Lyell Collection
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gaskarth, J. W.
Right arrow Articles by Parslow, G. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1987; v. 33; p. 183-200;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1987.033.01.13
© 1987 Geological Society of London

Early and Middle Proterozoic Volcanic Suites of the Laurentian and North Atlantic Shields

Proterozoic Volcanism in the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt, East-Central Saskatchewan, Canada

J. W. Gaskarth

Department of Geological Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK

G. R. Parslow

Department of Geology, University of Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada

Proterozoic basaltic and rhyolitic volcanics, and associated gabbros and ultramafic bodies from the Saskatchewan part of the Flin Flon-Snow Lake greenstone belt are all chemically tholeiitic. Both within-plate-MORB and volcanic arc tectonomagmatic environments are indicated by ‘discriminant’ plots (TiO2-Zr, Cr-Y, Zr-Ti/100-3Y) and MORB-normalized diagram patterns. Rocks with the various environmental ‘signatures’ are closely associated and there appears to be a continuum of compositions between the various types. The geochemistry is compatible with an origin from a single source within a small marginal basin.

Massive, Cu-Zn-Pb, sulphide deposits occur within volcanics with an arc-type ‘signature’ and associated rhyolitic bodies. Gold appears to have some geometrical association with the boundary between arc-type and within-plate-type volcanics though much is in later fractures. The concentration of mineral deposits in this part of the greenstone belt where there are volcanics showing transitional tectonomagmatic characteristics is thought to be significant.