Metamorphism and deformation of the Grand Forks complex: implications for the exhumation history of the Shuswap core complex, southern British Columbia

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 1329-1363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel F. Cubley ◽  
David R.M. Pattison
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Greenschist Facies ◽  
Contact Metamorphism ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Core Complex ◽  
The West ◽  
Grand Forks ◽  
Exhumation History

The Grand Forks complex (GFC) is an elongate, north–south-trending metamorphic core complex in the Shuswap domain of southeastern British Columbia. It comprises predominantly upper-amphibolite- to granulite-facies paragneisses, schists, orthogneisses, amphibolites, and calc-silicates of the Paleoproterozoic to Paleozoic Grand Forks Group. The GFC is juxtaposed against low-grade rocks of the Quesnel terrane across two bounding Eocene normal faults: the Kettle River fault (KRF) on the east flank and the Granby fault (GF) on the west flank. Peak metamorphic Sil + Kfs ± Grt ± Crd (Sil, sillimanite; Kfs, potassium feldspar; Grt, garnet; Crd, cordierite) assemblages in paragneiss and Hbl ± Opx ± Cpx (Hbl, hornblende; Opx, orthopyroxene; Cpx, clinopyroxene) assemblages in amphibolite in the GFC formed at 750 ± 25 °C, 5.6 ± 0.5 kbar (1 kbar = 100 MPa; 20 ± 2 km depth). Stratigraphically overlying Sil + St-bearing pelitic schists (St, staurolite) within the complex record peak conditions of 600 ± 15 °C, 5.5 ± 0.25 kbar. Crd + Ilm + Spl (Crd, cordierite; Ilm, ilmenite; Spl, spinel) and Crd + Qtz (Qtz, quartz) coronal textures in paragneiss, and Cpx + Opx + Pl + Mt (Pl, plagioclase; Mt, magnetite) symplectites in amphibolite, formed at 735 ± 20 °C, 3.3 ± 0.5 kbar, indicating high-temperature, near-isothermal decompression of the GFC of ∼2.3 ± 0.7 kbar (∼8.2 ± 2.5 km) from peak conditions. Transitional greenschist–amphibolite metamorphic assemblages in the hanging wall of the KRF indicate conditions of ∼425 ± 25 °C and 2.2 ± 0.6 kbar (∼8 ± 2 km depth), with local contact metamorphism around Jurassic intrusions as high as 630–650 °C at ∼2.5 ± 0.5 kbar. The pressure contrast across the Kettle River fault prior to greenschist facies displacement was ∼0.8 ± 0.7 kbar, for a vertical offset of ∼2.9 ± 2.5 km. This is similar to estimates for the Granby fault on the west flank of the GFC. The GFC therefore experienced a two-stage exhumation history: early high-temperature decompression at upper-amphibolite- to granulite-facies conditions, followed by low-temperature exhumation at greenschist-facies conditions owing to movement on the Eocene Granby and Kettle River faults.

Factors influencing the distribution of Egregia menziesii (Phaeophyta, Laminariales) in British Columbia, Canada

1978 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1198-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. K. Gordon ◽  
R. E. DE Wreede
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Algal Flora ◽  
The West ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Strait Of Georgia ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Juan De Fuca

Egregia menziesii (Turner) Areschoug is a common component of the algal flora along the west coast of Vancouver Island, Queen Charlotte Strait, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca but is absent from the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia, Canada. This distribution pattern was found to be correlated with temperature and salinity in that E. menziesii is not present in areas where there are seasonal periods of low salinity and high temperature. To test this correlation, field transplants of sporophytes and laboratory experiments with sporophytes and culture work were carried out. The results suggest that the distribution of E. menziesii is limited by specific combinations of salinity and temperature; it requires high salinities and temperatures less than 15 °C for its survival.

P–T–t path for the lower plate of the Eocene Tatla Lake metamorphic core complex, southwestern Intermontane Belt, British Columbia

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 972-983 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Friedman
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Metamorphic Core Complex ◽  
Crustal Thickening ◽  
Lower Plate ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Core Complex ◽  
T Path ◽  
C 50 ◽  
Metamorphic Core

