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The age of the Springdale Group, western Newfoundland, and correlative rocks—evidence for a Llandovery overlap assemblage in the Canadian Appalachians

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

F. W. Chandler ,
R. W. Sullivan  and
K. L. Currie
F. W. Chandler
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E8.
R. W. Sullivan
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E8.
K. L. Currie
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E8.
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Abstract

A zircon age of 429 + 6, −5 Ma on felsic volcanic rocks of the Springdale Group, a sequence of bimodal volcanic rocks and redbeds, establishes a Llandovery age for this group. Similar sequences from other parts of the Dunnage and Humber zones of Newfoundland also give Llandovery fossil or radiometric ages, demonstrating temporal correlation among lithologically similar sequences in these zones.

Distinctive sequences of bimodal, subaerial rhyolite and basalt with associated subaerial to shallow marine sedimentary rocks within the Avalon and Meguma zones of Nova Scotia give fossil or radiometric ages demonstrably or arguably very close to the age of the Springdale Group. These sequences suggest an overlap assemblage fixing the minimum age of accretion of the Avalon and Meguma zones to North America. The age and the magmatic and sedimentary character of the assemblage are compatible with origin on or from continental crust, implying that the Iapetus ocean was closed prior to Early Silurian time. If these considerations are correct, the Devonian Acadian orogeny must involve either thermal and mechanical readjustments subsequent to the closing of the Iapetus ocean, or a completely separate episode of plate motion.

Keywords

Acadian orogenyIapetusperalkaline magmatismrhyolite petrogenesisTaconictectonicsterrane accretiontranscurrent faultingzircon dating.
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 78 , Issue 1 , 1987 , pp. 41 - 49
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1987

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