Further development of a Precambrian plate model and its application in identifying sediment provenance

1. Further development of a Precambrian
plate model and its application in
identifying sediment provenance
Bruce Eglington
University of Saskatchewan

2. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

3. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

4. Geochronology
~ 106,000 records in the DateView geochronology database

5. Dyke swarms
~ 6,500 records in the StratDB LIP database, many with geospatial
information in ArcMap compilation

6. Deposits
~ 15,000 deposit/mineralisation records in the StratDB database, most with latitude and
longitude information. ~4,500 have Pb isotope data

7. Nd
T DM

8. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

9. Geophysical constraints

10. U-Pb Formation Ages

11. Nd TDM

12. Geographic extent of dated lithostratigraphic units

13. Interpreted maximum age of blocks

14. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Plate motion constraints
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

15. Constraints for Palaeogeographic
Reconstructions
►
Palaeomag constraints are primary – modelled using



GPlates
Paleogis plugin for ArcMap
Customised software written by BE

16. Constraints for Palaeogeographic
Reconstructions
►
Palaeolongitude

Estimated based on the orthoversion concept presented by
Mitchell and Evans (2012)
Most likely
centroid of
supercontinent

17. Palaeogeographic
Reconstructions
►
Extensive set of plates based on


►
Palaeomag constraints are primary – modelled using



►
Geology
Aeromagnetic and Gravity Anomalies
GPlates
Paleogis plugin for ArcMap
Customised software written by BE
Consider structural vergence directions

18. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Plate motion constraints
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

19. Available Palaeogeographic Models
►
Phanerozoic



►
►
Paleomap (Chris Scotese)
Earthbyte (GPlates)
Various commercial models
Meso- to Neo-Proterozoic


IGCP 440 (Li et al., 2008)
Various other ‘snap-shots’
Palaeoproterozoic to Archaean
Various, mostly schematic, ‘snapshots’
 Eglington et al. (2013)
 Pisarevsky et al. (2013)
 Pehrsson et al. (2013)

Paleomap
IGCP 440

20. Some available Palaeogeographic
Reconstructions for Nuna (Columbia)
Rogers and Santosh, 2002
Zhao et al, 2002
Evans and Mitchell, 2011

21. ►
Started with Palaeoproterozoic Nuna
►
Working forward in time through Mesoproterozoic to
Neoproterozoic Rodinia
►
Also extending back towards Neoarchaean

22. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Plate motion constraints
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

27. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Plate motion constraints
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

28. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Plate motion constraints
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

29. Reconstruction at 1500 Ma
Ages from 1500 – 1580 Ma
W. Africa
N. Australia
Siberia
Amazonia
W. Australia
Gawler
Slave
Baltica
Mawson
W. Gneiss
Complex
Superior
Plutonic / volcanic crystallization
Metamorphic
Cooling
Ni-Cu-PGE
VMS
U

30. Basement control
of younger
sedimentation
From Paul Ramaekers (2011)

31. Basement control
of younger
sedimentation
From Paul Ramaekers (2011)

32. Basement control
of younger
sedimentation
From Paul Ramaekers (2011)

33. Basement control
of younger
sedimentation
From Tankard et al (2009)

34. Basement control
of younger
sedimentation
From Tankard et al (2009)

35. Basement control
of younger
sedimentation
From Tankard et al (2009)

36. Basement control
of younger
sedimentation
From Tankard et al (2009)

37. Overview
►
►
Data available to aid model development
Current status of model
 Improvements to plate boundary delineation
 Plate motion constraints
 Meso- and Neo-Proterozoic and early
Palaeoproterozoic/Neoarchaean
 Better visualising different types of mineralisation
 Demo model
►
►
Definition of Precambrian plates and relevance to
Phanerozoic geology
Additional constraints provided by detrital zircon
provenance assessments

38. Probability

39. Unit Age (Ma)
Kaapvaal
1200
3600
1200
3800
Grain Age (Ma)

40. Pilbara
Zimbabwe
Kaapvaal
Neylan Fm
Lower Selika
Formation
1940 Ma

41. Detrital
provenance
From Tankard et al (2009)

42. Detrital zircon age spectra for Cape and Karoo sediments

43. Detrital zircon age spectra for Cape and Karoo sediments

44. Detrital zircon age spectra for Cape and Karoo sediments

45. U-Pb Formation Ages

46. U-Pb Formation Ages

47. Cape-Karoo potential provenance sources 850 – 960 Ma

48. Detrital
provenance

49. Acknowledgements
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►
IGCP 509 project
University of Saskatchewan and NSERC

►
Geological Survey of Canada

►
The Rothwell Group
Chris Scotese
GPlates software

►
Newmont
Areva
De Beers
Paleogis plugin for ArcMap


►
Ore deposit information (especially via Lesley Chorlton) + various coworkers
Various mining companies for student support and money to purchase
hardware and software



►
Databases housed at U of S
Dietmar Mueller and John Cannon in Sydney, Australia
Various software companies for providing academic versions




Embarcadero
Steema
AtoZed
HK Systems