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At least 685 records · Page 38Linked to original sources
USGS1987

Lead isotopic fingerprinting of tectono-stratigraphic terranes, east-central Alaska

Common lead isotopic compositions have been determined on feldspars from meta-igneous rocks from nine tectono-stratigraphic terranes or subterranes in east-central Alaska. Most of the terranes have distinct and well-defined signatures in terms of isotopic composition; thus, most can be distinguished on conventional lead isotopic diagrams. Lead isotopic ratios provide evidence for (1) possible sources for the igneous rocks, (2) time of metamorphism, (3) correlation of terrane fragments, and (4) delineation of juxtaposed terranes. Determination of lead isotopic ratios from igneous rocks can be useful in characterizing tectono-stratigraphic terranes (as to mantle or crustal origin) and in correlation, particularly where terrane relationships are enigmatic.

Alaska↗
USGS1988

Ferromanganese deposits from the Gulf of Alaska Seamount Province: Mineralogy, chemistry, and origin

Ferromanganese-oxide deposits dredged from four seamounts (Welker, Miller, Murray, and Patton) in the Gulf of Alaska Seamount Province include poorly crystallized microlaminated crusts on basalt substrate, well-crystallized Mn-oxide veins in epiclastic sedimentary rocks, and crystalline Mn-oxide layers and micronodules in phosphorite. The principal rock types dredged are alkali-basalt pillow fragments and tuffaceous conglomerate and sandstone. The glassy rims of pillow fragments, the glassy goundmass of large volcanic clasts, and the tuffaceous component of the sediment are altered to palagonite. Other low-temperature alteration products include phillipsite, smectite, and carbonate-apatite.Thick (10–50 mm) Fe–Mn crusts consist mainly of δ-MnO 2 ; straight and cuspate growth laminae indicate variable growth rates and periods of nondeposition. A larger number of detrital particles toward the top of thick crusts record the increasing influence of active volcanoes of the Aleutian arc during northwestward movement of the Pacific plate. Thick crusts on basalt substrate have higher Mn/Fe ratios and lower Co content than Fe–Mn crusts from low-latitude seamounts of the central Pacific region. Thin (< 10 mm) crusts on volcaniclastic substrate contain todorokite and birnessite and have higher Mn/Fe ratios, Ni, and Cu and lower Fe and Co than thick Gulf of Alaska crusts.Veins of todorokite and cryptomelane with complex internal structure occur in altered tuffaceous sandstone and conglomerate from Miller Seamount. Fibrous todorokite has a composition similar to those of other marine examples but may contain up to 7% Mn 2+ in M2 sites. Microprobe analysis of the marine cryptomelane indicates a composition that is approximately (K,Ba) 1–2 (Mn 4+ ,Co) 7–8 O 16 ∙ x (H 2 O).A third type of Fe–Mn deposit in phosphorite is an intimate mixture of todorokite (and minor δ-MnO 2 )-bearing layers and micronodules, carbonate-apatite, and phillipsite that encloses grains of altered volcanic glass and lithic fragments.The microlaminated structure, mineralogy (predominantly δ-MnO 2 ), and composition (Mn/Fe ratio and transition metal, rare earth element, U, and Th contents) of the thick crusts are characteristic of hydrogenetic Fe–Mn crusts elsewhere in the Pacific. Conversely, the crystallinity and chemical composition of the Mn-oxide veins and thin crusts indicate formation during diagenesis of the volcanogenic sediment substrate. Mn and other transition metals are mobilized during low-temperature oxidative alteration (palagonitization) of basaltic volcanic glass; the oxidation of Fe 2+ to Fe 3+ during palagonitization and the dissolution of the dilute biogenic fraction of the sediment combine to lower the Eh of ambient pore fluid and enhance the mobility of Mn 2+ . Diagenesis in the phosphatic sandstone from Patton Seamount involves organic-rich sediment and pore waters elevated in phosphorus owing to upwelling above a large volcanic edifice.

Alaska↗
USGS1989

Multiple hydrothermal and metamorphic events in the Kidd Creek volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit, Timmins, Ontario: evidence from tourmalines and chlorites

Tourmaline and chlorite are the principal ferromagnesian silicate minerals in the Kidd Creek massive sulphide deposit. Tourmaline is most common in sphalerite-rich peripheral margins of the chalcopyrite stringer zone. Within the north orebody, samples typically contain <1% tourmaline, but small areas (hand-specimen scale) may have 10–20%. Chlorite is more widely distributed and in places constitutes 30–50% of rock volumes. Associated assemblages may include quartz, sulphides (principally chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and (or) pyrite), carbonate, albite, sericite, and rare fluorite, allanite, or zoisite(?).The tourmalines and chlorites record a series of multiple hydrothermal and metamorphic events. Paragenetic studies suggest that tourmaline was deposited during several discrete stages of mineralization, as evidenced by brecciation and cross-cutting relationships. Most of the tourmalines have two concentric growth zones defined by different colours (green, brown, blue, yellow). Some tourmalines also display pale discordant rims that cross-cut and embay the inner growth zones and polycrystalline, multiple-extinction domains. Late sulphide veinlets (chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite) transect the inner growth zones and pale discordant rims of many crystals. The concentric growth zones are interpreted as primary features developed by the main ore-forming hydrothermal system, whereas the discordant rims, polycrystalline domains, and cross-cutting sulphide veinlets reflect post-ore metamorphic processes.Detailed electron microprobe analyses of tourmalines show a wide compositional range, from Fe-rich dravite nearly to end-member schorl, with Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios varying from 0.33 to 0.92; only minor amounts of Ca are present, yielding uniformly high Na/(Na + Ca) ratios of 0.84–0.99. Two sets of chemical zoning trends are identified in the tourmalines, involving systematic changes in Fe/(Fe + Mg), Na/(Na + Ca), Al, and Ti that are believed to reflect internal coupled substitutions (e.g.,  + Ti = Na + Al) and local mineral equilibria (e.g., tourmaline–chlorite). Analyses of the pale discordant reaction rims show consistent depletion of Fe, Ca, and Ti, presumably by fluid–solid reactions during post-ore metamorphism.Chlorites also show an extensive range in composition, from ripidolite nearly to end-member daphnite, with Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios of 0.43–0.98 and Si cation values of 5.00–5.39. Chlorites from the fringes of the footwall stringer zone have narrow compositional ranges, whereas chlorites near footwall rhyolite sills in the core of the stringer zone display major variations in Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios, including one sample with a range of 0.68–0.95. The former group of chlorites has Fe/(Fe + Mg) ratios that correlate well with those of coexisting tourmalines (exclusive of late reaction rims). Data for the latter group, in contrast, fall off equilibrium K D curves, indicating that the tourmalines and chlorites within these samples are not in chemical equilibrium. The chlorites are believed to have been altered (overprinted) by Fe-rich hydrothermal fluids apparently generated during intrusion of the rhyolite sills. The tourmalines, however, are unaffected and retain primary chemical signatures.Variations in mineral proportions and mineral chemistry within the deposit mainly depend on fluctuations in temperature, pH, water/rock ratios, and amounts of entrained seawater. The major proposed control is mixing between high-temperature, Fe-rich end-member hydrothermal fluids and cold, Mg-rich entrained seawater. Fe/(Fe + Mg) variations in footwall tourmalines (and equilibrium chlorites) are believed to largely reflect the progressive infiltration of Mg-rich seawater into the margins and top of the hydrothermal system. The more Fe-rich compositions of Kidd Creek tourmalines relative to those from sediment-hosted massive sulphide deposits (e.g., Sullivan, British Columbia) may be related to the preferential generation of end-member hydrothermal fluids in proximal volcanic environments like that at Kidd Creek.

Ontario↗
USGS1989

Turbidity-current channels in Queen Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska

Queen Inlet is unique among Glacier Bay fjords because it alone has a branching channel system incised in the Holocene sediment fill of the fjord floor. Bathymetry and seismic-reflection profiles show that four channels begin on, or at the base of, the delta front of this marine-outwash fjord. By midpoint of the fjord, these channels have merged into one main channel that extends the length of the fjord. The main channel cuts deeply into the scarp that separates this hanging tributary from the West Arm of Glacier Bay. The Queen Inlet channel ends on the main fjord floor as several small distributaries that form part of a lobate-fan deposit. Sand from the channel and lobate fan, in contrast to fjord-floor mud, plus steep truncated channel walls indicate that turbidity currents created this apparently active channel system. Queen Inlet and other known channel-containing fjords are marine-outwash fjords; the tidewater glacial fjords do not have steep delta fronts on which slides are generated and may not have a sufficient reservoir of potentially unstable coarse sediment to generate channel-cutting turbidity currents. Presence or absence of channels, as revealed in the ancient rock record, may be one criterion for interpreting types of fjords.

Alaska↗
USGS1989

Petrology and age of volcanic-arc rocks from the continental margin of the Bering Sea: Implications for Early Eocene relocation of plate boundaries

Eocene volcanic flow and dike rocks from the Beringian margin have arc characteristics, implying a convergent history for this region during the early Tertiary. The extrusive rocks are basalt, basaltic andesite, andesite, and minor dacite and rhyolite. The intrusive sample is from a quartz diorite dike intruding serpentinized peridotite. Major-element oxide contents, particularly FeO*/MgO versus SiO 2 , identify both tholeiitic and calc-alkalic basalt; more silicic lavas have calc-alkalic affinities. Consistent with volcanic-arc compositions, spidergrams show pronounced Nb–Ta depletion and alkali enrichment relative to light-rare-earth-element ( LREE ) abundance. Chondrite-normalized REE plots show relatively flat patterns, with only slight LREE enrichment for tholeiitic compositions and greater LREE enrichment and lower heavy-rare-earth-element ( HREE ) abundance for calc-alkalic compositions. The samples, particularly those with calc-alkalic compositions, are rich in plagioclase that is strongly zoned; the more silicic samples contain orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and primary amphibole. The quartz diorite dike contains iron-rich almandine phenocrysts that appear to be magmatic, suggesting emplacement at great depth near the base of the crust or upper mantle.Chemical and mineralogical compositions are similar to those of modern Aleutian-arc lavas. They also resemble volcanic-arc compositions from western mainland Alaska, although greater chemical diversity and a stronger continental influence are observed in the Alaskan mainland rocks.Early Eocene ages of 54.4–50.2 Ma for the Beringian samples are well constrained by conventional K–Ar ages of nine plagioclase separates and by concordant 40 Ar/ 39 Ar incremental heating and total-fusion experiments. A concordant U–Pb zircon age of 53 Ma for the quartz-diorite dike is in good agreement with the K–Ar data.Plate motion studies of the North Pacific Ocean indicate more northerly directed subduction prior to the Tertiary and a continuous belt of arc-type volcanism extending from Siberia, along the Beringian margin, into mainland Alaska. Around 56 Ma (chron 25–24), subduction changed to a more westerly direction and subduction-related volcanism ceased for most of mainland Alaska. The increasingly oblique angle of convergence should have ended subduction along the Beringian margin as well. However, consistent ages of 54–50 Ma indicate a final pulse in arc-type magmatism during this period of plate adjustment, which may be explained by three different models: (1) The northern and central part of the Beringian margin maintained a higher angle of convergence, allowing a final pulse of arc-type magmatism. (2) The rocks erupted in an early, or proto, Aleutian arc and were rafted against the continental margin along transform faults. (3) The rocks erupted along a leaky transform fault, analogous to calc-alkalic volcanism in the southern California borderland.

Alaska↗
USGS1989

Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the Early Proterozoic Wisconsin magmatic terranes of the Penokean Orogen

The Early Proterozoic Penokean Orogen developed along the southern margin of the Archean Superior craton. The orogen consists of a northern deformed continental margin prism overlying an Archean basement and a southern assemblage of oceanic arcs, the Wisconsin magmatic terranes. The south-dipping Niagara fault (suture) zone separates the south-facing continental margin from the accreted arc terranes. The suture zone contains a dismembered ophiolite.The Wisconsin magmatic terranes consist of two terranes that are distinguished on the basis of lithology and structure. The northern Pembine–Wausau terrane contains a major succession of tholeiitic and calc-alkaline volcanic rocks deposited in the interval 1860–1889 Ma and a more restricted succession of calc-alkaline volcanic rocks deposited about 1835 – 1845 Ma. Granitoid rocks ranging in age from about 1870 to 1760 Ma intrude the volcanic rocks. The older succession was generated as island arcs and (or) closed back-arc basins above the south-dipping subduction zone (Niagara fault zone), whereas the younger one developed as island arcs above a north-dipping subduction zone, the Eau Pleine shear zone. The northward subduction followed deformation related to arc–continent collision at the Niagara suture at about 1860 Ma. The southern Marshfield terrane contains remnants of mafic to felsic volcanic rocks about 1860 Ma that were deposited on Archean gneiss basement, foliated tonalite to granite bodies ranging in age from about 1890 to 1870 Ma, and younger undated granite plutons. Following amalgamation of the two arc terranes along the Eau Pleine suture at about 1840 Ma, intraplate magmatism (1835 Ma) produced rhyolite and anorogenic alkali-feldspar granite that straddled the internal suture.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1990

Precambrian terrane of north-central Wisconsin: an aeromagnetic perspective

A shaded relief magnetic map covering most of the region of exposed Precambrian rocks of north-central Wisconsin shows the structural grain and many lithologic units with clarity and comprehensive detail. The area includes part of the volcanic sequence of the Keweenawan Supergroup south of Lake Superior, the southern margin of the Archean Superior Province, the accreted island-arc terranes of the Penokean Orogen, and the Wolf River batholith. Numerous dikes are evident in the shaded relief, some being more than 200 km in length. Many of the longer dikes are reversely magnetized Keweenawan diabase associated with early extension of the Midcontinent Rift; some apparently were intruded along preexisting faults. A northwest system of dikes and faults indicated by the shaded relief map may be related to later stages of Keweenawan rifting. The Wolf River batholith is characterized by low magnetic relief associated with the predominant granitoids but includes circular plutons of highly magnetic anorthosite and a large area of magnetic rock having a signature different from the mapped anorthosite bodies. A fault bounding the western side of the batholith is paralleled by an apparent system of faults or dikes in the older terrane to the west. The magnetic map covering the Wisconsin magmatic terranes and the Archean Superior Province margin to the north is dominated by east-northeast-trending Penokean rocks. Large units of magnetic mafic rocks and less magnetic granitoid rocks are cut by a system of well-defined northeast shear zones and a more easterly trending, possibly younger set of faults, some of which contain dikes along parts of their lengths. Although the sutures bounding the magmatic terranes generally follow the magnetic trends, they do not have distinctive magnetic signatures.

Wisconsin↗
USGS1991

Trondhjemitic, 1.35-1.31 Ga gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex of Vermont: evidence for an Elzevirian event in the Grenville Basement of the United States Appalachians

A newly recognized suite of trondhjemite–tonalite and dacitic gneiss forms a 10 km wide belt of rocks within the Mount Holly Complex in the central part of the Green Mountain massif of Vermont. Field relationships and chemistry indicate that these gneisses are calc-alkaline, volcanic, and hypabyssal plutonic rocks older than the Middle Proterozoic regional deformation that affected the Mount Holly Complex. U–Pb zircon dates indicate ages as great as 1.35 Ga for crystallization of the volcanic protoliths and for intrusion of crosscutting trondhjemite. Tonalitic plutonism continued until 1.31 Ga.Map-scale contacts between the trondhjemitic–tonalitic–dacitic gneisses and the paragneiss sequence of the Mount Holly Complex are sharp, suggesting that the volcanic rocks of the trondhjemite–tonalite suite underlie the paragneiss units and do not intrude them. These relationships suggest that the trondhjemite–tonalite suite is either considerably older than, and unconformable beneath, the paragneiss cover rocks or represents a volcanic edifice slightly older than the deposition of the sedimentary precursor to the paragneiss units. The paragneiss and tonalite–trondhjemite gneisses are both intruded by younger granitoids that were intruded at about 1.25 Ga during strong dynamothermal metamorphism.The trondhjemitic gneisses of the Mount Holly Complex of Vermont have high Al 2 O 3 and low Yb contents and light rare-earth element enrichment patterns that are more characteristic of continental than oceanic volcanic arcs. The Mount Holly intrusives and volcanics may have formed during 1.35–1.31 Ga ensialic volcanic-arc activity, contemporaneous with ensimatic arc activity during the early part of the Elzevirian phase of the Grenville orogeny. In Vermont, later deformation and granite intrusion at about 1.25 Ga coincide with the major pulse of the Elzevirian orogeny and associated trondhjemitic plutonism in the Central Metasedimentary Belt of eastern Canada.

Vermont↗
USGS1991

U–Pb geochronology of Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary plutons in the northern Coast Mountains batholith

U–Pb geochronologic studies demonstrate that steeply dipping, sheetlike tonalitic plutons along the western margin of the northern Coast Mountains batholith were emplaced between ~83 and ~57 (perhaps ~55) Ma. Less elongate tonalitic–granodioritic bodies in central portions of the batholith yield ages of 59–58 Ma, coeval with younger phases of the tonalitic sheets. Large granite–granodiorite bodies in central and eastern portions of the batholith were emplaced at 51–48 Ma. Trends in ages suggest that the tonalitic bodies generally become younger southeastward and that, at the latitude of Juneau, plutonism migrated northeastward across the batholith at ~0.9 km/Ma. Variations in the age, shape, location, and degree of fabric development among the various plutons indicate that Late Cretaceous – Paleocene tonalitic bodies were emplaced into a steeply dipping, dip-slip shear zone that was active along the western margin of the batholith. Postkinematic Eocene plutons were emplaced at shallow crustal levels. Inherited zircon components in these plutons range in age from mid-Paleozoic to Early Proterozoic and are coeval with detrital zircons in adjacent metasedimentary rocks. These old zircons, combined with evolved Nd isotopic signatures for most plutons, record assimilation of continental crustal or supracrustal rocks during the generation and (or) ascent of the plutons.

Alaska↗
USGS1992

Submarine sedimentary features on a fjord delta front, Queen Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska

Side-scan sonar images provide a view of an actively changing delta front in a marine outwash fjord in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Numerous interconnected gullies and chute-like small channels form paths for the transport of sand and coarse silt from the braided glacial outwash streams on the delta plain to the sinuous turbidity-current channels incised into the fjord floor. These turbidity-current channels carry coarse sediment through the fjord and into the adjoining glacial trunk valley. Several sedimentary processes affect the development of this delta front: overflow plumes deposit fine sediment; sediment gravity flows result from episodic delivery of large loads of coarse sediment; and mass movement may be triggered by earthquakes and, more regularly, by spring-tidal drawdown or hydraulic loading.

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences↗
USGS1992

Suspension freezing of bottom sediment and biota in the Northwest Passage and implications for Arctic Ocean sedimentation

Ice observations and sediment collected in a summer transit through the Northwest Passage provide insights on suspension freezing, the most important sediment entrainment mechanism for the Arctic Ocean. No evidence was seen for entrainment by bottom adfreezing, bluff slumping, river flooding, dragging ice keels, or significant eolian transport from land to sea. Lack of eolian sediment loading in the Northwest Passage, together with that already reported for northern Alaska, eliminates wind as an important source for fine sediment in the pack of the Beaufort Gyre and related parts of the Transpolar Drift. Muddy sediment with pebbles and cobbles, algae with holdfasts, ostracodes with appendages, and well-preserved mollusks and sea urchins were collected from two sites in a 50 km long stretch of turbid ice. These materials indicate that suspension freezing reaching to a water depth of 25–30 m during the previous fall was responsible for entrainment. This mechanism requires rapid ice formation in open, shallow water during a freezing storm, when the ocean becomes supercooled, and frazil and anchor ice attach to and ultimately lift sediment and living organisms to the sea surface. The mechanism, already known to be important in the Beaufort Sea, probably also affects wide, shallow Siberian shelves and leads to cross-shelf transport of shallow-water organisms and dropstones with "glacial striations" toward deep basins. This makes distinguishing glacial–interglacial cycles more difficult.

Nunavut↗
USGS1993

Petrology and isotopic composition of Quaternary basanites dredged from the Bering Sea continental margin near Navarin Basin

Quaternary basanites were recovered from shallow water depth from the continental margin of the Bering Sea (58°39.0′N, 177°12.9′W) near Navarin Basin. The basanites are highly vesicular flow rock and hyaloclastites similar to other alkalic volcanic rocks erupted repeatedly during the late Cenozoic on islands in the Bering Sea region and in mainland Alaska. K–Ar ages for the basanites indicate at least two episodes of volcanism at about 1.1 and 0.4 Ma. Similar alkalic volcanism occurred sporadically at geographically widely separated centers in the Bering Sea region for at least the past 6 Ma. Chemically, these alkalic lavas are intraplate basalts similar to those erupted from oceanic islands and in some continental settings. Trace-element data indicate these alkalic lavas have been generated by small, but variable, amounts of partial melting of a meta-somatized lherzolite source. The relatively primitive compositions (MgO > 9%), presence of mantle-derived xenoliths in some alkalic lavas, and presence of forsteritic olivine with low CaO and high NiO suggest that magma rose rapidly from greath depth without spending time in large, long-lived magma chambers. Although lavas from different volcanic centers in the Bering Sea region are similar with respect to major elements and many trace-element ratios, isotopic compositions indicate heterogeneities in the source. The Navarin basanites have higher 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and lower 143 Nd/ 144 Nd values than any other lavas so far reported from this region. The 207 Pb/ 204 Pb isotopic ratios indicate involvement of a crustal component, which may have resulted from metasomatism associated with subduction-related magmatic activity during the Early Eocene in this region. Although some volcanic episodes appear to have occurred roughly synchronously at geographically widely separated centers, no large-scale regional extension nor presence of large mantle plumes are indicated. Instead, alkalic volcanism apparently resulted from upwelling and decompressional melting of small isolated mantle diapirs in response to local lithospheric attenuation associated with jostling of blocks during adjustment to regional stresses.

Alaska↗
USGS1993

Geology, geochemistry, and geochronology of the central Giants Range batholith, northeastern Minnesota

The Giants Range batholith is a large composite granitoid body that intrudes deformed supracrustal rocks in the western part of the Wawa Subprovince of the Archean Superior Province. Peak fabric development in the supracrustal rocks coincides with D 2 deformation, the product of regional transpression across the southern Superior Province. U–Pb zircon ages on two phases of the Giants Range batholith bracket D 2 deformation to an interval between 2685 and 2669 Ma. Two well-exposed components of the central part of the Giants Range batholith are the pre- to syn-D 2 Britt granodiorite, which contains a linear D 2 metamorphic fabric, and the syn- to post-D 2 Shannon Lake granite, which cuts deformation fabrics in the Britt granodiorite and the supracrustal rocks. Geochemical discrimination plots imply emplacement of the Britt granodiorite in an arc environment and the Shannon Lake granite in a collision setting. Zircons yield U–Pb ages of 2681 ± 4 and 2685 ± 4 Ma for the Britt granodiorite and 2674 ± 5 and 2674 ± 27 Ma for the Shannon Lake granite. Timing of D 2 deformation near the Giants Range batholith corresponds well with similar rocks exposed along strike 170 km to the east near Shebandowan Lake, Ontario, where the end of D 2 deformation has been bracketed between 2692 and 2681 Ma. The slightly younger ages for D 2 deformation in Minnesota reflect later volcanic-arc development and associated plutonism than at Shebandowan Lake, possibly due to oblique convergence along a westward-migrating tectonic front.

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences↗
USGS1994

Seismic images of a tectonic subdivision of the Greenville Orogen beneath lakes Ontario and Erie

New seismic data from marine air-gun and Vibroseis profiles in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie provide images of subhorizontal Phanerozoic sediments underlain by a remarkable series of easterly dipping reflections that extends from the crystalline basement to the lower crust. These reflections are interpreted as structural features of crustal-scale subdivisions within the Grenville Orogen. Broadly deformed, imbricated, and overlapping thrust sheets within the western Central Metasedimentary Belt are succeeded to the west by a complex zone of easterly dipping, apparent thrust faults that are interpreted as a southwest subsurface extension of the boundary zone between the Central Metasedimentary Belt and the Central Gneiss Belt. The interpreted Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary zone has a characteristic magnetic anomaly that provides a link from the adjacent ends of lakes Ontario and Erie to structures exposed 150&ensp;km to the north. Less reflective, west-dipping events are interpreted as structures within the eastern Central Gneiss Belt. The seismic interpretation augments current tectonic models that suggest the exposed ductile structures formed at depth as a result of crustal shortening along northwest-verging thrust faults. Relatively shallow reflections across the boundary region suggest local, Late Proterozoic extensional troughs containing post-Grenville sediments, preserved possibly as a result of pre-Paleozoic reactivation of basement structures.

Lake Erie, Lake Ontario↗
USGS1994

Deep structure beneath Lake Ontario: Crustal-scale Grenville subdivisions

Lake Ontario marine seismic data reveal major Grenville crustal subdivisions beneath central and southern Lake Ontario separated by interpreted shear zones that extend to the lower crust. A shear zone bounded transition between the Elzevir and Frontenac terranes exposed north of Lake Ontario is linked to a seismically defined shear zone beneath central Lake Ontario by prominent aeromagnetic and gravity anomalies, easterly dipping wide-angle reflections, and fractures in Paleozoic strata. We suggest the central Lake Ontario zone represents crustal-scale deformation along an Elzevir&ndash;Frontenac boundary zone that extends from outcrop to the south shore of Lake Ontario.Seismic images from Lake Ontario and the exposed western Central Metasedimentary Belt are dominated by crustal-scale shear zones and reflection geometries featuring arcuate reflections truncated at their bases by apparent east-dipping linear reflections. The images show that zones analogous to the interpreted Grenville Front Tectonic Zone are also present within the Central Metasedimentary Belt and support models of northwest-directed crustal shortening for Grenvillian deep crustal deformation beneath most of southeastern Ontario.A Precambrian basement high, the Iroquoian high, is defined by a thinning of generally horizontal Paleozoic strata over a crestal area above the basement shear zone beneath central Lake Ontario. The Iroquoian high helps explain the peninsular extension into Lake Ontario forming Prince Edward County, the occurrence of Precambrian inlier outcrops in Prince Edward County, and Paleozoic fractures forming the Clarendon&ndash;Linden structure in New York.

Lake Ontario↗
USGS1995

Intraglacial volcanism in the Wells Gray–Clearwater volcanic field, east-central British Columbia, Canada

Small-volume, subaerial, subaqueous and subglacial basaltic eruptions occurred in the Wells Gray–Clearwater area during Quaternary time. Part of this time, significant thicknesses of glacial ice were present. Dating of intraglacial volcanic features corroborates other evidence of an Early Pleistocene, Cordilleran-wide ice sheet. Of the intraglacial volcanoes investigated, three were studied in detail and of these, two probably erupted during the Fraser glaciation (11–20 ka), when maximum ice level exceeded 2100 m elevation. Major-element and sulphur concentrations were measured in glass from the volcanoes to provide insight into vent conditions at the time of eruption. Hyalo Ridge (2102 m elevation, whole-rock K–Ar age of 0.02 ± 0.01 Ma) is a small volcanic edifice capped by lava flows with coherent pillowed lavas and interbedded hyaloclastite exposed over nearly 400 m altitude on its east flank. Low sulphur content (<0.03 wt.%) in pillow rim glasses indicates that the lavas are degassed. It is interpreted that the vent built above the water (or ice) surface then fed lava flows that crossed a shoreline and produced pillowed flows. Pyramid Mountain is a volcanic cone 240 m high, comprised of glassy, vesicular, lapilli-tuff breccia. The highly alkalic glass contains 0.1 wt.% S (considered high), and indicates a high original volatile content and drastic quenching, probably during phreatomagmatic eruption from a meltwater-flooded vent. East of the Clearwater River a sequence of massive pillowed flows and pillow joint-block breccias is exposed from 880 to 1320 m elevation (0.27 ± 0.05 Ma). The vent location is unknown. Moderate S content (0.040–0.055 wt.%) indicates that the lavas were erupted in shallow water and are largely degassed. The S content of glass in dykes cutting the pillow breccias is low. The dykes are interpreted as lava that has flowed laterally or down into cracks

British Columbia↗
USGS1995

A 12 000 year radiocarbon date of deglaciation from the Continental Divide of northwestern Montana

During the Pinedale (Late Wisconsinan) glaciation, an outlet glacier from a mountain ice field flowed eastward across the Continental Divide through Marias Pass in northwestern Montana. This outlet glacier was the major source of the Two Medicine glacier, a large piedmont glacier that extended from the mountain front east about 55 km onto the plains. An accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon age of 12 194 ± 145 BP (AA-9530) was obtained from a wood fragment, underlying a Glacier Peak tephra and a Mount Saint Helens set J tephra in a section of lake sediments, near Marias Pass. This radiocarbon age provides a minimum date of deglaciation for the Marias Pass area that is about 800 years older than a previous estimate. Furthermore, the radiocarbon age indicates that the Two Medicine glacier was no longer being supplied by its major source and if it still existed was only as a dying, stagnant ice mass.

Idaho, Montana↗
USGS1996

The southern limit of Cordilleran ice in the Colville and Pend Oreille valleys of northeastern Washington during the Late Wisconsin glaciation

The southern limit of the lobes of the Cordilleran ice sheet in the Colville and Pend Oreille valleys of northeastern Washington during the Late Wisconsin (Fraser) glaciation has been placed at widely different positions by various investigators. The confusion that resulted in these different positions is due to the fact that both lobes, at times, terminated in glacial lakes and much of the terminal area of the Pend Oreille River lobe was swept by floods from glacial Lake Missoula. Evidence, presented in this paper, of the southern limit of these two lobes during the Late Wisconsin glaciation consists of ( i ) the southern limit of Late Wisconsinan till, ( ii ) the southern limit of lateral meltwater channels, ( iii ) meltwater channels whose headward areas coincide with the southern limit of Late Wisconsinan till, and ( iv ) reconstructed ice-surface profiles. This evidence suggests that the southern limit of the Colville lobe is represented by a moraine near the town of Springdale, whereas that of the Pend Oreille River lobe is near the town of Newport. The timing and extent of Late Wisconsinan deglaciation in the Colville Valley are provided by radiocarbon ages and Late Pleistocene tephras at sites upglacier from thfe terminal position. These data demonstrate that the Colville lobe had retreated at least 50 km by about 12 450 BP. In the Pend Oreille Valley, the presence of a Glacier Peak tephra layer near the town of lone indicates that the Pend Oreille River lobe had retreated at least 70 km prior to deposition of the tephra.

Washington↗