The Slave craton in northwestern Canada, a relatively small Archean craton (600×400 km), is ideal as a natural laboratory for investigating the formation and evolution of Mesoarchean and Neoarchean sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Excellent outcrop and the discovery of economic diamondiferous kimberlite pipes in the centre of the craton during the early 1990s have led to an unparalleled amount of geoscientific information becoming available.
Over the last 5 years deep-probing electromagnetic surveys were conducted on the Slave, using the natural-source magnetotelluric (MT) technique, as part of a variety of programs to study the craton and determine its regional-scale electrical structure. Two of the four types of surveys involved novel MT data acquisition; one through frozen lakes along ice roads during winter, and the second using ocean-bottom MT instrumentation deployed from float planes.
The primary initial objective of the MT surveys was to determine the geometry of the topography of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary (LAB) across the Slave craton. However, the MT responses revealed, completely serendipitously, a remarkable anomaly in electrical conductivity in the SCLM of the central Slave craton. This Central Slave Mantle Conductor (CSMC) anomaly is modelled as a localized region of low resistivity (10–15 Ω m) beginning at depths of 80–120 km and striking NE–SW. Where precisely located, it is spatially coincident with the Eocene-aged kimberlite field in the central part of the craton (the so-called “Corridor of Hope”), and also with a geochemically defined ultra-depleted harzburgitic layer interpreted as oceanic or arc-related lithosphere emplaced during early tectonism. The CSMC lies wholly within the NE–SW striking central zone defined by Grütter et al. [Grütter, H.S., Apter, D.B., Kong, J., 1999. Crust–mantle coupling; evidence from mantle-derived xenocrystic garnets. Contributed paper at: The 7th International Kimberlite Conference Proceeding, J.B. Dawson Volume, 1, 307–313] on the basis of garnet geochemistry (G10 vs. G9) populations.
Deep-probing MT data from the lake bottom instruments infer that the conductor has a total depth-integrated conductivity (conductance) of the order of 2000 Siemens, which, given an internal resistivity of 10–15 Ω m, implies a thickness of 20–30 km. Below the CSMC the electrical resistivity of the lithosphere increases by a factor of 3–5 to values of around 50 Ω m. This change occurs at depths consistent with the graphite–diamond transition, which is taken as consistent with a carbon interpretation for the CSMC.
Preliminary three-dimensional MT modelling supports the NE–SW striking geometry for the conductor, and also suggests a NW dip. This geometry is taken as implying that the tectonic processes that emplaced this geophysical–geochemical body are likely related to the subduction of a craton of unknown provenance from the SE (present-day coordinates) during 2630–2620 Ma. It suggests that the lithospheric stacking model of Helmstaedt and Schulze [Helmstaedt, H.H., Schulze, D.J., 1989. Southern African kimberlites and their mantle sample: implications for Archean tectonics and lithosphere evolution. In Ross, J. (Ed.), Kimberlites and Related Rocks, Vol. 1: Their Composition, Occurrence, Origin, and Emplacement. Geological Society of Australia Special Publication, vol. 14, 358–368] is likely correct for the formation of the Slave's current SCLM. 相似文献
We present the first data on the petrology of the mantle lithosphereof the Southeastern (SE) Slave craton, Canada. These are basedon petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical studies of mantlexenoliths in Pipe 5034 of the Cambrian Gahcho Kué kimberlitecluster. Major types of mantle xenoliths include altered eclogite,coarse garnet or spinel peridotite, and deformed garnet peridotite.The peridotites belong to the low-temperature suite and formedat T=6001300°C and P= 2580 kbar in a thick(at least 220250 km), cool lithosphere. The SE Slavemantle is cooler than the mantle of other Archaean cratons andthat below other terranes of the Slave craton. The thick lithosphereand the relatively cool thermal regime provide favourable conditionsfor formation and preservation of diamonds beneath the SE Slaveterrane. Similar to average Archaean mantle worldwide, the SESlave peridotite is depleted in magmaphile major elements andcontains olivine with forsterite content of 9193·5.With respect to olivine composition and mode, all terranes ofthe Slave mantle show broadly similar compositions and are relativelyorthopyroxene-poor compared with those of the Kaapvaal and Siberiancratons. The SE Slave spinel peridotite is poorer in Al, Caand Fe, and richer in Mg than deeper garnet peridotite. Thegreater chemical depletion of the shallow upper mantle is typicalof all terranes of the Slave craton and may be common for thesubcontinental lithospheric peridotitic mantle in general. Peridotiticxenoliths of the SE Slave craton were impregnated by kimberliticfluids that caused late-stage recrystallization of primary clinopyroxene,spinel, olivine and spinel-facies orthopyroxene, and formationof interstitial clinopyroxene. This kimberlite-related recrystallizationdepleted primary pyroxenes and spinel in Al. The kimberliticfluid was oxidizing, Ti-, Fe- and K-rich, and Na-poor, and introducedserpentine, chlorite, phlogopite and spinel into peridotitesat P < 35 kbar. KEY WORDS: kimberlite xenolith; lithosphere; mantle terrane; chemical zoning; thermobarometry; Slave craton相似文献
