Knud Howard Poulsen MSc thesis abstract

The rocks of the Rainy Lakearea have been deformed during three distinctive episodes.  Minor structures provide the geometry which characterizes each episode.  The youngest structures include regional faults, a crenulation cleavage, kink bands and minor F₃ folds.  These D₃ structures are superimposed on structures of the D₂ episode.  These include dominant F₂ folds having axes lying in a penetrative cleavage which parallels the axial surfaces of the folds.  Some F₂ folds have a downward structural facing which is evidence that the stratigraphic succession at Rainy Lake is overturned at a regional scale.  It is proposed that this inversion took place during a D₁ deformation by the formation of large F₁ fold nappes.  Minor D₁ structures are difficult to document.

The rocks of the region were metamorphosed simultaneously with much of the deformation.  The distribution of index minerals defines the boundaries of the biotite, staurolite-cordierite and sillimanite-muscovite zones.  The non-parallel distribution of metamorphic minerals may be explained by the non-parallelism of isotherms and isobars during medium grade metamorphism.

These new data support the view that the Coutchiching biotite schists at Rainy Lake are stratigraphically younger than metavolcanic rocks of the Keewatin Group although they presently underlie theKeewatinstructurally.  This observation resolves a part of the historically important "Seine-Coutchiching problem".

A copy of the thesis can be downloaded here