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Flexure of the Early Proterozoic Lithosphere and the Evolution of Kilohigok Basin (1.9 Ga), Northwest Canadian Shield

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New Perspectives in Basin Analysis

Part of the book series: Frontiers in Sedimentary Geology ((SEDIMENTARY))

Abstract

The lower Goulburn Supergroup of Kilohigok Basin (1.9 Ga), N.W.T., Canada, contains three successively overlying tectono-stratigraphic sedimentary sequences of regional extent: a basal shallow-water siliciclastic/carbonate platform, overlain by deep-water flysch, in turn overlain by shallow-marine and fluvial molasse. The platform probably represents the coastal-plain wedge of an initial passive margin that foundered at a young age. As it collapsed, the outer part of the platform subsided rapidly while its interior arched and was subaerially exposed. Shelf drowning represents the onset of flexural subsidence subparallel to the trend of a major orogenic belt, the Thelon Tectonic Zone, and the establishment of a foreland basin. Arching and subsidence were perpendicular to the tectonic transport direction of intrabasinal nappes that probably root in the Thelon Tectonic Zone, indicating that convergence and uplift along the Thelon Tectonic Zone were probably responsible for flexural subsidence within the Kilohigok Basin. Following drowning, the platform was buried by deep-water trench deposits (flysch); with progressive uplift and basin filling, the foredeep entered the molasse phase and fluvial sediments prograded toward the foreland. Several features of basin evolution are consistent with its development on thermally young (warm) lithosphere, including: 1) the apparently short duration of the passive-margin platform; 2) the restricted development of the erosional unconformity along the top of the passive-margin platform; 3) the abrupt lateral transition from axial trench deposits to shelf deposits; and 4) the relatively high grade of metamorphism (upper anchizone) of the basin.

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Authors
  1. John P. Grotzinger
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  2. David S. McCormick
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  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, USA

    Karen L. Kleinspehn  & Chris Paola  & 

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Grotzinger, J.P., McCormick, D.S. (1988). Flexure of the Early Proterozoic Lithosphere and the Evolution of Kilohigok Basin (1.9 Ga), Northwest Canadian Shield. In: Kleinspehn, K.L., Paola, C. (eds) New Perspectives in Basin Analysis. Frontiers in Sedimentary Geology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3788-4_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3788-4_20

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