic rock along the western coast of Newfoundland and the results of this investigation may aid the search for other nearshore glacially influenced marine placers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alkalic magmatism occurred in the Selwyn Basin, Yukon, Canada throughout the Paleozoic, concurrent with extension during passive margin sedimentation. To examine magmatism associated with this extension, geochemical data were obtained from several locations in the Selwyn Basin (MacMillan Pass, Anvil District, Keno Hill, and the Misty Creek Embayment). Volcanic rocks from the Anvil District and the Misty Creek Embayment are dominated by alkalic basalts with light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched geochemical signatures, whereas metavolcanic and dike samples from Keno Hill comprise subalkaline basalts with enriched mid-ocean ridge basalt (E-MORB) signatures. The Early Ordovician Menzie Creek volcanic rocks of the Anvil District display trace element geochemical signatures intermediate between ocean island basalt (OIB) and E-MORB, whereas the Middle–Late Ordovician volcanic rocks from the Misty Creek Embayment have OIB signatures. Differences in the trace element geochemistry of the sample suites are attributed to the degree of partial melting. The Menzie Creek volcanic rocks formed from large volume melts of enriched mantle that diluted incompatible element signatures in the Early Ordovician. Late Ordovician magmatism produced the Misty Creek Embayment samples, where restricted melt volumes of an enriched mantle source resulted in the most enriched samples geochemically. The Keno Hill samples represent the shallowest melting of the analysed samples and may have resulted from melting of heterogenous subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Magmatic zircons from a Keno Hill metavolcanic sample analysed by chemical abrasion thermal ionization mass spectrometry resulted in a primary deposition age of c. 296 ± 0.36 Ma (Early Permian), during a period with little magmatism in the Selwyn Basin and representing a previously unknown unit in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are numerous Neoarchean metasedimentary rock packages in the Slave craton, and they serve as important archives of tectonic processes. Little is documented on the Neoarchean sedimentary packages of the Winter Lake greenstone belt of the central Slave craton, however, and their interpretation can aid in the understanding of the final stages of Slave craton amalgamation. This project investigates the depositional environments and tectonic settings of the Itchen Formation and Sherpa Formation of the Winter Lake greenstone belt. Our study provides constraints for reconstructing the Neoarchean evolution of the central Slave craton through bedrock mapping and facies analysis. The Itchen Formation consists of submature mudstone, siltstone, and sandstone, with preserved graded bedding, planar bedding, and flame structures. Unconformably overlying the Itchen Formation is the Sherpa Formation, which is dominated by polymictic conglomerates and coarse-grained sandstones with preserved cross-bedding, imbricated clasts, and scour surfaces. The Itchen Formation is interpreted to have been deposited in a convergent basin (i.e., retro-arc foreland basin), where two facies associations outline turbidite and suspension sedimentation consistent with submarine fan deposition on a continental slope and a basin floor environment. By contrast, the Sherpa Formation has three facies associations representing dominantly alluvial–fluvial environments in terrestrial–marine–lacustrine settings deposited in pull-apart basins resulting from transtensional forces associated with the Beniah fault zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several unconformities have been previously recognized in the Late Ordovician and early Silurian strata of southern Ontario. We examined the Georgian Bay, Queenston, Whirlpool, Manitoulin, Power Glen, and Cabot Head formations and associated unconformities. Detailed sequence stratigraphic and chemostratigraphic analysis of Late Ordovician and early Silurian outcrops between Niagara, New York, and Manitoulin Island, Ontario, reveals new insights on the timing of the erosional unconformities and the Ordovician–Silurian boundary. We recognize three significant lowstand unconformities in this interval, which are referred to as the Cherokee, S1B, and S2 unconformities. Additional small-scale surfaces are present but do not reflect any major change in sea level or pause in sedimentation. Using δ13Ccarb chemostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy, we tentatively correlate units and the mentioned unconformities from southern Ontario to other eastern North American sections of comparable age, showing how glacioeustasy had a widespread effect on the deposition and removal of strata in far-field, subtropical basins. The Cherokee unconformity appears to be a composite erosion surface found across eastern North America that formed during the two or more episodes of glacioeustatic sea level fall in the early to middle Hirnantian. The overlying S1B and S2 unconformities can also be found across eastern North America and appear to be the result of glacioeustatic sea level falls occurring during the early Silurian. These new insights on the timing of erosional unconformities help better constrain the placement of the Ordovician/Silurian boundary in Ontario. It appears that the boundary