New zircon U–Pb geochronologic data from the Grenville-age Trenton Prong provide information on the age of magmatism, timing of metamorphism, and post-metamorphic history of the inlier. Diorite gneiss (1318 ± 13 Ma) of the Colonial Lake Suite temporally correlates to magmatic arc sequences that formed along the eastern margin of Laurentia at <1.4 Ga. Metasedimentary gneisses yielded detrital zircon ages of ca. 1319–1133 Ma and ca. 1370–1207, consistent with sediment derived from a similar local source of Laurentian affinity. A small population of zircon (either detrital or igneous in origin) in one sample yielded ages of ca. 1074–1037 Ma. Possible interpretations for their formation are explored. Ca. 1060 Ma overgrowths on zircon in the northern part of the inlier constrain the timing of granulite-facies metamorphism to the Ottawan phase of the Grenvillian Orogeny. The undeformed Assunpink Creek Granite (1041 ± 6 Ma) intruded country rocks as small bodies of late-orogenic syenogranite. It provides a minimum age for amphibolite-facies metamorphism and Ottawan orogenesis elsewhere in the inlier. Regionally, zircon rim ages of ca. 1010–960 Ma record continued thermal activity during the Rigolet phase of the orogen that resulted in migmatization of paragneiss at ca. 1004 Ma and juxtaposition of upper- and mid-crustal rocks during orogenic collapse. The lithologic ages and tectonic history of the Trenton Prong correlate to those in other Appalachian Mesoproterozoic inliers and parts of the Canadian Grenville Province, confirming it is not an exotic terrane that was accreted to eastern Laurentia during Grenvillian orogenesis.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
February 26, 2021
Tectonic history of the Grenville-age Trenton Prong inlier, Central Appalachians, USA: evidence from SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology Available to Purchase
Richard A. Volkert;
a
New Jersey Geological and Water Survey, 29 Arctic Parkway, Trenton, NJ 08638, USA.Corresponding author: Richard Volkert (email: [email protected]).
Search for other works by this author on:
John N. Aleinikoff
John N. Aleinikoff
b
U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Avenue, Denver, CO 80225, USA.
Search for other works by this author on:
a
New Jersey Geological and Water Survey, 29 Arctic Parkway, Trenton, NJ 08638, USA.
John N. Aleinikoff
b
U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Avenue, Denver, CO 80225, USA.Corresponding author: Richard Volkert (email: [email protected]).
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Received:
31 Jul 2020
Accepted:
12 Jan 2021
First Online:
10 Nov 2021
Online ISSN: 1480-3313
Print ISSN: 0008-4077
Published by NRC Research Press
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (2021) 58 (10): 1027–1039.
Article history
Received:
31 Jul 2020
Accepted:
12 Jan 2021
First Online:
10 Nov 2021
Citation
Richard A. Volkert, John N. Aleinikoff; Tectonic history of the Grenville-age Trenton Prong inlier, Central Appalachians, USA: evidence from SHRIMP U–Pb geochronology. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 2021;; 58 (10): 1027–1039. doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2020-0143
Download citation file:
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Email alerts
Index Terms/Descriptors
- absolute age
- correlation
- dates
- gneisses
- granites
- Grenvillian Orogeny
- Hunterdon County New Jersey
- igneous rocks
- inliers
- magmatism
- Mercer County New Jersey
- Mesoproterozoic
- metamorphic rocks
- metamorphism
- metasedimentary rocks
- nesosilicates
- New Jersey
- orthosilicates
- Ottawan Orogeny
- paragneiss
- petrography
- plutonic rocks
- Precambrian
- Proterozoic
- provenance
- silicates
- tectonics
- U/Pb
- United States
- upper Precambrian
- zircon
- zircon group
- Trenton Prong
- Assunpink Creek Granite
- Colonial Lake Suite
- Trenton Prong Inlier
Latitude & Longitude
Citing articles via
Related Articles
New insights into the geologic evolution of the Grenvillian Trenton Prong inlier, Central Appalachian Piedmont, USA
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
Related Book Content
Tectonic, magmatic, and metamorphic history of the New Jersey Highlands: New insights from SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology
From Rodinia to Pangea: The Lithotectonic Record of the Appalachian Region
Mesoproterozoic magmatism and deformation in the northern Blue Ridge, Virginia and Maryland: Application of SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology and integrated field studies in the definition of Grenvillian tectonic history
From Rodinia to Pangea: The Lithotectonic Record of the Appalachian Region
Evolution of the Blue Ridge basement complex in the eastern Great Smoky Mountains: Evidence from zircon U-Pb geochronology and Nd-Pb isotope geochemistry of basement gneisses
Geology at Every Scale: Field Excursions for the 2018 GSA Southeastern Section Meeting in Knoxville, Tennessee
Thermomagmatic evolution of Mesoproterozoic crust in the Blue Ridge of SW Virginia and NW North Carolina: Evidence from U-Pb geochronology and zircon geothermometry
From Rodinia to Pangea: The Lithotectonic Record of the Appalachian Region