Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T17:11:27.972Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Episodic Ordovician-Silurian plutonism in the Topsails igneous terrane, western Newfoundland*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

J. B. Whalen ,
K. L. Currie  and
O. van Breemen
J. B. Whalen
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OE8.
K. L. Currie
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OE8.
O. van Breemen
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OE8.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Topsails igneous terrane of western Newfoundland contains several intrusive and volcanic suites underlain and separated by screens of older intrusive rocks. The heterogeneous Hungry Mountain complex yielded U-Pb zircon upper and lower intercept ages of 2090 ± 75 Ma and 467 ± 8 Ma, demonstrating a significant inherited component of Aphebian age, while an adjacent suite of relatively massive granodioritic to granitic rocks yielded a slightly discordant U-Pb zircon age of 460 ± 10 Ma. The 438 ± 8 Ma age of the Rainy Lake complex, a suite of island arc type intrusive rocks, suggests it forms part of a Silurian magmatic episode, which also included Springdale Group bimodal volcanics (429 ± 4 Ma), and peralkaline granite and subvolcanic porphyries which intrude the Springdale Group (429 ± 3 Ma and 427 ±3 Ma, respectively). Most igneous units contain a slight component of inherited zircon, but initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (average 0·704) are similar to calculated ‘Bulk Earth’ values at this time.

Available data suggest that the Topsails terrane formed an oceanic tract with active volcanic island arcs when obduction commenced in early Ordovician time. The subsequent magmatic history, including the major but short-lived early Silurian magmatism, can be directly or indirectly related to obduction processes, including over-riding of the Topsails terrane by ophiolitic allochthons. There is no evidence of any Acadian (Devonian) igneous activity in the Topsails terrane.

Keywords

Appalachiansbimodalgeochronologygraniteisotopesperalkalinepetrologypotassium-richRb-SrtectonicsU-Pbvolcanicszircon
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , 1987 , pp. 17 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allegre, C. J., Hart, S. R. & Minster, J. F. 1983. Chemical structure and evolution of the mantle and continents determined by inversion of Nd and Sr isotopic data, II Numerical experiments and discussion. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 66, 191–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, D. K. 1964. Crustal warping—a possible tectonic control of alkaline magmatism. J GEOPHYS RES 69, 1103–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, K. & Blenkinsop, J. 1981. A geochronologic study of the Buchans area, Newfoundland. In Swanson, E. A., Strong, D. F. & Thurlow, J. G. (eds) The Buchans Orebodies: Fifty Years of Geology and Mining. SPEC PAP GEOL ASSOC CAN 22, 91–111.Google Scholar
Bluck, B. J., Halliday, A. N., Attalion, M. & Maclntyre, R. M. 1980. Age and origin of Ballantrae ophiolite and its significance to the Caledonian orogeny and Ordovician time scale. GEOLOGY 8, 492–95.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bostock, H. H., Currie, K. L. & Wanless, R. K. 1979. The age of the Roberts Arm Group, north central Newfoundland. CAN J EARTH SCI 16, 599–606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandler, F. C., Sullivan, R. W. & Currie, K. L. 1987. The age of the Springdale Group, western Newfoundland, and correlative rocks—evidence for a Llandovery overlap assemblage in the Canadian Appalachians. TRANS R SOC EDINBURGH EARTH SCI 78, 41–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chorlton, L. & Knight, I. 1983. Geology of the Grandy's Lake area, (110/15), Newfoundland. REP NEWFOUNDLAND MINER DEV DIV 83–7.Google Scholar
Collins, W. J., Beams, S. D., White, A. J. R. & Chappell, B. W. 1982. Nature and origin of A-type granites with particular reference to southeastern Australia. CONTRIB MINERAL PETROL 80, 189–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Currie, K. L. in prep. An overview of the plutonic rocks of the Appalachians. In Williams, H. (ed.) The Appalachian Orogen in Canada. DNAG Publication.Google Scholar
Currie, K. L., Loveridge, W. D. & Sullivan, R. W. 1982. A U-Pb age on zircons from dykes feeding basal rhyolitic flows of the Jumping Brook complex, northwestern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 82–1C, 125–8.Google Scholar