does not correspond to a lowstand-related disconformity as previously suggested but can be tentatively placed within the Power Glen or lower Cabot Head formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geometry and depth of the Moho beneath the Northern Canadian Cordillera and adjacent North American craton are modeled through the application of both cokriging and 3-D inversion of gravity data, integrated with sparse seismic depth estimates. Models require a regional density correction, with lower densities beneath the Cordillera than the craton. The lower densities are primarily attributed to a reduction in upper mantle density, ascribed to thermal expansion under regionally higher temperatures. The eastern margin of this low-density zone is broadly aligned with the rapid westward shallowing of the lithospheric–asthenospheric boundary. From the Cordillera to the North American craton, the Moho is broadly flat at a depth of ∼32 km. A zone of deeper Moho (up to ∼38 km) beneath the Mistry Creek embayment has a modeled mantle density that is of a colder cratonic signature, akin to the Mackenzie craton, and is interpreted to represent the preserved remnants of an old rift basin that is a local focus of the diffuse seismicity. Southeast of the Fort Norman structure, seismicity is broadly focused along the eastern edge of the low-density zone. Major structures such as the Denali and Tintina faults, with 100's km of right-lateral displacement, separate zones of higher and lower upper mantle density, supporting the interpretation of their continuation into the upper mantle. Within the North American craton, upper mantle density steadily increases toward the Great Bear magmatic zone but increases more rapidly beneath the Slave craton in tangent with a deepening of the Moho. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sheep Creek prospect is a stratabound Zn–Pb–Ag–Sn massive sulfide occurrence in the Bonnifield mining district, northern Alaska Range. The prospect is within a quartz–sericite–graphite–chlorite schist unit associated with Devonian carbonaceous and siliceous metasedimentary rocks. Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits in the district are hosted in felsic metavolcanic rocks (362 ± 2 Ma) associated with siliciclastic and carbonaceous sedimentary rocks that overlie the stratigraphic sequence hosting the Sheep Creek prospect. Felsic metaigneous rocks in underlying units are 372 ± 4 to 366 ± 4 Ma. Sheep Creek is atypical of the other sulfide deposits in the district in (1) having Sn grades up to 1.2%; (2) being contained in fine-grained, quartz-rich rocks and quartz–pebble conglomerate that likely originated as chert and chert-clast sediment, respectively; and (3) showing minimal evidence of volcanic components in the host rocks. Comparison of immobile trace-element proportions for graphitic and siliceous rocks from the Sheep Creek area with those for argillite associated with the Bonnifield VMS deposits indicates a continental volcanic-arc provenance for the former and a within-plate and passive margin provenance for the latter. In contrast to previously published interpretations, our data analysis supports a clastic-dominated (CD) rather than a VMS affinity for the Sheep Creek prospect. In our model, Zn–Pb–Ag–Sn mineralization formed by syngenetic or early diagenetic processes on or beneath the seafloor, possibly in the shallow-water environment of an outer continental shelf setting. Potential analogues are the Paleozoic CD deposits in the Canadian Selwyn Basin outboard of the Laurentian continental margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Laurentide Ice Sheet's (LIS) interior had a dynamic polythermal base, but the spatiotemporal variations of subglacial processes related to ice divide migration and other transient changes remain largely unknown, limiting our understanding of regional glacial dynamics. Previous studies focused on the regional glacial landform record, while ice sheet models lacked detailed parameterization within these regions, leading to an overestimation of cold-based subglacial conditions' extent and duration. In this study, glacial sediment dispersal patterns as identified by heavy minerals, clasts, and multivariate statistics of till matrix geochemistry were used to assess ice sheet dynamics within the Quebec–Labrador sector of the LIS. The earliest ice-flow phase produced and transported till across the study area (>175 km). However, major oxide data from till matrix geochemistry show a correlation with underlying bedrock, and this relationship is relatively common in areas of thin till cover and resistant bedrock lithologies. These results suggest a switch from an early phase of widespread erosion and long, sustained sediment transport to one of more limited erosion, perhaps abrasion dominant and shorter transport. Till compositional data and related dispersal patterns add supporting evidence to earlier ice sheet reconstructions based on ice-flow indicators and 10Be data together suggesting a transition from widespread uniform warm-based conditions during the earliest ice flow, followed by the development of an ice divide, its migration, and more sporadic warm-based conditions. Consequently, a thorough understanding of ice-flow history is essential for ice sheet modelling and future mineral exploration programs in inner ice sheet regions of the LIS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geologic history of the Western Tianshan region