Origin and Evolution of the Great Falls Tectonic Zone: Implications for the Assembly of Southern Laurentia and Rodinian Connections

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

0106592 Mueller The Great Falls tectonic zone is a NE-trending feature that extends from northeastern Idaho to the Montana - Saskatchewan border, and may represent the collisional suture between the Archean Wyoming province and the Hearne province of the Canadian shield. However, recent work has raised the alternative interpretation that the Great Falls tectonic zone is an intracontinental shear zone reactivated by the Trans-Hudson orogeny and another feature represents the Wyoming-Hearne suture. This project will examine newly documented 1.86 Ga meta-igneous rocks of the Great Falls tectonic zone that will address several fundamental issues associated with the assembly of southern Laurentia and the breakup of Rodinia. Results are expected to help clarify the interpretation of the significance of the Great Falls tectonic zone in relation to the development of the Pacific Northwest.