Intrusive relationships between young and old Archaean gneisses: evidence from Ivisǎrtoq, southern West Greenland

Relict discordant relationships between the c.3000–2800 Ma old Nǔk granitic (s.l.) gneisses and the c.3700 Ma old Amǐtsoq gneisses of Ivisǎrtoq clearly indicate that the Nǔk gneisses originated as intrusive sheets and bosses. The older gneisses are preserved as continuous banded units which are injected by thin granitic dykes and sills and become progressively disrupted by increasing proportions of intrusive Nǔk granitic material until they occur merely as discrete xenoliths and enclaves dissemminated within a younger gneiss matrix. The Nǔk granites were emplaced into the cores of developing large scale folds within intercalated oceanic and ancient continental portions of the Archaean crust, previously interleaved by thrusting.