is important for understanding the evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt and accretionary orogenesis. Paleozoic and Mesozoic igneous rocks are present along the northern margin of the Yili Block; however, studies of Paleozoic subduction and collisional events have been relatively limited. Published geochronologies of Middle Devonian magmatic rocks in this region are also lacking. Therefore, this study analyzed the zircon U–Pb ages and major and trace elemental compositions of three granite types collected from Biezhentao Mountain (Wenquan County, Western Tianshan). The medium-grained diorite (384.1 ± 3.6 Ma) and diorite–porphyrite (382 ± 3.2 Ma) are silica-rich, weakly peraluminous, alkali-rich, enriched in large-ion lithophile elements, depleted in high field strength elements, and belong to the calc–alkaline series, with A-type granite characteristics. The monzogranite (423.3 ± 9.4 Ma) exhibits A-type granite characteristics and belongs to the peraluminous calc–alkaline series. The findings suggest that the granitoids recorded two stages of tectonomagmatism during the Middle Devonian–Late Silurian. The Middle Devonian medium-grained diorite and diorite–porphyrite formed in a back-arc extensional setting, whereas the Late Silurian monzogranite formed in an active continental margin setting during the subduction of the North Tianshan Ocean. These results provide insights into the tectonic and magmatic processes that occurred during the evolution of the Western Tianshan region and the formation and evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dale Russell described the osteology, morphology, and ecology of the small theropod "Stenonychosaurus inequalis" in two papers, speculating on its life habits, brain power, vision, movement, feeding, and hand capabilities. Russell even pondered a tool-using dinosauroid, the hypothetical troodontid descendant if the lineage had survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. We revisit the life habits of the North American troodontids Troodon formosus and Latenivenatrix mcmasterae in part by reviewing various trace fossils of T. formosus discovered in Montana. These fossils include egg clutches, a nest, and recently discovered regurgitalites. We also contemplate the possibility of dinosaur tool use. Troodon likely constructed earthen nests in the same way that ratites and other birds did to create their nesting scrapes through backward hindlimb kicks. The more complex clutch architecture suggests dexterous movement of the eggs, potentially requiring manual manipulation. Functionally, reproductive traces support elevated body temperatures and a metabolic output that approach but do not equal that of modern birds. Brooding would require very high energy investment from the adult. The regurgitalites largely contain multi-individual aggregations of the marsupialiform Alphadon and support Russell's hypotheses of troodontids as crepuscular to nocturnal, intelligent, small game hunters with elevated metabolism and enhanced vision. Tool use in a few crocodilians and widely among extant birds suggests a reasonable possibility of this behavior in nonavian dinosaurs. Whether an avian-comparable encephalization quotient and freed forelimbs would make North American troodontids good candidates for exhibiting such behavior remains an open and speculative question. However, given the minimal modification made to tools by modern archosaurs, recognition of fossil tools poses a challenging problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For sheer complexity, braincases are generally considered anatomically conservative. However, recent research on the braincases of tyrannosaurids have revealed extensive morphological variations. This line of inquiry has its root in Dale Russell's review of tyrannosaurids in which he established Daspletosaurus torosus — a large tyrannosaurine from the Campanian of southern Alberta. In the wake of systematic revisions to tyrannosaurines previously assigned to Daspletosaurus, one potentially distinct species remains undescribed. This paper describes and compares a braincase referable to this species with that of the holotype for Daspletosaurustorosus using computerized-tomography-based reconstructions. The two braincases have numerous differences externally and internally. The specimen of Daspletosaurus sp. has a bottlenecked olfactory tract, short and vertical lagena, and a developed ascending column of the anterior tympanic recess. The holotype of Daspletosaurus torosus has many unusual traits, including an anteriorly positioned trochlear root, elongate common carotid canal, distinct chamber of the basisphenoid recess, asymmetry in the internal basipterygoid aperture, and laterally reduced but medially expanded subcondylar recess. This comparison also identified characters that potentially unite the two species of Daspletosaurus, including deep midbrain flexures in the endocasts. However, many character variations in the braincases are known in other tyrannosaurids to correlate with body size and maturity, or represent individual variations. Therefore, taxonomic and phylogenetic signals can be isolated from background variations in a more comprehensive approach by using additional specimens. New information on the two braincases of Daspletosaurus is consistent with the emerging view of tyrannosaurid braincases as highly variable, ontogenetically dynamic character complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)