Geophysical evidence for the extent of the Avalon zone in Atlantic Canada
Precambrian volcanic rocks exposed in structural highs of the Avalon zone of Newfoundland are marked by high magnetic anomalies whose continuity offshore permits recognition of the extent of the Avalon zone, particularly on the Grand Banks. South of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, wher...
| Published in: | Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Canadian Science Publishing
1979
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e79-050 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e79-050 |
| Summary: | Precambrian volcanic rocks exposed in structural highs of the Avalon zone of Newfoundland are marked by high magnetic anomalies whose continuity offshore permits recognition of the extent of the Avalon zone, particularly on the Grand Banks. South of Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the magnetic pattern is less well defined, the Avalon platform can also be recognized by the existence of seismic velocities of the order of 6.6 km s −1 , which are apparently associated with volcanic rocks. The magnetic Collector Anomaly running eastwards from Cape Breton across the southern Grand Banks is the southern limit of these Avalonian markers, while the northern boundary follows a serrated path (the offsets apparently caused by a series of northwest-trending faults) from the Belle Isle Fault in New Brunswick to the Hermitage and Dover Faults in Newfoundland, thence to the western end of the Charlie Fracture zone. These Avalonian boundaries provide markers for the constraint of pre-drift continental reconstructions. |
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