Geochemical discriminators and the palaeotectonic environment of the North Mountain basalts, Nova Scotia
The late Triassic – early Jurassic North Mountain basalts of Nova Scotia have been analyzed for various elements believed to be useful in determining the palaeotectonic environment of eruption. The discriminant diagrams show these basalts to have within-plate affinities, with a possible indication of oceanic chemical characteristics. An oceanic environment, however, is at variance with the field relations, which show the within-plate environment to be continental; thus the oceanic chemical characteristics may suggest eruption through a continental crust that was thinning prior to the onset of active sea-floor spreading later in the Jurassic.