Temagami Greenstone Belt shear throughout the Link Lake Deformation Zone. These dark compressed pyroclastics have been interpreted to be pumice. Some of the subsequence pyroclastic deposits contain fragments of pyrite and quartz, suggesting that discharged sulfide hydrothermal activity took place throughout the volcanic source area. Resedimented felsic, epiclastic and turbiditic sediments compose the Turtle Lake Formation. The base of this formation consists of a heterolithic, volcaniclastic, matrix-supported conglomerate unit that overlies felsic lava flows and pillowed, calc-alkaline basalts of the Link Lake Formation. Many rounded to subangular felsic and mafic volcanic fragments are known to occur in the unit, as well as rare
Altiplano–Puna volcanic complex layer containing melts reaching down to the Moho that inhibits the ascent of mafic magmas because of its higher buoyancy. Instead, melts generated in this zone eventually reach the surface, generating felsic volcanism. Some mafic magmas escape sideward after stalling in the melt containing zone; these generate more mafic volcanic systems at the edge of the felsic volcanism, such as Cerro Bitiche. The magmas are mixtures of crust derived and mafic mantle-derived melts with a consistent petrological and chemical signature. The melt generation process may involve several different layers in the crust. Another model requires the intrusion of basaltic melts