Provenance of the Proterozoic Thelon Basin, Nunavut, Canada, from detrital zircon geochronology and detrital quartz oxygen isotopes

The Paleoproterozoic Thelon Basin in Nunavat, Canada, is one of several large quartz-dominated sedimentary basins developed on Paleoproterozoic and Archean rocks of the Canadian Shield. Coarse-grained quartz to sub-feldspathic sandstones and conglomerates of the Thelon Formation comprise the basin fill. Detrital zircons from the Thelon Formation have LAM-ICP-MS 207Pb–206Pb ages ranging from 3.94 to 1.78Ga, but most are Neoarchean (2.70–2.50Ga). The δ18O values of quartz range from 7.7 to 13.9‰, and are typically 10–12‰. Ages, U/Zr ratios, and oxygen isotopic compositions of detrital quartz are consistent with a predominantly Neoarchean metasedimentary source, such as surrounds the eastern Thelon Basin and comprises the bulk of basement rocks within the Rae domain.