Paleoproterozoic reworking of an Archean thrust fault in the Hearne domain, Western Churchill Province: U–Pb geochronological constraints

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Authors: MacLachlan, K, Davis, W J, Relf, C
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2005
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Nunavut; Hudson; Tyrrell; Yathkyed Lake
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e05-036; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e05-036

The nature, timing and control of Archean crustal architecture on the distribution of Proterozoic reworking in Western Churchill Province are investigated in the Yathkyed Lake area, central Nunavut. The Tyrrell shear zone (TSZ) marks the boundary between the northwestern and central Hearne subdomains, respectively, in the hanging wall and footwall. Metamorphism and deformation in the hanging wall are ca. 2.66–2.50 Ga. Two episodes of metamorphism are recorded in a foliated granodiorite in the footwall, at 1818 +5 –2 and 1827 ± 5.6 Ma. The latter age is interpreted as the time of amphibolite-facies metamorphism and deformation in the footwall. A crosscutting dyke provides a minimum age of 1818 ± 2 Ma for this metamorphism and deformation. The TSZ is dominated by dextral oblique-slip shear fabrics. A suite of leucogranite dykes provide a maximum age of 1816 ± 2 Ma for dextral shearing. Dextral deformation is bracketed between 1815 ± 2 and 1811 ± 1 Ma, the ages of two other granitoid dykes. In an area of low dextral strain, there are proto-sheath folds related to Neoarchean thrusting. Paleoproterozoic transtensional shearing in the TSZ was localized along a preexisting late Archean thrust fault. The prior existence of this structure resulted in localization of penetrative Paleoproterozoic deformation in its footwall. This domain of high-grade Proterozoic deformation was uplifted in a regional, antiformal, metamorphic culmination, in part, by dextral-normal shearing along the TSZ. Penetrative basement deformation at depth played a role in transmitting farfield stresses related to the Trans-Hudson Orogen into its hinterland.