Ordovician magmatism in the Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia, Canada: a tectonic model
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4138/atlgeo.2025.001Abstract
The Antigonish Highlands form part of Avalonia in mainland Nova Scotia and are predominantly underlain by ca. 620–600 Ma low grade Neoproterozoic arc-related volcanic and sedimentary rocks and coeval plutons. The highlands also preserve a record of magmatism that spans much of the Ordovician (ca. 495–455 Ma), during which time Avalonia drifted from the northern Gondwanan margin and migrated as a microcontinent ca. 2000 km northward before becoming involved in collisions with Baltica and Laurentia in the Silurian to Devonian. The longevity of Ordovician magmatism (ca. 50 Ma) is consistent with a subduction-related environment, a setting that is compatible with most paleogeographic reconstructions. However, the continental tholeiitic-alkalic within-plate affinity of the mafic rocks and the A-type signature of the felsic rocks is more typical of a back-arc setting, rather than that of a typical arc. Furthermore, the A-type felsic rocks were derived from a hotter, drier lower crust than is typical for felsic arc magmas.
Whole-rock Sm-Nd isotopic data for both mafic and felsic compositions lie within previously delineated tightly constrained envelopes that define, respectively, the evolution of the Avalonian and sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM), and crustal sources. These data imply that (i) the crust remained coupled to SCLM from the rifting of Avalonia from Gondwana to its accretion to Baltica in the Silurian and to Laurentia in the Early Devonian, and (ii) the Antigonish Highlands were located far from the subduction zone(s) that closed the Iapetus Ocean as it migrated northward, and so were only mildly affected by the resulting collisions.
References
Anderson, A.J., Wirth, R., and Thomas, R. 2008. The alteration of metamict zircon and its role in the remobilization of high-field-strength elements in the Georgeville Granite, Nova Scotia. The Canadian Mineralogist, 46, pp. 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3749/canmin.46.1.1
Archibald, D.B. 2012. Field relationships, petrography, and tectonic setting of the Ordovician West Barneys River Plutonic Suite, Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia. Unpublished M.Sc. thesis, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, 275 p.
Archibald, D.B., Barr, S.M., Murphy, J.B., White, C.E., MacHattie, T.G., and Escarraga, E.A. 2013. Field relationships, petrology, age, and tectonic setting of the Late Cambrian–Ordovician West Barneys River Plutonic Suite, southern Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 50, pp. 727–745. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2012-0158
Archibald, D.B., Murphy, J.B., and Creaser, R.A., 2024. The genetic relationship between coeval Ediacaran mafic-intermediate and felsic plutons in the Antigonish Highlands, Avalon terrane, Nova Scotia. In Supercontinents, Orogenesis and Magmatism. Edited by R.D. Nance, R.A. Strachan, C. Quesada, and S. Lin. Geological Society of London Special Publication, 542, pp. 701–720. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP542-2023-31
Barr, S.M., White, C.E., and Ketchum, J.W.F. 2012. The Cape Porcupine Complex, northern mainland Nova Scotia – no longer a geological orphan. Atlantic Geology, 48, pp. 70–85. https://doi.org/10.4138/atlgeol.2012.004
Boucot, A.J., Dewey, J.F., Dineley, D.L., Fletcher, R., Fyson, W.K., Griffin, J.G., Hickox, C.F., McKerrow, W.S., and Zeigler, A.M. 1974. Geology of the Arisaig area, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia. Geological Society of America, Special Paper, 139, 191 p. https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE139-p1
Cocks, L.R.M. and Torsvik, T.H. 2002. Earth geography from 500 to 400 million years ago: a faunal and palaeomagnetic review. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 159, pp. 631–644. https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764901-118
Cocks, L.R.M. and Torsvik, T.H. 2021. Ordovician palaeogeography and climate change. Gondwana Research, 100, pp. 53–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.09.008
Collins, W.J., Huang, H-Q., Bowden, P., and Kemp, A.I.S. 2020. Repeated S–I–A-type granite trilogy in the Lachlan Orogen and geochemical contrasts with A-type granites in Nigeria: implications for petrogenesis and tectonic discrimination. In Post-Archean granitic rocks: petrogenetic processes and tectonic environments. Edited by V. Janoušek, B. Bonin, W. J. Collins, F. Farina, and P. Bowden. Geological Society of London Special Publication, 491, pp. 53–76. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP491-2018-159
Collins, W.J., Murphy, J.B., Blereau, E., and Huang, H-Q. 2021. Water availability controls crustal melting temperatures. Lithos, pp. 402–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106351
Condie, K.C., Pisarevsky, S.A. Puetz, S.J., Roberts, N.M.W., and Spencer, C.J. 2023. A-type granites in space and time: Relationship to the supercontinent cycle and mantle events. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 610,118125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118125
Currie, C.A., Wang, K., Hyndman, R.D., and He, J. 2004. The thermal effects of steady-state slab-driven mantle flow above a subducting plate: the Cascadia subduction zone and backarc. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 223, pp. 35–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2004.04.020
DePaolo, D.J. 1981. Trace element and isotopic effects of combined wallrock assimilation and fractional crystallization. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 53, pp. 189–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(81)90153-9
Domeier, M. 2016. A plate tectonic scenario for the Iapetus and Rheic oceans, Gondwana Research, 36, pp. 275–295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2015.08.003
Dunn, S. 2017. Ironstone of the Ferrona Formation, Nova Scotia, and the biogeochemical cycling of Fe and P. Unpublished B.Sc thesis, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, 59 p.
