Paleomagnetism and U-Pb geochronology of Franklin dykes in High Arctic Canada and Greenland: a revised age and paleomagnetic pole constraining block rotations in the Nares Strait region

Authors: Denyszyn, Steven W.; Halls, Henry C.; Davis, Don W.; Evans, David A.D.

Source: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, Volume 46, Number 9, September 2009 , pp. 689-705(17)

Publisher: NRC Research Press

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Abstract:

U-Pb baddeleyite ages and paleomagnetic poles obtained for dykes on Devon Island and Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic and the Thule region of Greenland show that they are associated with the Franklin magmatic event. This study is the only one devoted to Franklin igneous rocks where a primary paleomagnetic remanence and U-Pb age have been obtained from the same rocks. Ages from this study range from 721 to 712 Ma, but paleomagnetic directional data show no clear age progression. The paleomagnetic poles from each of the two regional subsets are significantly different at the 95% confidence level from paleomagnetic results previously published for the Franklin event in the Canadian Shield. The difference in the pole locations can be accounted for, to first approximation, by a simple model of early Cenozoic block rotations among the North American plate, Greenland, and a hypothesized ancient microplate comprising Ellesmere, Devon, Cornwallis, and perhaps Somerset islands. A new grand-mean paleopole for the Franklin event, including restoration of Greenland and the proposed “Ellesmere microplate” to North America, is located at (8.4°N, 163.8°E, A95 = 2.8°, N = 78 sites) and is a key pole for Neoproterozoic supercontinent reconstructions.

Des âges U-Pb, déterminés sur de la baddeleyite, et des pôles paléomagnétiques obtenus de dykes des îles de Devon et d'Ellesmere, dans l'Arctique canadien, et de la région de Thulé au Groenland, montrent que ces dykes sont associés à l'événement magmatique de Franklin. La présente étude est la seule consacrée aux roches ignées de Franklin où une rémanence paléomagnétique primaire et des âges U-Pb ont été obtenus des mêmes roches. Les âges dans cette étude varient de 721 à 712 Ma, mais les données sur les directions paléomagnétiques ne montrent aucune progression claire de l'âge. Les pôles paléomagnétiques de chacun des deux sous-ensembles régionaux diffèrent de manière significative, au niveau de confiance 95%, des résultats paléomagnétiques publiés antérieurement pour l'événement de Franklin dans le Bouclier canadien. La différence d'emplacement des pôles peut être expliquée, en une première approximation, par un modèle simple de rotations de blocs, au Cénozoïque précoce, entre la plaque Nord-américaine, le Groenland et une ancienne plaque hypothétique qui comprenait les îles d'Ellesmere, de Devon, de Cornwallis et peut-être de Somerset. Un nouveau paléopôle de grande moyenne pour l'événement Franklin, incluant la restoration du Groenland et de la «micro-plaque d'Ellesmere» proposée à l'Amérique du Nord, est situé à (8,4°N, 163,8°E, A95 = 2,8°, N = 78 sites) et constitue le pôle clé pour les reconstructions du super continent au Néoprotérozoïque.

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2009-09-01

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  • Published since 1963, this monthly journal reports current research in climate and environmental geoscience; geoarchaeology and forensic geoscience; geochronology and geochemistry; geophysics; GIS and geomatics; hydrology; mineralogy and petrology; mining and engineering geology; ore deposits and economic geology; paleontology, petroleum geology and basin analysis; physical geography and Quaternary geoscience; planetary geoscience; sedimentology and stratigraphy; soil sciences; and structural geology and tectonics. It also publishes special issues that focus on information and studies about a particular segment of earth sciences.
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