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(A) Hummocky-Swaley cross-stratified medium-grained sandstones in the Sikosak Formation, Northern Melville Peninsula. (B) Sand-filled syneresis cracks in the Sikosak Formation. (C) Large-scale trough cross-stratified sandstone in the lower part of the Whyte Inlet Formation. (D) Small-to medium-pebble conglomerate, Whyte Inlet Formation.
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The Mesoproterozoic Borden, Hunting-Aston, Fury and Hecla, and Thule basins, collectively known as the Bylot basins, are a series of sub-parallel extensional depressions associated with the Mackenzie igneous event at ∼1270 Ma. In the Borden basin, basal strata of the Eqalulik Group are dominated by tholeiitic basaltic rocks and siliciclastic sandst...
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The Fury and Hecla Group is a Mesoproterozoic sedimentary succession exposed on northern Baffin Island and northern Melville Peninsula, Nunavut. Part of the Bylot basins, the Fury and Hecla Basin comprises sedimentary and mafic assemblages, and nonconformably overlies Archean to late Paleoproterozoic basement rocks of the Rae craton. Sandstone attr...
Citations
... Jackson and Iannelli (1981) greatly improved the mapping resolution of the Borden Basin through Operation Borden. Subsequent studies on the Borden Basin have heavily focused on the shale and carbonate units in the middle of the Bylot Supergroup (Kah et al. 1999;Sherman et al. 2000Sherman et al. , 2001Sherman et al. , 2002Turner 2004Turner , 2009Turner , 2011Long and Turner 2012;Turner and Kamber 2012;Knoll et al. 2013;Hahn et al. 2015Hahn et al. , 2018Turner et al. 2016;Gibson et al. 2018Gibson et al. , 2019Hodgskiss et al. 2020). Turner (2009) updated the stratigraphic nomenclature for the Bylot Supergroup to account for the new understanding of depositional facies and stratigraphic architecture of the Borden Basin, and we apply this updated nomenclature in this paper (Figs 2 and 3). ...
... The Nauyat Formation contains a basal cross-bedded sandstone and conglomerate member, in places overlain by a series of between one and five tholeiitic basalt flows. Sandstone and conglomerate of the lower Adams Sound Formation conformably overlie the Nauyat Formation and transition to the NW and up-section into sandstone and siltstone with minor gravel lags and dune-scale cross-stratification (Long and Turner 2012). ...
... Butterfield and Chandler (1992) conducted a reconnaissance micropalaeontological study of the shales of the Agu Bay Formation of the Fury and Hecla Group. Long and Turner (2012) added multiple stratigraphic sections, including from exposures on Melville Peninsula. More recent studies in the Fury and Hecla Basin include those conducted by Steenkamp et al. (2018), Patzke et al. (2018Patzke et al. ( , 2021, Dufour et al. (2020) and Greenman et al. (2018Greenman et al. ( , 2020Greenman et al. ( , 2021 to update geological maps and provide age constraints on the Fury and Hecla Group. ...
The Bylot basins of northeastern Canada and northwestern Greenland comprise the Borden, Aston-Hunting, Fury and Hecla, and Thule basins. This system of late Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1.27– 1.0 Ga) sedimentary basins preserves an important record of present-day northeastern Laurentia coincident with the emplacement of the Mackenzie Large Igneous Province, the Shawinigan and Ottawan phases of the Grenville orogeny, and the development of the Midcontinent Rift. However, establishing correlations between the sedimentary successions of the Bylot basins has been hindered by the absence of robust chronostratigraphic constraints. As a result, the degree to which these basins were interconnected, whether they share a common tectonostratigraphic history, and how their sedimentary patterns relate to regional tectonic events remain open questions. Recent Re-Os geochronology from organic-rich strata has yielded depositional ages from the Borden (1048 Ma and 1046 Ma) and Fury and Hecla (1087 Ma) basins, which we integrate with existing models for the depositional history of these basins to derive three tectonostratigraphic assemblages from the Bylot basins. We project our refined tectonostratigraphic framework for the Borden and Fury and Hecla successions to Greenland in order to establish a testable hypothesis for how the Thule Supergroup fits into this tectonostratigraphic picture.
