Discovery of pre-3.5 Ga exotic crust at the northwestern Superior Province margin, Manitoba

New U-Pb geochronological and Sm-Nd isotopic results across the northwestern margin of the Superior Province in Manitoba, Canada, require a major reinterpretation of the nature, structure, and location of the Superior--Trans-Hudson boundary in the area. A significant finding of this study is that an area northwest of Assean Lake, previously interpreted to be dominantly Early Proterozoic, contains ancient crust. Detrital zircon U-Pb results from two metagraywacke samples in this ancient crustal segment reveal [is greater than or equal to] 3.75 Ga source material, consistent with crustal residence Nd model ages ([T.sub.CR]) of 3.85 and 3.76 Ga, and the U-Pb zircon age for one tonalite gneiss sample is ca. 3.54 Ga ([T.sub.CR] of 3.63 Ga). This newly discovered pre-3.5 Ga crust provides the first evidence for the possible preservation of some very old rocks (pre-3.8 Ga) in this region, older than any known Superior Province crust. Keywords: Superior Province, ancient crust, Early Archean, Manitoba, U-Pb zircon, Sm-Nd.