Evidence for spreading in the lower Kam Group of the Yellowknife greenstone belt: Implications for Archaean basin evolution in the Slave Province

The Yellowknife greenstone belt is the western margin of an Archean turbidite-filled basin bordered on the east by the Cameron River and Beaulieu River volcanic belts (Henderson, 1981; Lambert, 1982). This model implies that rifting was entirely ensialic and did not proceed beyond the graben stage. Volcanism is assumed to have been restricted to the boundary faults, and the basin was floored by a downfaulted granitic basement. On the other hand, the enormous thickness of submarine volcanic rocks and the presence of a spreading complex at the base of the Kam Group suggest that volcanic rocks were much more widespread than indicated by their present distribution. Rather than resembling volcanic sequences in intracratonic graben structures, the Kam Group and its tectonic setting within the Yellowknife greenstone belt have greater affinities to the Rocas Verdes of southern Chile, Mesozoic ophiolites, that were formed in an arc-related marginal basin setting. The similarities of these ophiolites with some Archean volcanic sequences was previously recognized, and served as basis for their marginal-basin model of greenstone belts. The discovery of a multiple and sheeted dike complex in the Kam Group confirms that features typical of Phanerozoic ophiolites are indeed preserved in some greenstone belts and provides further field evidence in support of such a model

Silencing of Vlaro2 for chorismate synthase revealed that the phytopathogen Verticillium longisporum induces the cross-pathway control in the xylem

The first leaky auxotrophic mutant for aromatic amino acids of the near-diploid fungal plant pathogen Verticillium longisporum (VL) has been generated. VL enters its host Brassica napus through the roots and colonizes the xylem vessels. The xylem contains little nutrients including low concentrations of amino acids. We isolated the gene Vlaro2 encoding chorismate synthase by complementation of the corresponding yeast mutant strain. Chorismate synthase produces the first branch point intermediate of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis. A novel RNA-mediated gene silencing method reduced gene expression of both isogenes by 80% and resulted in a bradytrophic mutant, which is a leaky auxotroph due to impaired expression of chorismate synthase. In contrast to the wild type, silencing resulted in increased expression of the cross-pathway regulatory gene VlcpcA (similar to cpcA/GCN4) during saprotrophic life. The mutant fungus is still able to infect the host plant B. napus and the model Arabidopsis thaliana with reduced efficiency. VlcpcA expression is increased in planta in the mutant and the wild-type fungus. We assume that xylem colonization requires induction of the cross-pathway control, presumably because the fungus has to overcome imbalanced amino acid supply in the xylem

A new look at the stratigraphy of the Yellowknife Supergroup at Yellowknife, N.W.T. — implications for the age of gold-bearing shear zones and Archean basin evolution

Based on recent detailed mapping, a revised stratigraphic column is proposed for the rocks of the Archean Yellowknife Supergroup in the Yellowknife greenstone belt. The mafic volcanic rocks of the Kam Formation, previously thought to represent the oldest supracrustal rocks of the belt, overlap remnants of an earlier volcanic–sedimentary sequence, here referred to as the Octopus Formation. As its enormous thickness makes it too unwieldy to be described as a single formation, the Kam Formation is raised to group status and subdivided into four formations. It is proposed that the Kam Group should replace the Beaulieu Group in the Yellowknife area. The Chan Formation, at the base of the Kam Group, consists of multiple gabbroic intrusions that were emplaced into a carapace of pillowed flows. The intrusions locally resemble sheeted mafic dyke complexes in Phanerozoic ophiolites, thought to represent evidence for sea-floor spreading. The Crestaurum Formation, which overlies the Chan Formation, is characterized by massive and pillowed flows interlayered with a number of laterally continuous cherts and felsic tuffs. The Townsite Formation consists of rhyodacite breccias interbedded with felsic tuffs and pillowed dacites. The Yellowknife Bay Formation, at the top of the Kam Group and comprising massive and pillowed flows with pillow breccias and numerous interflow sediments, contains all the important gold deposits mined at Yellowknife. The Banting Formation, directly overlying the Kam Group and consisting of mafic to felsic volcanics, is also given group status and subdivided into two formations. Conglomerates and sandstones of the Jackson Lake Formation, formerly thought to separate the Kam and Banting groups, are considered to represent the youngest rocks of the Yellowknife Supergroup near Yellowknife. Gold-bearing shear zones clearly postdate deposition of the Banting Group, making the rocks of this group a potential target for gold exploration. The presence of remnants of a possible spreading center at the base of the Kam Group suggests that plate-tectonic processes were active during the formation of Archean supracrustal basins in the Slave Province. </jats:p

Structural patterns and tectonic evolution of supracrustal domains in the Archean Slave Province, Canada

A new plate-tectonic model accounts for lithological relations and regional structural patterns in late Archean supracrustal domains of the Slave Province. Multiple dykes and pillowed mafic flows, most common in the western part of the province, suggest sea-floor spreading. The mafic volcanics, lying in narrow homoclinal belts stratigraphically below more extensive turbidites, are viewed as megaxenolithic remnants of oceanic crust preserved on the periphery of granitoid plutons and blocks of sialic crust. Closure of an oceanic basin was marked by emplacement of the granitoid plutons and coeval felsic volcanics, the latter predominating over mafic volcanics in northeastern domains. The felsic calc-alkaline magmas may have risen from a shallow-dipping subduction zone. Westerly verging folds, westerly convex fold arcs, and inclinations of later foliations, particularly in lower level rocks of higher metamorphic grade, are in accord with underthrusting to the east. The zone of underthrusting shifted progressively westward, and calc-alkaline magmatism swept across the western part of the province. Plutons followed crustal fracture systems, some of which were inherited from initial rifts, producing a rectilinear zigzag pattern of contacts between plutons, and mafic volcanics. The fracture systems and rising plutons redirected stresses, resulting in distinctive sets of regional and local foliations that reflect crustal compression only indirectly related to the sense of subduction. </jats:p