Dallmeyer, R. D. & Hibbard, J. 1984. Geochronology of the Baie Verte Peninsula, Newfoundland: implications for the tectonic evolution of the Humber and Dunnage Zones of the Appalachian orogen. J GEOL 92, 489–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunning, G. R. 1981. The Annieopsquotch ophiolite complex, southwestern Newfoundland, and its regional relationships. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 81–1B, 21–6.Google Scholar
Dunning, G. R., Carter, P. J. & Best, M. A. 1982. Geology of Star Lake (west half), southwest Newfoundland. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 82–1B, 21–6.Google Scholar
Dunning, G. R. & Chandler, F. C. 1984. Fourfold significance of an Early Silurian U-Pb zircon age from rhyolite in redbeds, southwest Newfoundland. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 83–1B, 419–21.Google Scholar
Dunning, G. R. & Krogh, T. 1985. Geochronology of ophiolites of the Newfoundland Appalachians. CAN J EARTH SCI 22, 1659–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Floyd, P. A. & Winchester, J. A. 1975. Magma type and tectonic setting discrimination using immobile elements. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 27, 211–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, P. J., Evensen, N. M., O'Nions, R. K. & Tarney, J. 1979. Sm-Nd systematics of Lewisian gneisses: implications for the origin of granulites. NATURE 277, 25–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heier, K. S. 1973. Geochemistry of granulite facies rocks and problems of their origin. PHILOS TRANS R SOC LONDON A273, 429–42.Google Scholar
Herd, R. K. & Dunning, G. R. 1979. Geology of the Puddle Pond map area, southwestern Newfoundland. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 79–1A, 305–10.Google Scholar
Jackson, N. J., Walsh, J. N. & Pegram, E. 1984. Geology, geochemistry and petrogenesis of late Precambrian granitoids in the Central Hijaz Region of the Arabian Shield. CONTRIB MINERAL PETROL 87, 205–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kean, B. F. 1979. Buchans, Newfoundland. MAP NEWFOUNDLAND DEP MINES ENERGY, MINER DEV DIV 81–17.Google Scholar
Kean, B. F. & Jayasinghe, N. R. 1982. Geology of the Badger map area (12A/16), Newfoundland. REP NEWFOUNDLAND DEP MINES ENERGY, MINER DEV DIV 81–2.Google Scholar
Knapp, D., Kennedy, D. & Martineau, Y. 1979. Stratigraphy, structure and regional correlation of rocks at Grand Lake, western Newfoundland. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 79–1A, 317–25.Google Scholar
Kornik, L. & Whalen, J. B. in press. Interpretation of aeromagnetic maps in the Buchans and Badgar map sheets, western Newfoundland. In Kirkham, R. V. (ed.) Buchans Geology, Newfoundland: 1982–1984. ECON GEOL REP GEOL SURV CAN.Google Scholar
Loiselle, M. C. & Wones, D. R. 1979. Characteristics of anorogenic granites. ABST PROG GEOL SOC AM 11–7, 468.Google Scholar
Longman, C. D., Bluck, B. J. & van Breemen, O. 1979. Ordovician conglomerates and the evolution of the Midland Valley. NATURE 280, 578–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKerrow, W. S. & Cocks, L. R. M. 1977. The location of the Iapetus Ocean suture in Newfoundland. CAN J EARTH SCI 14, 488–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nowlan, G. S. & Thurlow, J. G. 1984. Middle Ordovician conodonts from the Buchans Group, central Newfoundland and their significance for regional stratigraphy of the Central Volcanic Belt. CAN J EARTH SCI 21, 284–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pajari, G. E., Curie, K. L., Cherry, M. E. & Pickerill, R. W. 1981. Heat energy metamorphism and plutonism—a northern Appalachian model involving collapsed continental margins. ABST PROG GEOL SOC AM 13, 169.Google Scholar
Pankhurst, R. J. 1979. Isotope and trace element evidence for the origin and evolution of Caledonian granites in the Southern Highlands. In Atherton, M. P. & Tarney, J. (eds) Origin of Granite Batholiths: Geochemical Evidence, 18–33. Nantwich: Shiva Publishing Limited.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, J. A. & Cann, J. R. 1973. Tectonic setting of basic volcanic rocks determined using trace element analyses. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 19, 290–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, J. A. & Gale, G. H. 1977. Identification of ore-deposition environment from trace-element geochemistry of associated igneous host rocks. In Volcanic Processes in Ore Genesis. SPEC PUB GEOL SOC LONDON 7, 14–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, T. H., Gorman, B. E. & Birkett, T. C. 1977. The relationship between major element chemistry and tectonic environment of basic and intermediate volcanic rocks. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 36, 121–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pidgeon, R. T. & Johnson, M. R. W. 1974. A comparison of zircon U-Pb and whole-rock Rb-Sr systems in three phases of the Cam Chinneag granite, northern Scotland. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 24, 320–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitcher, W. S. 1983. Granite type and tectonic environment. In Hsu, K. (ed.) Mountain Building Processes, 19–40. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Poole, W. H., Sanford, B. V., Williams, H. & Kelly, D. G. 1970. Geology of southeastern Canada. In Douglas, R. J. W. (ed.) Geology and Economic Minerals of Canada, 227–304. ECON GEOL REP GEOL SURV CAN 1.Google Scholar
