Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O presente trabalho teve por objetivo a caracterização petrográfica e geoquímica das rochas graníticas formadas durante o evento Sunsás e de seu embasamento no SW do Craton Amazônico na Bolívia. As unidades estudadas compreendem, além dos granitóides da Orogenia Sunsás (1,30 Ga-950 Ma), o embasamento (> 1400 Ma) representado por gnaisses La Chiquitania, enderbitos e gnaisses Lomas Maneches e granitóides San Ignácio (1400-1300 Ma). A área de estudo encontra-se no extremo leste da Bolívia envolvendo os estados de Santa Cruz de La Sierra e Beni. A justificativa para este estudo é a ausência de trabalhos desde a década dos oitenta, quando foi mapeado o pré- Cambriano boliviano pelo Serviço Geológico da Bolívia com o Serviço Geológico Britânico. Para o embasamento, a unidade La Chiquitania apresenta rochas como ortognaisses de composição granítica além de litotipos granadíferos. A unidade Lomas Maneches apresenta enderbitos e rochas graníticas metaluminosas a debilmente peraluminosas. O ambiente tectônico no qual foi formada varia desde pré-colisional a tardi-orogênico com rochas preferencialmente graníticas e os ETR sugerem um processo de fracionamento magmático para a geração das rochas. Os granitóides San Ignácio incluem as intrusões graníticas San Andrés, El Refugio e San Ramón. Segundo a química, estas rochas variam de metaluminosa a debilmente peraluminosa. Os diagramas tectônicos indicam ambientes que variam de pré-colisionais a post-orogênicos e os padrões de ETR sugerem a existência de dois grupos provavelmente originados de fontes diferentes ou a partir de processos de fracionamento diferentes. Os granitóides Sunsas incluem as intrusões Talcoso, Cachuela, Naranjito, Taperas e Primavera. Os estudos petrográficos dos primeiros 3 granitóides permitem classificá-los como granitos, sendo que os últimos dois foram classificados como granodioritos. Os resultados geoquímicos dos ETR permitem sugerir que estes granitóides apresentam um comportamento metaluminoso, com afinidade pós-orogênica. Neste sentido, os granitos Naranjito, Primavera e Talcoso são produto de uma cristalização fracionada. O granito Cachuela é o representante mais primitivo e o granito Taperas tem posição intermédia no processo de fracionamento magmático. A partir dos resultados apresentados e com os dados da literatura pode-se sugerir que os gnaisses La Chiquitania e do Lomas Maneches foram resultado de um importante evento acrecionário na região (Orogênese Lomas Maneches). Ocorrido por volta de 1680-1660 Ma. Seguindo o tempo geológico foi registrado o evento San Ignácio, de idade entre 1,34 Ga e 1,33 Ga, cujo ambiente tectônico mais provável foi um arco magmático continental. Para o evento Sunsas, os corpos graníticos são classificados como granitos tipo I, resultando do estabelecimento de um arco magmático continental por volta de 1,07 Ga. Os elementos terras-raras permitem sugerir que estes granitóides foram gerados em um processo de fracionamento magmático, provavelmente de origem mantélica, durante o processo de subducção que terminou na colisão Greenviliana que, conforme a literatura, resultou na aglomeração do supercontinente Rodínia. Palavras-chave: Pré-cambriano; Bolívia / The main objectives of this work were the petrographic characterization and geochemistry studies of the Sunsas granitic intrusions and their country rocks in the Bolivian sector of the SW Amazonian craton. The studied units comprise the Sunsas Orogeny granitoids (1,30 Ga-950 Ma), the basement (>1400 Ma) including La Chiquitania gneiss, enderbitic and granitic gneiss of the Lomas Maneches unit and San Ignacio granitoids (1400-1300 Ma). The studied area is located in the west sector of Bolivia and involves the Santa Cruz de La Sierra and Beni states. The justificative for this study is the absence of investigation focusing the area since the 1980 decade, when the Bolivian Geological Survey with the Geological British Survey mapped the Bolivian pre-Cambrian. The Lomas Maneches unit comprises enderbitic and granitic gneiss from metaluminous to