The Tocantins Province in Central Brazil is composed of a series of SSW–NNE trending terranes of mainly Proterozoic ages, which stabilized in the Neoproterozoic in the final collision between the Amazon and São Francisco cratons. No previous information on crustal seismic properties was available for this region. Several broadband stations were used to study the regional patterns of crustal and upper mantle structure, extending the results of a recent E–W seismic refraction profile. Receiver functions and surface wave dispersion showed a thin crust (33–37 km) in the Neoproterozoic Magmatic Arc terrane. High average crustal Vp/Vs ratios (1.74–1.76) were consistently observed in this unit. The foreland domain of the Brasília foldbelt, on the other hand, is characterized by thicker crust (42–43 km). Low Vp/Vs ratios (1.70–1.72) were observed in the low-grade foreland fold and thrust zone of the Brasília belt adjacent to the São Francisco craton. Teleseismic P-wave tomography shows that the lithospheric upper mantle has lower velocities beneath the Magmatic Arc and Goiás Massif compared with the foreland zone of the belt and São Francisco craton. The variations in crustal thickness and upper mantle velocities observed with the broadband stations correlate well with the measurements along the seismic refraction profile. The integration of all seismic observations and gravity data indicates a strong lithospheric contrast between the Goiás Massif and the foreland domain of the Brasília belt, whereas little variation was found across the foldbelt/craton surface boundary. These results support the hypothesis that the Brasília foreland domain and the São Francisco craton were part of a larger São Francisco-Congo continental plate in the final collision with the Amazon plate. 相似文献
Gold mineralization at Hutti is confined to a series of nine parallel, N–S to NNW–SSE trending, steeply dipping shear zones.
The host rocks are amphibolites and meta-rhyolites metamorphosed at peak conditions of 660±40°C and 4±1 kbar. They are weakly
foliated (S1) and contain barren quartz extension veins. The auriferous shear zones (reefs) are typically characterized by four alteration
assemblages and laminated quartz veins, which, in places, occupy the entire reef width of 2–10 m, and contain the bulk of
gold mineralization. A <1.5 m wide distal chlorite-sericite (+biotite, calcite, plagioclase) alteration zone can be distinguished
from a 3–5 m wide proximal biotite-plagioclase (+quartz, muscovite, calcite) alteration zone. Gold is both spatially and temporally
associated with disseminated arsenopyrite and pyrite mineralization. An inner chlorite-K-feldspar (+quartz, calcite, scheelite,
tourmaline, sphene, epidote, sericite) alteration halo, which rims the laminated quartz veins, is characterized by a pyrrhotite,
chalcopyrite, sphalerite, ilmenite, rutile, and gold paragenesis. The distal chlorite-sericite and proximal biotite-plagioclase
alteration assemblages are developed in microlithons of the S2–S3 crenulation cleavage and are replaced along S3 by the inner chlorite-K-feldspar alteration, indicating a two-stage evolution for gold mineralization. Ductile D2 shearing, alteration, and gold mineralization formed the reefs during retrograde evolution and fluid infiltration under upper
greenschist to lower amphibolite facies conditions (560±60°C, 2±1 kbar). The reefs were reactivated in the D3 dextral strike-slip to oblique-slip environment by fault-valve behavior at lower greenschist facies conditions (ca. 300–350°C),
which formed the auriferous laminated quartz veins. Later D4 crosscutting veins and D5 faults overprint the gold mineralization. The alteration mineralogy and the structural control of the deposit clearly points
to an orogenic style of gold mineralization, which took place either during isobaric cooling or at different levels of the
Archean crust. From overlaps in the tectono-metamorphic history, it is concluded that gold mineralization occurred during
two tectonic events, affecting the eastern Dharwar craton in south India between ca. 2550 – 2530 Ma: (1) The assemblage of
various terranes of the eastern block, and (2) a tectono-magmatic event, which caused late- to posttectonic plutonism and
a thermal perturbation. It differs, however, from the pre-peak metamorphic gold mineralization at Kolar and the single-stage
mineralization at Ramagiri. Notably, greenschist facies gold mineralization occurred at Hutti 35–90 million years later than
in the western Dharwar craton.
