Thesis advisor: J. Christopher Hepburn / The Shrewsbury quadrangle was geologically mapped at a scale of 1:24,000. The quadrangle spans the entire Nashoba terrane, a belt of amphibolite-grade rocks related to an early Paleozoic peri-Gondwanan arc. Petrofabric studies of fault-rocks indicated that the final motion on several major shear zones - Ball Hill fault, Sulfur Hill shear zone, and Assabet River fault - was sinistral strike-slip with an oblique NW over SE thrust component. Monazites from these shear zones were dated using an electron microprobe. Regional metamorphism (M1) took place around 420 Ma. A second regional metamorphism (M2) produced anatectic conditions around 394Ma. A group of dates in the range 360-385 Ma indicates that the Nashoba terrane was also affected by Neoacadian metamorphism and/or deformation. Major shear zones were active throughout the Devonian and may have persisted into the Carboniferous. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Geology and Geophysics.

Thesis advisor: J. Christopher Hepburn / The Nashoba terrane is a highly metamorphosed and sheared Paleozoic tectonic block in eastern Massachusetts. The metamorphic rocks that compose the terrane are intruded by a series of diorites, tonalites, and granites. The Andover Granite is a complex multiphase granitic suite found in the northern part of the Nashoba terrane and is composed of both foliated and unfoliated granites as well as a granodiorite phase. The Sgr Group of granites is a series of unfoliated granites exposed along the Nashoba-Avalon terrane boundary. New crystallization ages for the foliated Andover Granite and the Sudbury Granite, southernmost body of the Sgr Group of granites, are presented. CA-TIMS U-Pb geochronology on zircons collected from these granites yielded 419.43 ± 0.52 Ma and 419.65 ± 0.51 Ma crystallization ages for the foliated Andover Granite and a 420.49 ± 0.52 Ma crystallization age for the Sudbury Granite. Geochemical and petrographic analysis of these granites indicate that the foliated Andover Granite is a high-K calc-alkaline, peralmuminous, S-type, biotite + muscovite granite and the Sudbury granite is high-K calc-alkaline, metaluminous to slightly peraluminous, I-type, biotite granite. These two granites are interpreted to have formed from the anatexis of either Nashoba terrane metasedimentary rocks and/or its underlying basement just prior to the Acadian orogeny. It is proposed that when Silurian diorite/tonalite magmas intruded into the Nashoba terrane, the influx of magmatic heat was sufficient to trigger crustal melting and promote granite genesis. This petrogenetic scenario fits well with regional tectonic models showing the Silurio-Devonian convergence of Avalonia towards Ganderia (which formed the eastern side of composite Laurentia at the time) in the northern Appalachians. Prior to the collision of Avalonia to composite Laurentia, mafic and intermediate composition arc magmas intruded the eastern Ganderian margin. The large amount of heat that accompanied these intrusions is believed to have contributed to Acadian metamorphism and influenced the formation of granitic plutons along the margin. It is therefore proposed that the plutonic record of the Nashoba terrane shows that by the Late Silurian - Early Devonian, Avalonia was still outboard of Laurentia in the vicinity of southern New England. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Thesis advisor: J. Christopher Hepburn / The Nashoba terrane of SE New England is one of three peri-Gondwanan tectonic blocks caught between Laurentia and Gondwana during the closure of the Iapetus Ocean in the early to mid- Paleozoic. U-Pb analyses (LA-ICP-MS) were carried out on zircon suites from the meta-sedimentary rocks of the Nashoba terrane. The youngest detrital zircons in the meta-sedimentary rocks of the Nashoba terrane are Ordovician in age. There is no significant difference in age between meta-sedimentary units of the Nashoba terrane across the Assabet River Fault Zone, a major fault zone that bisects the NT in a SE and a NW par. Zircon in meta-sedimentary rocks in the Marlboro Fm., the oldest unit of the Nashoba terrane, is rare, which may reflect the basaltic nature of the source material, and is commonly metamict. The Marlboro Fm. contained the oldest detrital grain of all the analyzed samples, with a core of ~3.3 Ga and rim of ~2.6 Ga indicating that it was sourced from Archaen crustal material. Detrital zircons from the Nashoba terrane show a complete age record between the Paleoproterozoic and Paleozoic that strongly supports a provenance from the Oaxiqua margin of Amazonia. The detrital zircon suite of the Nashoba terrane is distinct from both Avalonia and the Merrimack belt; however, they resemble zircon suites from Ganderia. This study proposes that the Nashoba terrane of Massachusetts correlates with the passive trailing edge of Ganderia. Finally, metamorphic zircon analyses of the terrane show that the Nashoba terrane experienced a peak in hydrothermal fluid infiltration during the Neoacadian orogeny. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Thesis advisor: John C. Hepburn / The bedrock geology of the Maynard quadrangle of east-central Massachusetts was examined through field and petrographic studies and mapped at a scale of 1:24,000. The quadrangle spans much of the Nashoba terrane and a small area of the Avalon terrane. Two stratigraphic units were defined in the Nashoba terrane: the Cambrian to Ordovician Marlboro Formation and the Ordovician Nashoba Formation. In addition, four igneous units were defined in the Nashoba terrane: the Silurian to Ordovician phases of the Andover Granite, the Silurian to Devonian Assabet Quartz Diorite, the Silurian to Devonian White Pond Diorites (new name), and the Mississippian Indian Head Hill Igneous Complex. In the Avalon terrane, one stratigraphic unit was defined as the Proterozoic Z Westboro Formation Mylonites, and one igneous unit was defined as the Proterozoic Z to Devonian Sudbury Valley Igneous Complex. Two major faults were identified: the intra-terrane Assabet River fault zone in the central part of the quadrangle, and the south-east Nashoba terrane bounding Bloody Bluff fault zone. Petrofabric studies on fault rocks in two areas indicated final motion in those areas: the sheared Marlboro Formation amphibolites indicated dextral transpressive NW over SE motion, and the Westboro Formation Mylonites indicated sinistral strike-slip motion. Fracture characterization of entire quadrangle where attributes (orientation, trace length, spacing, and termination) of fractures and joints were used to identify dominant sets of fractures that affect the transmissivity and storage of groundwater. Orientations of SW - NE are dominant throughout the quadrangle and consistent with regional trend. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Geology and Geophysics.

