Zircon provenance of the Carboniferous Mattson delta complex, western Laurentian margin, Canada: record of a Greenland-sourced pancontinental river system

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Authors: McMechan, Margot, Currie, Lisel, Richards, Barry, Ferri, Filippo, Matthews, William, O’Sullivan, Paul
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2018
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Canada; Greenland; British Columbia; Liard; Tika
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2018-0060; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjes-2018-0060; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjes-2018-0060

New detrital zircon U–Pb dates for seven late Viséan to Bashkirian (Middle Mississippian to Lower Pennsylvanian) Mattson and Kindle formation sandstone samples from the Mattson delta complex in the Liard Basin of northeastern British Columbia, combined with two previously published detrital zircon samples from these units, indicate a dominant Greenland Caledonian clastic wedge and orogen source with a small contribution of Ellesmerian-aged material. This provenance remained consistent over time. The Labrador–Greenland high was the only paleogeographically viable source area during the time of deposition of the Mattson delta complex. Detritus deposited on the western margin of Laurentia in the Mattson delta complex was likely transported southwestward by a late Viséan to Bashkirian pancontinental river system. This conclusion contrasts with previous interpretations which proposed that these sediments were recycled from the Ellesmerian clastic wedge. Tectonic uplift and denudation of eastern Greenland provided detritus from the Silurian to Devonian Caledonian clastic wedge and orogen to the western margin of Laurentia and detritus from the Caledonian orogen to the Serpukhovian to middle Bashkirian (Namurian) conglomeratic successions of the Millstone Grits in England. Detrital zircon U–Pb dates for two samples from the unconformably overlying Cisuralian (lower Permian) Tika formation are similar to those of the Mattson delta complex samples, as are those from the Pennsylvanian Spray Lakes Group of the southern Prophet Trough, indicating they all probably shared the same dominant source areas. The Tika formation was mainly derived from recycling of the Mattson and other Caledonide-sourced sediments of northern Laurentia.