... 2) Broad areas surrounding the paleograbens and directly overlying basement are thinly covered by lowermost strata of the Bylot Supergroup (Nauyat to lower Arctic Bay formations). These map patterns are compatible with tectonostratigraphic work that interprets an early, broad sag basin (Nauyat and Adams Sound formations; Long and Turner, 2012) followed by rift-delimited sedimentation (Arctic Bay through Victor Bay formations; Turner and Kamber, 2012;Turner et al., 2016), and then foreland-basin-like accumulation (Sherman et al., 2002;Turner et al., 2016). ...
... Knight and Jackson (1994) produced an updated stratigraphy for the uppermost siliciclastic units of the Bylot Supergroup (Elwin subgroup; Fig. 2c). Stratigraphic work by scientists outside the GSC starting in the 1990s yielded a refined stratigraphic scheme and understanding of the geological history of the basin (Fig. 2c) based on a modern understanding of Proterozoic lithofacies and environments (Sherman et al., 2000(Sherman et al., , 2001Turner, 2009Turner, , 2011Turner and Kamber, 2012;Long and Turner, 2012;Hahn et al., 2015Hahn et al., , 2018Hahn and Turner, 2017), rigorous documentation of unconformities in the succession (Sherman et al., 2002;Turner, 2009Turner, , 2011, transformative new geochronological data (Turner and Kamber, 2012;Turner et al., 2016;Gibson et al., 2018), and geochemical and isotopic evidence (Hahn et al., 2015;Gibson et al., 2019) The currently accepted stratigraphy of the Bylot Supergroup ( Fig. 2c), based on its best exposed and best mineralized area, the Milne Inlet Graben, consists of units established or described in Blackadar (1956Blackadar ( , 1970, Lemon and Blackadar (1963), Jackson and Iannelli (1981), Knight and Jackson (1994), Sherman et al. (2000Sherman et al. ( , 2001Sherman et al. ( , 2002, and Turner (2009Turner ( , 2011, and internal unconformities described in Sherman et al. (2002), Turner (2009, 2011. The basic stratigraphy appears to be applicable in the other two grabens of the Borden Basin, with local nuances (Jackson and Davidson, 1978). ...
... Although some workers interpreted the succession as subaerial and rift-related (Dostal et al., 1989), the presence of stromatolitic carbonate interflow deposits, intercalated sandstone interpreted as marine, and sand injectites and peperites, suggests that at least some of the succession was deposited subaqueously (Long and Turner, 2012). Together with the geographic distribution of the formation, which is not delimited by rift location, these characteristics point to a saglike basin interpretation for the oldest strata of the Bylot Supergroup rather than subaerial volcanism associated with thermal doming and rifting (Nauyat and Adams Sound formations; Long and Turner, 2012;Turner et al., 2016). ...
... Turner (this volume) presents detailed lithological descriptions, depositional paleoenvironments, and an overview of the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Bylot Supergroup. Initially, subaqueous basalt of the Nauyat Formation and overlying marine sandstone of the Adams Sound Formation record deposition in a regional sag basin (Long and Turner, 2012;Turner et al., 2016). Pronounced rifts then developed, within which diverse, coeval successions accumulated: debris fans at the margins (Fabricius Fiord Formation; Jackson and Iannelli, 1981;Scott and de Kemp, 1998); deep-water black shale (upper Arctic Bay Formation; Turner and Kamber, 2012); deep-water carbonate seep-mounds (Ikpiarjuk Formation;Turner, 2009;Hahn and Turner, 2017); and a southeastern prograding carbonate ramp (Iqqittuq Formation;Turner, 2009). ...
The papers contained in this bulletin provide a comprehensive summary and updated understanding of the onshore geology and evolution of Baffin Island, the Labrador-Baffin Seaway, and surrounding onshore regions. This introductory paper summarizes and links the geological and tectonic events that took place to develop the craton and subsequent Proterozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary basins. Specifically, the Precambrian and Paleozoic geology of Baffin Island and localized occurrences underlying the adjacent Labrador-Baffin Seaway, the Mesozoic to Cenozoic stratigraphy and rift history that records the opening and evolution of the Labrador-Baffin Seaway, the seismicity of the region, as well as both the mineral (Baffin Island) and hydrocarbon (onshore and offshore) resource potential are discussed.
