Huronian glaciation and polar wander from the Gowganda Formation, Ontario

The paleomagnetism of sedimentary rocks from the Huronian Gowganda Formation was studied for 16 sites near Elliot Lake, Ontario, in the Southern Geologic province. The rocks retain a stable remanence acquired during diagenesis some 2.29 b.y. ago. The calculated paleolatitude of 62° favors a polar glacial till mode of deposition for the thick tillite members, rather than a subpolar periglacial dropstone mode. The Gowganda pole at lat 65°N, long 123°W (d_p</em> = 10.6°; d_m</em> = 11.7°) indicates that either the ice cap was much larger than now thought or the Bear and Slave provinces were separated from the Churchill, Superior, and Southern provinces in Paleoaphebian time. The pole also requires a radical change in previously published Paleoaphebian polar wander paths.