Geology of the Northwest Territories province from dikes and mafic lava flows, overlain by deep ocean turbidite deposits. These rocks are believed to be the remains of oceanic crust that ended up preserved, surrounded on all sides by felsic volcanic rocks and granitoid plutons. In the area of Snofleld Lake in the northern part of the Slave Province, the remains of Archean stromatolites are preserved in a dolomite unit between felsic volcanic and greywacke-mudstone turbidites, some of the earliest evidence of life, forming in the shallows around volcanic islands. Around 1.27 billion years ago in the Proterozoic, a series of major magmatic events affected the
Felsic although sometimes used as a synonym, refers to a high-silica-content (greater than 63% SiO by weight) volcanic rock, such as rhyolite. The term was used more broadly in older geologic literature. It is considered archaic now, as the terms "acidic" and "basic rock" were based on an incorrect idea, dating from the 19th century, that "silicic acid" was the chief form of silicon occurring in rocks. The term "felsic" combines the words "feldspar" and "silica". The similarity of the term "felsic" to the German words "Fels", meaning "rock", and "felsig", meaning "rocky", is purely accidental, as "feldspar" is a borrowing