Escarraga, E.A. 2010. Field relationships, petrology, age, and tectonic setting of previously inferred Devonian-Carboniferous granitic plutons in the Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia. Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, Acadia University, 183 p.
Escarraga, E.A., Barr, S.M., Murphy, J.B., and Hamilton, M.A. 2012. Ordovician A-type plutons in the Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 49, pp. 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1139/e11-026
Hamilton, M.A. and Murphy, J.B. 2004. Tectonic significance of a Llanvirn age for the Dunn Point volcanic rocks, Avalon terrane, Nova Scotia: implications for the evolution of Iapetus and Rheic oceans. Tectonophysics, 379, pp. 199–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2003.11.006
Hibbard, J.P., van Staal, C.R., Rankin, D.W., and Williams, H. 2006. Lithotectonic map of the Appalachian orogen, Canada - United States of America. Geological Survey of Canada Map 02096A, 2 sheets, scale 1:1 500 000. https://doi.org/10.4095/221912
Hibbard, J.P., van Staal, C.R., and Miller, B.V. 2007. Links among Carolinia, Avalonia, and Ganderia in the Appalachian peri-Gondwanan realm. In Whence the Mountains? Inquiries into the evolution of orogenic systems: a volume in honor of Raymond A. Price. Edited by J.W. Sears, T.A. Harms, and C.A. Evenchick. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 433, pp. 291–311. https://doi.org/10.1130/2007.2433(14)
Hildebrand, R.S., Whalen, J.B., and Bowring, S.A. 2018. Resolving the crustal composition paradox by 3.8 billion years of slab failure magmatism and collisional recycling of continental crust: Tectonophysics, 734–735, pp. 69–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2018.04.001
Hyndman, R.D., 2015. Tectonic Consequences of a Uniformly Hot Backarc and Why is the Cordilleran Mountain Belt High? Geoscience Canada, 42, pp. 383–402. https://doi.org/10.12789/geocanj.2015.42.078
Hyndman, R.D. 2023. The thermal regime of NW Canada and Alaska, and tectonic and seismicity consequences. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GC010570
Hyndman, R.D. and Canil, D. 2021. Geophysical and geochemical constraints on Neogene‐recent volcanism in the North American Cordillera. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 22, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GC009637
Hyndman, R.D. and Wang, K. 2025. New constraints to subduction zone arc and backarc mantle temperatures: a test of the corner flow model. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2024-0020
Hyndman, R.D., Currie, C.A., and Mazzotti, S.P. 2005. Subduction zone backarcs, mobile belts, and orogenic heat. GSA today, 15, pp. 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1130/1052-5173(2005)015<4:SZBMBA>2.0.CO;2
Johnson, R.J.E. and Van der Voo, R. 1990. Pre-folding magnetization reconfirmed for the Late Ordovician – Early Silurian Dunn Point volcanics, Nova Scotia. Tectonophysics, 178, pp. 193–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/0040-1951(90)90146-Y
Jutras, P., Murphy, J.B., Quick, D., and Dostal, J. 2020. Transition from steep to shallow subduction beneath West Avalonia in Middle to Late Ordovician times. Lithosphere, 8837633 https://doi.org/10.2113/2020/8837633
Keppie, J.D. 1985. The Appalachian College. In The Caledonide Orogen, Scandinavia, and related areas. Edited by D.G. Gee and B. Sturt. John Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 1217–1226.
