In the Eastern Central Mobile Belt of the Newfoundland Appalachians, late Precambrian basement inliers have εNd from −3 to +2, but Cambro-Ordovician metasedimentary rocks have initial εNd below −7. This region is inferred to have an "inverted" crustal residence structure, which influenced subsequent Appalachian-cycle magmatism. Ordovician and Silurian granitoid suites have εNd of −8 to −2, bracketing both basement and cover, but peraluminous, "S-type" granites have the lowest εNd. Devonian granites have initial εNd values from −5 to +1, and low εNd is associated with peraluminous character. These Paleozoic granites show geographic trends, with lowest εNd values in areas where metasedimentary rocks are abundant. They are suggested to contain anatectic material from both Precambrian basement and metasedimentary cover, but some "I-type" suites probably also include a mantle-derived component. In the adjacent Avalon Zone, Precambrian plutonic suites mostly have εNd from +1 to +6, but there are negative εNd values (−8 to −4) in the westernmost Avalon Zone. Devonian plutonic suites mostly have εNd from +2 to +5. Thus, the Precambrian crust of the Avalon Zone is largely "juvenile," except at its westernmost edge. Contrasts across the Eastern Central Mobile Belt–Avalon Zone boundary, defined by the Dover–Hermitage Bay fault system, indicate a major, crustal-scale structure, and suggest an isotopically distinct "central block" beneath the central Appalachian Orogen, rather than a simple extension of "Avalonian" crust. Similar geographic–isotopic patterns have been reported in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, suggesting that this pattern represents a first-order deep-crustal subdivision of the northern Appalachian Orogen.

As part of the Eastern Canadian Shield Onshore–Offshore Transect (ECSOOT), Lithoprobe acquired 1250 km of deep seismic reflection data along the coast of Labrador and across Ungava Bay, to image evidence of Proterozoic crustal accretion to the Archean nuclei of the Nain and Superior provinces of the Canadian Shield. The relatively pristine Archean crust of the Nain Province has low reflectivity and generally lacks systematic reflector orientations. Reworking of Archean crust on the margins of the Makkovik Province has little effect on this weak signature. In contrast, the Archean crust in the Eastern Churchill (Rae) Province appears to have been overprinted by a strongly developed, whole-crustal, easterly dipping reflection fabric, interpreted to result from Proterozoic collision of the Nain and Superior provinces in the paired New Quebec and Torngat orogens. Juvenile Proterozoic crust in the Makkovik and Grenville provinces also shows strong whole-crustal dipping reflection fabrics, interpretable as outwardly verging structures associated with collisional mobile belts. Crustal thickness varies from 35 to 45 km in Proterozoic provinces, except where thinner in areas probably affected by Mesozoic extension associated with rifting of the Labrador Sea. Dipping reflectors in the mantle are commonly associated with strong lower-crustal dipping reflections in a manner similar to that observed in some modern orogens. The ECSOOT data show that Proterozoic crust in this area has structural forms comparable with those of modern orogens and, inferentially, its tectonic development was controlled by very similar collisional processes.

Episodic granitoid plutonism in the Early Proterozoic Makkovik Province of the easternmost Canadian Shield is revealed by high-precision U–Pb zircon studies of a range of intrusive rock types. The oldest granites yield ages of 1893 ± 2 and 1891 ± 5 Ma and document a previously unrecognized event that may correlate with an early migmatization of reworked Archean basement. These dates also constrain early structural reworking of the basement, the earliest deformational event grouped as part of the Makkovikian orogeny. Four samples have essentially identical zircon ages of 1801 ± 2, 1802 ± 2, [Formula: see text], and 1825–1799 Ma, and a fifth is slightly older, at [Formula: see text]. These ages suggest correlation with local volcanic sequences, dated in part at 1807 ± 4 Ma. The plutonic suites include both syn- and posttectonic granitoid assemblages and define the main magmatic pulse associated with the Makkovikian orogeny and constrain its final deformational episode. Distinctive, fluorine-enriched "A-type" granites yield an age of 1719 ± 3 Ma and represent a previously unrecognized late postorogenic to anorogenic magmatism of regional significance. Two layered, gabbro–diorite–monzonite–syenite suites yield identical zircon ages of 1649 ± 1 and 1649 ± 3 Ma. A regionally extensive granodioritic unit gives an age of 1647 ± 2 Ma, and a high-level alaskitic granite is dated imprecisely at 1640–1650 Ma. These plutonic suites correlate with volcanic rocks previously dated at 1649 ± 1 Ma.These data show that the plutonic evolution of the Makkovik Province is significantly more complex than previously supposed. The clustering of ages suggests episodic, rather than continuous, magmatism. The different age groupings can, to some extent, be correlated with compositional associations defined by major- and trace-element geochemistry. The new data also raise questions about the regional configuration of Early and Middle Proterozoic orogenic belts in Labrador. Previous correlations between the Makkovik Province, the Ketilidian Mobile Belt of Greenland, and the Svecofennian and Trans-Scandinavian belts of Sweden are supported and expanded by these new results.

No abstract

The Makkovik Province of Labrador represents the extension of the Ketilidian Mobile Belt of south Greenland into mainland North America; it exhibits a threefold division into a foreland region, a fold-and-thrust belt, and an interior magmatic zone. The Kaipokok Domain is dominated by Archaean basement rocks that form an extension of the North Atlantic Craton, but Proterozoic reworking is recorded by the reorientation of a c . 2230 Ma dyke swarm. Supracrustal rocks, consisting of shallow-marine sedimentary rocks overlain by greywackes and mafic volcanic rocks, rest unconformably upon Archaean basement, but towards the interior of the belt the basal unconformity is eradicated by northwest-directed thrusting. In the Aillik Domain , highgrade supracrustal rocks of similar aspect to those of the Kaipokok Domain are separated from the basement by mylonite zones, in a thick-skinned fold-and-thrust belt ( Kaipokok Bay Structural Zone ), believed to record significant northwest-directed translation. The Aillik Domain also contains abundant felsic volcanic rocks that lack typical arc-like geochemical signatures. The Cape Harrison Domain is dominated by plutonic rocks, including suites of 1840 Ma, 1800 Ma, 1720 Ma and 1650 Ma age, but gneissic inliers apparently represent ‘juvenile’ Proterozoic crust. The dominant 1800-1720 Ma plutonic suites are late-orogenic to post-orogenic, siliceous, potassic granitoid rocks, which resemble Phanerozoic post-collisional suites, rather than subduction-related arc batholiths. Nd isotopic variations position the eastern edge of the North Atlantic Craton close to the boundary between the Aillik and Cape Harrison Domains. The structural evolution of the Makkovik Province records a shift from pre- 1800 Ma northwest-directed thrusting to post-1800 Ma tight upright folding, also northwest-verging. However, there is also evidence for earlier (pre- 1890 Ma) events in the Kaipokok Domain. Major unresolved problems include the timing of early sub-horizontal deformation (perhaps related to collisional events), the age relations and setting of supracrustal sequences, the location of suture zones, the absence of clear arc-like magmatic assemblages, and the nature and antiquity of the eastern juvenile crustal block.