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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]

Determining the age of the geomagnetic field is of paramount importance for understanding the evolution of the planet because the field shields the atmosphere from erosion by the solar wind. The absence or presence of the geomagnetic field also provides a unique gauge of early core conditions. Evidence for a geomagnetic field 4.2 billion-year (Gy) old, just a few hundred million years after the lunar-forming giant impact, has come from paleomagnetic analyses of zircons of the Jack Hills (Western Australia). Herein, we provide new paleomagnetic and electron microscope analyses that attest to the presence of a primary magnetic remanence carried by magnetite in these zircons and new geochemical data indicating that select Hadean zircons have escaped magnetic resetting since their formation. New paleointensity and Pb-Pb radiometric age data from additional zircons meeting robust selection criteria provide further evidence for the fidelity of the magnetic record and suggest a period of high geomagnetic field strength at 4.1 to 4.0 billion years ago (Ga) that may represent efficient convection related to chemical precipitation in Earth's Hadean liquid iron core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The internal metamorphic-plutonic zone of the middle Paleoproterozoic Wopmay orogen, northwestern Canadian Shield, exposes an oblique section through a prograde Buchan-type metamorphic sequence. New petrographic, petrologic, and geochronologic analyses of pelite and quartz arenite samples from the eastern margin of the internal zone quantify the evolving conditions and timing of metamorphism and enable the discriminant evaluation of competing tectonic models. Study of fabric development and mineral growth relationships indicates that prograde metamorphism occurred late within a craton-verging, crustal-shortening ("Calderian") deformation event. Phase equilibria modeling was used to calculate pressure-temperature (P-T) path segments and determine peak conditions from andalusite-muscovite grade at ~3.3 kbar and 575 °C to sillimanite-K-feldspar ± granitic leucosome grade at ~4.8-6.2 kbar and 670-745 °C. In situ monazite geochronology indicates that thermal peak metamorphic conditions were reached between 1878.6 ± 6.5 Ma and 1872 ± 9 Ma. Ages of detrital zircon within quartz arenite across the width of the metamorphic sequence document a diagnostic easterly Slave craton-Thelon tectonic zone derivation that links the metasedimentary rocks, including those previously considered to be "exotic" in a proposed tectonic klippe model for the internal zone, to the adjacent craton. Integration of these results with observations on the relatively low state of strain and the bracketing of a common (single) metamorphic field gradient for all garnet-bearing mineral zones confirm that the latter have preserved their prograde isogradic continuity from time of formation, and that the leading edge of a tectonic klippe consisting of rocks exotic to the Coronation margin does not traverse the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paleoproterozoic Wopmay orogen is modeled as a simple arc-continent collision involving the Archean Slave craton and an enigmatic continental arc terrane termed the Hottah terrane. Hottah is a composite terrane that includes a juvenile 2.6-2.1 Ga basement and a younger 1.93-1.90 Ga continental arc. The extent and crustal age structure of the terrane is poorly known which limits interpretations as to its origin, and eventual role in the development of the orogen. Multi-isotopic (U-Pb, Hf, O) analyses of detrital zircon from rocks of the Hottah terrane and its cover sequence are used to indirectly evaluate its age and crustal characteristics. The data confirm that ca 2.6-2.1 Ga crust is an important component of the terrane but Hf isotopic data indicate mostly non-juvenile compositions consistent with recycled Neoarchean crust sources. Ages of detrital zircon are distinct from those expected of the Slave craton but are similar to adjacent 2.0-1.90 Ga Paleoproterozoic terranes of northwestern Laurentia. The similarity to terranes such as the Ksituan/Buffalo Head and Taltson-Thelon magmatic zones, south and east of the Wopmay Orogen indicate that Hottah could represent a terrane that initially evolved adjacent to the earliest assembled parts of the Nuna continent between 2.0 and 1.9 Ga, and was rifted prior to the collision with the Slave margin that produced the Calderian orogeny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Zircon from lower crustal xenoliths record complex crust formation histories. [•] Cores record crust formation at ca. 3.5–2.6Ga and ca. 2.0–1.9Ga thermal reworking. [•] Metamorphic rims record regional lower crustal reworking at ca. 1.75Ga. [•] Lower crustal reworking likely resulted from 1.75Ga magma underplating. [•] Intracrystalline Pb-disturbance related to 1.75Ga granulite-facies metamorphism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Boothia mainland region of the north-central Rae domain is underlain by remnants of a Neoarchean volcano sedimentary sequence dismembered by two regionally extensive Neoarchean