Krabbendam et al: Detrital zircon and rutile in the Sleat and Torridon groups Tracking the evolution of the Grenvillian Foreland Basin: constraints from sedimentology and detrital zircon and rutile in the Sleat and Torridon groups, Scotland Maarten Krabbendam a, *, Helen Bonsor a, Matthew S.A. Horstwood b, Toby Rivers c a) British Geological Survey, Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, Scotland, UK b) NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, British Geological Survey, Keyworth NG12 5GG, UK c) Department of Earth Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL Canada A1B 3X5 * Corresponding author. Email:
[email protected] Keywords: foreland basin; provenance; detritus; Grenville Orogen; U-Pb geochronology; Neoproterozoic 1 Krabbendam et al: Detrital zircon and rutile in the Sleat and Torridon groups Abstract The Grenville Orogen, although occupying a key position in the Rodinia supercontinent, lacks a clear foreland basin in its type area in eastern Canada. Early Neoproterozoic siliciclastic rocks in northern Scotland, however, are now interpreted as remnants of a proximal Grenvillian foreland basin. Analysis of the sedimentology and detrital zircon and rutile of the Torridon and underlying Sleat groups provide new constraints on the evolution of this basin. Youngest U-Pb detrital zircon grains yield ages of 1070-990 Ma in both groups, consistent with a Grenvillian source. The proportions of older age components vary throughout the stratigraphy. The lower Sleat Group shows a dominant ca. 1750 Ma peak, likely derived from local Rhinnian rocks in Scotland and Ireland uplifted within the Grenville Orogen. In the upper Sleat Group and Torridon Group, detrital zircon peaks at ca.