Keppie, J.D. and Murphy, J.B. 1988. Anatomy of a telescoped pull-apart basin: The stratigraphy and structure of Cambrian-lower Ordovician rocks of the Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia. Maritime Sediments and Atlantic Geology, 24, pp. 123-138. https://doi.org/10.4138/1645
Landing, E. and Murphy, J.B. 1991. Uppermost Precambrian(?)-Lower Cambrian of mainland Nova Scotia: Faunas, depositional environments, and stratigraphic revision. Journal of Paleontology, 65, pp. 382–396. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022336000030365
Landing, E., Nowlan, G.S., and Fletcher, T.P. 1980. A microfauna associated with Early Cambrian trilobites of the Callavia Zone, northern Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 17, pp. 400–418. https://doi.org/10.1139/e80-038
Leat, P.T. and Thorpe, R.S. 1986. Ordovician volcanism in the Welsh Borderland. Geological Magazine, 123, pp. 629–640. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756800024146
LeBlanc, M.T. 2023. Zircon petrochronology and the enrichment of critical elements in igneous rocks: a study of the West Barneys River Plutonic Suite. Unpublished B.Sc. thesis, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia 42 p.
Maniar, P.D. and Piccoli, P.M. 1989. Tectonic discrimination of granitoids. Geological society of America Bulletin, 101, pp. 635–643. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1989)101<0635:TDOG>2.3.CO;2
Matheson, E.J., Pufahl, P.K., Voinot, A., Murphy, J.B., and Fitzgerald, D.M. 2022. The ironstone record of protracted Paleozoic ocean oxygenation and transient deep-ocean anoxia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 574, 117715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117715
McConnell, B.J., Stillman, C.J., and Hertogen, J. 1991. An Ordovician basalt to peralkaline rhyolite fractionation series from Avoca, Ireland. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 148, pp. 711–718. https://doi.org/10.1144/gsjgs.148.4.0711
McConnell, B.J., Menuge, J.F., and Hertogen, J. 2002. Andesite petrogenesis in the Ordovician Borrowdale Volcanic Group of the English Lake District by fractionation, assimilation and mixing. Journal of the Geological Society, 159, pp. 417–424. https://doi.org/10.1144/0016-764901-114
McConnell, B.J., Riggs, N., and Fritschle, T. 2021. Tectonic history across the Iapetus suture in Ireland. In Pannotia to Pangaea: Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic Orogenic Cycles in the Circum-Atlantic Region. Edited by J.B. Murphy, R.A. Strachan, and C. Quesada, C. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 503, pp. 333–345. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP503-2019-233
Murphy, J.B. and Dostal, J., 2007. Continental mafic magmatism of different ages in the same terrane: constraints on the evolution of an enriched mantle source. Geology, 35, pp. 335–338. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23072A.1
Murphy, J.B., Cameron, K., Dostal, J., Keppie, J. D., and Hynes, A. J. 1985. Cambrian volcanism in Nova Scotia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 22, pp. 599–606. https://doi.org/10.1139/e85-059
Murphy, J.B., Keppie, J.D., Dostal, J., and Hynes, A.J. 1990. Late Precambrian Georgeville Group; a volcanic arc-rift succession in the Avalon terrane of Nova Scotia. In The Cadomian Orogeny. Edited by R.D. D’Lemos, R.A. Strachan, and C.G. Topley. Geological Society Special Publication, 51, pp. 383–393. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1990.051.01.25
Murphy, J.B., Keppie, J.D., and Hynes, A.J. 1991. The geology of the Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 89-10, 114 p. https://doi.org/10.4095/132458
Murphy, J.B., Keppie, J.D., Dostal, J., Waldron, J.W.F., and Cude, M-P. 1996a. Geochemical and isotopic constraints on the accretion of the Avalonia in the Appalachian-Caledonide orogen: evidence from Early Silurian clastic sequences in Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 33, pp. 379–388. https://doi.org/10.1139/e96-028
Murphy, J.B., Keppie, J.D., Dostal, J., and Cousens, B.L. 1996b. Repeated late Neoproterozoic–Silurian lower crustal melting beneath the Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia: Nd isotopic evidence and tectonic interpretations. In Avalonian and related peri-Gondwanan terranes of the circum–North Atlantic. Edited by R.D. Nance and M.D. Thompson. Geological Society of America Special Paper 304, pp. 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2304-3.109
