Petrology of the Mavillette Intrusion Digby County, Nova Scotia Lynn M
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Document generated on 10/03/2021 12:05 p.m. Atlantic Geology Petrology of the Mavillette Intrusion Digby County, Nova Scotia Lynn M. Calder and Sandra M. Barr Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 1982 Article abstract The Mavillette Intrusion is a small gabbroic body located in Digby County, URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/ageo18_1art02 southwestern Nova Scotia. It is dyke-like in form, trending about 150°, with a strike length of at least 1250 m and a width of about 100 m. The igneous See table of contents mineralogy includes oligoclase-andesine and augite, with accessory magnetite, ilmenite, and apatite, but the intrusion has undergone variably intense alteraLion/low-grade metamorphism and shearing, and secondary minerals Publisher(s) are abundant. In chemical composition the intrusion is highly evolved but probably of continental tholeiitic affinity. It differs from other mafic igneous Maritime Sediments Editorial Board rocks of southern Nova Scotia, but on the basis of geographic location, mineralogy, and chemistry is considered to be related to the volcanic rocks of ISSN the White Rock Formation in the Cape St. Mary's — Yarmouth area. This correlation implies a late Ordovician— early Silurian age for the intrusion. 0843-5561 (print) 1718-7885 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Calder, L. M. & Barr, S. M. (1982). Petrology of the Mavillette Intrusion Digby County, Nova Scotia. Atlantic Geology, 18(1), 29–39. All rights reserved © Maritime Sediments, 1982 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ 29 Petrology of the Mavillette Intrusion Digby County, Nova Scotia Lynn M. Calder and Sandra M. Barr Department of Geology, Acadia University, Wolfville, N.S. BOP 1X0 The Mavillette Intrusion is a small gabbroic body located in Digby County, southwestern Nova Scotia. It is dyke-like in form, trending about 150°, with a strike length of at least 1250 m and a width of about 100 m. The igneous mineralogy includes oligoclase-andesine and augite, with accessory magnetite, ilmenite, and apatite, but the intrusion has undergone variably intense alteration/low-grade metamorphism and shearing, and secondary minerals are abundant. In chemical composition the intrusion is highly evolved but probably of continental tholeiitic affinity. It differs from other mafic igneous rocks of southern NoVa Scotia, but on the basis of geographic location, mineralogy, and chemistry is considered to be related to the volcanic rocks of the White Rock Formation in the Cape St. Mary's — Yarmouth area. This correlation implies a late Ordovician—early Silurian age for the intrusion. L'intrusion Mavillette est une petite masse gabbrolque situee dans le comte de Digby au sud-ouest de la Nouvelle-Ecosse. Elle adopte la forme d'un dyke d'une largeur d'environ 100 m et suit une direction d'azimut 150 sur. une longueur d'au moins 1250 m. La mineralogie ignee comprend des plagioclases (oligoclase-andesine) et de 1'augite, avec comme raineraux accessoires de la magne- tite, de 1'ilmenite et de 1'apatite. Les mineraux secondaires sont tres abondants car 1'intrusion a subi les effets varies d'une alteration intense et d'un metamorphisme leger, accompagnes d'un cisaillement. La composition chimique de 1'intrusion est tres developpee mais reflete probable- ment une affinite tholeiitique continentale. L'intrusion differe des autres roches ignees mafiques du sud de la Nouvelle-Ecosse, mais de par sa situation geographique, sa mineralogie et sa chimie, on la considSre reliee aux roches volcaniques de la formation White Rock qu'on retrouve dans la region de Cape St. Mary's - Yarmouth. Cette correlation donne & l'intrusion un age allant de l'Ordovicien tardif au debut du Silurien. [Traduit par le journal] INTRODUCTION of the intrusion using a Barringer Pro- ton Precession Magnetometer. Lines were The Mavillette Intrusion is a small oriented approximately north - south, gabbroic body located 2.5 km north of with a spacing of about 20 m. An en- Mavillette in Digby County, Nova Scotia largement (approximate scale 1:2100) of (Fig. 1). The known outcrop of the in- the colour aerial photograph (Maritime trusion covers an area of approximately Resource Management Service Photo 78305- 0.03 km2 within slates of the Cambro- 9) covering the area was used as a base Ordovician Halifax Formation (Taylor map. Outcrops in the survey area (Fig. 1969). No detailed investigation of 2) were examined, and representative the Mavillette Intrusion had previously samples collected for petrographic stud- been undertaken, and its age, form, areal ies and chemical analyses. extent, and general petrology were poor- ly documented. The purpose