| 1. |
- Dunkley, Daniel J., et al.
(author)
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Two Neoarchean tectonothermal events on the western edge of the North Atlantic Craton, as revealed by SIMS dating of the Saglek Block, Nain Province, Labrador
- 2020
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In: Journal of the Geological Society. - : Geological Society of London. - 0016-7649 .- 2041-479X. ; 177:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Saglek Block forms the northern part of the Nain Province and underwent widespread metamorphism at c. 2.7 Ga, producing the dominant gneissosity and intercalation of supracrustal sequences. Zircon dating of gneiss samples collected along 80 km of the Labrador coast from Ramah Bay in the north to Hebron Fjord in the south confirms the widespread extent of high-grade metamorphism between 2750 and 2700 Ma. In addition, a distinct event between 2550 and 2510 Ma produced felsic melt with peritectic garnet in metavolcanic gneiss and granoblastic recrystallization in mafic granulite. Ductile deformation of granite emplaced at c. 2550 Ma indicates that this later event involved a degree of tectonism during high-T metamorphism. Such tectonism may be related to a hypothesized post-2.7 Ga juxtaposition of the predominantly Eoarchean Saglek Block against the Mesoarchean Hopedale Block, along a north–south boundary that extends from the coast near Nain to offshore of Saglek Bay. Evidence of reworking of c. 2.7 Ga gneisses by c. 2.5 Ga tectonothermal activity has been found elsewhere on the margins of the North Atlantic Craton, of which the Nain Province represents the western margin. In particular, a recent suggestion that c. 2.5 Ga metamorphic ages along the northern margin of the North Atlantic Craton in SW Greenland may record the final assembly of the craton could also apply to the western margin as represented by the rocks of the Nain Province.Supplementary material: Plots and geochemical data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4567934
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Kusiak, Monika A., et al.
(author)
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Peak to post-peak thermal history of the Saglek Block of Labrador : A multiphase and multi-instrumental approach to geochronology
- 2018
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In: Chemical Geology. - 0009-2541 .- 1872-6836. ; 484, s. 210-223
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Saglek Block of coastal Labrador forms the western margin of the North Atlantic Craton, where Archean gneisses and granulites have been reworked during the Paleoproterozoic. Previous work has established that the block is a composite of Eoarchean to Mesoarchean protoliths metamorphosed to upper amphibolite and granulite facies at around 2.8–2.7Ga. New in-situ microbeam dating of accessory minerals in granoblastic gneisses reveals a complex peak to post-peak thermal history. Zircon growth at ca. 3.7–3.6Ga provides the age of formation of the tonalitic protoliths to the gneisses. Further zircon growth in syn-tectonic granitic gneiss and monazite growth in a variety of orthogneisses confirm peak metamorphic conditions at ca. 2.7Ga, but also reveal high-temperature conditions at ca. 2.6Ga and 2.5Ga. The former is interpreted as the waning stages of the 2.7Ga granulite event, whereas the latter is associated with a younger phase of granitic magmatism. In addition, apatite ages of ca. 2.2Ga may represent either cooling associated with the 2.5Ga event or a previously unrecognized greenschist-facies metamorphism event that predates the Torngat Orogeny.
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| 4. |
- Lyon, Ian C., et al.
(author)
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Pb nanospheres in ancient zircon yield model ages for zircon formation and Pb mobilization
- 2019
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In: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 9:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nanospheres of lead (Pb) have recently been identified in zircon (ZrSiO4) with the potential to compromise the veracity of U-Pb age determinations. The key assumption that the determined age is robust against the effects of Pb mobility, as long as Pb is not lost from the zircon during subsequent geological events, is now in question. To determine the effect of nanosphere formation on age determination, and whether analysis of nanospheres can yield additional information about the timing of both zircon growth and nanosphere formation, zircons from the Napier Complex in Enderby Land, East Antarctica, were investigated by high-spatial resolution NanoSIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) mapping. Conventional SIMS analyses with >µm resolution potentially mixes Pb from multiple nanospheres with the zircon host, yielding variable average values and therefore unreliable ages. NanoSIMS analyses were obtained of 207Pb/206Pb in nanospheres a few nanometres in diameter that were resolved from 207Pb/206Pb measurements in the zircon host. We demonstrate that analysis for 207Pb/206Pb in multiple individual Pb nanospheres, along with separate analysis of 207Pb/206Pb in the zircon host, can not only accurately yield the age of zircon crystallization, but also the time of nanosphere formation resulting from Pb mobilization during metamorphism. Model ages for both events can be derived that are correlated due to the limited range of possible solutions that can be satisfied by the measured 207Pb/206Pb ratios of nanospheres and zircon host. For the Napier Complex zircons, this yields a model age of ca 3110 Ma for zircon formation and a late Archean model age of 2610 Ma for the metamorphism that produced the nanospheres. The Nanosphere Model Age (NMA) method constrains both the crystallization age and age of the metamorphism to ~±135 Ma, a significant improvement on errors derived from counting statistics.