Thesis advisor: Yvette Kuiper / 40Ar/39Ar single-grain total-fusion ages of muscovite and biotite and one 40Ar/39Ar furnace step-heating age of hornblende from the Tadmuck Brook Schist, Nashoba Formation, and Ball Hill mylonite zone are used to reconstruct the late tectonic and metamorphic history of the Nashoba terrane in eastern Massachusetts. The data fall into three age populations. Age population I (~376-330 Ma) is interpreted as cooling after a migmatization event in the Nashoba terrane, population II (~300 Ma) may be associated with normal movement on the Clinton-Newbury fault, and population III (~267 Ma) is possibly related to cooling of the Rocky Pond Granite. No younger Alleghanian overprint was observed. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.

Thesis advisor: Christopher J. Hepburn / The Nashoba terrane in eastern Massachusetts comprises Cambrian-Ordovician mafic to felsic metavolcanic rocks and interlayered sediments metamorphosed during the mid-Paleozoic and intruded by a series of dioritic to granitic plutons during the Silurian to earliest Carboniferous. This work comprises two parts discussing the Sm-Nd isotope characteristics and major and trace element geochemistry of the Nashoba terrane: the first discusses the Cambrian-Ordovician metamorphosed units, the second discusses the Silurian-Carboniferous plutons. Part I: The Nashoba terrane in eastern Massachusetts lies between rocks of Ganderian affinity to the northwest and Avalonian affinity to the southeast. Its relationship to either domain was unclear and has been investigated. Major and trace element geochemical data indicate a mix of arc, MORB, and alkaline rift related signatures consistent with an origin of the terrane as a primitive volcanic arc-backarc complex built on thinned continental crust. Newly determined Sm-Nd isotopic data clarifies the original tectonic setting. Amphibolites of the Marlboro and Nashoba Formations have high εNd values (+4 to +7.5) consistent with formation in a primitive volcanic arc with minimal interaction between arc magmas and crust. Intermediate and felsic gneisses have moderate εNd values between +1.2 and –0.75 indicating a mixture of juvenile arc magmas and an evolved (likely basement) source. Depleted mantle model ages of 1.2 to 1.6 Ga indicate a Mesoproterozoic or older age for this source. Metasedimentary rocks have negative εNd values between –6 and –8.3 indicating derivation primarily from an isotopically evolved source (or sources). The model ages of these metasedimentary rocks (1.6 to 1.8 Ga) indicate a source area of Paleoproterozoic or older age. The εNd values and model ages of the intermediate and felsic rocks and metasedimentary rocks indicates that the basement to the Nashoba terrane is Ganderian rather than Avalonian. The Nashoba terrane therefore represents a southward continuation of Ganderian arc-backarc activity as typified by the Penobscot and/or Popelogan-Victoria arc systems and the Tetagouche-Exploits backarc basin in the northern Appalachians. Part II: Between 430 and 350 Ma the Nashoba terrane experienced episodic dioritic and granitic plutonism. Previous workers have suggested a supra-subduction zone setting for this magmatism based on the calc-alkaline nature of the diorites. Previously determined major and trace element geochemical data along with newly determined Sm-Nd isotopic data indicate that a subduction zone was active beneath the Nashoba terrane during the majority of the 430 to ca. 350 Ma magmatism (and likely throughout). Trace element geochemistry indicates a strong arc component in all magmas and suggests that the various Silurian to Carboniferous plutonic rocks of the Nashoba terrane could all have been derived by modification of a slightly enriched NMORB-type source via subduction zone input and crustal contamination. Most of the rocks from this period have intermediate εNd values consistent with contamination of juvenile magmas by an evolved source. The late Proterozoic model ages for most of these rocks suggest the Ganderian basement of the Nashoba terrane as the source of evolved material. One rhyolite from the nearby Newbury Volcanic Complex (of unknown affinity) has a moderately negative εNd value consistent with derivation by partial melting of Cambrian-Ordovician metasedimentary rocks of the Nashoba terrane. This suggests that the Newbury Volcanic Complex formed as the surface expression of mid-Paleozoic Nashoba terrane plutonism. Geochemical and isotopic similarities between the plutonic rocks of the Nashoba terrane and widespread contemporary Ganderian plutonism suggest that the Nashoba terrane remained a part of Ganderia during its transit and accretion to the Laurentian margin. Significantly younger model ages in the youngest granitic rocks indicate that Avalonian crust may have underthrust the Nashoba terrane after 400 Ma and contributed to the generation of these granites. / Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Earth and Environmental Sciences.