Paleomagntism of Archean rocks from northwestern Ontario: II. Shelley Lake granite, Quetico Subprovince

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Abstract
The 2580 ± 20 Ma Shelley Lake granite of the Quetico gneiss belt in northwestern Ontario preserves two distinct natural remanent magnetizations (NRM's) of different ages. Type 1 NRM of either normal (1N) or reverse (1R) polarity was isolated in 43 samples, using three methods: stable end-point directions, orthogonal vector plots, and converging remagnetization circles. The mean direction based on both 1N and 1R results is D = 5.9 °I = +56.4 °(k = 95.4, α95 = 4.4°, N = 12 sites), which is significantly different from both the present Earth's field (PEF) and axial dipole field directions at the site. Type 2 NRM, either normal (2N) or reverse (2R), was successfully separated from 1N/1R in 13 samples. Its mean direction, combining both polarities, is D = 70.3 °I = −27.8 °(k = 20.1, α95 = 9.4°, N = 13 samples).The paleopole SL1 corresponding to 1N/1R falls at 65.8°E, 77.6°N, near track 6 of the Laurentian apparent polar wander path (APWP) around 2600 Ma. This remanence is carried principally by primary multidomain magnetite with blocking temperatures up to 580 °C. If it is a primary thermoremanence, as is argued here, SL1 provides a well dated tie point for the APWP at 2580 ± 20 Ma.Paleopole SL2 corresponding to 2N/2R falls at 157.1°W, 1.3°S, around 1250 Ma on the APWP. The remanence is probably a chemical or thermochemical overprint acquired during a mild heating event (T < 300 °C, t > 1100 Ma) that reset 40Ar/39Ar feldspar ages. An earlier tentative assignment of SL2 to track 6 around 2800 Ma is incorrect.

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