Zircon macrocrysts in (sub)volcanic silica-undersaturated rocks are an important source of information about mantle processes and their relative timing with respect to magmatism. The present work describes variations in trace element (Sc, Ti, Y, Nb, lanthanides, Hf, Ta, Pb, Th, and U) and isotopic (U-Pb) composition of zircon from the Drybones Bay kimberlite, Northwest Territories, Canada. These data were acquired at a spatial resolution of ≤100 µm and correlated to the internal characteristics of macrocrysts (imaged using cathodoluminescence, CL). Six types of zircon were distinguished on the basis of its luminescence characteristics, with the majority of grains exhibiting more than one type of CL response. The oscillatory-zoned core and growth sectors of Drybones Bay zircon show consistent variations in rare-earth elements (REE), Hf, Th, and U. Their chondrite-normalized REE patterns are typical of macrocrystic zircon and exhibit extreme enrichment in heavy lanthanides and a positive Ce anomaly. Their Ti content decreases slightly from the core into growth sectors, but the Ti-in-zircon thermometry gives overlapping average crystallization temperatures (820 ± 26 • C to 781 ± 19 • C, respectively). There is no trace element or CL evidence for Pb loss or other forms of chemical re-equilibration. All distinct zircon types are concordant and give a U-Pb age of 445.6 ± 0.8 Ma. We interpret the examined macrocrysts as products of interaction between a shallow (<100 km) mantle source and transient kimberlitic melt.
<p>The Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition provides a useful natural laboratory for examining the behavior of a mid- to high-latitude ice sheet during a period of climatically driven ice sheet thinning and retreat. While the timing and pattern of Pleistocene recession of the LIS are well-constrained along the southern and eastern margins, there is limited chronology constraining the ice margin retreat along the northwestern margin. Here we present new cosmogenic <sup>10</sup>Be exposure ages retreat of the western margin of the LIS during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Sampling was performed along three transects located between the northern shore of Great Slave Lake and Lac de Gras. Each of the transects is oriented parallel to the inferred ice retreat direction in an attempt to capture a regional rate of retreat. Our new <sup>10</sup>Be cosmogenic exposure ages from the southeastern Northwest Territories demonstrate that regional deglaciation occurred around 11,000 years ago. The population of ages broadly overlaps, indicating that either the retreat occurred within the resolution of our chronology or that the ice sheet experienced widespread stagnation and rapid down-wasting. These ages, not corrected for changes in atmospheric depth due to isostatic rebound, are older than minimum limiting radiocarbon constraints by ~1000 years, indicating that existing LIS reconstructions may underestimate the timing and pace of ice margin recession for this sector. Constraining the timing of the recession of the northwest sector of the LIS has the potential to inform our understanding about the damming of large proglacial lakes, such as Glacial Lake McConnell. The ages from our southern transect, collected from elevated bedrock hills, indicate LIS retreat from through the McConnell basin occurred after 12,000 years ago, and thus constitute maximum limiting constraints on the expansion of Glacial Lake McConnell southeastward into the present-day Great Slave Lake basin. Our chronology, combined with other emerging cosmogenic exposure ages constraining LIS deglaciation indicates retreat of the ice margin over 100s of kilometres during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, exhibiting no evidence of a significant readvance during the Younger Dryas stadial.</p>
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