Final Exam Flashcards

1
Q

Mass movement

A

Gravitationally caused displacement and downslope transport of rock, regolith, and/or snow

Differentiated by material and speed of movement

Kinds:

  • Creep
  • Slump
  • Mud/debris flow
  • Rock/debris slide
  • Avalanche
  • Fall
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2
Q

Creep

A

Gradual downslope movement of regolith (unconsolidated material)

  • Occurs slowly
  • Over years causes trees, fences, foundations, etc. built on a hillside to tilt downslope
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3
Q

Slump

A

Mass of regolith detaches from substrate along a spoon-shaped sliding surface and then slips downslope

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4
Q

Failure surface

A

Surface upon which a slump slips

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5
Q

Head scarp

A

Distinct, curving step at the upslope edge of a slump, where the regolith detached

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6
Q

Mud/debris flow

A

During a period of heavy rainfall, water mixes with regolith, creating a slurry that moves downslope

Speed depends on slope angle and amount of water present

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7
Q

Rock/debris slide

A

Sudden movement of rock or debris down a nonvertical slope

Leaves landslide scar on slope and debris pile at the base of the slope

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8
Q

Avalanche

A

Turbulent cloud of debris mixed with air, rush down steep hill slopes at high speed

Can be snow or debris

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9
Q

Rock/debris Fall

A

Mass of rock or debris free-falls from a cliff

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10
Q

Desert condition

A

Region is dry due to aridity

  • Mountain rain shadows (Okanagan)
  • Along cold ocean currents (Atacama, Namib)
  • Because of global wind patterns (convergence of cells - Sahara, Australia)
  • Continental interiors (Gobi)
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11
Q

Desert Varnish

A

Dark coating of iron oxide/manganese oxide and clay that forms on the surface of desert bedrock
- Created by bacteria

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12
Q

Dry Wash

A

AKA wadi

Dry stream channel within a desert - forms when flash flood creates stream and is subsequently evaporated

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13
Q

Playa

A

Evaporated desert lake; becomes a smooth crust of clay and salts

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14
Q

Ventifacts

A

Rocks that have been faceted by the wind

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15
Q

Mesa

A

Large, flat topped hill with a surface area of several km

- Strata has been eroded

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16
Q

Butte

A

Medium-sized, flat topped hill

- Smaller mesa

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17
Q

Lag deposit

A

Wind in deserts carries away fine sediment so that only coarser materials remain
- Lag deposit is these coarser materials

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18
Q

Dune

A

Pile of sand that is deposited by the wind

Slip face forms the cross-bedding seen in desert sediments

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19
Q

Continental shelf

A

Edge of the continental part of a plate which remains underwater

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20
Q

Continental slope

A

Steep slope at the edge of the shelf

- Goes down to ~4.5 km

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21
Q

Abyssal Plain

A

Vast, almost horizontal plain at the bottom of the ocean

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22
Q

Pelagic sediment

A

Blanket of plankton and clay flakes overlying the basalt of the ocean floor

Gets thicker the further away from a mid-ocean ridge the sediment is, due to increasing age

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23
Q

Coastal zones

A
  • Shoaling Zone
  • Surf Zone
  • Intertidal Zone
  • Backshore Zone

Progress from being composed more of silt and mud to sand

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24
Q

Delta

A

Wedge of sediment formed at a river mouth when the running water of the stream enters standing water
- Current slows, stream loses competence, and sediment settles out

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25
Q

Fjord

A

Deep, glacially carved valley that has been flooded by rising sea level

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26
Q

Turbidite

A

Graded bed of sediment built up at the base of a submarine slope
- Deposited by turbidity currents

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27
Q

Submarine canyon

A

Narrow, deep valley that cuts through the continental shelf/slope

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28
Q

Reef

A

Mound of limestone that was made from coral calcite shells
- Surface of the mound is living coral

Protect the coast from erosion by absorbing wave energy

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29
Q

Continental drift

A

Idea that continents have moved in the past and are still moving slowly across earth’s surface

Continents used to match up, evidenced by matching coastlines, matching rock deposits, and matching fossil taxa across continents

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30
Q

Lithospheric plate

A

Consists of continental and/or oceanic crust as well as the uppermost part of the mantle and moves as a coherent unit

  • Floats on asthenosphere
  • 20 pieces, involved in plate tectonics
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31
Q

