On the Origin and Deformation of the Fleur de Lys Metaconglomerate, Appalachian Fold Belt, Northwest Newfoundland

Abstract

The results of a study of a deformed metaconglomerate from the Fleur de Lys Supergroup, which occupies the northwest metamorphic zone of the Appalachian–Caledonian orogen in northwest Newfoundland, are described.This Eocambrian conglomerate unconformably overlies a Precambrian basement complex and has previously been interpreted as a glacial deposit. Sedimentological evidence does not support such an interpretation, and the present study shows the conglomerate to be of probable fluviatile origin.The deformation of the deposit, reflected in the state of finite strain of the clasts, is clearly inhomogeneous on all scales. The clasts range from nondeformed to intensely deformed and their shapes vary from oblale to prolate ellipsoids. The finite strain is thought to be due to buckling and three-dimensional differential flattening at the basement-conglomerate interface.