Superior craton

E545865

craton stable continental core

The Superior craton is one of Earth’s largest and oldest stable continental cores, forming much of the ancient geological foundation of central and eastern Canada and parts of the northern United States.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Precambrian Shield	1
Superior Craton (older parts)	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	craton ⓘ stable continental core ⓘ
boundaryType	Proterozoic orogenic belts ⓘ
composedOf	Archean basement rocks ⓘ granite-greenstone terranes ⓘ high-grade gneiss complexes ⓘ
continent	North America ⓘ
exposedAs	Canadian Shield NERFINISHED ⓘ
formedBy	accretion of volcanic arcs ⓘ collision of microcontinents ⓘ crustal growth during the Neoarchean ⓘ
geologicalAge	Archean Eon NERFINISHED ⓘ Neoarchean ⓘ
hasPart	Abitibi greenstone belt NERFINISHED ⓘ Minnesota River Valley terrane NERFINISHED ⓘ Superior Province NERFINISHED ⓘ Uchi subprovince NERFINISHED ⓘ Wabigoon subprovince NERFINISHED ⓘ Wawa subprovince NERFINISHED ⓘ
knownFor	base metal deposits ⓘ large area of exposed Precambrian rocks ⓘ long-lived tectonic stability ⓘ major gold deposits ⓘ world-class greenstone belts ⓘ
locatedIn	Canada ⓘ United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States central Canada ⓘ eastern Canada ⓘ northern United States ⓘ
maximumAge	about 4.0 billion years ⓘ
minimumAge	about 2.5 billion years ⓘ
partOf	Laurentia NERFINISHED ⓘ North American craton NERFINISHED ⓘ
researchField	Precambrian geology ⓘ crustal evolution ⓘ
significance	one of Earth’s largest Archean cratons ⓘ records early continental growth processes ⓘ
tectonicSetting	shield area ⓘ
underlies	much of Ontario ⓘ much of Quebec ⓘ parts of Manitoba ⓘ parts of Michigan ⓘ parts of Minnesota ⓘ parts of North Dakota ⓘ parts of Nunavut ⓘ parts of Saskatchewan ⓘ parts of South Dakota ⓘ parts of Wisconsin ⓘ

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

French River delta → hasGeologicalContext → Superior craton ⓘ

this entity surface form: Precambrian Shield

Mesoarchean Era → hasRepresentativeCratons → Superior craton ⓘ

this entity surface form: Superior Craton (older parts)

Laurentia → includesRegion → Superior craton ⓘ