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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.)

In the Archean Blake River Group, mafic to intermediate fragmental units have controversially been proposed to have formed during the collapse of a giant submarine caldera. This paper describes and interprets these rocks, summarizing their physical characteristics, inferred origins, age relationships, and geochemical signatures. The widespread Stadacona member, south of Rouyn-Noranda, consists of several hundred metres of bedded volcaniclastic rocks interpreted to have been mostly deposited from aqueous density currents fed directly by explosive eruptions. The magmas involved in these eruptions were plagioclase-phyric, tholeiitic to transitional basalts. The similarly widespread D'Alembert tuff, in the northern part of the Blake River Group, shares many physical characteristics with the Stadacona member and is thought to have a similar origin. However, the D'Alembert tuff is approximately six million years younger than the Stadacona member. It is composed mostly of transitional to calc-alkaline andesites and basaltic andesites with very distinct trace element profiles. Volcaniclastic rocks from other areas, such as Tannahill Township in Ontario and the Monsabrais area in Quebec, are interpreted to represent mostly in situ to remobilized hyaloclastite, with no explosive eruptions involved in their genesis. Our observations and interpretations are not compatible with models in which the volcaniclastic units are emplaced during a catastrophic event in relation with the collapse of a giant caldera. Instead, the fragmental rocks were produced by various mechanisms at many distinct times during the evolution of the Blake River Group. [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.)

A basal sequence of flood basalt lavas associated with the Neoproterozoic Midcontinent rift system crops out in Alona Bay along the southeastern shore of Lake Superior in Ontario. The Alona Bay lava succession is about 1200 m thick and lies just north of the well-studied, contemporaneous Mamainse Point Formation. Detailed chemostratigraphy of the Alona Bay lavas suggests they are grossly correlative with the basal portion of the Mamainse Point Formation. For instance, like the basal part of Mamainse Point Formation, the Alona Bay section contains numerous high-MgO lavas and can be subdivided into 4–5 groups with distinct chemical characteristics. Chemical variations within the Alona Bay groups are largely the result of fractional crystallization, likely at moderate pressures. One small group of Alona Bay lavas also carries the compositional imprint of crustal contamination. The remaining inter-group chemical distinctions at Alona Bay are the consequence of temporal changes in partial melting and source character. With time and development of the Midcontinent rift, degrees of melting increased; mean pressures of melting decreased, reducing garnet control; and lithospheric source contributions waned. Similar temporal variations during flood basalt evolution have been documented elsewhere.Une séquence basale de laves de basaltes des plateaux associée au système de rift mi-continental (Néoprotérozoïque) affleure dans la baie d'Alona, le long de la rive sud-est du lac Supérieur en Ontario. La succession de laves de la baie d'Alona a une épaisseur d'environ 1200 m et elle se trouve juste au nord de la Formation de Mamainse Point qui lui est contemporaine et qui a été bien étudiée. Une chimiostratigraphie détaillée des laves de la baie Alona suggère une vague corrélation à la section basale de la Formation de Mamainse Point. Par exemple, tout comme la partie basale de la Formation de Mamainse Point, la section de la baie d'Alona contient de nombreuses laves à haute teneur de MgO et elle peut être divisée en 4–5 groupes ayant des caractéristiques chimiques distinctes. Les variations chimiques à l'intérieur des groupes de la baie d'Alona découlent en grande partie d'une cristallisation fractionnée, probablement à des pressions modérées. Quelques laves de la baie d'Alona présentent aussi une surimposition compositionnelle montrant une contamination de la croûte. À la baie d'Alona, les distinctions chimiques qui subsistent entre les groupes résultent de changements temporels dans la fusion partielle et le caractère de la source. Avec le temps, et le développement du rift mi-continental, les taux de fusion ont augmenté; les pressions moyennes de fusion ont diminué, réduisant le contrôle du grenat; les contributions de la source lithosphérique ont aussi diminué. D'autres documents rapportent de semblables variations temporelles au cours de l'évolution du basalte de plateau.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two bimodal mafic-silicic suites of igneous rocks, the Sharbot Lake volcanic rocks and the Lavant Igneous Complex, are identified geochemically in the Sharbot Lake domain of the Central Metasedimentary Belt in Ontario, and their genesis and thermotectonic environment are evaluated. The Sharbot Lake volcanic rocks comprise a series of basalts characterized by light rare-earth element (LREE) depletion and relatively high concentrations of Σ Fe[sub 2] O[sub 3] , TiO[sub 2] , MnO, V, and Y, together with rhyolites and silicic pyroclastic rocks. They are intruded by rocks of the Lavant Igneous Complex, which comprises tholeiitic gabbros characterized by LREE enrichment and low concentrations of Σ Fe[sub 2] O[sub 3] , TiO[sub 2] , MnO, V, and Y, and granitoid rocks. The trace element signatures of the mafic rocks of the Sharbot Lake volcanic sequences are most like those of back-arc tholeiitic basalts, and those of the Lavant Igneous Complex are comparable to those of low-K tholeiitic basalt suites. The trace element signatures of the silicic rocks associated with both suites are typical of those formed by crustal melting. Volcanic sequences with trace-element signatures very similar to those of the Sharbot Lake suites have been previously described in the Belmont and Grimsthorpe domains of the Central Metasedimentary Belt, suggesting that the three domains all belong to the Bancroft – Elzevir – Mazinaw – Sharbot Lake superterrane. The lithological, structural, and igneous characteristics of this superterrane suggest that it represents part of a complex back-arc basin underlain by areas of rifted and attenuated continental crust and oceanic crust.La géochimie a servi à identifier deux suites bimodales mafiques siliceuses de roches ignées, les roches volcaniques de Sharbot Lake et le complexe igné de Lavant, dans le domaine de Sharbot Lake de la ceinture métasédimentaire centrale en Ontario; on évalue leur genèse et leur environnement thermotectonique. Les roches volcaniques de Sharbot Lake comprennent une série de basaltes caractérisés par une lacune en éléments de terres rares légers (LREE) et des concentrations relativement élevées de Σ Fe[sub 2] O[sub 3] , TiO[sub 2] , MnO, V et Y avec des rhyolites et des roches siliceuses pyroclastiques. Ces roches ont subi des intrusions par des roches du complexe igné de Lavant, lesquelles comprennent des gabbros tholéiitiques caractérisés par un enrichissement en LREE et de faibles concentrations de Σ Fe[sub 2] O[sub 3] , TiO[sub 2] , MnO, V et Y ainsi que des roches granitoïdes. Les signatures des éléments traces des roches mafiques des séquences volcaniques de Sharbot Lake ressemblent beaucoup à celles de basaltes tholéiitiques d'arrière-arc et les signatures du complexe igné de Lavant sont comparables à celles de suites basaltiques tholéiitiques à faible K. Les signatures des éléments traces des roches siliceuses associées aux deux suites sont typiques de celles formées par la fusion de la croûte. Des séquences volcaniques présentant des signatures d'éléments traces très semblables aux suites de Sharbot Lake ont été décrites antérieurement dans les domaines de Belmont et de Grimsthorpe de la ceinture métasédimentaire, suggérant que ces trois domaines appartiennent tous au superterrane de Bancroft – Elzevir – Mazinaw – Sharbot Lake. Les caractéristiques lithologiques, structurales et ignées de ce superterrane suggèrent qu'il représente une partie d'un bassin d'arrière-arc complexe sous lequel se retrouvent des régions de croûte continentale et de croûte océanique fragmentées et atténuées.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]