Clarence Stream Area
This virtual field trip examines the geological setting of
granite-related gold mineralization in the Clarence Stream area of
southwestern New Brunswick. Two major mineralized zones have been
identified at the Clarence Stream deposit: the Main Zone and the Anomaly
A Zone.
Mineralization features of the Main Zone and Anomaly A Zone show
similarities to proximal and distal deposits of granite-related gold
systems, respectively. Recognition of such gold systems in southwestern
New Brunswick has significant implications for future mineral
exploration in the Northern Appalachian Orogen.
The Clarence Stream Area (CSA) virtual field trip contains the
following: |
Regional geology of southern New Brunswick
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- Maps showing the surface distribution of the groups and formations
that comprise the CSA
- Schematic stratigraphic columns of the rock groups
- Digital photo’s of the rock units* from type-sections and other
significant exposures
- Links to the New Brunswick Stratigraphic Lexicon and to digital
Fieldtrip Guidebooks (see links to PDF files below);
- A listing of Fieldtrip Stops that pertain to corresponding rock
formations/units.
All graphic- and photo-images may be downloaded and used freely.
Questions regarding this virtual field trip or the Clarence Stream Area
should be directed to kay.thorne@gnb.ca.
Maps
Location and Tectonic setting of Clarence Stream Area |
Interactive Stratigraphy
Gold Deposit
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The
Clarence Stream gold deposit is situated proximal to a major
tectonostratigraphic boundary represented at the surface by the syn- to
post-depositional Sawyer Brook Fault that separates the Ordovician St.
Croix Terrane of the Gander Zone to the northwest from the
peri-Gondwanan New River Terrane of the Avalon Zone to the southeast.
The Clarence Stream deposit consists of two prominent mineralized zones
that have contrasting styles of mineralization. Mineralization at the
Main Zone is localized along a splay of the Sawyer Brook Fault that
borders the northern contact of the Early Devonian Magaguadavic granite.
The Main Zoneencompasses several mineralized
subzones, referred to as the Cox, West, N, Central, and East
subzones. Gold occurs in a parallel series of northeast-trending,
steeply dipping quartz veins hosted by sedimentary rocks of the Silurian
Waweig Formation and gabbroic dykes of the East Branch Brook Gabbro.
The
Anomaly A Zone is situated north of the Sawyer Brook Fault in an
area underlain by polydeformed quartzose sedimentary rocks of the
Ordovician Kendall Mountain Formation. These rocks host gold
mineralization in quartz stockworks and veinlets that are localized
within a shallowly dipping, folded thrust. Geophysical data suggest that
a large granitic mass underlies the Anomaly A area at relatively shallow
depths. |
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Field Trip Guidebooks
Related Publications
- FYFFE, L.R., McLEOD, M.J. and RUITENBERG, A.A. 1992. A geotraverse
across the St. Croix-Avalon terrane boundary, southern New Brunswick.
Geological Association of Canada, Mineralogical Association of Canada,
Joint Annual Meeting, Wolfville '92, Field Trip A-1: Guidebook, 44 p.
- THORNE, K.G. 2005. Controls on mineralization at the Main Zone of
the Clarence Stream gold deposit, southwestern New Brunswick.
Unpublished PhD thesis, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New
Brunswick, 403 p.
- THORNE, K G. and LENTZ D.R. 2001. Geochemistry and petrogenesis of
the East Branch Brook metagabbroic dykes in the Sawyer Brook fault zone,
Clarence Stream gold prospect, southwestern New Brunswick. Atlantic
Geology v 37, pp. 175-190.
- THORNE, K. and LENTZ, D. 2001. Geological Setting of the Clarence
Stream Gold Deposit, southwestern New Brunswick. In Guidebook to Field
Trips in New Brunswick and Eastern Maine. New England Intercollegiate
Geological Conference, 93rd Annual Meeting. D. Lentz and R. Pickerill
(editors). University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Part
C5, 16 p.
- THORNE, K. and McLEOD, M. 2003. Gold Deposits Associated with
Felsic Intrusions in southwestern New Brunswick - Field Guidebook. New
Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Energy; Minerals, Policy
and Planning Division, Open File 2003-4, 83 p.
- THORNE, K.G., HOY, D., and LENTZ, D.R. 2001. Field Guidebook: The
Clarence Stream Gold Deposit, Southwestern New Brunswick. New Brunswick
Department of Natural Resources and Energy, Minerals and Energy
Division, Open File 2001-9, 16 p.
- THORNE, K.G., LENTZ, D.R. HALL, D.C. and YANG, X. 2002. Petrology,
geochemistry and geochronology of the granitic pegmatite and aplite
dykes associated with the Clarence Stream gold deposit, southwestern New
Brunswick. In Current Research 2002-E12. Geological Survey of Canada. 13
p.
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