Timing of Deformation in the Central Metasedimentary Belt Boundary Thrust Zone (CMBbtz), southern Ontario, Canada, from Electron Microprobe Dating of Monazite

Abstract:

In the Grenville Province of Southern Ontario, the Central Metasedimentary Belt boundary thrust zone (CMBbtz) is a crustal-scale tectonic boundary between the older, granulite-facies Central Gneiss Belt to the NW and the younger, amphibolite-facies Central Metasedimentary Belt to the SE. Although there are a range of tectonic models for the CMBbtz, most workers agree it is a major tectonic boundary that accommodated ductile thrusting and crustal shortening during the Ottawan phase of the Grenville Orogeny (~1080-1020 Ma). Some studies suggest that ductile thrusting in the CMBbtz was roughly synchronous with synorogenic extensional collapse below an orogenic lid. Previous geochronological studies also provide evidence of earlier deformation and/or metamorphic events in the CMBbtz, although the relation between deformation in the CMBbtz to the Elzeviran (~1230 Ma) and Shawinigan (~1180 Ma) orogenies is unclear. Our study is the first to report in situ electron microprobe monazite (mnz) dates from amphibolite-grade ortho- and para-gneisses of the CMBbtz. Our results are broadly consistent with other chronometers. We present dates from 132 age-domains within 83 mnz grains in 14 samples. Although our data provide strong evidence for deformation and metamorphism along the length of the CMBbtz during the Ottawan (1080-1020 Ma), we also report two other clusters of ages: 1140-1110 Ma and 1230-1170 Ma. The latter cluster falls between the widely accepted ranges for the Elzeviran and Shawinigan orogenies. In addition, some individual outcrops, particularly those in Killaloe and Minden, show mnz ages spanning over 200 m.y., and the setting and compositions of individual monazite domains allow us to link mnz growth to episodes of garnet growth during multiple events. Together these data indicate an unexpectedly continuous and long-lived period of deformation and metamorphism in the CMBbtz.