high-potassium granitoid suites with rare occurrences of a structurally interleaved, Paleoproterozoic sedimentary cover sequence. The granitoids and their gneissic equivalents are dominated by variably deformed and metamorphosed I-type, metaluminous, polyphase, commonly porphyritic to augen, biotite ±hornblende monzogranite, and subordinate granodiorite, with rare tonalite. New geochronological results, the first for this area, demonstrate that the widespread Neoarchean granitoid plutonism is dominantly 2.61-2.59 Ga, with a less prominent 2.66 Ga plutonic event. The age of zircon recrystallization suggests that ca. 2.60 Ga Archean metamorphism and fabric development (S1) affected the 2.66 Ga plutons prior to or contemporaneously with intrusion of the voluminous ca. 2.6 Ga suite. εNd(t) for the ca. 2.61-2.59 Ga suite range from 1.4 to -1.9, overlapping with the ca. 2.66 Ga suite that range from 1.4 to 1.5. The Nd isotopic data, coupled with the presence of inherited ca. 2.65, 2.70, and 2.85-2.90 Ga zircon, suggests recycling of older, Neoarchean to Mesoarchean crust in the formation of these suites. Metaplutonic rocks preserve Paleoproterozoic deformation (F4 and F5) and amphibolite-facies metamorphism, sporadically recorded in zircon rims that formed at 1.81 Ga. This event strongly reoriented the Neoarchean fabrics in metaplutonic rocks, generally without the development of a new coaxial Paleoproterozoic fabric, and we attribute this strain and metamorphism to the Hudsonian orogeny. La région terrestre Boothia du domaine Rae centre-nord repose sur des vestiges d'une séquence volcano-sédimentaire datant du Néoarchéen; cette séquence est démembrée par deux suites granitoïdes d'échelle régionale, à teneur élevée en potassium et possédant de rares occurrences d'une séquence structurellement intercalée d'une couverture sédimentaire datant du Paléoprotérozoïque. Les granitoïdes et leurs équivalents gneissiques sont dominés par un monzogranite à déformation variable, métamorphisé, de type I, métalumineux, polyphasé, souvent porphyrique à oeillé et à biotite hornblende avec une granodiorite subordonnée et une rare tonalite. De nouveaux résultats géochronologiques, les premiers pour ce secteur, démontrent que le plutonisme granitoïde néoarchéen étendu date surtout de 2,61 à 2,59 Ga, avec un événement plutonique moins important vers 2,66 Ga. L'âge de la recristallisation du zircon suggère que, vers 2,60 Ga, le métamorphisme archéen et le développement de la fabrique (S1) aient affecté les plutons âgés de 2,66 Ga avant ou en même temps que l'intrusion de la volumineuse suite vers 2,6 Ga. Les valeurs εNd(t) pour la suite datant de ~ 2,61 à 2,59 Ga varient de 1,4 à -1,9, chevauchant la suite datant ~2,66 Ga, dont les valeurs εNd(t) varient de 1,4 à 1,5. Les données d'isotopes Nd, jumelées à la présence de zircons hérités dont les âges sont ~2,65, 2,70 et 2,85-2,90 Ga, suggèrent un recyclage de l'ancienne croûte néoarchéenne à mésoarchéenne pour la formation de ces suites. Des roches métaplutoniques ont préservé la déformation paléoprotérozoïque (F4 et F5) ainsi que le métamorphisme au faciès des amphibolites, retrouvé sporadiquement dans les bordures des zircons qui se sont formées à 1,81 Ga. Cet événement a grandement réorienté les fabriques néoarchéennes dans les roches métaplutoniques, généralement sans le développement d'une nouvelle fabrique coaxiale paléoprotérozoïque; nous attribuons cette déformation et ce métamorphisme à l'orogenèse hudsonienne. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) U–Pb and trace element data are reported for zircon to address the controversial geochronology of eclogite-facies metamorphism in the Lindås nappe, Bergen Arcs, Caledonides of W Norway. Caledonian eclogite-facies overprint in the nappe was controlled by fracturing and introduction of fluid in the Proterozoic—Sveconorwegian—granulite-facies meta-anorthosite-norite protolith. Zircon grains in one massive eclogite display a core–rim structure. Sveconorwegian cores have trace element signatures identical with those of zircon in the granulite protolith, i.e. 0.31≤Th/U≤0.89, heavy rare earth element (HREE) enrichment, and negative Eu anomaly. Weakly-zoned to euhedral oscillatory-zoned Caledonian rims are characterized by Th/U≤0.13, low LREE content (minimum normalized abundance for Pr or Nd), variable enrichment in HREE, and no Eu anomaly. A decrease of REE towards the outermost rim, especially HREE, is documented. This signature reflects co-precipitation of zircon with garnet and clinozoisite in a feldspar-absent assemblage, and consequently links zircon to the eclogite-facies overprint. The rims provide a mean 206Pb/238U crystallization age of 423±4 Ma. This age reflects eclogite-forming reactions and fluid–rock interaction. This age indicates that eclogite-facies overprint in the Lindås nappe took place at the onset of the Scandian (Silurian) collision between Laurentia and Baltica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the Zircon Uranium-Lead geochronology in the Bergen arc eclogites in western Norway. Implications for the pre-Scandian evolution of the Caledonides; Formation of eclogites in an orogenic belt; Evaluation of the pre-collision history of eclogite terranes.