Murphy, J.B., Keppie, J.D., Davis, D., and Krogh, T.E. 1997. Regional significance of new U-Pb age data for Neoproterozoic igneous units in Avalonian rocks of northern mainland Nova Scotia. Geological Magazine, 134, pp. 113–120. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016756897006596
Murphy, J.B., Anderson, A.J., and Archibald, D.A. 1998. Post-orogenic alkali feldspar granite and associated pegmatites in West Avalonia: the petrology of the Neoproterozoic Georgeville Pluton, Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 35, pp. 110–120. https://doi.org/10.1139/e97-099
Murphy, J.B., Fernández-Suárez, J., Jeffries, T.E., and Strachan, R.A. 2004. Lower Devonian Arisaig Group clastic rocks, Avalon terrane, Nova Scotia: A record of terrane accretion in the Appalachian-Caledonide orogeny. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 116, pp. 1183–1201. https://doi.org/10.1130/B25423.1
Murphy, J.B., Dostal, J., and Keppie, J.D. 2008. Neoproterozoic-Early Devonian magmatism in the Antigonish Highlands, Avalon terrane, Nova Scotia: tracking the evolution of the mantle and crustal sources during the evolution of the Rheic Ocean. Tectonophysics, 461, pp. 181–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2008.02.003
Murphy, J.B., Hamilton, M.A., and LeBlanc, B. 2012. Tectonic significance of the late Ordovician silicic magmatism, Avalon terrane, northern Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 49, pp. 346–358. https://doi.org/10.1139/e11-012
Murphy, J.B., Shellnutt, J.G., and Collins, W.J. 2018. Late Neoproterozoic to Carboniferous genesis of A-type magmas in Avalonia of northern Nova Scotia: repeated partial melting of anhydrous lower crust in contrasting tectonic environments. International Journal of Earth Sciences, 107, pp. 587–599. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-017-1512-7
Murphy, J.B., Nance, R.D., Keppie, J.D., and Dostal, J. 2019. Avalonia and its role in tectonic paradigms. In Fifty Years of the Wilson Cycle Concept in Plate Tectonics. Edited by R.W. Wilson, G.A. Houseman, K.J.W. McCaffrey, A.G. Doré, and S.J.H. Buiter. Geological Society London Special Publication, 470, pp. 265–287. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP470-2019-58
Pearce, J.A. 1982. Trace element characteristics of lavas from destructive plate boundaries. In Andesites. Edited by R.S. Thorpe. John Wiley & Sons, pp. 525–548.
Pearce, J.A. 1996. A users guide to basalt discrimination diagrams. In Trace element geochemistry of volcanic rocks: Applications for massive sulphide exploration. Edited by D.A. Wyman. Geological Association of Canada Short Course Notes 12. pp. 79–113.
Pearce, J.A. and Cann, J.R. 1973. Tectonic setting of basic volcanic rocks determined using trace element analyses. Earth and planetary science letters, 19, pp. 290–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(73)90129-5
Pearce, J.A. and Gale, G.H. 1977. Identification of ore-deposition environment from trace-element geochemistry of associated igneous host rocks. In Volcanic processes in ore genesis. Edited by I. G. Gass. Geological Society London Special Publications, 7, pp. 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1977.007.01.03
Pearce, J.A. and Norry, M.J. 1979. Petrogenetic implications of Ti, Zr, Y, and Nb variations in volcanic rocks. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 69, pp. 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00375192
Pe-Piper, G. and Piper, D.J.W., 1989. The upper Hadrynian Jeffers Group, Cobequid Highlands, Avalon zone of Nova Scotia: A back-arc volcanic complex. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 101, pp. 364–376. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1989)101<0364:TUHJGC>2.3.CO;2
Scotese, C.R. 2023. Ordovician plate tectonic and palaeogeographical maps. In A Global Synthesis of the Ordovician System: Part 1. Edited by D.A.T. Harper, B. Lefebvre, I.G. Percival, and T. Servais. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 532, pp. 91–110. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP532-2022-311
Stampfli, G.M. and Borel, G.D. 2002. A plate tectonic model for the Paleozoic and Mesozoic constrained by dynamic plate boundaries and restored synthetic oceanic isochrons. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 196, pp. 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012-821X(01)00588-X
Stillman, C. 2008. Lambay, an ancient volcanic island in Ireland. Geology Today, 10, pp. 62–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2451.1994.tb00869.x
