Coeval migmatites and granulites, Muskoka domain, southwestern Grenville Province, Ontario

Hilke Timmermann, Rebecca A Jamieson, Randall R Parrish, Nicholas G Culshaw

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    Abstract

    We present new field observations and petrologic and geochronological data from the Muskoka domain in the southwestern Grenville Province of Ontario in an attempt to constrain the relationship between amphibolite-facies and granulite-facies gneisses in areas of transitional metamorphic grade, and to examine their implication for tectonometamorphic models for the Grenville Province of Ontario. The predominant medium-grained amphibolite-facies migmatitic orthogneisses of the Muskoka domain contain several generations of leucosome, some of which are related to southeast-directed extensional structures. The amphibolite-facies granitoid gneisses contain numerous mafic enclaves with granulite-facies assemblages recrystallized from anhydrous precursors during Grenvillian metamorphism. Other associated granulites are characterized by their patchy occurrence and gradational contacts, similar to the charnockites in southern India. Patchy granulites, leucocratic vein networks in mafic enclaves, and crosscutting leucocratic granulite veins are interpreted to have formed as a result of local differences in reaction sequences and (or) fluid compositions. The U�Pb zircon lower intercept age of the patchy granulites overlaps with the previously determined range of 10801060 Ma for high-grade metamorphism in the Muskoka domain, while zircon and titanite from a crosscutting granulite vein crystallized at about 10651045 Ma, supporting a Grenvillian age for granulite formation. Peak metamorphic conditions of 750850°C and 1011.5 kbar (1 kbar = 100 MPa) were determined from the mafic enclaves, whereas the more felsic migmatites reequilibrated at somewhat lower temperatures. The high temperatures caused extensive migmatization and facilitated rheological weakening of the Muskoka domain 1025 million years after the start of the Ottawan orogeny in the Central Gneiss Belt.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)239-258
    JournalCanadian Journal of Earth Sciences
    Volume39
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2002

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