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| 5. |
- Sałacińska, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Complexity of the early Archean Uivak Gneiss : Insights from Tigigakyuk Inlet, Saglek Block, Labrador, Canada and possible correlations with south West Greenland
- 2018
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In: Precambrian Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 0301-9268 .- 1872-7433. ; 315, s. 103-119
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Saglek Block of Labrador comprises Eoarchean to Neoarchean lithologies, metamorphosed at high temperature at ca. 2.7 Ga. Here, we investigate the gneisses of Tigigakyuk Inlet, previously identified as the locality exposing the most ancient rocks in the Saglek Block. New geochronological and geochemical results reveal a multistage history. Precise magmatic emplacement ages of 3.75 to 3.71 Ga refine the age of the Uivak Gneiss. Zircon rims and neoblastic grains with low Th/U record metamorphism at ca. 3.6 and 2.8-2.7 Ga. Magmatism between these tectono-metamorphic events is recorded by the presence of meta-mafic dykes in the gneisses, gabbroic enclaves in ca. 2.7 Ga syn-tectonic granitoids, as well as by a ca. 3.56 Ga age for monzonitic gneiss in which metamorphic zircon is present as xenocrysts. Felsic (TTG) magmatism between ca. 3.75 Ga and 3.71 Ga, as well as metamorphism at both ca. 3.6 Ga and 2.8-2.7 Ga, is also recognised in the Itsaq Gneiss Complex of south West Greenland, and is restricted to the Færingehavn Terrane. Our new data enable a more rigorous correlation between these formerly conjugate parts of the North Atlantic Craton.
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| 6. |
- Sałacińska, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Gneiss-forming events in the Saglek Block, Labrador; a reappraisal of the Uivak gneiss
- 2019
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In: International journal of earth sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1437-3254 .- 1437-3262. ; 108:3, s. 753-778
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Archean gneiss complex of the Saglek Block of Labrador is a part of the North Atlantic Craton, and is correlated with southern West Greenland, both being metamorphosed during a ca. 2.7 Ga event. The main component of the complex is the Eoarchean Uivak orthogneiss, which includes lenses of the Nulliak supracrustal assemblage. Both lithologies are cut by the mafic Saglek metadykes. The Uivak gneisses have been divided into Uivak I grey gneiss and Uivak II augen gneiss. The former underwent ca. 3.6 Ga high-T metamorphism prior to the intrusion of the latter. However, the exact age, nature, and extent of Uivak II gneiss are poorly understood. We present geochemical and geochronological results for both these orthogneisses to help refine the various hypotheses that have been proposed concerning the nature of their protoliths. Magmatic ages of 3746 ± 5 and 3717 ± 6 Ma are consistent with previous estimates for the age of Uivak I gneiss. Uivak II augen gneiss from Maidmonts Island, where there is a clear intrusive relationship between the Uivak II and Uivak I gneissic protoliths, has an age of 3325 ± 3 Ma. This is similar to an homogeneous grey gneiss from St. John’s Harbour, with an age of 3318 ± 5 Ma. Grey gneiss from Big Island is distinctively younger (3219 ± 7 Ma), and equivalent to the ca. 3.24 Ga Lister gneiss. Our study shows that granitic gneisses classified as Uivak II were emplaced 200–300 million years after ca. 3.6 Ga metamorphism and deformation of the Uivak I gneiss. The igneous protolith of Uivak II gneiss pre-dates the Lister gneiss by about 100 Ma. The Uivak I and Lister gneisses are geochemically similar, and are both Tonalite–Trondhjemite–Granodiorite (TTG) gneisses, whereas the Uivak II gneiss is a granitoid partially derived from pre-existing crust. We propose abandoning the term ‘Uivak II gneiss’, and renaming ca. 3.3 Ga granitoids, after the type locality, as Maidmonts gneiss. This restricts the term ‘Uivak gneiss’ to Eoarchean TTG gneisses and removes the necessity for subdividing them into Uivak I and II.
