Abstract
The Neoproterozoic Jacobsville Sandstone outcrops along the south and east shores of Lake Superior, USA. It records intraplate deformation, some during its deposition and some afterwards, after the c. 1,100 Ma Midcontinent Rift (MCR) failed. Here we analyse 549 new detrital zircon ages from five sites, combined with prior data. Initially, local palaeo-topography controlled the source material, including the MCR-adjacent Penokean and Archaean rocks. With time the percentage of distal sources increased, including the c. 1,300–980 Ma Grenville orogeny and 1,480–1,360 Ma Granite-Rhyolite Province. Sites near the Keweenaw fault contain a significant number of MCR-age zircons, presumably uplifted to the surface, indicating fault motion during deposition. Only a relatively small percentage of 1,090–980 Ma Grenville-age zircons from collisions to the east are present, suggesting that they were not efficiently transported to the Lake Superior area. This work is innovative in that it is the first to use detrital zircon geochronology to understand the internal stratigraphy of the Jacobsville Sandstone, whose provenance provides new information about the Neoproterozoic tectonic and sedimentary history of Laurentia.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 442-449 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Terra Nova |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2020 |
Funding
We thank Everett Wood, Jessica Welch, Hannah Wirth, and Robert Wencel, Kacey Garber and Erica Craddock for help with field work mineral separation and geochronologic analysis. Mark Pearson collected the Jacobsville sample from Caribou Island. We also appreciate the efforts of the Arizona Laserchron Center staff. This work was supported by National Science Foundation grants EAR‐1148088 and EAR‐0952345, and by the Illinois State University Foundation. Brian Hampton and two anonymous reviewers were helpful in improving our paper. This work does not have any conflict of interest. We thank Everett Wood, Jessica Welch, Hannah Wirth, and Robert Wencel, Kacey Garber and Erica Craddock for help with field work mineral separation and geochronologic analysis. Mark Pearson collected the Jacobsville sample from Caribou Island. We also appreciate the efforts of the Arizona Laserchron Center staff. This work was supported by National Science Foundation grants EAR-1148088 and EAR-0952345, and by the Illinois State University Foundation. Brian Hampton and two anonymous reviewers were helpful in improving our paper. This work does not have any conflict of interest.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geology