Woodburn Lake group

Unit Name: Woodburn Lake group
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Group
Status: Informal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Neoarchean (2800 - 2500 ma)
Age Justification: Geochronology. Felsic volcanic rocks within the Woodburn Lake group have an interpreted crystallization age of ca 2.71 Ga (Davis and Sherlock, unpublished data, 2001) (Hrabi et al., 2003).
Province/Territory: Nunavut

Originator: Ashton, 1981.

Distribution:

The Woodland Lake group is part of a series of Neoarchean supracrustal sequences in the Rae domain of the Churchill Province (Hrabi et al., 2003).

Lithology:

The group comprises 1) a variety of ultramafic to felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, iron-formation, and related sedimentary rocks; 2) quartz arenite, conglomerate, and related sedimentary rocks; and 3) arkosic wacke and mudstone that are also interlayered with iron formation (Ashton, 1988) (Hrabi et al., 2003).

Relationship:

The stratigraphy of the group, particularly the relationship of the quartz arenite to the volcanic rocks, remains unresolved (Ashton, 1988; Henderson et al., 1991; Kjarsgaard et al., 1997; Zaleski et al., 1997a). Rocks in this area have experienced a polyphase deformation and metamorphic history. Most of the deformation episodes are interpreted to be Paleoproterozoic in age (Pehrsson et al., 2000; Pehrsson et al., 2004) and peak greenshist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphic conditions were also reached during the Paleoproterozoic (Armitage et al., 1996; Pehrsson et al., 2004) (Hrabi et al., 2003).

References:

Armitage, A.E., James, R.S., and Goff, S.P., 1996. Gold mineralization in Archean banded iron formation, Third Portage Lake area, Northwest Territories, Canada; Exploration and Mining Geology, v., 5, p. 1-15.

Ashton, K.E., 1981. Preliminary report on geological studies of the "Woodburn Lake Group" northwest of Tehek Lake, District of Keewatin, in Current Research, Part A; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 81-1A, p. 269-273.

Ashton, K.E., 1988. Precambrian geology of the southeastern Amer Lake area (66 H/1), near Baker Lake, N.W.T.; Ph.D. thesis, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, 335 p.

Henderson, J.R., Henderson, M.N., Pryer, L.L., and Cresswell, R.G., 1991. Geology of the Whitehills-Tehek area, District of Keewatin: an Archean supracrustal belt with iron-formation-hosted gold mineralization in the central Churchill Province; in Current Research, Part C; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 91-1C, p. 149-156.

Hrabi, R.B., Barclay, W.A., Fleming, D., and Alexander, R.B., 2003. Structural evolution of the Woodburn Lake group in the area of the Meadowbank gold deposit, Nunavut; Geological Survey of Canada, Current Research 2003-C27, 10p.

Kjarsgaard, B.A., Kerswill, J.A., and Jenner, G.A., 1997. Lithostratigraphy and metallogenic implications of komatiite-banded iron-formation-felsic volcanic rocks of the Archean Woodburn Lake group, Pipedream lake, central Churchill Province, Northwest Territories; in Current Research 1997-C; Geological Survey of Canada, p. 101-110.

Pehrsson, S.J., Wilkinson, L., Zaleski, E., Kerswill, J., and Alexander, B., 2000. Structural geometry of the Meadowbank deposit area, Woodburn Lake group - implications for genesis of a major gold deposit in the western Churchill Province; Geological Association of Canada - Mineralogical Association of Canada, Joint Annual Meeting. Geocanada 2000: The Millenium Geoscience Summit, Program and Abstracts (CD-ROM), v. 25, Abstract 829, 4 p.

Pehrsson, S.J., Wilkinson, L., and Zaleski, E., 2004. Geology of the Meadowbank gold deposit area, Nunavut. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 4269, scale 1:20,000.

Zaleski, E., Corrigan, D., Kjarsgaard, B.A., Jenner, G.A., Kerswill, J.A., and Henderson, J.R., 1997a. Preliminary results of mapping and structural interpretation from the Woodburn project, western Churchill Province, Northwest Territories; in Current Research 1997-C; Geological Survey of Canada, p. 91-100.

Source: Murray Frarey's Precambrian Lexicon
Contributor: Michael Pashulka
Entry Reviewed: No
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 12 Feb 2010