... Our Agu Bay Formation Re-Os date confirms a latest Mesoproterozoic age for the Bylot basins (Gibson et al., 2018) and provides an anchor for testing previous lithostratigraphic correlations between the lower Bylot Supergroup and lower Fury and Hecla Group ( Fig. 3; Jackson and Iannelli, 1981;Chandler, 1988;Long and Turner, 2012). Together, the sandstones and basalts of the Nyeboe Formation are interpreted to correlate with similar lithofacies of the Nauyat and Adams Sound Formations of the Borden Basin ( Fig. 3), as proposed by Chandler (1988) based on lithostratigraphy. ...
The terminal Mesoproterozoic was a period of widespread tectonic convergence globally, culminating in the amalgamation of the Rodinia supercontinent. However, in Laurentia, long-lived orogenesis on its eastern margin was punctuated by short-lived extension that generated the Midcontinent Rift ca. 1110–1090 Ma. Whereas this cratonic rift basin is typically considered an isolated occurrence, a series of new depositional ages demonstrate that multiple cratonic basins in northern Laurentia originated around this time. We present a Re-Os isochron date of 1087.1 ± 5.9 Ma from organic-rich shales of the Agu Bay Formation of the Fury and Hecla Basin, which is one of four closely spaced cratonic basins spanning from northeastern Canada to northwestern Greenland known as the Bylot basins. This age is identical, within uncertainty, to ages from the Midcontinent Rift and the Amundsen Basin in northwestern Canada. These ages imply that the late Mesoproterozoic extensional episode in Laurentia was widespread and likely linked to a common origin. We propose that significant thermal anomalies and mantle upwelling related to supercontinent assembly centered around the Midcontinent Rift influenced the reactivation of crustal weaknesses in Arctic Laurentia beginning ca. 1090 Ma, triggering the formation of a series of cratonic basins.
... 1267 Ma Mackenzie large igneous province (Jackson and Iannelli, 1981;Dostal et al., 1989;LeCheminant and Heaman, 1989). However, the absence of fault-controlled sedimentation patterns in the lower Bylot Supergroup (Nauyat and Adams Sound Formations; Long and Turner, 2012) led Turner et al. (2016) to propose that the Borden Basin formed as an intracratonic sag basin from far-field defor ma tion. Pulses of normal faulting, largely accommodated along graben-bounding faults, accompanied by gentle subsidence during deposition of the middle Bylot Supergroup (Arctic Bay through Victor Bay Formations) were punctuated by uplift that inverted the bathymetry of the Borden Basin (Sherman et al., 2002). ...
... This would suggest that an unrecognized depositional hiatus exists somewhere in the lower Bylot Supergroup. Considering the close association and gradational contact between shallow-marine Nauyat and Adams Sound Formation sandstone facies (Long and Turner, 2012), the most likely position for such a hiatus is in the vicinity of the sharp contact between Adams Sound Formation sandstone and Arctic Bay Formation shale. However, due to the contrasting resistance to weathering between these lithologies, this contact is poorly exposed, and no unconformity has been verified. ...