peraluminous composition. The tectonic setting indicated by the tectonic diagrams suggest late-orogenic to post-tectonic origin and the REE patterns suggest fractional crystallization processes for the rocks formation. The La Chiquitania unit presents two types of rocks (granitic gneiss and the garnet gneiss) here interpreted as similar to the Lomas Maneches rocks. The San Ignácio granitoids include San Andrés, El Refugio and San Ramon granites. According to the geochemistry results the rocks are characterized as metaluminous and peraluminous and the tectonic setting where the rocks were formed vary from pre-collision to post-orogenic and the REE patterns suggest the existence of two groups of rocks originated in different sources or as result of different processes of magma fractionation.The Sunsas granitoids here studied included the Talcoso, Cachuela, Naranjito, Taperas and Primavera intrusions. The petrography study allowed to classificate the first three granitoids as granites and the other two as granodiorite. The geochemical study of all the granites indicates metaluminous trend and according to the REE patterns, the Naranjito, Primavera and Talcoso granites are product of the fractional crystallization processes; the Cachuela granite represents the more primitive, and the Taperas granite with intermediate position in the magmatic fractional processes.The present study and previously works suggest that the La Chiquitania paragneiss were formed as result of erosion and sedimentation from sources dating at 1,76 Ga. At about 1680-1660 occurred an important accretionary event in this region (here defined as Lomas Maneches Orogeny). Following the geological time, the San Ignácio event was recorded by granitogenesis ca. 1,34 Ga and 1,33 Ga, whose tectonic environment probably is related to a continental magmatic arc. The Sunsas event granitoids may be classificated as I-type granites, resulted of the continental magmatic arc setting at 1,07 Ga. The REE patterns allow to suggest these granites were generate from a magmatic fractionating processes, with mantelic source during which subduction finished with the Grenvillian collision, according to the literature, responsible for the Rodinia supercontinent assembly.

[No abstract available] / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Bibliography: pages 346-370. / A regional study of highly metamorphosed supracrustal rocks was undertaken in the western portions of the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex. The study area was essentially restricted to a north-south section some 50 kilometres wide and 220 kilometres long. Eight east-west-trending belts of supracrustal rocks were examined, together with several smaller paragneiss remnants, in an area dominated by quartzo-feldspathic gneisses of granitic composition. The supracrustal rocks were classified into seven major lithological groups: quartzitic rocks, metapelitic and metapsammitic rocks, quartzo feldspathic rocks, metabasites, metacarbonate rocks, magnesium-rich cordierite rocks and iron formations. Further subdivision, based on variations in mineral constituents within each group, also occurred, as well as the presence of lithologies with compositions transitional between certain groups. The various supracrustal sequences were subdivided into formations containing minor distinctive members on an informal lithostratigraphic basis. Correlation between the major supracrustal belts was then undertaken. Four subgroups were identified across the study area, comprising a quartzo feldspathic gneiss subgroup and an overlying feldspathic quartzite/garnetcordierite gneiss subgroup that both predominate in the southern and central part of the area, a glassy quartzite/mica- sillimanite schist subgroup that predominates in the northern part, and a cordierite gneiss/metacarbonate subgroup that is restricted to the Geselskapbank synform. The supracrustal rocks appear to have been emplaced on a basement of augen gneisses. This relationship is, however, complicated by the intrusion of granit i c rocks within the contact zone.

