Spring 2021
| Speaker: | Diane Skipton Yukon Geological Survey |
| Title: |
Overlapping Archean–Paleoproterozoic Orogens in the Rae Craton, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada |
| Date: | April 9, 2021 |
| Time: | 11:45am |
| Location: | Contact instructor for details. jemezger@alaska.edu |
About
Diane Skipton completed her MSc at Memorial University of Newfoundland (2011) on the
igneous and tectonic evolution of the Avalon Zone (Appalachian orogen). She completed
her PhD at the University of Ottawa (2016) studying the structural and metamorphic
evolution of the Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson orogen on southeast Baffin Island,
eastern Canadian Arctic. Diane returned to Baffin Island for her post-doctoral fellowship
with the Geological Survey of Canada, to lead a bedrock mapping project and investigate
the tectonic evolution of Archean granite-greenstone belts on northern Baffin Island.
Currently, Diane is a Project Geologist with the Yukon Geological Survey, leading
a bedrock mapping project and research studies in the Selwyn fold belt and Dawson
thrust zone in central Yukon.
Abstract
The Archean Rae craton forms much of the Canadian Shield, including northern Baffin
Island in the Canadian Arctic, where it records a protracted Archean–Paleoproterozoic
tectonic history. Based on new bedrock mapping and research, this part of the Rae
craton represents the missing link between orogenic events in the western Canadian
Shield and West Greenland. Metamorphic zircon and monazite dated at ca. 2.6–2.5 Ga
are contemporaneous with widespread tectono-metamorphism in the Rae craton to the
west, attributed to the Arrowsmith orogen. Tectonothermal activity at ca. 1.9 Ga is
recorded in metamorphic zircon rims and monazite, potentially correlative with the
Ellesmere-Inglefield orogen, which extends along the northern Rae cratonic margin
from the Canadian Arctic to West Greenland. Younger, ca. 1.85-1.82 Ga tectono-metamorphism
is attributed to accretionary events along the southern Rae cratonic margin during
the Himalayan-scale Trans-Hudson orogen. As a region that preserves overlapping zones
of tectonic reworking during several orogens, the northeastern Rae craton is a key
link in understanding the tectonic assembly of ancient North America (Laurentia).
Passcode: F19h?5by