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Intra-oceanic production of continental crust in a Th-depleted ca. 3.0 Ga arc complex, western Superior Province, Canada

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An Erratum to this article was published on 26 November 2003

Abstract

The English Lake magmatic complex in the western Superior Province of Canada represents a fragment of early (3.0 Ga) continental crust exposed in oblique cross section through tonalitic upper levels and subjacent quartz diorite, diorite and gabbro, which are cut by late gabbro, anorthosite and hornblendite dykes. Massive, foliated and gneissic units of tonalitic to gabbroic composition, crystallized over a 10 to 18 m.y. period, bear common geochemical attributes, including negative Th, U and Nb anomalies, and only slight LREE and LILE enrichment on NMORB-normalized trace-element profiles. Epsilon Nd values (+0.1 to +1.7) and δ18O (+6.7 to +8.0 ‰) do not co-vary with silica or other crustal contamination indices. High Mg#’s and Ni contents suggest derivation from, or interaction with mantle, and large positive anomalies for Ba, Sr and Pb, as well as high U/Th, suggest metasomatism by hydrous fluids. Trace-element profiles resemble those of primitive intra-oceanic island arc magmas except for the negative Th-U anomaly, which precludes the involvement of either oceanic (sedimentary or basaltic) or continental crust in the petrogenesis of English Lake magmas. In order to account for the unusual geochemical character of the suite, we postulate that water-rich fluids derived from subducted, sea-floor-altered serpentinite provided the flux for melting a depleted mantle wedge. Contemporaneous, proximal high Th/Nb tonalites suggest that the zone of serpentinite subduction occurred within a restricted arc segment possibly due to subduction of either: (a) a seamount chain oriented broadly perpendicular to an arc, or (b) a similarly oriented serpentinite-enclosed oceanic fracture zone or fault.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Western Superior NATMAP project for funding and to the NATMAP team for discussions. W. Davis provided very constructive reviews of two earlier versions of this manuscript. Journal reviews by B. Kamber and R.H. Smithies provided helpful suggestions for improving the manuscript. FJL thanks Kim Law and Li Huang for assistance in the stable isotope laboratory, and Natural Science and Engineering Research Council for financial support.

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  1. Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth Street, Ottawa, ON , K1A OE8, Canada

    Joseph B. Whalen, John A. Percival & Vicki J. McNicoll

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON , N6A 5B7, Canada

    Frederick J. Longstaffe

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  1. Joseph B. Whalen
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Correspondence to Joseph B. Whalen.

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Editorial responsibility: T.L. Grove

An erratum to this article can be found at http:dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00410-003-0542-2

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Whalen, J.B., Percival, J.A., McNicoll, V.J. et al. Intra-oceanic production of continental crust in a Th-depleted ca. 3.0 Ga arc complex, western Superior Province, Canada. Contrib Mineral Petrol 146, 78–99 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-003-0484-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-003-0484-8

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