Gneissic Alkalic Rocks and Carbonatites in the Frenchman's Cap Gneiss Dome, Shuswap Complex, British Columbia

1974 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. McMillan ◽  
J. M. Moore Jr.

Frenchman's Cap dome is one of a series of gneiss domes along the eastern border of the high-grade Shuswap metamorphic complex. The granitic gneisses which compose the core of the dome are enclosed in an envelope of metasedimentary rocks.Before Shuswap metamorphism and deformation, the rocks of the sedimentary envelope were intruded by concordant bodies of alkalic rocks and carbonatite. Other carbonatite bodies appear to have formed at or extruded onto the surface. It is not certain whether these are exhalative sedimentary deposits, lava flows, or pyroclastic deposits.Criteria which can be used to distinguish igneous alkalic rocks from those of metasomatic origin were almost entirely destroyed by regional metamorphism. A few relict igneous textures show that at least some of the alkalic gneisses are of igneous origin.

1969 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1199-1209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Fox ◽  
John M. Moore Jr.

Adamant pluton is a zoned body of igneous origin, with a core of pyroxene monzonite transitional outward to hornblende quartz monzonite and biotite-hornblende granodiorite. On chemical and textural evidence, the lithologic zoning resulted from reaction with introduced water and oxygen during regional metamorphism to upper amphibolite facies. Feldspars in the monzonite are orthoclase and andesine of intermediate structural state. During transformation of the pluton, systematic changes in the feldspars comprised: (1) ordering of alkali feldspars toward intermediate microcline, with increase of 2V, decrease of Na and Ca content, and appearance of grid twins; (2) ordering and increase in Na content of plagioclase. The most ordered feldspars, with highest Na distribution coefficient, are found in peripheral granodiorite and in pegmatite cutting the quartz monzonite. The feldspar data support the model proposed for the evolution of the pluton, indicating approach to equilibrium in the peripheral rocks at lower temperatures than that attendant to the formation of the core.


1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 326-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Wanless ◽  
J. E. Reesor

Pb-U age determinations carried out on zircon from granodiorite gneiss of the core zone of Thor-Odin gneiss dome have provided isotopic evidence for involvement of Proterozoic basement rocks in the Mesozoic structures of the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex. The study has revealed that the zircons originally crystallized [Formula: see text] ago and suffered an episodic loss of lead [Formula: see text] ago.


2003 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 1015-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Mouri ◽  
M. A. G. Andreoli ◽  
J. R. Kienast ◽  
M. Guiraud ◽  
S. A. De Waal

AbstractWe report in this paper the first occurrence of the rare assemblage corundum + quartz in the high-grade metamorphic zone in the core of the Namaqualand Metamorphic Complex (NMC) (South Africa). The magnetite-bearing rocks hosting the corundum-quartz assemblage are very rare, and occur discontinuous bands a few cm wide, associated with diorite, tonalite and anorthosite within quartzfeldspar ± sillimanite ± biotite ± spinel supracrustal rocks extensively intruded by a foliated granite gneiss. The magnetite-bearing rocks are characterized by the presence of abundant crystals of magnetite together with ilmenite, spinel and large (∽1 cm in diameter) euhedral crystals of corundum both displaying a sharp contact with magnetite and quartz. However, in some micro-domains, spinel and quartz, as well as corundum and quartz, are separated by a thin corona of sillimanite with or without magnetite. These textural features suggest that the following reactions have taken place: quartz + corundum → sillimanite, and quartz + spinel + O2 → sillimanite + magnetite. These reactions are interpreted as occurring at higher, as yet unknown, P-T conditions than previously estimated for the NMC. Whether corundum and quartz were once in equilibrium is worth investigating, as it could constitute a geothermobarometric assemblage for ultra-high T granulites.


1972 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1447-1454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Gilman

The nature of the Clachnacudainn Salient of the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex has been investigated in the vicinity of Albert Canyon, British Columbia. A concordant, folded sheet of granodiorite to quartz–diorite gneiss lying between two contrasting panels of metasedimentary rocks is exposed along the Illecillewaet Valley between Albert Canyon and Revelstoke. The lower panel, consisting predominantly of quartzo–feldspathic schist, is exposed in the Woolsey Creek Window in the core of the Lauretta Dome, and in an adjacent antiform at Clachnacudainn Creek. The upper panel, comprised in part of quartzo–feldspathic schist and migmatite, contains, in addition, thick beds of white marble and white or light gray quartzite. Marble and quartzite of the upper panel are correlated with the Badshot limestone and the Hamill quartzite found east of Albert Canyon in the Selkirk Mountains. Within the granodiorite gneiss, axes of broad open folds trend northwest–southeast as do the mineral lineations. Folding within the metasediments is complex and has not been resolved into a systematic pattern. Crosscutting bodies of diorite, granite, and pegmatite are abundant in many parts of the area, cutting both the granodiorite gneiss and the metasedimentary rocks.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (11) ◽  
pp. 1570-1582 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Crowley ◽  
E. D. Ghent ◽  
R. L. Brown