<p> During the summer of 1970 a study was initiated to define factors controlling the biosphere in the lentic environment of the Precambrian Shield. Data were collected from nine lakes of varying size and depth located in a number of geological formations. Chemical, physical and biological conditions in these lakes were investigated at two sampling periods and the lakes were classified on the basis of morphology (surface area to volume area) and lithology (surficial and bedrock geology). Attempts were made to determine the influence of morphology and lithology on the chemical and biological conditions observed. Emphasis was placed on the relationships of these factors to aspects of the primary and secondary trophic levels in the lentic ecosystem including primary productivity and the standing crop and diversity of phytoplankton and zooplankton.</p> <p> The atmosphere, a third potential factor influencing lakes was investigated by means of a network of air monitoring stations (collecting both precipitation and 'dry fallout') located throughout the greater Sudbury area.</p> <p> The results of the study indicated that: 1. the lentic ecosystem in the Precambrian Shield area studied can be defined by simple chemical and physical variables. 2. the morphology of the lake basins (surface area to volume ratio) modified by lithology (primarily the presence or absence of limestone) is the major factor influencing biological activity. Lakes with a low surface area to volume ratio showed low productivity while lakes with a high surface area to volume ratio showed nigh productivity. Silica and calcium concentrations (influenced by the lithosphere) were important since relatively small changes in the concentration of these chemical species stimulated a response in the biosphere. 3. some of the lakes were affected by concentrations of sulphates conveyed to the water by the atmosphere. Observed effects included increases in the hydrogen ion concentration in lakes with low calcium concentrations (poorly buffered) and a depression of the diversity of both primary and secondary trophic levels.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

The largest structural trend of the major lithotectonic boundaries in the Grenville Province is located in Ontario where all lithotectonic belts are deflected around Georgian Bay, termed the Big Bend. The thesis will explore some questions related to the formation of this structural feature such as; how the geometry of Grenville aged thrusting contributed to the Big Bend and what conditions led to the formation of the pre-Grenvillian Central Metasedimentary Belt whose geometrical shape may have controlled the development of the Big Bend. First, the geometrical properties of the major lithotectonic boundaries are explored using a three-dimensional model in SketchUp. SketchUp was designed to visualize three-dimensional 1:1 scale real-world structures in Cartesian space. By utilizing refined isotope and geologic surface boundaries accompanied with seismic surveys a three-dimensional tectonic framework of the SW Grenville Province has been constructed. The three-dimensional model of the Grenville Front, Allochthon Boundary Thrust and Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary provides a visual understanding of how the thrust geometry was superimposed from the top-down, eventually producing the Big Bend. Second, 60 new Nd isotope analyses are presented for plutonic orthogneisses from the Central Metasedimentary Belt (CMB), Grenville Province. The CMB has been identified as a back-arc aulacogen with blocks of rifted crustal basement (>1.35GaTDM) in a juvenile matrix of lavas, intrusions and supracrustal sequences (1.35GaTDM). The Grimsthorpe domain is located in the center of the CMB in Ontario and contains large batholiths that exhibit older crustal formation ages known as the Weslemkoon and Elzevir batholiths. The presented Nd isotope analyses identify domains with older crustal formation ages separated by thin salients with younger crustal formation ages inside the Weslemkoon batholith. The intricate geometry of the isotope boundaries within the Weslemkoon batholith suggest that the Laurentian crustal basement was incorporated in the rift and later broken-up by rift related transtension. Continental rift and rifted-arc settings of the Danakil Depression and Gulf of California are explored as modern analogues along with rifted continental fragments known as the Danakil block and Isla Tiburon respectively. Last, the Queensborough mafic-ultramafic complex (QC) is reviewed. The QC is located at the southern end of the Elzevir batholith. The QC was interpreted as a back-arc ophiolite based on REE ratios and MORB normalized spidergrams which were argued to be comparable to modern back-arc basalts. Upon review of the published major and trace element ratios there is a mantle component that is problematical to explain with a back-arc tectonic scenario. The geochemistry suggests that the QC could be partially derived from a mantle plume. The current tectonic models contend this part of Laurentia formed only from subduction related magmatism but based on the trace element data a plume may have been involved as well. The evidence presented supports the identification of the CMB as a failed continental rift and that the failed continental rift created an embayment in Laurentia which governed ductile deformation during Grenvillian orogenic events leading to the formation of the Big Bend. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The Gull Rapids area, Manitoba, lies on the Superior craton margin and forms part of the Superior Boundary Zone (SBZ), a major collisional zone between the Archean Superior craton and the adjacent Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen. There are two main rock assemblages at Gull Rapids: orthogneisses (of possible Split Lake Block origin) and supracrustal rocks (metavolcanic and metasedimentary). Late, crosscutting felsic and mafic intrusive bodies (mostly dykes and sills) are used to constrain the relative and absolute timing of deformation and metamorphism. <br /><br /> The Gull Rapids area records a complex tectonic history. The area experienced four generations of Neoarchean ductile and brittle deformation (G1 ? G4) and one of Paleoproterozoic ductile-brittle deformation (G5). G1 deformation produced the main foliation in the map area, as well as local isoclinal folding which may be related to an early shearing event. M1a prograde mid-amphibolite facies metamorphism is contemporaneous with the early stages of G1. Widespread, tight to isoclinal sheath folding during G2 was recorded in the supracrustal assemblage, and is the result of southwest-side-up, dextral shearing during the early shearing event. A ca. 2. 68 Ga widespread phase of granitoid intrusion was emplaced late-G1 to early-G2, and is rich in metamorphic minerals that record conditions of M1b upper-amphibolite facies peak metamorphism. M1b metamorphism, late-G1 to early-G2 deformation, and intrusion of this felsic phase are contemporaneous. M2 retrograde metamorphism to mid-amphibolite facies was recorded sometime after M1b. G1 and G2 structures were re-folded during G3, which was then followed by G4 southwest-side-up, dextral and sinistral shearing, contemporaneous with late pegmatite intrusion at ca. 2. 61 Ga. This was followed by mafic dyke emplacement at ca. 2. 10 Ga, and then by G5 sinistral and dextral shearing and M3 greenschist facies metamorphism or hydrothermal alteration at ca. 1. 80 Ga. <br /><br /> Deformation and metamorphism at Gull Rapids post-dates emplacement and deposition of gneissic and supracrustal rocks, respectively. This deformation and metamorphism, except for G5 and M3, is Neoarchean (ca. 2. 68?2. 61 Ga), and represents a significant movement of crustal blocks: km-scale shearing of the supracrustal assemblage and consequent uplift of the Split Lake Block. Late deformation and metamorphism (G5, M3) may be related to the Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson orogeny. The Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic zircon populations in the geochronological data suggest that the Gull Rapids area largely experienced Neoarchean deformation and metamorphism with a weak Paleoproterozoic overprint. All of the evidence presented above suggests that the Gull Rapids area lies in a part of the Superior Boundary Zone, yet does not lie at the exact margin of the Superior craton, and therefore does not mark the Archean-Proterozoic boundary proper in northeastern Manitoba.

The Gull Rapids area, Manitoba, lies on the Superior craton margin and forms part of the Superior Boundary Zone (SBZ), a major collisional zone between the Archean Superior craton and the adjacent Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen. There are two main rock assemblages at Gull Rapids: orthogneisses (of possible Split Lake Block origin) and supracrustal rocks (metavolcanic and metasedimentary). Late, crosscutting felsic and mafic intrusive bodies (mostly dykes and sills) are used to constrain the relative and absolute timing of deformation and metamorphism. <br /><br /> The Gull Rapids area records a complex tectonic history. The area experienced four generations of Neoarchean ductile and brittle deformation (G1 ? G4) and one of Paleoproterozoic ductile-brittle deformation (G5). G1 deformation produced the main foliation in the map area, as well as local isoclinal folding which may be related to an early shearing event. M1a prograde mid-amphibolite facies metamorphism is contemporaneous with the early stages of G1. Widespread, tight to isoclinal sheath folding during G2 was recorded in the supracrustal assemblage, and is the result of southwest-side-up, dextral shearing during the early shearing event. A ca. 2. 