Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The research Project will examine how the 2.5 billion year old Precambrian volcanic rocks in the Canadian Shield vary with time and the causes of that variation. The research will attempt to demonstrate that some of the variation is due to cyclical mountain-building events and some of the variation is due to the rise and fall of sea level. This research will examine ancient volcanic rocks in the Abitibi area of the Canadian Shield, in northwestern Ontario and in the Precambrian shield of Australia and Greenland. The work will also produce the first 3 dimensional computer-generated model of the Abitibi greenstone belt, a zone of Precambrian volcanic rocks extending from Timmins and Kirkland Lake through to Chibougamau in Quebec. The 3D model will help to make the exploration for copper and zince deposits more effective and efficient by predicting the extent of units beneath the cover of glacial deposits and younger sedimentary rocks. This project will be the first study to demonstrate that major units of Greenstone belts, including those with copper-zinc mineral deposits can be traced and correlated over large distances and in the third dimension. The impact of the work on exploration for new mineral deposits will be substantial in that it should increase the success in finding new deposits and thus supporting the northern economy.