The Tatla Lake metamorphic complex (TLMC) is a metamorphic core complex located along the western edge of the Intermontane Belt in southwestern interior British Columbia. Low- to moderate-angle normal faults separate lower plate greenschist- and amphibolite-grade, highly strained, commonly mylonitic rocks from unstrained to weakly deformed strata of the upper plate. The lower plate is divided into a core of granoblastic gneiss and migmatitic tonalite and an overlying, 1–2.5+ km thick mylonitic package called the ductilely sheared assemblage (DSA). Amphibolite-grade metamorphism of the gneissic core (Mc) largely accompanied the development and folding of gneissic layering (ca. 107–79 Ma). Eocene (ca. 55–47 Ma) fabric and mineral assemblages in the DSA (Ms) obscure any earlier history. Three metamorphic zones are observed within southern DSA metapelites with increasing structural depth: chlorite–biotite, garnet–staurolite, and garnet–staurolite–kyanite–sillimanite. The middle zone is about 300 m thick; the latter zone is now about 4 km below low-grade upper plate rocks, indicating late- or post-Ds metamorphic omission. DSA P–T conditions are calculated with the garnet–biotite thermometer and garnet–Al2SiO5–quartz–plagioclase (GASP) and total Al in hornblende barometers. Southern DSA metapelites record Eocene Ms conditions of 480–619 °C (± 50 °C), generally increasing with depth. One sample gave a calculated P–T of 0.72 ± 0.15 GPa and 500 ± 50 °C. P–T data from this area suggest that up to 10 km of structural section may be missing. Zoned garnet (pre-Ds) core to rim GASP pressures of 0.70–0.36 ± 0.15 GPa, for an outcrop-sized pelitic xenolith within a Late Cretaceous tonalitic body (U–Pb: 71 Ma) in the northwestern DSA, record its ascent during pluton emplacement and subsequent Eocene tectonic uplift. A total Al in hornblende crystallization pressure of 0.54 ± 0.1 GPa was calculated for the surrounding body. Biotite and hornblende K–Ar dates of 53.4–45.6 Ma for DSA and gneissic core rocks record cooling of the lower plate through the 530–280 °C (± 40 °C) interval. Mc metamorphism in the gneissic core is thought to have developed in response to crustal thickening and compression, beneath a regional mid-Cretaceous thrust belt. Characteristics of Eocene Ms metamorphism in the DSA, such as truncated and thinned metamorphic zones, are consistent with development during extensional tectonic exhumation of the lower plate.

Geology of the western margin of the Grand Forks complex, southern British Columbia: high-grade Cretaceous metamorphism followed by early Tertiary extension on the Granby fault

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
J D Laberge ◽  
D RM Pattison
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Normal Displacement ◽  
Western Margin ◽  
Temperature Conditions ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Grand Forks

The Grand Forks complex, in the southern Omineca belt of British Columbia, is a fault-bounded tectonic window exposing Proterozoic sediments and associated mafic rocks metamorphosed to upper amphibolite to granulite facies. Its western margin is marked by the Granby fault, an Eocene west-dipping, low-angle, normal fault characterized by brittle deformation. The metasediments of the Grand Forks complex consist of migmatitic paragneiss containing a peak metamorphic assemblage of garnet + cordierite + sillimanite + K-feldspar ± biotite + quartz. Pressure–temperature conditions for this assemblage are 800 ± 35 °C and 5.8 ± 0.6 kbar (1 kbar = 100 MPa). Resorption of garnet to cordierite ± spinel suggests nearly isothermal decompression of about 2 kbar from peak conditions, interpreted to have occurred prior to normal displacement on the Granby fault. Laser ablation U–Pb dating of monazite from the metasediments suggests a dominant episode of Late Cretaceous metamorphism at 84 ± 3 Ma, with evidence for earlier episodes of Cretaceous metamorphism at 119 ± 3 and 104 ± 3 Ma. Early Tertiary recrystallization at 51 ± 2 Ma is coeval with the emplacement of the nearby Coryell plutonic suite. In the hanging wall of the Granby fault, allochthonous sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Quesnel terrane contain mineral assemblages indicative of the upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies. Pressure–temperature conditions are estimated at 425 ± 40 °C and 2.3 ± 0.7 kbar. The throw (vertical displacement) on the Eocene Granby fault is estimated to be on the order of 5 km. While significant, the fault cannot account for the entire amount of tectonic uplift of the core complex.

scholarly journals Low-grade retrogression of a high-temperature metamorphic core complex: Naxos, Cyclades, Greece

2016 ◽  
Vol 129 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 93-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuyun Cao ◽  
Franz Neubauer ◽  
Manfred Bernroider ◽  
Johann Genser ◽  
Junlai Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Metamorphic Core Complex ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Core Complex ◽  
Metamorphic Core

STRUCTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND PALEONTOLOGY OF AN UPPER TRIASSIC SECTION ON THE WEST COAST OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

1965 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 442-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Carlisle ◽  
Takeo Susuki
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Structural Information ◽  
Pillow Lava ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
Coast Range ◽  
Thermal Alteration ◽  
The West ◽  
Coastal British Columbia ◽  
Sedimentary Unit