Pupin, J. P. 1980. Zircon and granite petrology. CONTRIB MINERAL PETROL 73, 207–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steward, P. W. 1984. Geochemistry of granitoid clasts from MacLean extension orebody, Buchans, Newfoundland, and implications of their possible source. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 84–1A, 467–72.Google Scholar
Steward, P. W. in press. Geology and genesis of exotic granitoid clasts in transported sulphide ores. In Kirkham, R. V. (ed.) Buchans Geology, Newfoundland: 1982–1984. ECON GEOL REP GEOL SURV CAN.Google Scholar
Sullivan, R. W. & Loveridge, W. D. 1980. Uranium-lead age determinations on zircon at the Geological Survey of Canada. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 80–1C, 161–246.Google Scholar
Thirlwall, M. F. 1981. Implications for Caledonian plate tectonic models of chemical data from volcanic rocks of the British Old Red Sandstone. J GEOL SOC 138, 123–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thurlow, J. G. 1981. The Buchans Group: its stratigraphic and structural setting. In Swanson, E. A., Strong, D. F. & Thurlow, J. G. (eds) The Buchans Orebodies: Fifty Years of Geology and Mining, 79–90. SPEC PAP GEOL ASSOC CAN 22.Google Scholar
Thurlow, J. G. & Swanson, E. A. 1981. Geology and mineral deposits of the Buchans area, central Newfoundland. In Swanson, E. A., Strong, D. F. & Thurlow, J. G. (eds) The Buchans Orebodies: Fifty Years of Geology and Mining, 113–42. SPEC PAP GEOL ASSOC CAN 22.Google Scholar
van Breemen, O., Affalion, M. & Johnson, M. R. W. 1979. Age of The Loch Borolan complex, Assynt, and the late movements along The Moine Thrust Zone. J GEOL SOC LONDON 136, 489–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Breemen, O. & Bluck, B. J. 1981. Episodic granite plutonism in The Scottish Caledonides: evidence from a Lower Devonian conglomerate. NATURE 291, 113–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Breemen, O., Davidson, A., Loveridge, W. D. & Sullivan, R. W. 1986. U-Pb zircon geochronology of Grenville tectonics, granulites and igneous precursors, Parry Sound, Ontario. SPEC PAP GEOL ASSOC CAN 31, 191–207.Google Scholar
van Breemen, O. & Piasecki, M. A. J. 1983. The Glen Kyllachy Granite and its bearing on the nature of the Caledonian Orogeny in Scotland. J GEOL SOC LONDON 140, 47–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whalen, J. B. 1985. Geochemistry of an island arc plutonic suite: the Uasilau-Yau Yau intrusive complex, New Britain, P.N.G.. J PETROLOGY 26, 603–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whalen, J. B. & Currie, K. L. 1982. Volcanic and plutonic rocks in the Rainy Lake area, Newfoundland. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 82–1A, 17–22.Google Scholar
Whalen, J. B. & Currie, K. L. 1983a. the Topsails igneous terrane of western Newfoundland. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 83–1A, 15–23.Google Scholar
Whalen, J. B. & Currie, K. L. 1983b. The Topsails igneous terrane, western Newfoundland-1:100,000 map and marginal notes. OPEN FILE GEOL SURV CAN 923.Google Scholar
Whalen, J. B. & Currie, K. L. 1984a. Peralkaline granite near Hare Hill, south of Grand Lake, Newfoundland. PAP GEOL SURV CAN 84–1A, 181–4.Google Scholar
Whalen, J. B. & Currie, K. L. 1984b. The Topsails igneous terrane, western Newfoundland: evidence for magma mixing. CONTRIB MINERAL PETROL 87, 319–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whalen, J. B., Currie, K. L. & Chappell, B. W. in press. A-type granites: geochemical characteristics, discrimination and petrogenesis. CONTRIB MINERAL PETROL.Google Scholar
Williams, H. 1979. Appalachian Orogen in Canada. CAN J EARTH SCI 16, 792–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, H. 1984. Miogeoclines and suspect terranes of the Caledonian-Appalachian Orogen: tectonic patterns in the North Atlantic region. CAN J EARTH SCI 21, 887–901.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
York, D. 1969. Least squares fitting of a straight line with correlated errors. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 5, 320–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar