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A suite of six Devonian granites and one syenite were emplaced into the upper crust of northern Yukon between 364.8 ± 2.7 and 371.2 ± 1.4 Ma. The Bear Mountain syenite and related rhyolite porphyry in adjacent Alaska intruded at 52.3 ± 0.4 and 53.5 ± 0.2 Ma, respectively. A felsic volcaniclastic unit and quartz-phyric sill are newly documented adjacent to the Mount Sedgwick granite. The volcaniclastic unit may indicate the presence of a related volcanic edifice. The presence of xenocrystic zircon grains in most of the intrusions suggests initial emplacement of magmas began 10–20 Myr before final emplacement into the upper crust. A Famennian final intrusion age coincides with Late Devonian encroachment of Ellesmerian deformation into the region. Attendant crustal flexure, or evolving foreland structures, may have facilitated upward migration of the magmas. Geochemistry of the intrusions indicates that the Devonian magmatism was largely derived from partial melting of lower and middle crust, implying widespread mafic magmatic underplating in Middle to Late Devonian time. Only Dave Lord syenite retains evidence of an original mantle geochemical signature. Mantle underplating may have played a role in localizing extension, volcanism, and rifting that led to the Late Devonian opening of the Angayucham ocean basin. The Eocene Bear Mountain pluton is inferred to be a northerly example of widespread Cenozoic within-plate magmatism in Alaska. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that examined neodymium isotope geochemistry of felsic volcanic and intrusive rocks from the Yukon-Tanana terrane (YTT) in the Finlayson Lake region, Yukon, Canada. Geological setting of the YTT in the Finlayson Lake region; Geochemical attributes of the intrusive rocks; Systematics of the neodymium isotopes.

This paper provides an integrated field and geochemical study of weakly alkalic, ~360 Ma mafic rocks from the Yukon–Tanana terrane in the Finlayson Lake region, southeastern Yukon. These mafic rocks occur as dykes and sills that crosscut older felsic metavolcanic rocks and metasedimentary rocks (Kudz Ze Kayah unit) or as flows interlayered with carbonaceous metasedimentary rocks. The mafic rocks have signatures similar to those of ocean-island basalts, moderate TiO[sub 2] and P[sub 2] O[sub 5] contents, elevated high field strength element and light rare earth element contents, and ℇNd[sub 350] = +1.1. A subset of the dykes (group 4b) has similar geochemical characteristics but with higher Th/Nb and lower Nb/U ratios, higher Zr and light rare earth element contents, and ℇNd[sub 350] = –2.8. The geochemical and isotopic attributes of these rocks are consistent with formation from either lithospheric or asthenospheric sources during decompression melting of the mantle, with some rocks exhibiting evidence for crustal contamination (group 4b). The alkalic basalts are interpreted to represent ~360 Ma ensialic back-arc rifting and basin generation. It is envisioned that east-dipping subduction, represented by slightly older magmatic suites (Fire Lake unit), was disrupted by subduction hinge roll-back, westward migration of arc magmatism, and the onset of back-arc extension. Decompression melting of the mantle associated with back-arc generation resulted in mantle melting and the formation of the alkalic basalts. The spatial association of this mafic magmatism with crustally derived felsic volcanic rocks and contained volcanogenic massive sulphide mineralization suggests that the associated deposits (Kudz Ze Kayah, GP4F) formed within an ensialic back-arc environment.Cet article présente une étude intégrée de données de terrain et de géochimie de roches mafiques, ~360 Ma, faiblement alcalines, du terrane Yukon–Tanana dans la région du lac Finlayson, dans le sud-est du Yukon. Ces roches mafiques se présentent sous forme de dykes et de filons-couches, qui recoupent des roches métavolcaniques et des roches métasédimentaires (unité Kudz Ze Kayah) plus âgées, ou sous forme de coulées interstratifiées avec des roches métasédimentaires carbonées. Les roches mafiques ont des signatures semblables à celles des basaltes d'îles océaniques, des teneurs modérées en TiO[sub 2] et P[sub 2] O[sub 5] , de hautes teneurs en éléments à champ électrostatique élevé et en éléments de terres rares légers, ainsi qu'un ℇNd[sub 350] = +1,1. Un sous-ensemble des dykes, (groupe 4b), a des caractéristiques géochimiques similaires mais avec un rapport Th/Nb plus élevé, un rapport Nb/U plus faible et une plus haute teneur en Zr et en éléments de terres rares légers, ainsi qu'une valeur de ℇNd[sub 350] = –2,8. Les caractéristiques géochimiques et isotopiques de ces roches concordent avec une formation de source lithosphérique ou asthénosphérique durant la fusion de décompression du manteau, alors que quelques roches montrent des évidences d'une contamination crustale (groupe 4b). Les basaltes alcalins représenteraient l'extension d'arrière-arc ensialique et la génération de bassins, ~360 Ma. On croit que la subduction à pendage vers l'est, représentée par des suites magmatiques légèrement plus âgées (unité Fire Lake), a été perturbée par le repositionnement de la charnière de subduction, la migration vers l'ouest du magmatisme d'arc et le début d'une extension d'arrière-arc. La fusion de décompression du manteau, associée à la génération d'arrière-arc, a conduit à la fusion du manteau et à la formation des basaltes alcalins. L'association spatiale de ce magmatisme mafique et des roches felsiques volcaniques, dérivées de la croûte, et la minéralisation de sulfures massifs volcanogènes qu'on y retrouve portent à croire que les dépôts associés (Kudz Ze Kayah, GP4F) se sont formés dans un environnement d'arrière-arc ensialique.[Traduit par la Rédaction] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calc-alkaline batholiths of the Archaean Minto block, northeastern Superior Province, Canada, have pyroxene- and hornblende-bearing mineral assemblages inferred to have crystallized from hot, water-undersaturated magmas at 2·729–2·724 Ga. A regional amphibolite- to granulite-facies tectonothermal event at 2·70 Ga resulted in mild to negligible metamorphic effects on the dominantly granodioritic units. Geochemical, textural and thermobarometric studies define the crystallization history in compositions ranging from cumulate pyroxenite through quartz diorite, granodiorite, granite, and syn-magmatic gabbroic dykes. Early magmatic assemblages include orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, plagioclase, biotite, Fe–Ti oxides and ternary feldspar, indicating crystallization from magmas containing <2 wt % H2O at 1100–900°C. Water enrichment in the residual melt induced hornblende crystallization at 5 ± 1 kbar, 800–600°C. Characterized by a continuum of large ion lithophile element (LILE)-enriched, high field strength element (HFSE)-depleted compositions, the I-type suite resembles modern continental arc batholiths in composition and size but not primary mineralogy. Magmatic arcs produced between 2·75 and 1·85 Ga commonly have charnockitic components, possibly because slab-derived fluids interacted with mantle wedges at ambient temperatures higher by ∼100°C than at present, producing large volumes of water-deficient magma. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Fire Lake formation of the Yukon-Tanana terrane in the Finlayson Lake region, Yukon, Canada, consists primarily of Late Devonian (ca. 365–360 Ma) mafic metavolcanic rocks and smaller volumes of mafic and ultramafic subvolcanic metamorphosed intrusions. In this paper, field, geochemical, and Nd isotope attributes of these rocks are presented in an attempt to understand their tectonic setting, the magmatic processes involved in their formation, and their roles in Cordilleran crustal growth. The mafic rocks of the Fire Lake formation exhibit a wide diversity of geochemical signatures and are classified into seven chemically defined suites: (1) backarc-basin basalt, (2) enriched mid-oceanic-ridge basalt (E-MORB), (3) oceanic-island basalt (OIB), (4) Th-rich OIB, (5) boninite, (6) island-arc tholeiite, and (7) fight rare earth element (LREE)—enriched island-arc tholeiite. The diversity of geochemical signatures is interpreted to represent variable mixtures of asthenospheric (MORB-type) mantle, subarc mantle wedge, and lithospheric (OIB-type) mantle with or without elemental contributions from the subducted slab and/or continental crust. These suites of rocks are also associated with fine-grained basinal sedimentary facies, variations in metavolcanic and metasedimentary unit thickness, extensional synvolcanic faults, and apparent extensional-fault—controlled emplacement of mafic intrusive rocks and hydrothermal volcanic-hosted massive sulfide mineralization. The suites also exhibit a broad spatial distribution; those with “arc” signatures (Nb/Thmn. < 1; mn—normalized to primitive mantle values) are located primarily in the western parts of the formation, and suites with “nonarc” signatures (Sb/Thmn ≥ 1) are located primarily within the eastern parts of the formation. Collectively, these geologic and geochemical attributes are interpreted to stem from the transition from arc magmatism to the initiation of an extensional backarc basinal environment associated with an east-dipping subduction zone. The initiation of backarc-basin magmatism recorded in the Fire Lake formation was part of a much larger Late Devonian backarc basinal system forming along the western edge of the margin of North America. The Fire Lake formation is interpreted to represent (1) the commencement of Yukon-Tanana arc rifting and separation from the North American cratonic margin, and (2) the initiation of a marginal (backarc) basin (now the Slide Mountain terrane) inboard of the Yukon-Tanana arc system. This tectonic evolution likely occurred either as a result of slab rollback toward the west within the convergent margin responsible for Yukon-Tanana arc activity or as a result of the propagation of the Slide Mountain backarc-basin spreading ridges into the Yukon-Tanana arc system. This Yukon-Tanana arc rifting episode was also broadly coincident with rifting and hydrothermal activity within rocks of the North American craton. The geochemical and isotopic signatures of magmatic rocks in the Fire Lake formation have some features similar to intraoceanie arc rocks (e.g., boninites, island-arc tholeiites), and many have juvenile Nd isotope signatures (i.e., εNd(t) > 0; most have εNd(t) > +5), suggesting that the pericratonic terranes of the northern Cordillera have a significant juvenile component. If this is the case throughout the Yukon-Tanana terrane, then the pericratonic terranes may have contributed much more juvenile material to Cordilleran crustal growth in the Phanerozoic than has previously been considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tapajós Domain in the Amazonian Craton comprises hundreds of gold occurrences mainly hosted by Paleoproterozoic granitic rocks, whose geotectonic evolution and deformation style are poorly understood. The Tocantinzinho granite hosts a large amount of gold, forming the largest gold deposit known in the Tapajós Domain. The Tocantinzinho area is formed by plutonic rocks cut by subvolcanic rocks shallowly emplaced and constrained by NW-SE strike-slip faults, probably in a transtensive site. The magmatism started with the emplacement of huge granodiorite that presently formed the basement country rocks (2007–1997Ma), it was followed by the Tocantinzinho granite magmatism (1989–1979 Ma), and the coeval to late andesite emplacement. Petrological and textural evidence suggest the complex and synchronous occurrence of tectonics and few magmatic events expressed by the emplacement of successive granite, aplite, pegmatite, andesite, and dacite. The magmatic event finished with the cooling of this set of rocks below c . 320 °C, at c . 1950 Ma. The cooling rates vary from c . 3.6–14.7°C/Ma, with an average of 7.5°C/Ma, indicating no important vertical exhumations. The elongated geometry of the Tocantinzinho granite and related rocks, features of solid-state deformation within granites and syntectonic deformation of some andesite dikes imply the existence of wrench type tectonic control. The I-type signature of these rocks, their high-K calc-alkaline and metaluminous to peraluminous affinities combined with the tectonic style indicate a post-collisional tectonic setting. Based on geochemical and structural constrains, the rocks from the Tocantinzinho area are interpreted as a part of the Creporizão Suite and probably represent the first expressions of this syn-to late-tectonic magmatism in the region. A continuous and progressive process of magmatic emplacement controlled by tectonics will be proposed and discussed in conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mesozoic magmatic history of the North American