The ca. 1050 Ma Bylot Supergroup in Arctic Canada is one of the best-preserved archives of late Mesoproterozoic geochemis-try and biology and offers evidence that this period of Earth history may have been more biogeochemically dynamic than previously appreciated. The Bylot Supergroup was deposited in the Borden Basin and is the most thoroughly studied stratigraphic succession from a series of broadly contemporaneous late Mesoproterozoic intracratonic basins known as the Bylot basins. This ~6-km-thick mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession has undergone mini mal postdepositional deformation and is now exposed on Baffin and Bylot Islands , Nunavut, Canada. Deep-water and tidally influenced carbonate facies, traditionally interpreted as marine, have yielded important insights into the evolution of Proterozoic seawater chemistry; however, more recent studies indicate that the Borden Basin was restricted marine or lacustrine for portions of its depositional history. Here, we present new multiproxy radiogenic isotope chemostratigraphic data spanning the Bylot Supergroup. A comparison of stratigraphic trends in radio-genic isotope data from hydrogenous (black shale 187Os/188Os and limestone 87Sr/86Sr) and detrital (whole-rock mudstone 143Nd/144Nd) sedimentary phases elucidates the complex hydrologic history of the Borden Basin and reconciles these disparate interpretations. Episodic coupling and decoupling between the composition of basin waters (from Os and Sr isotopes) and the local weathering input to the basin (from Nd isotopes) indicate that depositional environments within the Borden Basin fluctuated between marine and nonmarine (i.e., lacustrine). Variations in basin hydrology controlled secular sedi-mentation patterns through changes in basin water chemistry. These interpretations help to characterize the environment in which the early red algal fossil Bangiomorpha pubes-cens evolved. Episodically restricted epeiric seaways, such as within the Borden Basin, were relatively widespread within Rodinia and may have exerted unique selective pressures on eukaryotic evolution in the Meso-proterozoic Era. Hydrogenous and detrital radiogenic isotope chemostratigraphy, as implemented in this study, may provide a useful paleoenvironmental framework for future paleontological studies aimed at testing the role of freshwater environments in eukaryotic evolution. In addition, 87Sr/86Sr compositions from 81 new middle Bylot Supergroup marine limestone samples, calibrated by recent Re-Os geochronology, contribute to the terminal Mesoproterozoic marine 87Sr/86 Sr curve. These data display a rise from ~0.705 to 0.706 that reflects weathering of the active Grenville orogenic belt and demonstrates a global increase in chemical weathering during the amalgamation of Rodinia.
... Mega-sequence 1: Proterozoic (1,300 to 950 million years old; Turner, 2009) clastic-dominated sedimentary succession, exposed on Baffin, Bylot, Somerset, and Devon islands (Fig. 3) indicate a significant likelihood that they are present offshore within the NMCA Study Area (Long and Turner, 2012). A review of the literature suggests limited documentation about Proterozoic basins petroleum systems and their potential. ...
... Mega-sequence 1 (Fig. 4) was not included in OF 6954 (Brent et al., 2013). However, literature on Proterozoic Borden Basin tectonics (Long and Turner, 2012;Turner et al., 2016), paleo-seeps (Hahn et al., 2015), dissolved metal systematics in black shales (Turner and Kamber, 2012) and carbonate sedimentary systems (Turner, 2009; suggests that Proterozoic Borden Basin contains all petroleum system elements. Mega-sequence 1 may still be an important contributor to petroleum resources within the NMCA Study Area. ...
... Potential reservoirs include porous intervals in strata underlying (a) the Adams Sound Formation sandstones and overlying (b) carbonate dominated Society Cliffs Formation [recently divided into Iqqittuq, Angmaat, Nanisivik, and Ikpiarjuk (dolostone mounds) formations, Turner, 2009] and Victor Bay Formation, and (c) Nunatsiaq Group (Strathcona Sound and Athole Point; Aqigilik; and Sinasuvik formations) sandstones (Turner, 2009;Turner et al., 2016). Although, data documenting reservoir properties are lacking, it is reasonable to infer that Adams Sound Formation, interpreted as fluvial to marine sandstone (Long and Turner, 2012) was characterized by good primary porosity, which was later reduced under burial pressure. Described carbonate reservoirs, and in particular dolostone mounds of the Ikpiarjuk Formation, should have excellent primary porosities, which have been diagenetically cemented (Hahn and Turner, 2017). ...
... These strata are cross-cut by northwest-trending Franklin-aged dykes ($723 Ma;Heaman et al., 1992;Pehrsson and Buchan, 1999;Denyszyn et al., 2009). Recent revisions to the tectonic history of the MIG have placed the depositional age of the middle and upper parts of the Bylot Supergroup at $1.1 Ga, about 170 million years later than previously thought; the basin's origin is probably related to complex tectonic stress associated with the assembly of Rodinia (Turner, 2009Turner, , 2011Long and Turner, 2012;Turner and Kamber, 2012;Turner et al., 2016;Fig. 2). ...
