Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Stable Isotopes And Xrd Investigation Of Gold Mineralization At The Syenite-Hosted Young-Davidson Deposit, Matachewan, Ontario, Niloufar Naderi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Young-Davidson mine is a syenite-hosted orogenic gold deposit at the western end of the Cadillac-Larder-Lake deformation zone in the southern Abitibi greenstone belt, Canada. This study utilized oxygen isotopes to assess the sources of the fluids and evaluate the role of magmatic and metamorphic fluids in gold mineralization. XRD analyses completed on whole-rock powder samples combined with petrography provides a better understanding of the distribution, timing, and nature of alteration patterns and their relationship to gold mineralization.

Temperatures calculated from mineral separates oxygen isotope thermometry indicate the fluids ranged from approximately 322 ± 25° to 431 ± 30°C. The …

Crystal Structure And Al/Si Cation Ordering In "Fassaite": A Combined Single Crystal, 27al And 29si Nmr Study, Monika M. Haring

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Al-,Ti-rich diopside, referred to herein as fassaite, occurs in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. The composition of fassaite, Ca(Mg,Al)(Si,Al)₂O₆, makes it ideal for Al/Si cation ordering studies. In this study, crystal XRD, ²⁷Al and 29Si MAS NMR as well as ²⁷Al 3QMAS NMR is used to study cation ordering in extraterrestrial fassaite from Allende CAIs and a terrestrial analogue from Fassa Valley Italy. From ²⁷Al and ²⁹Si spectroscopy, fassaite from Allende CAIs is found to have more local Al/Si cation ordering than terrestrial Fassaite. Both terrestrial and extraterrestrial have C2/c …

Arctic Cold Spring Mineralogy As An Indicator Of Spring Deposits, Water, And Habitable Environments On Mars, Melissa M. Battler

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Springs exist in many terrestrial settings and have supported microbial communities throughout Earth’s history. There is mounting evidence for spring deposits on Mars from Noachian age to present, implying that water may be circulating in Mars’ subsurface despite current cold, arid conditions. Current datasets for most of Mars are limited to mineralogy via orbital spectroscopy and geomorphology from visual imagery and laser altimetry. Much is known about terrestrial spring morphology, but few springs exist in Mars analogue settings, and of those, few have been investigated for mineralogy. This study reports on two sets of cold spring sites in the Canadian …

Topographic Influences On Trends And Cycles In Nutrient Export From Forested Catchments On The Precambrian Shield, Samson G. Mengistu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation explored topographic controls on spatial and temporal patterns in water yield and nutrient (carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus) export from forested headwater catchments in the Turkey Lakes Watershed in central Ontario, where other factors contributing to differences in water yield and nutrient export, including climate, geology, forest, and soils, are relatively constant. Topographic characteristics, including (a) hydrological flushing potential (expansion of water table into nitrate-N producing areas); (b) hydrological storage potential (area of wetlands, which can alternatively allow water and nutrients to bypass wetlands when storage capacity is filled with water or to trap them when not filled); and …

Evaluation Of Jarosite As A Biosignature: A Comparison Of Biogenic And Synthetic Jarosites, Liane Loiselle

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The detection of jarosite (K)Fe₃(SO₄)₂OH₆ on Mars has been interpreted as mineralogical evidence of acid-sulfate aqueous processes, including putative evidence of biological activity. Terrestrial habitats where acidic conditions occur are environments where microbiota thrive and generate biological signatures. A biotic and synthetic jarosite were produced to evaluate the ability and effectiveness of existing analytical methods to identify biosignatures in targeted geological materials. Using a comprehensive suite of microscopic (light microscopy, SEM and TEM), mineralogical (XRD), spectroscopic (IR, LIBS, Mössbauer, UV-Vis-NIR, and Raman) and mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) techniques, the two jarosites were found to …

Evolution Of The Late Ordovician Plaesiomyid Brachiopod Lineage In Laurentia, Colin D. Sproat

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

During the Late Ordovician, a transgression flooded much of Laurentia. The fauna of these intracratonic basins became differentiated from the fauna of the pericratonic shelves and platforms, typically displaying gigantism and coarser shell ornamentation. In this study, 509 specimens from 11 species of the Plaesiomyidae brachiopod family from the Katian and Hirnantian were measured, of which 198 included in principal component analysis to quantify morphological changes over this interval. Three trends were revealed: 1) increasing globosity and dorsal convexity from the early to late Katian, 2) coarser, but fewer ribs on species from the paleoequatorial intracratonic seas compared to species …

Stratigraphy And Sedimentology Of The Late Cretaceous (Coniacian) Muskiki And Marshybank Members, Southern Alberta And Northwestern Montana, Meriem Grifi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A high-resolution allostratigraphic study of the Coniacian Muskiki and Marshybank members of the Wapiabi Formation in southern Alberta revealed a southwest thickening wedge of mudstone-dominated strata that was deposited on a shallow storm-dominated shelf. Well-log correlations and biostratigraphy show that the Muskiki Member forms the bulk of the succession; the Marshybank Member is thin or absent in the subsurface. The lower and middle units of the Muskiki Member display regional subsidence patterns consistent with thrust sheet loading in the Cordillera. The upper unit comprises a linear trough filled by southeastward-accreting clinothems. The northeast boundary of the clinoform package corresponds with …

