The nature, age and petrogenesis of the Cartier batholith, northern flank of the Sudbury structure, Ontario, Canada

The Cartier Batholith, exposed about 50 km northwest of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, is a late Archean K-rich granitic batholith. Along with the Levack Gneiss Complex, it forms the footwall of the North Range of the Sudbury Igneous Complex. The Cartier Batholith, dominantly monzogranitic to granodioritic, is relatively homogeneous, unfoliated, and contains K-feldspar megacrysts. It shows several distinctive chemical features, including high concentrations of Zr, Th, U and LREE, and low concentrations of Nb, Ti, and HREE. Several discriminants suggest a post-orogenic tectonic environment for the batholith. This inference is consistent with a U-Pb age of 2642 +/- 1 Ma obtained on zircon, only slightly younger than the inferred timing of high-grade metamorphism of the Levack Gneiss Complex. The Cartier Batholith could have formed as a result of approximately 33% partial melting of the Levack Gneiss Complex. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.