Volume 29, Number 2, July 1993
Table of contents (7 articles)
Articles
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Petrology and U-Pb geochronology of buried Avalonian plutonic rocks on southeastern Cape Cod
G. W. Leo, J. K. Mortensen, B. Barriero and J. D. Phillips
pp. 103–113
AbstractEN:
Plutonic rocks have been intersected by two separate drill holes on southeastern Cape Cod. Hole CC2 is located at Chatham Harbor about 7 km south of the Nauset anomaly, an east-northeast-trending magnetic lineament that was considered to separate the distinct plutonic zones of Avalon terrane. This drill hole intersected weakly foliated, fairly homogeneous biotite granite. Zircons from this granite give a U-Pb age of S84+9/-8 Ma. Hole CC1 is located near North Eastham, about 12 km north of the Nauset anomaly. The drill core intersected foliated, sheared, biotite granodiorite and biotite-hornblende-clinopyroxene-quartz gabbro, metamorphosed to greenschist facies. The deformed and altered state of these rocks, as well as their geochemistry, suggest that their origin and possibly their ages are distinct from the granite in hole CC2. No datable zircons were obtained from rocks in CC1.
The age of 584 Ma for the CC2 granite sample is within the range of published ages for plutonic rocks of the Avalon terrane and confirms the suggestion of Hutchinson et al. (1988) that the southern plutonic zone is a part of the Avalon terrane. The data also indicate that the Nauset anomaly is not the Avalon-Meguma terrane boundary in this area.
FR:
Des roches plutoniques ont 6t6 recouples par deux forages distincts dans le sud-est de Cape Cod. Le forage CC2 est situ* a Chatam Harbor a environ 7 km au sud de l'anomalie de Nauset, un lineament magn*tique d'orientation est-nord-est qui *tait consider comme s*parant les zones plutoniques distinctes du terrain d'Avalon. Ce forage a recoup* un granite a biotite faiblement foli* et tres homogene. Des zircons de ce granite donnent un age U-Pb de 584 + 9/-8 Ma. Le forage CC1 est situ* pres de North Eastham, a environ 12 km au nord de l'anomalie de Nauset. Le sondage a recoup* de la granodiorite a biotite et du gabbro a biotite-homblende-clinopyroxene-quartz foli*s et cisaill*s, m*tamorphis*s au facies des schistes verts. La nature d*form*e et alt*r*e de ces roches, ainsi que leur geochimie, suggere que leur origine et possiblement leur age soient distinct du granite du forage CC2. Aucun zircon datable ne fut obtenu des roches dans le CC1.
L'age de 584 Ma pour l'*chantillon de granite CC2 tombe dans l'intervalle des ages publics pour les roches plutoniques du terrain d'Avalon et confirme la suggestion de Hutchinson et al. (1988) que la zone plutonique m*ridionale est une partie du terrain d'Avalon. Les donn*es indiquent aussi que l'anomalie de Nauset n'est pas la frontiere des terrains d'Avalon et de M*guma dans cette region.
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Shallow marine Paleodictyon from the Upper Ordovician Georgian Bay Formation of southern Ontario
D. C.A. Stanley and R. K. Pickerill
pp. 115–119
AbstractEN:
Two specimens, and a possible third, of the ichnotaxon Paleodictyon are documented from shallow-water marine strata of the Upper Ordovician Georgian Bay Formation of southern Ontario. Its occurrence indicates that previous suggestions of a post-Early Cambrian palaeoenvironmental retreat of Paleodictyon into deeper water require some modification. Instead, the operative migratory process, at least to the Late Ordovician and possibly even longer, was one of expansion and not of retreat.
FR:
Deux specimens, et possiblement un troisieme, de la trace fossile Paliodictyon sont reconnus dans des strates marines peu profondes de la Formation de Georgian Bay de l'Ordovicien suplrieur du sud de 1'Ontario. Sa presence indique que les suggestions prec£dentes d'une retraite pallo-environnementale post-Cambrien precoce Ac Paliodictyon en eaux plus profondes n6cessitent quelques modifications. A la place, le processus migratoire operatif, au moins jusqu'a l'Ordovicien tardif et possiblement encore plus longtemps, en Itait un d'expansion et non de retraite.