of this Major element analyses were done by study is to describe these aspects of atomic absorption spectrometry except the intrusion, and to determine its Na and K which were determined by flame magmatic affinity, the tectonic setting photometry. The method is modified in which it was emplaced, and its pos- from Buckley and Cranston (1971) and is sible relation to other mafic igneous described by Calder (1981). Loss on occurrences in southern Nova Scotia. ignition was determined as percentage weight lost during heating for one hour METHODS at 1000°C. P, Ni, Cr, Zr, and Y were done commercially at CLIM Laboratories, Field studies included a magnetic sur- Technical University of Nova Scotia, vey in the vicinity of known outcrops by colorimetry (P) and quantitative MARITIME SEDIMENTS AND ATLANTIC GEOLOGY emission spectrography (Ni, Cr, Zr, Y). 18,29-40(1982) 0711-1150/82/01029-12S3.10/0 30 CALDER AND BARR MAVILLETTE INTRUSION (MI) SHELBURNE DYKE A MAFIC PLUTONS OF DE ALBUQUERQUE (19 79) VOLCANIC ROCKS: NMB = North Mountain Basalt 0 WRV = White Rock Volcanics POST-DEVONIAN ROCKS [PJ1 DEVONIAN GRANITOID ROCKS | | LOWER PALAEOZOIC ROCKS NMB Cape St. Mary Yarmouth Fig. 1 - Geological sketch map of southern Nova Scotia showing the location of the Mavillette Intrusion and other mafic igneous rocks. Modified from Keppie (1979). Ba was determined by X-ray fluroescence posed by quarrying in the central part at Acadia University, and Nb and Rb by of the study area (Fig. 2). The rocks X-ray fluorescence at St. Mary's Uni- are used primarily for construction of versity. breakwaters. Contacts of the intrusion with its country rocks are not exposed, FIELD RELATIONS but the finer grained outcrop at locality 18 (Fig. 2) is probably a chilled mar- Outcrop in the area is generally poor. gin. A nearby small outcrop of slate However, the gabbro has been well ex- MARITIME SEDIMENTS AND ATLANTIC GEOLOGY 31 Fig. 2 - Magnetic contours over the Mavillette Intrusion. Survey lines are oriented north-south, spacing approxi- mately 20 m. Base map and outcrops are taken from enlarge- ment of aerial photograph 78305-9 (Maritime Resource Man- agement Service). at locality 20 does not display evidence regular anomalies and closed contours of contact metamorphism. typical of mafic igneous rocks. As the The ground magnetic survey over the regional trend within the Halifax For- intrusion revealed a strong magnetic mation in the area is north-northeast anomaly pattern about 100 m in width (Taylor 1969), the intrusion is strongly trending approximately 150° (Fig. 2). discordant and hence dyke-like in form. The intrusion is characterized by ir- It apparently continues farther north- 32 CALDER AND BARR west and southeast outside the survey Microbe analyses of plagioclase, au- area. In fact, similar gabbro was en- gite, and opaques from a typical sample countered during drilling of a water are presented in Table 1 (Sample 1). well 850 m northwest of the area (R.H. The augite is zoned, with cores enriched MacNeill, pers. comm. 1981), giving a in Ti, Al, Mg and depleted in Fe and Mn minimum strike length of 1250 m. How- relative to rims. ever, the intrusion is not apparent on the aeromagnetic map of the area (Depart- Medium-grained subophitic to ophitic ment of Mines and Technical Surveys, textures are typical of the gabbro, ex- 1956) with an east-west flight line cept in the sample from near the pre- spacing less than 1 km, so it is unlikely sumed margin (locality 18) which is that the dyke extends more than a few fine-grained and intergranular in tex- kilometres along strike, unless its ture. In some areas, the gabbro is very magnetic signature is too weak to be coarse-grained and pegmatoid, and may detected by an aeromagnetic survey. The contain large primary amphibole crys- latter is probably not the case, as the tals. Such zones are gradational into Shelburne dyke gave a ground magnetic normal gabbro and presumably represent response only approximately twice that more fluid-rich areas of the magma. of the Mavillette Intrusion (Lawrence Evidence of brittle deformation in 1966) and yet shows a very prominent the intrusion is the abundance of frac- linear anomaly on aeromagnetic maps of tured grains and deformed twin lamellae the same series referred to above. in most samples. Samples from actual shear zones (e.g. localities 4, 13) are The cause of the large anomalies cut- more leucocratic than typical gabbro. ting across the dyke in the southeastern In thin section, these samples display part of the survey area is not clear cataclastic textures and intense alter- (Fig. 2). However, minor shear zones ation. Fine-grained interstitial potas- typically trending northeast-southwest sium feldspar (revealed by staining fol- to east-west are common.within the ex- lowing the method of Hutchison 1974, p.