Divergent plate boundary

A

New crust is being formed at a mid-ocean ridge or continental rift

Characteristics: mid-ocean ridge (duh), volcanoes, hot spot tracks

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32
Q

Mid-ocean Ridge

A

2km-high submarine mountain belt that forms along a divergent oceanic plate boundary

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33
Q

Hot spot track

A

Chain of volcanoes (most of which are now dead) transported over a hot spot by the movement of a plate

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34
Q

Hot spot

A

Location at the base of the lithosphere that lies at the top of a mantle plume and has high temperatures that can cause rock melting

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35
Q

Continental rift

A

Linear belt along which continental lithosphere stretches and pulls apart

If completed, a rift will split a continent into two smaller parts that are separated by a divergent boundary

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36
Q

Convergent plate boundary

A

A plate boundary where one plate subducts under another (continental-oceanic, oceanic-oceanic)
- If two continental crusts, they will collide

Characterized by: volcanic arcs, trenches

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37
Q

Volcanic arc

A

Curving chain of active volcanoes formed adjacent to a convergent plate boundary

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38
Q

Trench

A

Deep elongate trough bordering a volcanic arc

- Defines the trace of a convergent plate boundary

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39
Q

Transform plate boundary

A

Boundary at which one plat slips laterally past another

  • Connects two other boundaries, usually MORs
  • Point in direction of Euler pole
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40
Q

Sea-floor bathymetry

A

Recording the variation in depth of the ocean floor and recording this, pointing out the location of MORs

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41
Q

Apparent polar-wander path

A

Path on the globe along which a magnetic pole appears to have wandered over time

Since they do not match up between continents, it appears that the continents themselves have moved, and NOT the magnetic pole

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42
Q

Sea-floor spreading

A

The gradual widening of an ocean basin as new oceanic crust forms at a mid-ocean ridge axis and then moves away from the axis

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43
Q

Euler pole

A

AKA pole of rotation

Axis around which plates move (?)
- Location can be determined by the directions of transform faults and hot spot tracks

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44
Q

Triple junction

A

A point at which three plate boundaries intersect

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45
Q

Felsic

A
  • Increased silica
  • More sodium and potassium
  • Reduced magnesium and iron
  • Reduced density
  • Reduced melting temperature
  • Reduced melting temperature
  • Increased viscosity (sticky)

Occurs in batholiths, subduction zones, composite volcanoes

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46
Q

Mafic

A
  • Reduced silica
  • More calcium
  • Increased magnesium and iron
  • Increased density
  • Increased melting temperature
  • Decreased viscosity (runny)

Occurs in hot spots, mid-ocean ridges, and shield volcanoes

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47
Q

Classification of igneous rocks

A

Mineral content, texture, intrusive vs extrusive

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48
Q

Igneous rock texture

A

Determined by the rate of cooling and depth of formation

  • Fine grained = extrusive
  • Coarse grained = intrusive
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49
Q

Batholith

A

Vast composite, intrusive igneous rock up to several hundred km long and 100km wide

Formed by the intrusion of numerous plutons in the same region
- Felsic

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50
Q

Composite volcano

A

AKA stratovolcano

Large, cone-shaped subaerial volcano composed of alternating layers of lava and tephra

  • Felsic magma
  • Tend to be explosive, ashy, and therefore dangerous
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51
Q

Shield volcano

A

Subaerial volcano with a broad, gentle dome

  • Formed from either low-viscosity basaltic lava or large pyroclastic sheets
  • Mafic magma
  • Runny lava flows, less dangerous than composite volcanoes
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52
Q

Phase diagram

A

Shows the temperature/pressure needed for a material to move from liquid to solid state
- With more pressure, higher temperatures are needed for melting

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53
Q

Decompression melting

A

Hot mantle rock rises to shallower depths in the earth; pressure decreases and temperature stays the same
- Occurs at divergent boundaries

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54
Q

Heat-transfer melting

A

Transfer of heating from a hotter magma to a cooler rock causes the rock to melt
- Occurs at hot spots and other hot mantle upwellings

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55
Q

Volatile melting

A
Volatile chemicals (water, CO2) mix with hot mantle rock, causing the rock to melt
- Occurs in subduction zones as water moves into a trench
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56
Q

Cinder cone

A

Subaerial volcano that consists of cone-shaped pile of tephra whose slope approaches the angle of repose for tephra