margin records the evolution from a more segmented assemblage of parautochthonous and allochthonous terranes to the more cohesive northern Cordilleran orogenic belt. We characterize the setting of magmatism, tectonism, and epigenetic mineralization in the western Fortymile mining district, east-central Alaska, where parautochthonous and allochthonous Paleozoic tectonic assemblages are juxtaposed, using sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb zircon geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry, and feldspar Pb isotopes of Mesozoic intrusions and spatially associated mineral prospects. New SHRIMP U-Pb zircon ages and published U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar ages indicate four episodes of plutonism in the western Fortymile district: Late Triassic (216-208 Ma), Early Jurassic (199-181 Ma), mid-Cretaceous (112-94 Ma), and Late Cretaceous (70-66 Ma). All age groups have calc-alkalic arc compositions that became more evolved through time. Pb isotope compositions of feldspars from Late Triassic, Early Jurassic, and Late Cretaceous igneous rocks similarly became more radiogenic with time and are consistent with the magmas being mantle derived but extensively contaminated by upper crustal components with evolving Pb isotopic compositions. Feldspar Pb isotopes from mid-Cretaceous rocks have isotopic ratios that indicate magma derivation from upper crustal sources, probably thickened mid-Paleozoic basement. The origin of the mantle component in Late Cretaceous granitoids suggested by Pb isotopic ratios is uncertain, but we propose that it reflects asthenospheric upwelling following slab breakoff and sinking of an inactive inner subduction zone that delivered the previously accreted Wrangellia composite terrane to the North American continental margin, after the outer Farallon subduction zone was established. Epigenetic Pb-Zn-Ag ± Cu prospects in the western Fortymile district are spatially associated with splays of the northeast-trending Kechumstuk sinistral- normal fault zone and with ca. 68-66 Ma felsic intrusions and dikes. The similarity between Pb isotope compositions of feldspars from the Late Cretaceous igneous bodies and sulfides from the epithermal prospects suggests a Late Cretaceous age for most of the mineralization. Fluid flow along the faults undoubtedly played a major role in mineralization. We interpret displacement on the northeast-trending faults to be a far-field effect of dextral translation along Late Cretaceous plate-scale boundaries and faults that were roughly parallel to the subsequently developed Denali and Tintina fault systems, which currently bound the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geochemistry and Sm-Nd and U-Pb (magmatic zircon) isotope data from a postcollisional batholith that crosscuts the allochthonous South Portuguese Zone (SPZ) of southern Iberia suggest that the basement is compositionally more juvenile than the exposed upper crust. The SPZ is an allochthonous terrane of the late Paleozoic Variscan orogen. The oldest exposed units in the SPZ are Late Devonian continental clastics, and as a result, the origins of the SPZ are unknown. Multifaceted inherited zircon cores from a granitoid batholith (Sierra Norte Batholith, SNB) reveal Neoproterozoic (ca. 561-647 Ma) and Mesoproterozoic ages (ca. 1075 - ca. 1116 Ma). Granitoid samples are characterized by εNd values ranging from +1.4 to -9.6 and model ages ca. 0.76-1.8 Ga. Conversely, the exposed Late Devonian clastics of the SPZ are characterized by more negative εNd values (-7.5 to -10.4). Taken together, U-Pb and Sm-Nd data indicate the lower crust that melted to yield the SNB was ( i) Neoproterozoic (ca. 560-650 Ma) to Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1.0-1.2 Ga) in age, ( ii) was not compositionally similar to the overlying Devono-Carboniferous continental detritus but was instead more juvenile, with model ages between ca. 0.9-1.2 Ga. This unusual relationship is similar to the relationship between the relatively juvenile basement and ancient upper crust documented in the exposed portion of the Meguma terrane in the northern Appalachians, which paleogeographic reconstructions show was immediately outboard of southern Iberia in the Late Devonian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]