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| 7. |
- Whitehouse, Martin J., 1962-, et al.
(author)
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On the true antiquity of Eoarchean chemofossils – assessing the claim for Earth’s oldest biogenic graphite in the Saglek Block of Labrador
- 2019
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In: Precambrian Research. - 0301-9268 .- 1872-7433. ; 323, s. 70-81
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A recent claim to have found traces of Earth’s earliest life (>3.95 Ga) utilising isotopically light carbon in graphite-bearing metapelites from the Saglek Block of northern Labrador, Canada, is re-evaluated applying rigorous geological and geochronological criteria. The establishment of these criteria in previous evaluations of early life claims from southern West Greenland and northern Canada is reviewed in order to provide a backdrop to discussion of the Saglek claim. In particular, we emphasise the importance of the scale of lithological continuity in determining the veracity of such claims, which are considerably easier to demonstrate from large, relatively less tectonised supracrustal remnants like the Isua Greenstone Belt than they are from smaller, isolated enclaves of the kind found on Akilia or the highly tectonised and imbricated unit that is found in the Saglek Block. Unambiguous field relationships between ca. 3.9 Ga tonalitic gneiss and the graphite-bearing metasediments have not been demonstrated in the literature that the Saglek claim relies upon, and earlier U-Pb-Hf isotopic studies on zircon from metasediments at one of the localities used in the claim indicate a Mesoarchean to Neoarchean time of deposition. We conclude that, irrespective of the validity of the carbon isotopic evidence, field relationships and geochronological evidence fail to demonstrate an age of >3.95 Ga for the potential traces of life.
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| 8. |
- Kovaleva, Elizaveta, et al.
(author)
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Nano-scale investigation of granular neoblastic zircon, Vredefort impact structure, South Africa: Evidence for complete shock melting
- 2021
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In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-821X .- 1385-013X. ; 565
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Granular neoblastic zircon (ZrSiO4) with systematically oriented granules has been proposed as evidence for extreme shock pressures (>30 GPa) and subsequent high temperatures (>1200 ◦C). It is widely agreed to reflect the solid-state phase transition from zircon to its high-pressure polymorph reidite and subsequent reversion to zircon. This model is based on crystallographic relationships between granules of a single type of granular zircon and does not explain the formation of other types of granular zircon textures, for example, grains with randomly oriented granules or with large, often euhedral granules. Here we report the first nano-scale observations of granular neoblastic zircon and the surrounding environment. We conducted combined microstructural analyses of zircon in the lithic clast from an impact melt dike of the Vredefort impact structure. Zircon granules have either random or systematic orientation with three mutually orthogonal directions of their c-axes coincident with [110] axes. Each1-2 μm zircon granule is a mosaic crystal composed of nanocrystalline subunits. Granules contain round inclusions of baddeleyite (monoclinic ZrO2) and amorphous silica melt. Tetragonal and cubic ZrO2 also occur as sub-μm-sized inclusions (<50 nm). Filament-like aggregates of nanocrystalline zircon are present as “floating” in the surrounding silicate matrix. They are aligned with each other, apparently serving as the building blocks for the mosaic zircon crystals (granules). Our results indicate shock-related complete melting of zircon with the formation of immiscible silicate and oxide melts. The melts reacted and crystallized rapidly as zircon granules, some of which experienced growth alignment/twinning and parallel growth, causing the characteristic systematic orientation of the granules observed for some ofthe aggregates. In contrast to the existing model, in which this type of granular zircon is considered to be a product of reversion from the high-pressure polymorph reidite, our nano-scale observations suggesta formation mechanism that does not require phase transition via reidite but is indicative of instant incongruent decomposition, melting and rapid crystallization from the melt
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