Controls on the Emplacement of Kimberlites and Alkalic Rock-carbonatite Complexes in the Canadian Shield and Surrounding Regions

Exploration & Mining Geology, Vol. 6, No. 4, 1997

The Canadian Shield and its extensions are traversed by an orthogonal system of northwest and northeast trending arch-style uplifts. These basement arches were formed by repeated vertical movements along pre-existing structures during compressional and extensional tectonism connected with events in surrounding Proterozoic and Phanerozoic orogens and ocean basins. The arches influenced patterns of sedimentation and tectonism in the intervening epicratonic basins and marginal platforms throughout the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. Movements on the arch structures also triggered minor magmatism and controlled the location and timing of alkalic rock carbonatite, kimberlite, and related intrusions in the Canadian Shield, the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, and West Greenland.

Keywords: Canadian Shield, Uplifts, Basement arches, Techtonism, Magnetism