... 2). The basin initially formed during mild extension, when tholeiitic basalt of the Nauyat Formation (Jackson and Iannelli, 1981;Dostal et al., 1989) erupted subaqueously (Long and Turner, 2012). Marine sandstone of the Adams Sound Formation was then deposited regionally during sag-phase sedimentation (Long and Turner, 2012). ...
... The basin initially formed during mild extension, when tholeiitic basalt of the Nauyat Formation (Jackson and Iannelli, 1981;Dostal et al., 1989) erupted subaqueously (Long and Turner, 2012). Marine sandstone of the Adams Sound Formation was then deposited regionally during sag-phase sedimentation (Long and Turner, 2012). The Arctic Bay Formation was deposited during pronounced extension, and produced a westward-deepening and deepening-upward siliciclastic succession (Turner and Kamber, 2012). ...
The Mesoproterozoic Ikpiarjuk Formation (Borden Basin, Nunavut) consists of a series of very large (>200 m thick; kms diameter) dolostone mounds that accumulated on the floor of a restricted basin. The mounds are isolated from contemporaneous shallow-water carbonate rocks, accumulated at the same time as black shale in deep-water regions of the basin, and are geographically limited to the vicinity of basin-scale fault zones. The mounds contain extensive deposits of benthic thrombolites, a microbial texture that is not common in Mesoproterozoic carbonate rocks.
... Pretorius (1974) suggested that a meandering channel belt may have developed in the proximal to middle reaches of fluvialdominated alluvial fan deposits preserved in the Proterozoic Kaapvaalian sedimentary basins of South Africa, similar to modern-day distributive fluvial systems . Other examples include sandy meandering fluvial systems, which have been identified in the Serpent Formation ( pebbly sandstone deposits) from the Huronian of Canada (Long 1976), in the Neoproterozoic Katherine Group (Long 1978), in the Neoproterozoic Nelson Head Formation (Long 1978;Rainbird & Young 2009), in cobble-grade conglomerates at Ularu (Long 2011), and in sandy conglomerates in the Borden Basin (Long & Turner 2012). Examples of preserved levee and crevasse-splay elements, and inclined heterolithic strata (sensu Thomas et al. 1987) associated with laterally accreting channels, typical of fluvial systems characterized by long-lived floodplains, have been identified in the Neoproterozoic Torridon Group (Fig. 1) (Santos & Owen 2016). ...
The apparent increase in occurrence of meandering fluvial channel systems in the Middle Palaeozoic has long been
related to the effects of land-plant colonization. However, evidence for meandering channels in non-vegetated settings is shown
by pre-vegetation successions on Earth, from the prevalence of meandering channels on Mars, from physical modelling of
meandering channels, and from non-vegetated channels in modern desert basins. In addition, early land plants had small
dimensions, were limited in their occurrence, and were dependent on environmental factors. Here, we question the capacity of
early land plants to impose the major impacts suggested by current models.We propose that the sudden widespread occurrence
on Earth of fluvial deposits indicative of the accumulation of meandering river systems in the Middle Palaeozoic was primarily
an effect of environmental and tectonic conditions that prevailed during this period. These conditions induced a worldwide
increase in the proportion of meandering rivers, which in turn helped favour the appropriate environment for land-plant
colonization of the continents. We propose that land plants opportunistically took advantage of an appropriate global
environment, which enabled them to thrive in continental environments. Fluvial environments characterized by single-channel
systems and stable floodplains facilitated the greening of the land.
... The initial effusion of a thin flood basalt, the Nauyat Formation (Dostal et al., 1989), over Archean basement gneiss of the Rae Province has been indirectly related to the Mackenzie igneous event (~1270 Ma; LeCheminant and Heaman, 1989), and provided the first constraint on maximum depositional age for the succession. The basin then experienced a regional sag phase (Adams Sound Formation; marine quartz arenite; Jackson and Iannelli, 1981;Long and Turner, 2012) before becoming differentiated into three grabens, of which the largest and most economically well endowed is the Milne Inlet Graben (MIG, Jackson and Iannelli, 1981;Sangster, 1998). Deposition of the Arctic Bay Formation (marine black shale and quartz arenite) took place at ca. 1092 ± 59 Ma (U-Th-Pb whole-rock black shale; Turner and Kamber, 2012), providing a maximum depositional age for the overlying carbonate formations (Turner, 2009(Turner, , 2011. ...