The Wopmay orogen is a Paleoproterozoic accretionary belt preserved to the west of the Archean Slave craton, northwest Canada. Reworked Archean crystalline basement occurs in the orogen, and new bedrock mapping, U-Pb geochronology, and Sm-Nd isotopic data further substantiate a Slave craton parentage for this basement. Detrital zircon results from unconformably overlying Paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks also support a Slave craton provenance. Rifting of the Slave margin began at ca. 2.02 Ga with a second rift phase constrained between ca. 1.92 and 1.89 Ga, resulting in thermal weakening of the Archean basement and allowing subsequent penetrative deformation during the Calderian orogeny (ca. 1.88-1.85 Ga). The boundary between the western Slave craton and the reworked Archean basement in the southern Wopmay orogen is interpreted as the rifted cratonic margin, which later acted as a rigid backstop during compressional deformation. Age-isotopic characteristics of plutonic phases track the extent and evolution of these processes that left penetratively deformed Archean basement, Paleoproterozoic cover, and plutons in the west, and 'rigid' Archean Slave craton to the east. Diamond-bearing kimberlite occurs across the central and eastern parts of the Slave craton, but kimberlite (diamond bearing or not) has not been documented west of ∼114°W. It is proposed that while the crust of the western Slave craton escaped thermal weakening, the mantle did not and was moved out of the diamond stability field. The Paleoproterozoic extension-convergence cycle preserved in the Wopmay orogen provides a reasonable explanation as to why the western Slave craton appears to be diamond sterile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: TIMS and SHRIMP U–Pb zircon geochronology of selected parts of the Puncoviscana Formation suggest its deposition took place mainly during the Early Cambrian, coeval with 540–535Ma calc-alkaline Pampean arc volcanism mainly preserved as tuff beds in the oldest identified parts of this unit. Syn- to post-tectonic plutons constrains the Tilcarian–Pampean orogeny to have occurred between ca. 530Ma and deposition of the unconformably overlying Middle-Upper Cambrian Meson Group. Deposition of the Puncoviscana Formation continued after the onset of the Tilcarian–Pampean orogeny. We propose that the Puncoviscana Formation rocks older than 530Ma were deposited in the arc-trench gap of the west-facing Pampean arc and/or the associated trench, whereas the rocks younger than 530Ma were deposited in a syn-collision foreland basin. The Puncoviscana Formation rocks were progressively assembled into a west-younging accretionary complex, consistent with the style of deformation and low-grade metamorphism. The age of the syn-collision plutons (≤530Ma) suggest the foredeep deposits record the transition from trench to foreland basin, due to arrival of the Arequipa-Antofalla block at the west-facing trench at ca. 530Ma. Our geochronological and Pb-isotope investigations suggest that the Arequipa-Antofalla terrane was a coherent, ribbon-shaped crustal block that also included the western part of the Pampia terrane. A compilation of existing U–Pb zircon studies suggests that the Pampean arc extended along the length of the proto-Andean margin of West Gondwana, represented by the previously amalgamated Amazonia and Rio de La Plata cratons, and probably was initiated during the late Ediacaran after 600Ma. Following earlier workers, we reaffirm that the Arequipa-Antofalla block was originally separating Laurentia and Amazonia in Rodinia. It probably rifted from Laurentia during the Ediacaran between 600 and 570Ma, following an earlier departure of Amazonia (∼650Ma?). The separation of Arequipa-Antofalla from Amazonia and Laurentia opened the Puncoviscana and Iapetus oceans respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The