Crustal thickness of the Grenville orogen: A Mesoproterozoic Tibet?

The Grenville Province on the eastern margin of Laurentia is a remnant of a Mesoproterozoic orogenic plateau that comprised the core of the ancient supercontinent Rodinia. As a protracted Himalayan-style orogen, its orogenic history is vital to understanding Mesoproterozoic tectonics and paleoenvironmental evolution. In this study, we compared two geochemical proxies for crustal thickness: whole-rock [La/Yb](N) ratios of intermediate-to-felsic rocks and europium anomalies (Eu/Eu*) in detrital zircons. We compiled whole-rock geochemical data from 124 plutons in the Laurentian Grenville Province and collected trace-element and geochronological data from detrital zircons from the Ottawa and St. Lawrence River (Canada) watersheds. Both proxies showed several episodes of crustal thickening and thinning during Grenvillian orogenesis. The thickest crust developed in the Ottawan phase (similar to 60 km at ca. 1080 Ma and ca. 1045 Ma), when the collision culminated, but it was still up to 20 km thinner than modern Tibet. We speculate that a hot crust and several episodes of crustal thinning prevented the Grenville hinterland from forming a high Tibet-like plateau, possibly due to enhanced asthenosphere-lithosphere interactions in response to a warm mantle beneath a long-lived supercontinent, Nuna-Rodinia.

Automated summary

The Grenville Province in eastern Laurentia is an important remnant of the ancient supercontinent Rodinia, and understanding its orogenic history is crucial for studying the tectonics and paleoenvironmental evolution of the Mesoproterozoic era. This study compares two geochemical proxies for crustal thickness and finds evidence of multiple episodes of crustal thickening and thinning during the Grenville orogeny. The thickest crust formed during the Ottawan phase, but it was still thinner than the modern Tibet plateau.