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57
Q

Tephra

A

Unconsolidated accumulations of debris that was erupted out of a volcano

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58
Q

Craton

A

Long-lived block of durable continental crust commonly found in the stable interior of a continent

59
Q

Caldera

A

Large, circular depression with steep walls and a fairly flat floor
- Formed after an eruption, as the centre of the volcano collapses into the magma chamber below

60
Q

Metamorphism

A

Process by which one kind of rock transforms into a different kind of rock
- Rock acquires new minerals and textures without melting it

61
Q

Causes of Metamorphism

A

Stress
- Pressure, stress, folding
Heat
Chemically active fluids

62
Q

Features of Metamorphic Rock

A
  1. New mineral assemblages

2. Changes in texture

63
Q

New mineral assemblages in metamorphic rock

A
  • Solid-state diffusion
  • Mineral rearrangement
  • Often loss of water/CO2
  • Index minerals appear as porphyroblasts
64
Q

Solid-state diffusion

A

The slow movement of atoms/ions through a solid

65
Q

Index mineral

A

Minerals that are a good indicator of metamorphic grade

66
Q

Porphyroblasts

A

Large mineral crystal in a metamorphic rock, grown within a finer-grained groundmass

67
Q

Changes in texture in metamorphic rocks

A
  • Recrystallization

- Formation of foliations

68
Q

Recrystallization

A

The process in which ions/atoms in minerals rearrange to form new minerals

69
Q

Foliations

A

Layerin formed as a consequence of the alignment of mineral grains, or of compositional banding in a metamorphic rock

70
Q

Preferred mineral orientation

A

Metamorphic texture when platy grains lie parallel to each other, or elongate grains align in the same direction
- E.g. mica in schist

71
Q

Compositional banding

A

Type of metamorphic foliation that is defined as alternating bands of light and dark minerals
- Found in gneiss

72
Q

Metamorphic grade

A

Indicates intensity of metamorphism
- Amount or degree of metamorphic change
Relies primarily on temperature

E.g. grades of metamorphic shale:

  • slate (silky)
  • phyllite (shiny)
  • schist (large mica)
  • gneiss (compositional bands)
73
Q

Metamorphic facies

A

A set of metamorphic mineral assemblages indicative of metamorphism under a specific range of pressure-temperature conditions
- More specific than grade

74
Q

Regional metamorphism

A

AKA dynamothermal metamorphism

Metamorphism of a broad region, usually the result of deep burial during orogeny, also during collision of two continents in convergent plate boundaries

75
Q

Contact metamorphism

A

AKA thermal metamorphism

Metamorphism caused by heat conducted into country rock from an igneous intrusion
- Relatively localized

76
Q

Hydrothermal metamorphism

A

Heated seawater dissolves soluble minerals from basalt and gabbro, changing them from dry to hydrous
- Mostly occurs at divergent plate boundaries

77
Q

Shock metamorphism

A

Occurs at meteor impact sites

- Sudden heat and pressure

78
Q

Pyrometamorphism

A

Occurs at lightning strikes and in burning underground coal seams
- High temperature, low pressure

79
Q

Deformation

A

Three types:

  • Translocation
  • Rotation
  • Strain
80
Q

Translocation

A

Change in location

81
Q

Rotation

A

Change in orientation

82
Q

Strain

A

The change in shape of an object in response to stress

83
Q

Stress vs. strain

A

Stress is the action, strain is the response

84
Q

Kinds of stress

A
  • Pressure
  • Compression
  • Tension
  • Shear
85
Q

Kinds of strain

A
  • Dilation
  • Contraction
  • Stretching
  • Shear
86
Q

Brittle deformation of rocks

A

Cracking and fracturing of a material subjected to stress

A. Fractures
B. Faults

87
Q

Fractures

A

Loss of discontinuity across a surface
- Determined by orientation of stress and pre-existing planes of weakness

a. joints
b. shear fractures
c. veins

88
Q

Joint

A

Naturally formed crack in a rock

  • No shear displacement
  • Often in oriented sets
89
Q

Shear fractures

A

Two planes of fracture, with the two on the edges move in opposite direction form the one in the middle

90
Q

Veins

A

Fracture filled with minerals

91
Q

Faults

A

Fracture upon which one body of rock slides past another

Types:

  • Normal
  • Reverse
  • Strike-slip
  • Oblique
92
Q

Footwall

A

The side of a fault that is beneath the angle

- i.e. the one you would be standing on if you tunneled through the fault

93
Q

Hanging wall

A

The side of the fault that hangs over the other side

- i.e. the one that would be over your head if you tunneled through the fault

94
Q

Fault scarp

A

Small step on the ground where one side of a fault has moved vertically with respect to the other

95
Q

Slickenside

A

Polished surface of a fault caused by slip on the fault

- Lineated ones also have grooves that indicate the direction of fault movement

96
Q

Fault breccia

A

Type of breccia that formed from faulting in a rock

97
Q

Normal fault

A

Fault in which the hanging wall block moves down the slope of the fault

Accommodate extension and crustal thinning
Form horsts & grabens

98
Q

Reverse fault

A

Steeply dipping wall in which the hanging wall block slides up the slope

Accommodate tectonic shortening and crustal thickening due to collisional events
- Can be “thin-skinned” (basement rock) or “thick-skinned” (sedimentary cover)

99
Q

Strike-slip fault

A

A fault in which one block slides horizontally past another (parallel to the strike line)

  • No relative vertical motion
  • At transform faults

Dextral: faulting pieces move to the right of each other
Sinistral: faulting pieces move to the left of each other

100
Q

Oblique fault

A

Fault in which sliding occurs diagonally along the fault plane

101
Q

Thrust fault

A

Shallowly dipping wall in which the hanging block slides up the slope

102
Q

Horst

A

High block between two grabens

- Normal fault

103
Q

Graben

A

Down-dropped crustal block bounded on either side by a normal fault dipping toward the basin

104
Q

Half-graben

A

Wedge-shaped basin in cross-section that develops as the hanging-wall block above a normal fault slides down and rotates

Between fault surface and rotated surface of block

105
Q

Listric fault

A

Normal fault in which the fault plane is curved

- Dip becomes shallower with increasing depth

106
Q

Decollement

A

AKA Basal detachment

Gliding plane between two rock masses
- Generally, above this is faults

107
Q

Overthrust

A

Thrust fault with exceptionally low angle and large displacement
- 10s to 100s of kilometeres

108
Q

Klippe

A

Remnant portion of overthrust material that is no longer connected to the larger body

109
Q

Window

A

When erosion exposes some of the rock underlying an overthrust

110
Q

Ductile deformation

A

Deformation of rock with no breaks, just remodelling/changing shape
- Folding

111
Q

Competence

A

Degree of resistance in a rock to erosion and deformation

- More competent rocks tend to buckle rather than respond plastically to stress

112
Q

Limb

A

Side of a fold that shows less curvature than the hinge

113
Q

Hinge line

A

Portion of a fold where curvature is greatest

114
Q

Inflection point

A

Point in the limb of a fold where the concavity reverses

115
Q

Axial surface

A

Imaginary surface that encompasses the hinges of successive layers of a fold

116
Q

Anticline

A

Fold with an arch-like shape in which the limbs dip away from the hinge

117
Q

Syncline

A

Through-shaped fold whose limbs dip toward the hinge

118
Q

Classification of Folds

A

Based on fold orientation and fold shape

  • Shape based on interlimb angle
  • Orientation based on angle of hinge line/axial plane
119
Q

Secondary enrichment

A

New ore deposit forms from metals that were dissolved and carried away from preexisting ore minerals

120
Q

Residual deposits

A

Soils in which the residuum left after leaching by rainwater is so concentrated in metals that the soil itself becomes an ore deposit

121
Q

Natural oil/gas deposits

A

Source is dead algae and plankton

  • Generated in black shale
  • Hotter for gas

Hydrocarbon moves into reservoir rock and gets trapped
- Trapped by intrusions, faults, unconformities

122
Q

Tar sands

A

Sandstone reservoir rock in which less viscous oil and gas molecules have either escaped or been eaten by microbes, so that only tar remains

123
Q

Oil shales

A

Shale containing kerogen (which becomes oil at higher temperatures)

124
Q

Coal

A

Formed from swamps in which oxygen-poor waters allow thick piles of woody debris to accumulate and become coal upon deep burial (4-10km)

