40Ar/39Ar incremental-release ages of hornblende and biotite from Grenville basement rocks within the Indian Head Range complex, southwest Newfoundland: their bearing on Late Proterozoic – Early Paleozoic thermal history

Abstract

Hornblende and biotite from autochthonous basement rocks within the Indian Head Range complex of southwest, insular Newfoundland record undisturbed 40Ar/39Ar release spectra with average total-gas ages of 880 Ma (hornblende) and 825 Ma (biotite). These gas-retention ages date the times when this segment of the western Appalachian basement terrane cooled below hornblende and biotite argon retention temperatures (~500 °C and ~300 °C respectively) following culmination of the ~ 1150–1100 Ma Grenville metamorphism. Although these results indicate that elevated temperatures were maintained for a prolonged period following the Grenville thermal peak, once initiated, cooling must have been relatively rapid because hornblende and biotite record generally similar total-gas dates.The undisturbed release spectra of minerals within the Indian Head Range complex indicate that this segment of the western Appalachian basement terrane was not affected by Paleozoic metamorphism. This is consistent with recent tectonic models that indicate that the overlying Humber Arm allochthon was emplaced into its present position as a cold, already assembled structural unit. Lack of Paleozoic metamorphism within the Indian Head basement rocks is also compatible with suggestions that the obduction site of the Bay of Islands ophiolite lay considerably east of the Early Paleozoic continental margin of North America.