Editorial handling: G. Beaudoin 相似文献
The Carrancas Formation outcrops in east-central Brazil on the southern margin of the São Francisco craton where it comprises the base of the late Neoproterozoic Bambuí Group. It is overlain by the basal Ediacaran cap carbonate Sete Lagoas Formation and was for a long time considered to be glacially influenced and correlative with the glaciogenic Jequitaí Formation. New stratigraphic, isotopic and geochronologic data imply that the Carrancas Formation was instead formed by the shedding of debris from basement highs uplifted during an episode of minor continental rifting. Reddish dolostones in the upper Carrancas Formation have δ13C values ranging from +7.1 to +9.6‰, which is a unique C isotopic composition for the lowermost Bambuí Group but similar to values found in the Tijucuçu sequence, a pre-glacial unit in the Araçuaí fold belt on the eastern margin of the São Francisco craton. The stratigraphic position below basal Ediacaran cap carbonates and the highly positive δ13C values together indicate a Cryogenian interglacial age for the Carrancas Formation, with the high δ13C values representing the so-called Keele peak, which precedes the pre-Marinoan Trezona negative δ13C excursion in other well characterized Cryogenian sequences. Hence, The Carrancas Formation pre-dates de Marinoan Jequitaí Formation and represents an interval of Cryogenian stratigraphy not previously known to occur on the southern margin of São Francicso craton. Documentation of Cryogenian interglacial strata on the São Francisco craton reinforces recent revisions to the age of Bambuí Group strata and has implications for the development of the Bambuí basin. 相似文献
Geological, geochronological, and isotope-geochemical studies of the metadolerites of the Angaul complex, widespread in the Urik-Iya graben of the southern Siberian craton, were carried out. The metadolerites forming separate conformal bodies (sills) among the metasandstones of the Ingash Formation were studied in detail. U-Pb zircon (SHRIMP) dating of metadolerites yielded an age of 1913 ± 24 Ma, and U-Pb baddeleyite (ID-TIMS) dating of these rocks yielded an age of 1914.0 ± 1.7 Ma. Thus, the date of 1914 ± 2 Ma can be taken as the most precise age estimate for the studied rocks. The metadolerites of the Angaul complex correspond in chemical composition to the normal-alkaline tholeiitic basalts. Metadolerites are differentiated rocks with mg# of 36 to 58. They show fractionated REE patterns: (La/Yb)n = 1.2-3.5. All metadolerites, independently of their mg# value, have low contents of Nb (1.6-10.2 ppm) and show well-pronounced negative Nb-Ta anomalies in multielement patterns (Nb/Nb* = 0.19-0.54). The metadolerites are characterized by positive εNd(T) values ranging from 0.4 to 5.2, which correlate well with their SiO2 content and mg# value. The isotope-geochemical parameters of the metadolerites of the Angaul complex indicate that fractional crystallization, along with the assimilation of the host rocks (AFC), might have been the main process during the formation of the most differentiated metadolerites. The geochemical characteristics of metadolerites with the maximum mg# values of 57-58 and εNd(T) = 5.2 suggest that the parental mantle source of the metadolerites resulted from mixing of predominant depleted mantle material with the subcontinental-lithosphere material. Intrusion of the dolerites of the Angaul complex, as well as the deposition of the sedimentary strata of the Ingash Group, took place at the Paleoproterozoic stage of intracontinental extension caused by the collapse of the orogen resulted from the collision of the Biryusa block with the Tunguska superterrane in the southern Siberian craton. 相似文献