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Research ArticleArticles

Stratigraphic context, geochemical, and isotopic properties of magmatism in the Siluro-Devonian inliers of northern Maine: Implications for the Acadian Orogeny

Adam Schoonmaker, William S. F. Kidd, Douglas N. Reusch, Michael J. Dorais, Thomas Gregg and Christopher Spencer
American Journal of Science June 2011, 311 (6) 528-572; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2475/06.2011.03
Adam Schoonmaker
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William S. F. Kidd
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Douglas N. Reusch
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Michael J. Dorais
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Thomas Gregg
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Christopher Spencer
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Abstract

This paper reports detailed stratigraphic analysis, whole rock geochemistry and Nd isotopic ratios of basalts from the northern Maine inliers. These data place constraints on first-order controversies about the tectonic conditions leading up to and during the early stages of the Acadian Orogeny in northern Maine. Late Silurian and early Devonian stratigraphic sequences indicate a progressive change from shallow water and subaerial exposure (Ripogenus and The Forks formations, East Branch Group) to a rapidly subsiding basin prior to the onset of Acadian deformation. Subsidence was accompanied by mafic to intermediate volcanism of the West Branch, Spider Lake, and Fish Pond volcanics, and that continued with intrusion of the syn-deformational Greenville Plutonic Belt, including the Flagstaff Lake Igneous Complex, whose properties we report in this paper. Trace element geochemistry indicates that magmatism is transdiscriminant, showing aspects of within-plate, volcanic arc, and back-arc affinities and Nd isotopic ratios are moderately positive (+2.3 to +3.8) indicating either an uncontaminated and moderately enriched mantle source, or a depleted mantle source contaminated by continental crust.

Four possible tectonic models of the Acadian Orogeny and the Siluro-Devonian sedimentary-volcanic sequences of northern Maine are evaluated in the context of a subsiding basin associated with this magmatism developed on the amalgamated Laurentian plate. These include 1) slab detachment during southeast-directed subduction of the Laurentian continental margin; 2) “Laramide-style” thrust basins above a shallow, northwest-dipping subduction zone; 3) back-arc extension followed by thin-skinned shortening above a northwest-dipping subduction zone; and 4) “Moluccan-style” dual-dipping subduction zones.

  • Acadian orogeny
  • Piscataquis Volcanic Belt
  • Piscataquis arc
  • Acadian magmatism
  • northern Maine
  • trace element geochemistry
  • Nd isotopes
  • Ripogenus
  • Acadian subduction polarity
  • Chesuncook
  • Munsungun
  • Lobster Mountain
  • West Branch
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American Journal of Science
Vol. 311, Issue 6
1 Jun 2011
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Stratigraphic context, geochemical, and isotopic properties of magmatism in the Siluro-Devonian inliers of northern Maine: Implications for the Acadian Orogeny
Adam Schoonmaker, William S. F. Kidd, Douglas N. Reusch, Michael J. Dorais, Thomas Gregg, Christopher Spencer
American Journal of Science Jun 2011, 311 (6) 528-572; DOI: 10.2475/06.2011.03

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Stratigraphic context, geochemical, and isotopic properties of magmatism in the Siluro-Devonian inliers of northern Maine: Implications for the Acadian Orogeny
Adam Schoonmaker, William S. F. Kidd, Douglas N. Reusch, Michael J. Dorais, Thomas Gregg, Christopher Spencer
American Journal of Science Jun 2011, 311 (6) 528-572; DOI: 10.2475/06.2011.03
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • INTRODUCTION
    • GEOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN MAINE INLIERS (PRE-SEBOOMOOK FORMATION)
    • ROCKS OF THE ACADIAN OROGENY
    • PETROGRAPHY
    • GEOCHEMISTRY
    • TECTONIC MODELS
    • CONCLUSIONS
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • APPENDIX 1
    • REFERENCES
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  • Petrogenesis of Siluro-Devonian rhyolites of the Tobique Group in the northwestern Appalachians (northern New Brunswick, Canada): tectonic implications for the accretion history of peri-Gondwanan terranes along the Laurentian margin
  • The age, petrogeneis and tectonic significance of the Frontenac Formation basalts, northern New Hampshire and western Maine
  • Rapid transition from the salinic to Acadian orogenic cycles in the northern Appalachian Orogen: Evidence from northern New Brunswick, Canada
  • Evolution of the Early to Middle Ordovician Popelogan arc in New Brunswick, Canada, and adjacent Maine, USA: Record of arc-trench migration and multiple phases of rifting
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