The Central Slave Basement Complex, Part I: its structural topology and autochthonous cover

New field and geochronological data are used to define the distribution of Mesoarchean basement rocks in the south-central Slave Province. This distri bution reflects a single contiguous basement terrane that we propose to cal l the Central Slave Basement Complex. It shows a structural topology that i s internally consistent and compatible with known regional folding and faul ting events. A sample of a proposed basement gneiss below the Courageous La ke greenstone belt, central Slave Province, has been dated by U-Pb methods and yields an age of 3325 +/- 8 Ma, consistent with the new basement distri bution. This sample also contains 2723 +/- 3 Ma metamorphic zircon and ca. 2680 Ma titanite. The Central Slave Basement Complex is overlain by a thin, discontinuous, but distinctive cover sequence that includes minor volcanic rocks, clastic sedimentary rocks, and banded iron formation. All previousl y known and some new occurrences of this distinctive cover sequence occur i n the immediate stratigraphic hanging wall of the Central Slave Basement Co mplex, locally overlying a preserved in situ unconformity. We propose to ca ll this post-2.93 Ga cover sequence the Central Slave Cover Group. It is pe rhaps best typified by detrital chromite-bearing, fuchsitic quartzites. For mal formation names are proposed for the spatially separate occurrences of the Central Slave Cover Group. Detrital zircon ages are presented for one o f the formations of the Central Slave Cover Group, the Patterson Lake Forma tion, which occurs on the western flank of a local basement culmination kno wn as the Sleepy Dragon Complex. The detrital zircon data provide evidence for two discrete basement sources dated at ca. 2943 Ma and ca. 3147-3160 Ma . These detrital ages reinforce the depositional link between the Central S lave Cover Group and underlying crystalline rocks of the Central Slave Base ment Complex.