The northern edge of Phanerozoic platformal rocks of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin overlies the Flin Flon Belt (Trans-Hudson Orogen) in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. A program of regional mapping of the Phanerozoic-covered basement has been undertaken, involving the integration of high-resolution aeromagnetic and gravity data with extensive drill core information. Several major domains are recognized in the buried basement, each with a distinct lithotectonic character and potential field anomaly pattern. Three lithotectonic domains in the buried basement (Clearwater, Athapapuskow, and Amisk Lake domains) are characterized by northerly-trending positive gravity and aeromagnetic anomalies and correlate with the 1.92–1.83 Ga volcanic and plutonic rocks of the exposed Flin Flon Belt (Amisk collage and Snow Lake assemblage). An upper amphibolite grade orthogneiss complex (Namew Gneiss Complex), containing calc-alkaline intrusive rocks ranging in age from 1.88 to 1.83 Ga and screens derived from the older volcano-sedimentary rocks, is interpreted as the middle crust of a 1.88–1.84 Ga arc exposed in the Flin Flon Belt. Discordant intrusive complexes, such as the 1.830 Ga Cormorant Batholith, are centred on magnetic–gravity lows and truncate the structural trend of adjacent lithotectonic domains. Correlation of Flin Flon Belt geology with that beneath the Phanerozoic cover shows that its constituent lithotectonic elements have north–south strikes of up to 150 km, and form a predominantly east-dipping crustal section, consistent with Lithoprobe seismic reflection profiles.

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Comparison of progressive deformation and metamorphic history within and between the tectonic domains of the Kapuskasing uplift indicates significant variation in age and style of deformation across this large segment of the central Superior Province; multiple stages of tonalite and granitoid intrusion, melt generation, polyphase diachronous deformation, and likely rapid deep burial of supracrustal rocks collectively produced the complex character of this example of Archean mid to deep crust. At least four Archean deformation phases are recognized, although not all are of regional extent. Dated structural chronology suggests that the locus of the earliest recorded deformations migrated to deeper crustal levels with time. Pre-2680 Ma deformation (local D1–D2) within high-level tonalites is correlated with deformation in the Michipicoten supracrustal belt. The apparent earliest deformational fabrics at deeper crustal levels in the granulite terrane of the Kapuskasing structural zone occurred between 2660 and 2640 Ma. Archean third and fourth phase deformation phases (~ 2667 to ~ 2629 Ma) are present at mid-crustal and deeper levels and deform post-2667 Ma metaconglomerate; these resulted in large-scale folding and subhorizontal ductile shear zones, which seem to represent an important transitional zone that separated a passive upper crust from continued ductile strain at deeper levels.Subsequent uplift of the high-grade rocks was accomplished in multiple stages, initiated prior to 2.45 Ga and likely culminated around 1.9 Ga, although continued movement occurred as late as 1.14 Ga. The Ivanhoe Lake fault zone, along which much of the uplift must have occurred, exhibits some evidence of ductile deep-thrust-related fabrics, but most of the observed structures are brittle to brittle–ductile and steeply inclined. A broad zone of pervasive cataclasis and brittle–ductile shear zones is a characteristic feature of the fault zone throughout its length, and both dextral and sinistral offset are locally present. Clear ground evidence for major transcurrent or thrust displacements, however, has not been recognized.