A Lower Carboniferous Sedimentary-Volcanic Succession, North Baddeck River, Nova Scotia

Abstract

A comprehensive study was made on a roughly 60 metre thick succession of sedimentary and volcanic rocks on the North Baddeck River, central Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. The sequence comprises thinly-laminated grey clastics and coarse to fine redbeds interlayered with a single tholeiitic basalt flow. Compositional and textural studies on the red sediments have suggested a nearby Pre-Carboniferous granitic and metamorphic source, with deposition in a semi- arid, alluvial fan and alluvial plain environment. The nature of the finer grey strata infers sedimentation in quiet, lacustrine areas.

K/Ar dating on the relatively fresh basalt flow has yielded an age of 328 + 7 m.a.

Comparisons between the Lower Carboniferous-Upper Devonian Fisset Brook Formation in Cape Breton and the north Baddeck sequence suggest similar styles of volcanism and clastic accumulation. Contemporaneous eruption and sedimentation occurred within a continental-type setting adjacent to uplifted crystalline basement complexes.

Keywords: Pages: 95 Supervisors: Becky Jamieson