Apparent polar wander paths and the joining of the superior and slave provinces during early proterozoic time

North American paleomagnetic poles for the interval 1,400 to 2,750 m.y. B.P. are interpreted to show that the apparent polar wander (APW) path for the Slave province does not coincide with the APW path for the Superior province for poles older than 1,750 m.y. Poles from the northwestern part of the Churchill province older than 1,750 m.y. fall on or close to the APW path for the Slave province, and poles of the same age from the Wyoming, Eastern Nain, southeastern Churchill, and Southern provinces fall on the APW path for the Superior province. Thus, palemagnetic evidence suggest that prior to 1,750 m.y. B.P., the Slave and northwestern Churchill provinces were probably part of single plate that was separated from a second plate containing the Superior, Wyoming, Eastern Nain, southeastern Churchill, and Southern provinces. The intense folding, faulting, and metamorphism that occurred in the Churchill province approximately 1,750 m.y. ago was probably a result of a collision between these two plates. © 1977 Geological Society of America.