Tatsumi, Y. and Kogiso, T. 2003, The subduction factory: Its role in the evolution of the Earth’s crust and mantle. In Intra-oceanic subduction systems: tectonic and magmatic processes. Edited by R.D. Larter and P.T. Leat. Geological Society London Special Publication, 219, pp. 55–80. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.2003.219.01.03
Todd, S.E., Pufahl, P.K., Murphy, J.B., and Taylor, K.G. 2019. Sedimentology and oceanography of Early Ordovician ironstone, Bell Island, Newfoundland: ferruginous seawater and upwelling in the Rheic Ocean. Sedimentary Geology, 379, pp. 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2018.10.007
Torsvik, T.H. and Rehnström, E.F. 2003. The Tornquist Sea and Baltica–Avalonia docking. Tectonophysics, 362, pp. 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0040-1951(02)00631-5
van Staal, C.R. and Barr, S.M. 2012. Lithospheric archi¬tecture and tectonic evolution of the Canadian Appalachians and associated Atlantic margin. In Tectonic Styles in Canada Revisited: The LITHOPROBE Perspective. Edited by J.A. Percival, F.A. Cook, and R.M. Clowes. Geological Association of Canada Special Paper, 49, pp. 41–95.
van Staal, C.R., Dewey, J.F., MacNiocaill, C., and McKerrow, W.S. 1998. The Cambrian–Silurian tectonic evolution of the Northern Appalachians and British Caledonides: history of a complex, west and southwest Pacific-type segment of Iapetus. In Lyell: the past is the key to the present. Edited by D. Blundell and A.C. Scott. Geological Society of London Special Publication, 143, pp. 199–242. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1998.143.01.17
van Staal, C.R., Whalen, J.B., Valverde-Vaquero, P., Zagorevski, A., and Rogers, N. 2009. Pre-Carboniferous, episodic accretion-related, orogenesis along the Laurentian margin of the northern Appalachians. In Ancient orogens and modern analogues. Edited by J.B. Murphy, J.D. Keppie, and A.J. Hynes. Geological Society London Special Publications, 327, pp. 271–316. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP327.13
van Staal, C.R., Barr, S.M., and Murphy, J.B. 2012. Provenance and tectonic evolution of Ganderia: constraints on the evolution of the Iapetus and Rheic oceans. Geology, 40, pp. 987–990. https://doi.org/10.1130/G33302.1
van Staal, C. R., Barr, S. M., McCausland, P.J.A., Thompson, M.D., and White, C.E. 2021. Tonian–Ediacaran tectonomagmatic evolution of West Avalonia and its Ediacaran–early Cambrian interactions with Ganderia: an example of complex terrane transfer due to arc–arc collision? In Pannotia to Pangaea: Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic Orogenic Cycles in the Circum-Atlantic Region. Edited by J.B. Murphy, R.A. Strachan, and C. Quesada. Geological Society London Special Publications, 503, pp. 143–167. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP503-2020-23
Waldron, J.W.F., Murphy, J.B., Melchin, M., and Davis, G., 1996. Silurian tectonics of western Avalonia: strain corrected subsidence history of the Arisaig Group, Nova Scotia. Journal of Geology, 104, pp. 677–694. https://doi.org/10.1086/629862
Waldron, J.W.F., Schofield, D.I., Murphy, J.B., and Thomas, C.W. 2014. How was the Iapetus Ocean infected with subduction? Geology, 42, pp. 1095–1098. https://doi.org/10.1130/G36194.1
Waldron, J.W.F., McCausland, P.J.A., Barr, S.M., Schofield, D.I., Reusch, D., and Wu, L. 2022. Terrane history of the Iapetus Ocean as preserved in the northern Appalachians and western Caledonides. Earth-Science Reviews, 233, 104163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104163
Wang, C., Wang, T., van Staal, C.R., Zengqian H., and Lin, S. 2024. Evolution of Silurian to Devonian magmatism associated with the Acadian orogenic cycle in eastern and southern Newfoundland Appalachians: Evidence for a three-stage evolution characterized by episodic hinterland- and foreland-directed migration of granitoid magmatism. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 136. https://doi.org/10.1130/B37336.1
Whalen, J.B. and Hildebrand, R.S. 2019. Trace element discrimination of arc, slab failure, and A-type granitic rocks. Lithos, 348-349: 105179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2019.105179
Whalen, J.B., Currie, K.L., and Chappell, B.W. 1987. A-type granites: geochemical characteristics, discrimination and petrogenesis. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 95, pp. 407–419. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00402202
White, C.E. 2017. Bedrock geology map of the Antigonish Highlands area, Antigonish and Pictou counties, Nova Scotia, Department of Natural Resources, Geoscience and Mines Branch, Nova Scotia. Open File Map ME 2017-034, scale 1:75 000.
