Thesis (M.Sc.) -- University of Adelaide, Dept. of Economic Geology, 1978. / Typescript (photocopy). 3 fold. maps in end pocket.

No description available.

The North Caribou Greenstone Belt (NCGB) lies at the core the granitoid-dominant North Caribou Terrane (NCT). Two sedimentary assemblages; the Eyapamikama (ELS) and Zeemal-Heaton Lake (ZHA) form the core of the NCGB. Geochemistry of garnets from the orogenic Au deposit at Musselwhite suggest that the auriferous fluids have a contribution of metamorphic fluids and mineralization consisted of prolonged, multi-stage periods. Chemical zoning suggests changes in the influx of chalcophile and lithophile elements and that Au/sulphide ratios during nucleation were lower relative to later growth events. Zircons from the ELS and ZHA suggest a c. 100 My hiatus in the onset of sedimentation, with the ZHA showing younger, “Timiskaming-type” ages. Age distributions from each assemblage reflect proximal, igneous sources. Nd isotopic compositions of the ZHA suggest a mixture of ancient and contemporaneous sources which are similar to external TTG rocks. Deplete mantle model ages of the ZHA rocks indicate a Mesoarchean inheritance.

The North Caribou Greenstone Belt (NCGB) lies at the core the granitoid-dominant North Caribou Terrane (NCT). Two sedimentary assemblages; the Eyapamikama (ELS) and Zeemal-Heaton Lake (ZHA) form the core of the NCGB. Geochemistry of garnets from the orogenic Au deposit at Musselwhite suggest that the auriferous fluids have a contribution of metamorphic fluids and mineralization consisted of prolonged, multi-stage periods. Chemical zoning suggests changes in the influx of chalcophile and lithophile elements and that Au/sulphide ratios during nucleation were lower relative to later growth events. Zircons from the ELS and ZHA suggest a c. 100 My hiatus in the onset of sedimentation, with the ZHA showing younger, “Timiskaming-type” ages. Age distributions from each assemblage reflect proximal, igneous sources. Nd isotopic compositions of the ZHA suggest a mixture of ancient and contemporaneous sources which are similar to external TTG rocks. Deplete mantle model ages of the ZHA rocks indicate a Mesoarchean inheritance.

This study contributes to the understanding of major river evolution in Southeast Asia during the Cenozoic. In order to trace the evolution of a hypothesized palaeo-Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy River, this work undertakes the first systematic provenance study of detrital minerals from Cenozoic synorogenic fluvial and deltaic sedimentary rocks of the Central Burma Basin, employing a combination of high precision geochronology, thermochronology, and geochemistry analytical techniques on single grain detrital zircon and white mica. The dataset is compared to published isotopic data from potential source terranes in order to determine source provenance and exhumation history from source to sink. A Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy connection existed as far back as ca. 42 Ma and disconnection occurred at 18–20 Ma, based on provenance changes detected using a combination of U-Pb ages and εHf(t) values on detrital zircons, and ⁴ºAr/³⁹Ar dating on detrital micas. During the Eocene and Oligocene, units are dominated by U-Pb age and high positive εHf(t) values, characteristic of a southern Lhasa Gangdese magmatic arc source. An antecedent Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy River system formed the major river draining the eastern Himalaya at this time. A significant change in provenance is seen in the early Miocene, where detritus is predominantly derived from bedrock of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, western Yunnan and Burma, a region drained by the modern Irrawaddy-Chindwin river system characterized by Cenozoic U-Pb ages and negative εHf(t) values. This is attributed to the disconnection of the Yarlung-Irrawaddy River and capture by the proto-Brahmaputra River, re-routing Tibetan Transhimalayan detritus to the eastern Himalayan foreland basin. Re-set zircon fission track ages of 14-8 Ma present in all units is used to infer post-depositional basin evolution related to changes in the stress regime accommodating the continued northward migration of India. The early Miocene initiation of the Jiali-Parlung-Gaoligong-Sagaing dextral shear zone and the continued northward movement of the coupled India-Burma plate aided in focusing deformation inside the syntaxis contributing to the disconnection of the Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy system, linking surface deformation and denudation with processes occurring at deeper crustal levels.