68 Ga widespread phase of granitoid intrusion was emplaced late-G1 to early-G2, and is rich in metamorphic minerals that record conditions of M1b upper-amphibolite facies peak metamorphism. M1b metamorphism, late-G1 to early-G2 deformation, and intrusion of this felsic phase are contemporaneous. M2 retrograde metamorphism to mid-amphibolite facies was recorded sometime after M1b. G1 and G2 structures were re-folded during G3, which was then followed by G4 southwest-side-up, dextral and sinistral shearing, contemporaneous with late pegmatite intrusion at ca. 2. 61 Ga. This was followed by mafic dyke emplacement at ca. 2. 10 Ga, and then by G5 sinistral and dextral shearing and M3 greenschist facies metamorphism or hydrothermal alteration at ca. 1. 80 Ga. <br /><br /> Deformation and metamorphism at Gull Rapids post-dates emplacement and deposition of gneissic and supracrustal rocks, respectively. This deformation and metamorphism, except for G5 and M3, is Neoarchean (ca. 2. 68?2. 61 Ga), and represents a significant movement of crustal blocks: km-scale shearing of the supracrustal assemblage and consequent uplift of the Split Lake Block. Late deformation and metamorphism (G5, M3) may be related to the Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson orogeny. The Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic zircon populations in the geochronological data suggest that the Gull Rapids area largely experienced Neoarchean deformation and metamorphism with a weak Paleoproterozoic overprint. All of the evidence presented above suggests that the Gull Rapids area lies in a part of the Superior Boundary Zone, yet does not lie at the exact margin of the Superior craton, and therefore does not mark the Archean-Proterozoic boundary proper in northeastern Manitoba.

No description available.

A sequence of Older Precambrian volcanic and sedimentary rocks more than 15,000 feet thick occurs in the Blackjack Mountains and White Ledges, 20 miles north of Globe, Arizona. This sequence consists of (from older to younger) the Redmond formation (acidic volcanic rocks) and the Hess Canyon group (clastic sedimentary rocks). The Hess Canyon group is subdivided into: the White Ledges formation (interbedded quartzites and argillaceous rocks); the Yankee Joe formation (argillaceous strata with interbedded graywackes and arkoses); and the Blackjack formation (argillaceous quartzites). These rocks have been intruded by the Ruin Granite (a porphyritic quartz monzonite) and subsequently eroded to approximately the present level of exposure prior to the deposition of the Younger Precambrian Apache Group. The unconformity between the Older and Younger Precambrian strata is well exposed at Butte Creek north of Haystack Butte. Diabase has intruded the Blackjack formation, the Ruin Granite and the Apache Group. No Paleozoic or Mesozoic rocks are known to occur within the surveyed area. Sediments and volcanic and sedimentary rocks of Tertiary and Quaternary age partly conceal the older rocks. The Hess Canyon group can be correlated with the Deadman Quartzite, Maverick Shale, and Mazatzal Quartzite of the Mazatzal Mountains (Wilson 1939a) and also the Houden Formation of the Diamond Butte Quadrangle (Gastil 1958). Whole rock Rb-Sr dating indicates an age of 1,510 ± m.y. for the Redmond formation. Isotopic dating of the Ruin Granite near the Blackjack Mountains and of the granitic rocks intruded the Mazatzal Quartzite of Four Peaks in the southern Mazatzal Mountains indicates that the Mazatzal Orogeny (the Mazatzal Revolution of Wilson, 1939a) occurred 1,425 to 1,380 m.y. ago in central Arizona. This orogeny followed the deposition of the Mazatzal Quartzite and the Hess Canyon group, terminating older Precambrian time in Arizona and was followed by the deposition of the Younger Precambrian Apache Group. Isotopic dating of volcanic metamorphic and plutonic rocks in the Pinal and Tortilla Mountains and near Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River indicate that portions of the Pinal Schist in the type locality are greater than 1,730 m.y. old and that these rocks have experienced a complex series of events in Older Precambrian times. The Madera Diorite of Ransome (1903) consists of rocks 1,730 ± 30 m.y. old as well as rocks about 1,500 m.y. old. The Older Precambrian igneous rocks in this part of Arizona appear to have developed from material similar in Rb to Sr ratio to average shallow continental crust. These rocks formed during the interval 1,730 to 1,370 m.y. ago. The continental crust in this region probably originated no earlier than about 1,800 m.y. ago. Igneous rocks younger than 1,370 m.y. have not been derived soley from average shallow crustal material.