Swamp –> peat –> lignite –> anthracite

125
Q

Placer deposit

A

Concentration of metal/gemstone grains in stream sediment that develop when rock containing native metals erode and create a mixture of sand grains and metal/gemstone fragments
- Moving water of stream carries away lighter fragments

126
Q

Igneous crystallization

A

Within a magma chamber, there is density segregation of materials - heavy ores settle down to the bottom and produce rich deposits

127
Q

Pegmatite

A

Igneous rock that is coarse-grained and can contain large crystals (tens of centimetres across)
- Occur in dike-shaped intrusions

128
Q

Kimberlite

A

Unusual magma that is deep-rooted, shoots through the lithosphere and forms a cone

Brings high-quality diamonds from deep within the earth to the surface quick enough that they are not destroyed

129
Q

Black smokers

A

Sulfide-rich hot water vents at mid-ocean ridges

- Dissolved components immediately precipitate out when they mix with cold seawater, and settle, forming a rich deposit

130
Q

Hydrothermal deposit

A

Accumulation of ore minerals precipitated from hot-water solutions moving through magma/intrusions/veins

131
Q

Mine cycle

A
  1. Exploration
  2. Approval (for mining)
  3. Operation
  4. Reclamation
132
Q

Strip mining

A

Scraping off of all soil and sedimentary rock above a coal seam in order to gain access to it

133
Q

Open pit mining

A

Extracts rock from the earth by removal from an open hole in the ground

134
Q

Underground mining

A

Mining that occurs in a tunnel built under the ground

135
Q

Stakeholders in mining operations

A
  • Company
  • Communities
  • Government
  • Aboriginal peoples
136
Q

Benefits to Mining in Canada

A

In 2009, $32 billion was added to the GDP from mining

  • 306,000 workers
  • $5.5 billion in taxes and royalties

Over 3,200 companies provide input to the industry

137
Q

Problems with mining in Canada

A

Environmental

  • pollution
  • damage to ecosystems and wildlife

Social
- alienation of aboriginal rights

138
Q

Prosperity Mine

A

125km SW of Williams Lake in BC
Over 75,000 tonnes mined per year for 20 years
1.5km open pit with onsite mill, tailings, waste rock areas
125km power transmission corridor
3km gravel road

139
Q

Geologic Units of Ontario

A

From bottom:

  1. Archean/Proterozoic
  2. Paleozoic
  3. Glacial
    (4. Anthropogenic features)

Major unconformities exist between each of these

140
Q

Archean Ontario

A

Superior province thought to have originated from collisions of island arcs

  • Granite-greenstone with sediments (possible accretionary prisms) in between
  • ~100km wide E-W trending belts

Kapuskasing structural zone shows cross-section through the lower crust

141
Q

Proterozoic Ontario

A

Southern Province (2.5-2.2 Ga)

  • 12 km thick sedimentary rocks
  • Huronian supergroup experiences rifting and climate fluctuation
  • Elliot Lake group has conglomerates with unraninite and gold (placer??)
  • Gowconda Formation shows evidence of glaciation

Mountain belts weld Archean provinces together

  • Formation of supercontinent Nena
  • Folds Huronian supergroup

Sudbury Impact (1.8 Ga)

  • 10km meteor, 250km crater
  • Melted crust, which then froze and became very metal-rich
  • Originally thought to be volcanic structure
  • Now mined

Grenville orogeny (1.3 Ga)

  • Formed supercontinent Rodinia
  • High-grade metamorphism, ductile deformation

Midcontinental Rift (1.1 Ga)

  • 2,000km long and 20km thick
  • Flood basalts with copper deposits
  • Possible failed triple junction

Grenville mountains completely eroded by 800 Ma

142
Q

Paleozoic Ontario

A

The “Great Unconformity”
- Around 500 years missing

Ordovician

  • Clastic Sediments
  • First pulse of Appalachian orogeny

Silurian

  • Sea level rises
  • Shallow sea with reef carbonates

Devonian

  • Second pulse of Appalachian orogeny, bulges up Algonquin arch
  • Evaporites in shallow, warm inland seas
  • Ontario near equator
143
Q

Neogene Ontario

A

Ice Ages

  • Four major ice sheets with interglacial periods in between
  • Last interglacial exposed in Don Valley Brickworks

Oak Ridges Moraine

  • Formed from two ice sheet lobes merging
  • Now an essential aquifer

Formation of Niagara gorge
- Change in drainage pattern