The Labrador Trough or the New Quebec Orogen is a 1600 km (994 mi) long and 160 km (99 mi) wide geologic belt in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, extending south-southeast from Ungava Bay

Ungava Bay

Ungava Bay is a large bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik from Baffin Island. The bay is shaped like a rounded square with a side length of about and has an area of approximately...

 through Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 and Labrador

Labrador

Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

.

The trough is a linear belt of sedimentary

Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....

 and volcanic rock

Volcanic rock

Volcanic rock is a rock formed from magma erupted from a volcano. In other words, it is an igneous rock of volcanic origin...

s which developed in an Early Proterozoic

Proterozoic

The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...

 rift basin. To the west is the Archean

Archean

The Archean , also spelled Archeozoic or Archæozoic) is a geologic eon before the Paleoproterozoic Era of the Proterozoic Eon, before 2.5 Ga ago. Instead of being based on stratigraphy, this date is defined chronometrically...

 Superior Craton

Superior craton

The Superior craton forms the core of the Canadian Shield at the heart of the North American continent. It extends from Quebec in the east to eastern Manitoba in the west...

. To the east are the rocks of the Archean Rae Craton

Rae craton

right|thumb|250px|North America cratons and basement rock.The Rae craton is an Archean craton located in northern Canada north of the Superior craton.-Ungava Peninsula:...

. The sedimentary rocks and volcanics of the Labrador Trough were intensely deformed and subjected to high grade metamorphism

Metamorphism

Metamorphism is the solid-state recrystallization of pre-existing rocks due to changes in physical and chemical conditions, primarily heat, pressure, and the introduction of chemically active fluids. Mineralogical, chemical and crystallographic changes can occur during this process...

 along with the Churchill terrain during the Trans-Hudson orogeny

Trans-Hudson orogeny

The Trans-Hudson orogeny, Trans-Hudsonian orogeny, Trans-Hudson orogen , or Trans-Hudson Orogen Transect , , was the major mountain building event that formed the Precambrian Canadian Shield, the North American craton , and the...

. It is a northeast extension of the Circum-Superior Belt

Circum-Superior Belt

The Circum-Superior Belt is a widespread Paleoproterozoic large igneous province in the Canadian Shield of Northern, Western and Eastern Canada. It extends more than from northeastern Manitoba through northwestern Ontario, southern Nunavut to northern Quebec...

 and is terminated to the south by the Grenville Front Tectonic Zone

Grenville Front Tectonic Zone

The Grenville Front Tectonic Zone is a geological feature in Eastern Canada that separates the Superior craton from rocks of the Grenville orogeny. It is a large tectonic zone of the Canadian Shield, extending from the northern shore of Lake Huron through Ontario and Quebec to Labrador, a distance...

.

Radiometric dates

Radiometric dating

Radiometric dating is a technique used to date materials such as rocks, usually based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates...

 of 1883-1870 Ma are reported for mafic

Mafic

Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or rock that is rich in magnesium and iron; the term is a portmanteau of the words "magnesium" and "ferric". Most mafic minerals are dark in color and the relative density is greater than 3. Common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine,...

, ultramafic, carbonatite

Carbonatite

Carbonatites are intrusive or extrusive igneous rocks defined by mineralogic composition consisting of greater than 50 percent carbonate minerals. Carbonatites may be confused with marble, and may require geochemical verification....

 and lamprophyre

Lamprophyre

Lamprophyres are uncommon, small volume ultrapotassic igneous rocks primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks and small intrusions...

 intrusions within the Trough.

It is a large iron ore belt developed on banded iron formation

Banded iron formation

Banded iron formations are distinctive units of sedimentary rock that are almost always of Precambrian age. A typical BIF consists of repeated, thin layers of iron oxides, either magnetite or hematite , alternating with bands of iron-poor shale and chert...

s and has had mining operations since 1954.

At least two large magmatic events occurred in the Labrador Though. The first event 2,170 million years ago engulfed an area of 30000 square kilometre and the second 1,880 million years ago covered a similar area of 30000 square kilometre.