| Title | Comparative study of the petrogenesis of excellent-quality carving stone from Korok Inlet, and southern Baffin Island, and the Belcher Islands, Nunavut |
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| Author | Timlick, L; Steenkamp, H M; Camacho, A |
| Source | Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office, Summary of Activities 2017, 2017 p. 129-138  Open Access |
| Links | Online - En ligne (pdf)
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| Image |  |
| Year | 2017 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20170260 |
| Publisher | Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Nunavut |
| NTS | 33M/11; 33M/12; 33M/13; 33M/14; 34D; 36B; 36C; 36F; 36G |
| Area | Qikiqtaaluk; Qullisajaniavvik; Baffin Island; Kangiqsukutaak; Korok Inlet; KIvalliq; Belcher Islands |
| Lat/Long WENS | -80.0000 -78.0000 57.0000 55.5000 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -78.0000 -74.0000 65.5000 64.0000 |
| Subjects | economic geology; igneous and metamorphic petrology; mineralogy; geochemistry; tectonics; Arts, Music, Literature; mineral deposits; carving stone, commodity; petrogenesis; resource estimation; mining;
quarries; bedrock geology; lithology; carbonates; serpentinites; structural features; faults; mineral assemblages; tectonic setting; metamorphism, contact; intrusions; alteration; hydrothermal alteration; electron probe analyses; whole rock analyses;
Costello Formation; Haig Intrusions; Lake Harbour Group; Indigenous culture; Inuit; Precambrian |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; photographs; photomicrographs |
| Program | Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office, Funding Program |
| Released | 2017 01 01 |
| Abstract | Carving stone is an economically and culturally valuable commodity to northern communities. Quarries in Nunavut are few, and the need to find new deposits and expand known sites has increased alongside
the demand for carving stone. To better understand the formational processes and identify new localities of carving stone in Nunavut, work was carried out on the petrology, mineralogy and geochemistry of samples obtained from two sites in the
Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut.
Carving stone from the main community quarry of Qullisajaniavvik is a dolomitic talc carbonate with the mineral assemblage dolomite+calcite+talc+chlorite±quartz. Formation of artisanal stone likely occurred through
contact metamorphism of Costello Formation carbonates by the Haig intrusions, with two distinct varieties identified based on the degree of alteration. There are three varieties of serpentinite used as carving stone from Kangiqsukutaak (Korok Inlet);
they comprise serpentine+magnetite±brucite±hydrotalcite±calcite. The serpentinites formed from hydrothermal alteration of either the Lake Harbour Group marble or calcsilicate. Despite their formational and compositional differences, carving stone
deposits in the Belcher Islands and Korok Inlet both contain excellent-quality carving stone, according to Inuit carvers, and yet are the products of unique geological histories. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Carving stone samples from two quarries in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut were examined for their mineral and chemical characteristics that could
increase the understanding of how these deposits form. Carving stone in the Belcher Islands formed when a body of magma under the Earth's surface pushed through the dolomite rocks of the Costello Formation, causing them to react and form a softer,
carvable rock. Carving stone from Korok Inlet, near Cape Dorset on Baffin Island, is a serpentinite rock that likely formed from the interaction of mineral-rich, hot fluids with marble or calcsilicate rocks. The carving stone samples examined from
these locations do not contain asbestos-like minerals. The Belcher Islands and Korok Inlet carving stone deposits both contain excellent-quality carving stone, according to Inuit carvers, and yet are the products of very different geological
histories. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 306181 |
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