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Petrology and geochemistry of the Kingston complex -a bimodal sheeted dyke suite in southern New Brunswick
G. N. Eby and K. L. Currie
pp. 121–135
AbstractEN:
The lower Silurian Kingston complex of southern New Brunswick consists of metamorphosed sheeted bimodal dykes, exposed over a strike length of more than 100 km and a width of 3 to 8 km. The southwestern portion of the complex is bounded by major mylonite zones and the northeastern portion is bounded by brittle faults.
Mafic dykes consist of actinolite-plagioclase rocks with tholeiitic chemistry, typical of continental margin basalts. Salic dykes are rhyolitic or microgranitic, and have a chemistry typical of Aj-type granitoids which are emplaced in post-collisional or post-subduction tensional environments. Despite the obvious extensional setting, the mafic dykes are chemically similar to older basalts in the Saint John region, which were emplaced in a subdue lion setting. Their chemistry apparently reflects the source of the melts (underplated lithosphere) rather than the tectonic setting.
The Kingston complex marks both the initiation and southeastern limit of major Siluro-Devonian magmatism in southern New Brunswick. Modelling suggests that emplacement of the complex took at least 2 to 3 million years during which heat input into the crust remained relatively low. Subsequent increase in the heat input during Silurian and Devonian time produced large-scale melting, pluton emplacement and metamorphism of the Kingston complex. Heating probably resulted from del am in at ion of the crust which allowed hot asthenosphere to impinge on the lower crust. The Kingston complex is a unique remnant indicating the origins and nature of magmatism along major transcurrent faults near the edge of the Avalon zone of the Appalachian orogen.
FR:
Le complexe de Kingston du Silurien inflrieur du sud du Nouveau-Brunswick consiste en un essaim de dykes bimodal mltamorphisl, expose 1 sur une longueur de plus de 100 km et une largeur de 3 a 8 km. La partie sud-ouest du complexe est bordee par des zones de mylonite majeures et la partie nord-est est bordle de failles fragiles.
Les dykes mafiques consistent en roches a actinote-plagioclase de composition thol£iique, typiques des basaltes de marges continentales. Les dykes felsiques sont rhyolitiques ou microgranitiques et ont une composition typique des granitoldes de type-A2 qui sont mis en place dans des environnements d'extension post-collisionnelle ou post-subduction. Malgri le contexte extensionnel Evident, les dykes mafiques sont chimiquement similaires aux basaltes plus anciens de la region de Saint-Jean, qui furent mis en place dans un environnement de subduction. Leur composition reflete apparemment la source des magmas (lithosphere Ipaissie par des intrusions a sa base) plutot que le contexte tectonique.
Le complexe de Kingston marque a la fois le dlbut et la limite sud-est du magmatisme Siluro-ddvonien majeur dans le sud du Nouveau-Brunswick. La moderation suggere que l'emplacement du complexe prit au moins 2 a 3 millions d'annles durant lesquelles l'apport de chaleur dans la croute resta relativement bas. Des augmentations subslquentes dans l'apport de chaleur pendant le Silurien et le Dlvonien produisirent une fusion a grande 6chelle, l'emplacement de plutons et le m6tamorphisme du complexe de Kingston. La chauffe a probablement rdsulte' de la delamination de la croute qui permit a l'asth6nosphere chaude d'affecter la croute infeiieure. Le complexe de Kingston est un vestige unique indiquant les origines et la nature du magmatisme le long des failles de dlcrochement majeures pres de la bordure de la zone d'Avalon de l'orogene appalachien.
