Early Precambrian basic rocks of the Canadian Shield

Abstract

The Precambrian Shield of Canada is subdivided into five major Archaean provinces (Figure 10.1). This chapter concentrates on the Superior Province which covers much of Quebec, Ontario and parts of northern central USA, and is separated from the Rae and Hearne Provinces (formerly the Churchill Province; Hoffman, 1988), by the 1.8 Ga Hudsonian orogen. The Rae and Hearne Provinces are separated from the Slave Province to the northwest by the Great Slave Lake shear zone. The Nain Province comprises the western part of the North Atlantic craton (see Chapter 11), along the coastal strip of Labrador.