Investigation Of Hydrothermal Alteration Processes In The Troodos Ophiolite And The Abitibi Greenstone Belt, Tamara P. Sredojevic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Hydrothermal alteration is an important and ubiquitous process between rocks in the Earth’s crust and seawater. To gain more understanding of such processes, two localities are investigated here: the Troodos Ophiolite Complex of Cyprus and the syenitic rocks associated with gold mineralization at the Upper Canada property, Kirkland Lake, Ontario. This thesis reports unique effects of hydrothermal activity. The Troodos Ophiolite samples consist of sheeted diabase dykes, gabbroic and ultramafic rocks in the CY-4 drill hole. The oxygen isotopic signature of these rocks indicates that alteration temperatures increased downhole and channeling of low-temperature fluids occurs at the dyke – gabbro …

Planetary Materials Science And Astrobiology, Matthew R. M. Izawa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Planetary materials contain signatures of diverse processes in their mineralogy, chemistry, textures and assemblages. The record contained in planetary materials reflects the complex and commonly overprinting relationships between many processes. Discerning what mechanisms have operated to produce the rocks we observe requires first a careful characterization of various properties. These include the chemical and structural makeup of the rocks (that is, the mineralogy and mineral chemistry), the textural relations within and between rocks (petrology) Therefore, the key to how the studies here hold together is also in the methodology and guiding philosophy: understanding what is there (what atoms and how …

Architecture And Stratigraphy Of The Lower Silurian Guelph Formation, Lockport Group, Southern Ontario And Michigan, Candace Brintnell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Lower Silurian Lockport Group in Ontario and Michigan comprises, in ascending order: Gasport, Goat Island, Eramosa, and Guelph formations. Guelph facies architecture reveals deposition on an underlying carbonate ramp of Eramosa and/or Goat Island carbonates that dipped towards the Appalachian Basin. Temporally, Guelph facies reflect initial open marine transgressive phases that become increasingly restricted marine and karstic upward. Spatially, the facies display the most restricted marine and karstic fabrics in the central portion of the ‘Michigan Basin’ and are most open marine to the east. Newly acquired regional data supports the re-interpretation of the classic Guelph-pinnacle reef models as …

Deep Crustal Evolution Of The Western Churchill Province, Nunavut, Canada: Isotopic (U-Pb, O), Trace Element And Micro-Structural Analysis Of Zircon From Lower Crustal Xenoliths, Duane C. Petts

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Zircon from lower crustal xenoliths can preserve unique crustal formation records of unexplored levels of the lithosphere. The first such records for the western Churchill province (Nunavut, Canada) are presented here. Zircon SIMS U-Pb geochronology and oxygen isotope analysis were conducted on kimberlite-hosted granulite-facies xenoliths: four metabasites (#9864; #9865; #9866; #9870) from the Rankin Inlet region, and five metabasites (#10162; #10163; #10167; #10169; #10179) and three metatonalite/anorthosites (#10158; #10164; #10168) from the Repulse Bay region. For the Rankin Inlet suite, oscillatory planar zoned, igneous cores from metabolite xenolith #9865 record dates between ca. 2.9–2.6 Ga, whereas complex to radial-sector zoned …

Sedimentology And Allostratigraphy Of The Cardium Formation (Turonian-Coniacian) In Southern Alberta, And Equivalent Strata In Northern Montana, Joel Shank

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Turonian-Coniacian Cardium Formation of southern Alberta consists of marine sandstone and mudstone, deposited in a foreland basin over ~2.3 m.y. The formation thins from 150 m in the western foredeep to 50 m 350 km to the east. Correlation of 10 regional flooding surfaces in >1200 well logs and 25 outcrops provides an allostratigraphic framework. Mapping of two previously-unrecognized erosion surfaces (E5.2 and E5.5) reveals additional complexity within sandstone of the Raven River Member.

Facies successions coarsen upwards from thinly-bedded and bioturbated mudstone, to heterolithic facies (either bioturbated or bedded), to clean sandstone. Where conglomerate unconformably overlies this succession, …

Metallogenic Setting Of High-Grade Iron Ores, Mary River District, North Baffin Island, Nunavut, Meghan E. Macleod

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Supracrustals of the 2.76-2.71 Ga Mary River Group form the northeastern segment of the Committee Bay Belt. Field mapping has determined that this succession is preserved in structural keels marginal to high-grade gneiss domes and is characterized by lower metasedimentary rocks and an upper BIF-komatiite-quartzite succession. Algoma-type BIF sited at the dome/keel boundary is host to bodies of high-grade iron ore, the largest being Deposit 1 which has an estimated reserve of 500 mt averaging 64 wt % Fe.

Field mapping, petrography, and EMPA indicates 3 main stages of ore formation. Stage 1 was characterized by the formation of the …

An Investigation Of Deformation Structures And Their Tectonic Significance Across The Grenville Front Tectonic Zone In The Vicinity Of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, Changcheng Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Grenville Front Tectonic Zone (GFTZ) is a polyphase deformation belt in the northwest of the Grenville Province which was shaped in the continent-continent-collision-induced Grenvillian Orogeny.

This thesis focuses on the evolution of deformation fabrics in the GFTZ between the Sudbury Basin and French River in Ontario, Canada. Geological mapping using a new digital mapping system was conducted within this segment of the GFTZ, in its northwest vicinity in the Southern Province, and in its southeast vicinity in the Grenville Province. The new digital mapping system includes a personal digital assistant equipped with an internal GPS and a mobile GIS …