... The new Th data reported here for Nanisivik are highly significant because they suggest that the thermal setting of the Nanisivik deposit area is not at all as previously assumed. In fact, the new data are consistent with the inferred setting of this area, as now constrained by the new Re\ \Os age dating for the mineralisation, the known depositional age of the host rocks (Turner and Kamber, 2012), and the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the basin (Turner, 2009(Turner, , 2011Long and Turner, 2012;Turner and Kamber, 2012). A temperature of~100°C should henceforth be considered a realistic, typical value for ore formation at Nanisivik. ...
The age and origin of the past-producing Nanisivik carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposit in Nunavut, Canada, have been controversial for decades. Various direct and indirect dating methods have produced results ranging from Mesoproterozoic to Ordovician in age, and previous studies of the mineralising fluids have suggested that the fluids were anomalously hot (> 150°C). This study combines Re-Os (pyrite) geochronology, in-situ sulfur isotope analysis, and fluid inclusion analysis to refine both the timing of mineralisation and the nature of mineralising fluids. Re-Os pyrite analysis shows that the Nanisivik deposit formed ca. 1.1 Ga, broadly similar to the depositional age of the host rock and with the Grenville orogeny, making it one of few known Precambrian carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposits. In-situ sulphur isotope measurements from Nanisivik show a narrow δ34S range of 27.54 ± 0.72, very similar to what has been reported before in bulk sample analyses. New fluid inclusion data show that the mineralising fluids were ~ 100°C, which is not anomalous in the context of carbonate-hosted base-metal deposits. The fluids exhibit no significant spatial variation in homogenisation temperature in the 2-km-long ‘upper lens’ of the ore deposit, but recrystallisation and modification of fluid inclusions took place in the immediate vicinity of the cross-cutting ~ 720 Ma “mine dyke”. The deposit is broadly inferred to have formed during late Mesoproterozoic assembly of supercontinent Rodinia, when regional hydrostatic head developed under the influence of far-field stresses originating in the developing Grenville orogen. The Nanisivik deposit remains anomalous only in its age; most other aspects of this ore deposit are now shown to be quite typical for carbonate-hosted ore deposits.
... Post-Pinguicula extension in the Neoproterozoic led to deposition of the Mackenzie Mountains Supergroup and the Windermere Supergroup (Eisbacher, 1981;Ross, 1991;Long and Turner, 2011;Macdonald et al., 2012). These basins may also reflect separation of Laurentia from North Australia as part of the break-up of the Neoproterozoic supercontinent Rodinia (Torsvik, 2003;Li et al., 2008). ...
The Mesoproterozoic Pinguicula Group (<1.38 Ga) is exposed in the Wernecke and Hart River inliers in northern Yukon, Canada. The Pinguicula Group records deposition of non-cyclic siliciclastic and carbonate strata on low-energy slopes affected by rare high-energy deposits in a tectonically active epicratonic setting. The succession is ∼1.4 km thick at its measured type sections and comprises three newly formalised formations: the Mount Landreville, Pass Mountain, and Rubble Creek formations (formerly units A, B, and C, respectively). The Mount Landreville Formation is a predominantly siltstone succession with minor conglomerate and sandstone deposited below storm wave-base on a relatively gentle slope. The Pass Mountain Formation is a wispy- to planar-laminated carbonate succession deposited on a low-energy slope mostly below storm wave-base and is punctuated by rare high-energy gravity-flow deposits including debrites, grain-flows, turbidites, and micro-turbidites. The Rubble Creek Formation is dominated by repetitive centimetre- to decimetre-scale lime mudstone beds; it is distinguished from the Pass Mountain Formation by abundant zebra texture (an alternating dark grey and white banding caused by late diagenetic or hydrothermal fluid influx) and a lack of sediment gravity-flow deposits.