New and previously published metamorphic data suggest that the Clachnacudainn terrane of the southern Omineca Belt has tectonic affinities with the overlying Selkirk allochthon, rather than the underlying Shuswap metamorphic complex. This interpretation is based on relationships between metamorphic minerals and deformation phases, plutons, and the upper boundary of the terrane, the Standfast Creek fault. Regional kyanite and staurolite zones in the structurally lowest part of the terrane are overlain by a garnet zone that is continuous upward across the Standfast Creek fault into the Selkirk allochthon. This metamorphism is inferred to be Jurassic age based mainly on the continuity of these zones with those of known age in the allochthon. Textural relationships show that metamorphism occurred at different times relative to deformation across the terrane. Thermobarometry and a petrogenetic grid indicate that the terrane attained lower to middle amphibolitc facies conditions. Sillimanite and andalusite zones in the contact aureoles of posttectonic mid-Cretaceous plutons overprint the regional metamorphic zones and the Standfast Creek fault. Comparison of estimated pressures shows that approximately 5–10 km of exhumation occurred between regional and contact metamorphism. These metamorphic data are interpreted to indicate that the Standfast Creek fault had minor displacement after regional metamorphism and negligible displacement after contact metamorphism. Therefore, the fault cannot be an Eocene ductile to ductile–brittle shear zone that appressed or omitted metamorphic isograds and rapidly exhumed the Clachnacudainn terrane in its footwall, as was previously proposed.


1999 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 917-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Vanderhaeghe ◽  
Christian Teyssier ◽  
Richard Wysoczanski

At the latitude of the Thor-Odin dome, the Shuswap metamorphic core complex exposes a ~15 km thick structural section composed of an upper unit that preserved Mesozoic metamorphism, structures, and cooling ages, separated from the underlying high-grade rocks by low-angle detachment zones. Below the detachments, the core of the complex consists of an amphibolite-facies middle unit overlying a migmatitic lower unit exposed in the core of the Thor-Odin dome. Combined structural and super high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) U-Pb geochronology studies indicate that the pervasive shallowly dipping foliation and east-west lineation developed in the presence of melt during Paleocene time. SHRIMP analyses of complexly zoned zircon grains suggest that the migmatites of the lower unit crystallized at ~56 Ma, and a syntectonic leucogranite at ~60 Ma. We suggest that leucogranite migrated upward from the migmatites through an array of dikes and sills that permeated the middle unit and ponded to form laccoliths spatially related to the detachment zones. The similarity in ages of inherited zircon cores in the two migmatite and the leucogranite samples suggests a genetic link consistent with the structural analysis. Following the crystallization of migmatites, the terrane cooled rapidly, as indicated by argon thermochronology. We propose that exhumation of the core of the Canadian Cordillera during the formation of the Shuswap metamorphic core complex occurred from ~60 to 56 Ma at a time when the crust was significantly partially molten. These structural and temporal relationships suggest a genetic link between mechanical weakening of the crust by partial melting, late-orogenic collapse, and exhumation of high-grade rocks in the hinterland of a thermally mature orogenic belt.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
S. S. Baig ◽  
C. Xue ◽  
Masroor Alam ◽  
Naeem Ullah ◽  
M. Alam ◽  
...  

The Karakoram metamorphic Complex (KMC) in the southern Karakoram block is one of the best examples of Barrovian type metamorphism that comprises numerous exhumed metapelite units where a series of low to high grade (green schist to sillimanite facie) rocks are exposed. This sequence shows a complex polyphase history of metamorphism and deformation which offer deeper understanding of collision orogeny. Karakoram metamorphic Complex contains metapelites, meta-carbonates, meta-igneous and amphibolite layers, cross-cut by granite sheets in the northern part. This complex is bounded to the north by the Hunza plutonic unit which is the central portion of the massive east-west trending Karakoram axial batholith and to the southwest by the Main Karakoram thrust (MKT). In this contribution, we provide detail geological mapping, petrography, geochemistry and micro-analytical work using Electron Prob-micro analysis in the central Hunza Valley.


2021 ◽  
pp. 32-44
Author(s):  
Alexander Tolstov ◽  
Vladimir Cherenkov ◽  
Leonid Baranov

The northeastern Siberian platform (Republic of Sakha, Yakutia) hosts the Udzhinskaya province of alkaline ultrabasic massifs with carbonatites as final phases of magmatic system evolution; they form i ts central carbonatite core and are characterized by elevated Fe, Al and P concentrations. They also contain a complex of rare and rare-earth elements. Crust of laterite weathering of up to 400 m thick is present within the massifs. Phosphate, Nb, Y, Sc and TR content in crust of carbonatite weathering is much higher compared to unaltered rock differences. Their maximum values are in the sequence of specific sedimentary deposits f ormed a s denudation products of ore-bearing carbonatite crust precipitated in minor lake depressions and due to their intensive chemogenic transformation in hot humid climate. They are unique high-grade ores, with no world analogs in terms of mineral potential. Sometimes, these rocks are their natural concentrates averaging (in weight %) 7,21 Nb2O5, 0,578 Y2O3, 0,045 Sc2O3 and 10,16 TR2O3. The rocks composing the ore-bearing sequence show distinct evidence of sedimentary genesis: well-pronounced layered texture and facial zoning, presence of carbonized vegetable detrite and bacteriomorphic aggregates. Therefore, it is reasonable to regard a set of these formations as an independent stratigraphic unit, Tomtor sequence. Geological data suggest that it formed 340-280 Ma. Tomtor sequence can be an important prospecting criteria in prospecting for rare and rare-earth elements.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document