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Geological setting and depositional environment of the Stirling Group of southeastern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
Alan S. MacDonald and Sandra M. Barr
pp. 137–147
AbstractEN:
The Stirling Group consists of ca. 680 Ma volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, interpreted to have been deposited in and around a trough flanked by felsic volcanic centres. The volcaniclastic rocks are dominated by lapilli tuff and tuffaceous litharenite sequences. The lapilli tuffs show some evidence of subaqueous reworking but most may have originated as air-fall deposits. Sedimentary structures in the litharenites suggest subaqueous mass transport into the trough and deposition below wave base. Pyritic siltstone-chert-carbonate laminites, which are locally associated with the litharenites along the southeastern side of the trough adjacent to felsic volcanic centres, probably represent a mixture of fine-grained distal turbidites and chemical precipitates from subaqueous volcanic exhalations. The volcanic rocks of the Stirling Group do not show convincing evidence for subaqueous deposition: the felsic rocks appear to form subvolcanic intrusions and domes flanked by felsic crystal-rich lapilli tuff and rare welded(?) tuff; the mafic volcanic rocks are not pillowed but are closely associated with breccias which may have formed partly by quench fragmentation. The overall facies assemblage and its association with VMS Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-Au mineralization are compatible with generation in an intra-arc basin. As the Stirling Group is significantly older than the volcanic belts which flank it, it may represent a tectonically displaced remnant of a pre-existing arc.
FR:
Le Groupe de Stirling consiste en roches volcaniques et volcanoclastiques d'environ 680 Ma, interpreters comme ayant 616 dlposees a l'interieur et autour d'une fosse bordle de centres volcaniques felsiques. Les roches volcanoclastiques sont dominies par des sequences de tufs a lapilli et de litharenites tuffacles. Les tufs a lapilli montrent quelques evidences de remaniement subaqueux mais la plupart pourraient etre des depots de retombees aeriennes. Les structures sedimentaires dans les litharenites suggerent des mouvements de masse subaqueux dans la fosse et une deposition sous la base des vagues. Des laminites de siltstone pyriteux, chert et carbonates, qui sont localement associees aux litharenites le long du flanc sud-est de la fosse I proximite des centres volcaniques felsiques, representent probablement un melange de turbidites distales a grain fin et de precipites chimiques provenant d'exhalaisons volcaniques sous-marines. Les roches volcaniques du Groupe de Stirling ne montrent pas d'evidences convaincantes de depot sous-marin: les roches felsiques semblent former des intrusions subvolcaniques et des domes bord6s de tufs a lapilli felsiques riches en cristaux et de rares tufs soudes (?); les roches volcaniques mafiques ne sont pas coussinees mais sont etroitement associees a des breches qui ont pu en partie se former par fragmentation relive a la trempe. L'assemblage general de facies et son association avec de la mineralisation en sulfures massifs volcanogenes de Zn-Pb-Cu-Ag-Au sont compatibles avec une formation dans un bassin intra-arc. Comme le Groupe de Stirling est nettement plus ancien que les ceintures volcaniques qui le bordent, il pourrait repr£senter un vestige d'un arc priexistant ddplac£ tectoniquement.
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The eocrinoid Ascocystites Barrande (Echinodermata, Blastozoa) from the Middle Ordovician of central Portugal, with comments on the stratigraphy of the Brejo Fundeiro Formation
Timothy P. Young and Stephen K. Donovan
pp. 149–154
AbstractEN:
The eocrinoid Ascocystites is recorded from the Middle Ordovician (Lower Llanvirn) Brejo Fundeiro Formation of the Domes region, central Portugal. The Brejo Fundeiro Formation is a sequence of mudrocks overlying the "Armorican Quartzite" (Lower Ordovician, Arenig). Ascocystites was found in a decalcified concretion from a horizon close to the base of the formation. This genus has previously been recorded only from the Middle Ordovician of Bohemia and the Armorican Massif. All occurrences lie within the Gondwanan West European Platform.
FR:
L'eocrinoide Ascocystites est reconnu dans la Formation de Brejo Fundeiro de l'Ordovicien moyen (Llanvirn inferieur) de la region de Dames, dans le centre du Portugal. La Formation de Brejo Fundeiro est une sequence de mudrocks recouvrant la "Quartzite Armoricaine" (Ordovicien inferieur, Arenig). Ascocystites fut trouve' dans une concretion decalcified d'un horizon pres de la base de la formation. Ce genre £tait auparavant connu seulement de l'Ordovicien moyen de la Boheme et du massif armoricain. Toutes les occurences se situent dans la plate-forme de Gondwana de l'Europe de l'ouest.