western Churchill Province of the Canadian Shield experienced a prolonged and complex formation history (ca. 4.04 to 1.70Ga), with evidence for multiple episodes of orogenesis and regional magmatic activity. Here we report on the oxygen isotopic compositions of garnet and zircon recovered from lower crustal xenoliths, which have U–Pb ages between ca. 3.5 and 1.7Ga. Overall, zircon from four metabasite xenoliths from the Rankin Inlet sample suite have δ 18O values ranging from +5.5 to +8.6‰. Zircon from three metatonalite/anorthosite xenoliths and five metabasite xenoliths from the Repulse Bay sample suite have δ 18O values of +5.6 to +8.3‰. High δ 18O values (>+6.0‰) for the oldest igneous zircon cores (ca. 3.5Ga and 3.0–2.6Ga) indicate that their metatonalite/anorthosite protolith magmas were generated from, or had assimilated, supracrustal rocks that interacted previously with surface-derived fluids. Igneous zircon cores (ca. 2.9–2.6Ga) from one metabasite xenolith have δ 18O values of +5.6 to +6.4‰, which suggests a formation from a mantle-derived basaltic/gabbroic magma. Metamorphic zircon cores (ca. 2.0–1.9Ga) from one metabasite xenolith commonly have δ 18O values between +6.0 and +6.3‰, which is indicative of a basalt/gabbro protolith and localized reworking of the lower crust caused by regional-scale plate convergence. The wide range of δ 18O values (+5.5 to +8.3‰) for ca. 1.75–1.70Ga metamorphic zircon rims (identified in all xenoliths) indicates regional transient heating and reworking of mantle- and supracrustal-derived crust, induced by magmatic underplating along the crust–mantle boundary. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: U–Pb zircon SHRIMP geochronology and Lu–Hf zircon LA–MC–ICPMS isotope geochemistry are used to constrain the ages of Paleoproterozoic felsic magmatism and their crustal sources in the Aillik Group, Makkovik Province of Labrador. This information is important for understanding the extent of crustal reworking vs. juvenile crustal growth in subduction-related magmatism during the Paleoproterozoic and improves framework knowledge for uranium exploration in the Central Mineral Belt of Labrador. U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronology from four felsic tuff samples collected from two different areas of the Aillik Group yield magmatic 207Pb/206Pb ages of 1852±7Ma (2σ), 1854±7Ma (2σ), 1861±7Ma (2σ), and 1862±7Ma (2σ). The ages fall within the range of previous U–Pb zircon dates reported for felsic volcanic rocks of the Aillik Group. Altogether these dates indicate that felsic volcanism spanned at least 30m.y. and was perhaps most intense during the last 10m.y. of that interval. A foliated syn-deformational monzogranite in the Aillik Group (Cross Lake granite) yields a 207Pb/206Pb zircon date of 1805±6Ma (2σ), which indicates that development of a pervasive planar fabric associated with northwestward thrusting of the Aillik Group continued after this time. Initial values for magmatic zircons from the four felsic tuffs (−4.8 to −1.9, −1.7 to +2.2, −11.8 to +3.8, −9.0 to −4.6) and monzogranite (−4.8 to −1.5) exhibit significant variability, which indicates heterogeneous sources. Most of the zircon grains have negative initial values and calculated crust formation Hf-isotope T DM model ages point to substantial contributions from melts of ancient crust, ranging in age from ca. 2200 to 2900m.y. and clustering at ca. 2500m.y. Inherited zircon grains in the felsic tuffs and monzogranite, mainly have U–Pb ages of ca. 1880–1920Ma, though others are older, up to ca. 2743Ma. Hf-isotope T DM model ages for the inherited zircons are similar to those of the magmatic zircons. The Hf-isotope results indicate that subduction-related felsic magmatism in the Makkovik Orogen involved significant crustal reworking (∼80%) during formation of the Aillik Group. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]