White, C.E. and Archibald, D.B. 2011. Preliminary geology of the southern Antigonish Highlands, northern mainland Nova Scotia. Department of Natural Resources Mineral Resources Branch, Nova Scotia. Open File Illustration ME 2011-1.
White, C.E., Barr, S.M., Ketchum, J.W.F., and Ethier, M. 2001. Geology of the Cape Porcupine Complex (NTS11F/11), Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Minerals and Energy Branch, Report of Activities 2000. Edited by D.R. MacDonald. Report ME 2001-1, pp. 83–93.
White, C.E., Barr, S.M., and Ketchum, J.W.F. 2003. New age controls on rock units in pre-Carboniferous basement blocks in southwestern Cape Breton Island and adjacent mainland Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Minerals and Energy Branch, Report of Activities 2002. Edited by D.R. MacDonald. Report ME 2003-1, pp. 163–178.
White, C.E., Archibald, D.B., MacHattie, T.G., and Escarraga, E.A. 2011. Preliminary geology of the southern Antigonish Highlands, northern mainland Nova Scotia. In Mineral Resources Branch, Report of Activities 2010. Edited by D.R. MacDonald. Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Report ME 2011-1, pp. 145–164.
White, C.E., Barr, S.M., Archibald, D.B., Drummond, J., Voy, K., Escarraga, E.A., and MacFarlane, C.R.M. 2012. A new geological interpretation of the Antigonish Highlands, northern Nova Scotia; Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Mineral Resources Branch, Open File Illustration 002.
White, C.E., Barr, S.M., Hamilton, M.A., and Murphy, J.B. 2021. Age and tectonic setting of Neoproterozoic granitoid rocks, Antigonish Highlands, Nova Scotia, Canada: Implications for Avalonia in the northern Appalachian orogen. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58, pp. 396–412. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2020-0110
Williams, H. 1979. Appalachian Orogen in Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 16, pp. 792–807. https://doi.org/10.1139/e79-070
Wintsch, R.P., Yi, K., and Dorais, M.J. 2014. Crustal thickening by tectonic wedging of the Ganderian rocks, southern New England, USA: Evidence from cataclastic zircon microstructures and U–Pb ages. Journal of Structural Geology, 69, pp. 428–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2014.07.019
Woodcock, N.H. 2000. Ordovician volcanism and sedimentation on Eastern Avalonia. In Geological History of Britain and Ireland. Edited by N.H. Woodcock and R.A. Strachan. Geological History of Britain and Ireland. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 153–167.
Wu, L., Murphy, J.B., Collins, W.J., Waldron, J.W.F., Li, Z.-X., Pisarevsky, S., and Halverson, G.P. 2022. A trans-Iapetus transform control for the evolution of the Rheic Ocean: Implications for an early Paleozoic transition of accretionary tectonics Geological Society of America Bulletin, 134, 2790–2808. https://doi.org/10.1130/B36158.1
Yousefi, F., Lentz, D.R., McFarlane, C.R., and Thorne, K.G. 2023. Middle Devonian Evandale porphyry Cu-Mo (Au) deposit, southwestern New Brunswick, Canada: Analysis of petrogenesis to potential as a source for distal intrusion-related epithermal gold mineralization. Ore Geology Reviews, 162, 105716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2023.105716
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 J. Brendan Murphy, Donnelly B. Archibald, R. Damian Nance, John W.F. Waldron

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
As of January 1, 2025, Atlantic Geoscience has adopted Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) This license requires that re-users give credit to the creator. It allows re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes.
Copyright to material published in Atlantic Geoscience is normally retained by the author. Alternate arrangements can be made on request for government employees.
Permission to use a single graphic for which the author owns copyright is considered “fair dealing” under the Canadian Copyright Act and “fair use” by the journal, and no other permission need be granted, subject to the image being appropriately cited in all reproductions. The same fair dealing/fair use policy applies to sections of text up to 100 words in length.