The Abitibi greenstone belt is a 2,800-to-2,600-million-year-old
greenstone belt that spans across the
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
–
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
border in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
It is mostly made of
volcanic rock
Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic ...
s, but also includes
ultramafic rock
Ultramafic rocks (also referred to as ultrabasic rocks, although the terms are not wholly equivalent) are igneous and meta-igneous rocks with a very low silica content (less than 45%), generally >18% MgO, high FeO, low potassium, and are composed ...
s,
mafic
A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks incl ...
intrusions,
granitoid rocks, and early and middle
Precambrian sediments.
Archean greenstone belt
Retrieved on 2007-09-26
Geographical extent
The Abitibi greenstone belt is one of the world's largest Archean
The Archean Eon ( , also spelled Archaean or Archæan) is the second of four geologic eons of Earth's history, representing the time from . The Archean was preceded by the Hadean Eon and followed by the Proterozoic.
The Earth during the Arc ...
greenstone belts. It represents a series of subterranes that exhibit similar geological, geochemical, and isotopical signatures similar to those formed during the evolution of paired active-arc-back-arc systems. The huge 2,707-to-2,696-million-year-old Blake River Megacaldera Complex is within the belt.
See also
* Abitibi gold belt
The Abitibi gold belt is a region of Canada that extends from Wawa, Ontario to Val-d'Or, Quebec. Located within the mineral-rich Abitibi greenstone belt, the gold belt is an established gold mining district having produced over 100 mines, and ...
* List of greenstone belts
This is a list of greenstone belts
Africa Burkina Faso
*Hounde greenstone belt
*Boromo greenstone belt
Democratic Republic of the Congo
*Kilo-Moto
Angola
*Lufico - Cabinda
*Cassinga
South Africa
*Barberton Greenstone Belt, Barberton greenston ...
* Volcanism of Canada
Volcanism, Volcanic activity is a major part of the geology of Canada and is characterized by many types of volcanic landform, including lava flows, volcanic plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcano ...
* Volcanism of Eastern Canada
The volcanology of Eastern Canada includes the hundreds of volcanic areas and extensive lava formations in Eastern Canada. The region's different volcano and lava types originate from different tectonic settings and types of volcanic eruptions, ra ...
References
Greenstone belts
Neoarchean volcanism
Precambrian Canada
Volcanism of Ontario
Volcanism of Quebec
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