The Archean Superior craton was formed by the assemblage of continental and oceanic terranes at ∼2.6 Ga. The craton is surrounded by multiple Proterozoic mobile belts, including the Paleoproterozoic Trans-Hudson Orogen which brought together the Superior and Rae/Hearne cratons at ∼1.9-1.8 Ga. Despite numerous studies on Precambrian lithospheric formation and evolution, the deep thermochemical structure of the Superior craton and its surroundings remains poorly understood. Here we investigate the upper mantle beneath the region from the surface to 400 km depth by jointly inverting Rayleigh wave phase velocity dispersion data, elevation, geoid height and surface heat flow, using a probabilistic inversion to obtain a (pseudo-)3D model of composition, density and temperature. The lithospheric structure is dominated by thick cratonic roots (>300 km) beneath the eastern and western arms of the Superior craton, with a chemically depleted signature (Mg# > 92.5), consistent with independent results from mantle xenoliths. Beneath the surrounding Proterozoic and Phanerozoic orogens, the Mid-continent Rift and Hudson Strait, we observe a relatively thinner lithosphere and more fertile composition, indicating that these regions have undergone lithospheric modification and erosion. Our model supports the hypothesis that the core of the Superior craton is well-preserved and has evaded lithospheric destruction and refertilization. We propose three factors playing a critical role in the craton’s stability: (i) the presence of a mid-lithospheric discontinuity, (ii) the correct isopycnic conditions to sustain a strength contrast between the craton and the surrounding mantle, and (iii) the presence of weaker mobile belts around the craton.

Mapping absolute P-wavespeeds in the Canadian and Alaskan mantle will further our understanding of its present-day state and evolution. S-wavespeeds are relatively well constrained, especially across Canada, but are primarily sensitive to temperature while complimentary P-wavespeed constraints provide better sensitivity to compositional variations. One technical issue concerns the difficulties in extracting absolute arrival-time measurements from often-noisy data recorded by temporary seismograph networks. Such processing is required to ensure that regional Canadian datasets are compatible with supplementary continental and global datasets provided by global pick databases. To address this, we utilize the Absolute Arrival-time Recovery Method (Boyce et al., 2017). We extract over 180,000 new absolute arrival-time residuals from seismograph stations across Canada and Alaska that include both land and ocean bottom seismometers. We combine these data with the latest USArray P-wave arrival-time data from the contiguous US and Alaska. Using an adaptively parameterised least-squares tomographic inversion we develop a new absolute P-wavespeed model, with focus on Canada and Alaska (CAP21). Initial results suggest fast wavespeeds characterise the upper mantle beneath eastern and northern Canada. A sharp transition between the slow wavespeeds below the North American Cordillera and the fast wavespeeds of the stable continental interior appears to follow the Cordilleran Deformation Front (CDF) in southwest Canada. Slow wavespeeds below the Mackenzie Mountains may extend further inland of the CDF in northwest Canada. In Alaska, CAP21 illuminates both lithospheric structure and the along strike morphology of the subducting slab. The newly compiled data may also improve resolution of subducted slab remnants in the mid-mantle below the North American continent, crucial to help constrain the formation of the Alaskan peninsular at ≥50Ma.

Southeastern Canada and the northeastern USA include terranes that were tectonized since the Archean, making this region an excellent place to investigate the evolution of continental crust. Our study area covers the Archean southeastern Superior Province, the Proterozoic eastern Grenville, and the Phanerozoic northern Appalachians comprising terranes with either Peri-Laurentian or Peri-Gondwanan heritage. Adopting a Rayleigh wave ambient noise tomography method, we used noise data recorded between 2013 and 2015, and obtained high resolution anisotropic tomographic images of the crust enabling us to discuss tectonic implications. The azimuthal anisotropy orientations follow a dominant NE-SW trend across the study area, but some localized changes of anisotropy direction in the Bay of Fundy and across the Appalachian front are observed. The crust beneath the older Superior and Grenville provinces is generally fast, whereas the Appalachians include strong slow anomalies, especially at upper crustal depths, where they represent thick sedimentary basins beneath the St. Lawrence valley, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. We suggest that the boundary between the Peri-Laurentian and the Peri-Gondwanan terranes at depth is marked by a Moho-offset feature observable in our models. A generally similar crustal seismic signature for the youngest two easternmost tectonic domains suggest that they were never separated by a wide ocean basin. Our results provide important evidence for evolution of the continental crust during and after accretionary/collisional episodes in the study area.

We present shear-wave splitting analyses of SKS and SKKS waves recorded at sixteen Superior Province Rifting Earthscope Experiment (SPREE) seismic stations on the north shore of Lake Superior, as well as fifteen selected Earthscope Transportable Array instruments south of the lake. These instruments bracket the Mid-Continent Rift (MCR) and sample the Superior, Penokean, Yavapai and Mazatzal tectonic provinces. The data set can be explained by a single layer of anisotropic fabric, which we interpret to be dominated by a lithospheric contribution. The fast S polarization directions are consistently ENE-WSW, but the split time varies greatly across the study area, showing strong anisotropy (up to 1.48 s) in the western Superior, moderate anisotropy in the eastern Superior, and moderate to low anisotropy in the terranes south of Lake Superior. We locate two localized zones of very low split time (less than 0.6 s) adjacent to the MCR: one in the Nipigon Embayment, an MCR-related magmatic feature immediately north of Lake Superior, and the other adjacent to the eastern end of the lake, at the southern end of the Kapuskasing Structural Zone (KSZ). Both low-splitting zones are adjacent to sharp bends in the MCR axis. We interpret these two zones, along with a low-velocity linear feature imaged by a previous tomographic study beneath Minnesota and the Dakotas, as failed lithospheric branches of the MCR. Given that all three of these branches failed to propagate into the Superior Province lithosphere, we propose that the sharp bend of the MCR through Lake Superior is a consequence of the high mechanical strength of the Superior lithosphere ca. 1.1 Ga.

Two-station surface-wave analysis was used to measure Rayleigh-wave phase velocities between 105 station pairs in western Canada, straddling the boundary between the tectonically active Cordillera and the adjacent stable craton. Major variations in phase velocity are seen across the boundary at periods from 15 to 200 s, periods primarily sensitive to upper-mantle structure. Tomographic inversion of these phase velocities was used to generate phase-velocity maps at these periods, indicating a sharp contrast between low-velocity Cordilleran upper mantle and high-velocity cratonic lithosphere. Depth inversion along selected transects indicates that the Cordillera/craton upper-mantle contact varies in dip along the deformation front, with cratonic lithosphere of the Taltson province overthrusting Cordilleran asthenosphere in the northern Cordillera, and Cordilleran asthenosphere overthrusting Wopmay lithosphere further south. Localized high-velocity features at sub-lithospheric depths beneath the Cordillera are interpreted as Farallon slab fragments, with the gap between these features indicating a slab window. A high-velocity feature in the lower lithosphere of the Slave province may be related to Proterozic or Archean subduction.