Palaeomagnetic Evidence for Anti-Clockwise Rotation of Rouyn-Noranda Structural Block, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The Rouyn-Noranda area in the center of the Abitibi subprovince is composed of comparatively unmetamorphosed Archean volcanics of Blake River Group (ERG). Rouyn-Nornada is one of the lozenge shaped structural blocks in the area bounded by the Porcupine Destor Fault (PDF) zone and the Larder Lake Caddilac Fault (LCF) zone. 160 samples were collected from 29 different sites selected to lie in the center of the block, at or near the PDF zone and accross the PDF zone in the neighboring lozenge. Stable magnetizations have been obtained from the central relatively unstrained parts of the lozenges. These magnetizations show some improvement in precision statistics after structural corrections implying that they are pre-folding and probably Archean in age. Sites along the PDF zone show scattered magnetizations, which do not agree at sample or site level. The Zone I (Sites in the center of the Rouyn-Noranda block) structurally corrected mean direction (D=154.0, I=-95.0, k=19.0, a95 =19.0, N=6 sites) differ from the Zone III (Sites from the center of the adjacent block) mean direction (D=214.0, I=-49.0, k=16.0, a95 =92.0) by 60+/-37° implying that the Rouyn-Norand block have rotated anti-clockwise by 60+/-37° about a vertical axis relative to the adjacent structural block.