The highly deformed section at Open Bay is one of the few good exposures of a thick sedimentary unit within the prebatholithic rocks along coastal British Columbia. It provides new structural information relating to emplacement of a part of the Coast Range batholith and it contains an important Upper Triassic fauna unusually well represented. Structural and paleontological analyses are mutually supporting and are purposely combined in one paper.Thirteen ammonite genera from 14 localities clearly substantiate McLearn's tentative assignment to the Tropites subbullatus zone (Upper Karnian) and suggest a restriction to the T. dilleri subzone as defined in northern California.Contrary to an earlier view, the beds are lithologically similar across the whole bay except for variations in the intensity of deformation and thermal alteration. Their contact with slightly older relatively undeformed flows is apparently a zone of dislocation. Stratigraphic thicknesses cannot be measured with confidence, and subdivision into "Marble Bay Formation" and "Open Bay Group" cannot be accepted. Open Bay Formation is redefined to include all the folded marble and interbedded pillow lava at Open Bay. Lithologic and biostratigraphic correlation is suggested with the lower middle part of the Quatsino Formation on Iron River, 24 miles to the southwest. Basalt flows and pillowed volcanics west of Open Bay are correlated with the Texada Formation within the Karmutsen Group.The predominant folding is shown to precede, accompany, and follow intrusion of numerous andesitic pods and to precede emplacement of quartz diorite of the batholith. Structural asymmetry is shown to have originated through gentle cross-folding and emplacement of minor intrusives during deformation.

scholarly journals Gitksan

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Brown ◽  
Henry Davis ◽  
Michael Schwan ◽  
Barbara Sennott
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
The South ◽  
The West ◽  
The North

Gitksan (git) is an Interior Tsimshianic language spoken in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is closely related to Nisga'a, and more distantly related to Coast Tsimshian and Southern Tsimshian. The specific dialect of Gitksan presented here is what can be called Eastern Gitksan, spoken in the villages of Kispiox (Ansbayaxw), Glen Vowell (Sigit'ox), and Hazelton (Git-an'maaxs), which contrasts with the Western dialects, spoken in the villages of Kitwanga (Gitwingax), Gitanyow (Git-anyaaw), and Kitseguecla (Gijigyukwhla). The primary phonological differences between the dialects are a lexical shift in vowels and the presence of stop lenition in the Eastern dialects. While there exists a dialect continuum, the primary cultural and political distinction drawn is between Eastern and Western Gitksan. For reference, Gitksan is bordered on the west by Nisga'a, in the south by Coast Tsimshian and Witsuwit'en, in the east by Dakelh and Sekani, and in the north by Tahltan (the latter four of these being Athabaskan languages).

The Lower Jurassic phosphorites of southeastern British Columbia and terrane accretion to western North America

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1612-1616 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. P. Poulton ◽  
J. D. Aitken
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Oceanic Crust ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Depositional Model ◽  
Western North America ◽  
The West ◽  
Terrane Accretion

Sinemurian phosphorites in southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta conform with the "West Coast type" phosphorite depositional model. The model indicates that they were deposited on or near the Early Jurassic western cratonic margin, next to a sea or trough from which cold water upwelled. This suggests that the allochthonous terrane Quesnellia lay well offshore in Sinemurian time. The sea separating Quesnellia from North America was partly floored by oceanic crust ("Eastern Terrane") and partly by a thick sequence of rifted, continental terrace wedge rocks comprising the Purcell Supergroup and overlying Paleozoic sequence. This sequence must have been depressed sufficiently that access of upwelling deep currents to the phosphorite depositional area was not impeded.

Paleomagnetism of the Triassic Nikolai Greenstone, McCarthy Quadrangle, Alaska

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2578-2592 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Hillhouse
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
North America ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
Present Position ◽  
Stable Component ◽  
South Central ◽  
Early Mesozoic ◽  
Lamellar Texture

Paleomagnetic evidence indicates that the extensive early Mesozoic basalt field near McCarthy, south-central Alaska, originated far south of its present position relative to North America. Results obtained from the Middle and (or) Upper Triassic Nikolai Greenstone suggest that those basalts originated within 15° of the paleoequator. This position is at least 27° (3000 km) south of the Upper Triassic latitude predicted for McCarthy on the basis of paleomagnetic data from continental North America. The Nikolai pole, as determined from 50 flows sampled at 5 sites, is at 2.2° N, 146.1° E (α95 = 4.8°). The polarity of the pole is ambiguous, because the corresponding magnetic direction has a low inclination and a westerly declination. Therefore, the Nikolai may have originated near 15° N latitude or, alternatively, as far south as 15° S latitude. In addition to being displaced northward, the Nikolai block has been rotated roughly 90° about the vertical axis. A measure of the reliability of this pole is provided by favorable results from the following tests: (1) Within one stratigraphic section, normal and reversed directions from consecutive flows are antipolar. (2) Consistent directions were obtained from sites 30 km apart. (3) Application of the fold test indicated the magnetization was acquired before the rocks were folded. (4) The magnetizations of several pilot specimens are thermally stable up to 550 °C. The stable component is probably carried by magnetite with lamellar texture, a primary feature commonly acquired by a basalt at high temperature during initial cooling of the magma. Geologic and paleomagnetic evidence indicates that the Nikolai is allochthonous to Alaska and that, together with associated formations in southern Alaska and British Columbia, it is part of a now disrupted equatorial terrane.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document