Provenance of the Proterozoic Thelon Basin, Nunavut, Canada, from detrital zircon geochronology and detrital quartz oxygen isotopes

• Main Authors: Sarah E. Palmer A, T. Kurt Kyser A, Eric E. Hiatt B
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2003
• Subjects: Canada; Nunavut; Rae
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.537.2848; http://geol.queensu.ca/isotope_lab/pdfs/Palmer et al 2004 Thelon.pdf

The Paleoproterozoic Thelon Basin in Nunavat, Canada, is one of several large quartz-dominated sedimentary basins devel-oped on Paleoproterozoic and Archean rocks of the Canadian Shield. Coarse-grained quartz to sub-feldspathic sandstones and conglomerates of the Thelon Formation comprise the basin fill. Detrital zircons from the Thelon Formation have LAM-ICP-MS 207Pb–206Pb ages ranging from 3.94 to 1.78 Ga, but most are Neoarchean (2.70–2.50 Ga). The δ18O values of quartz range from 7.7 to 13.9‰, and are typically 10–12‰. Ages, U/Zr ratios, and oxygen isotopic compositions of detrital quartz are consistent with a predominantly Neoarchean metasedimentary source, such as surrounds the eastern Thelon Basin and comprises the bulk of basement rocks within the Rae domain. The three stratigraphic sequences of the Thelon Formation have δ18O ranges for detrital quartz and zircon ages that further constrain the source areas and support previous sequence-stratigraphic interpretations. The lower sequence contains reworked siltstone and sandstone clasts and 2.50–1.85 Ga zircons indicating a contribution from Paleoproterozoic terranes. Detrital quartz δ18O values range from 9.8 to 13.9‰, indicating a metamorphic source also, which is consistent with a proximal source for the lower sequence. The middle sequence contains zircons exhibiting the widest range of ages (3.94–1.78 Ga). A>3.4 Ga Paleoarchean zircon population, cannot be correlated to the immediately surrounding basement and therefore indicates a distal source, possibly in the order of 1000–2000 km away. The upper sequence contains relatively few zircons due to extensive