Petrology and geochemistry of the Kamloops Group volcanics, British Columbia

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1478-1491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Ewing
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
South Central ◽  
High K ◽  
Petrology And Geochemistry

The Kamloops Group is an alkali-rich calc-alkaline volcanic suite of Early to Middle Eocene age, widespread in south-central British Columbia. Rock types in the suite range from high-K basalt through andesite to rhyolite. The suite is characterized by relatively high K2O, Sr, and Ba, but low Zr, Ti, and Ni concentrations, only moderate Ce enrichment, and little or no Fe enrichment. Initial ratios 87Sr/86Sr are about 0.7040 in the western half, and about 0.7060 in the eastern half of the study area. No difference in chemistry or mineralogy marks this sharp transition. Chemically similar suites include the Absaroka–Gallatin suite in Wyoming and the lower San Juan (Summer Coon) suite in Colorado. The content of K2O at 60% SiO2 increases regularly eastward across southern British Columbia. The chemical data support the subduction-related continental arc origin of the Kamloops Group volcanics.The volcanic rocks consist in the main of augite–pigeonite andesites ranging from 52 to 62% silica, with subordinate quantities of olivine–augite–pigeonite basalt and biotite rhyodacite and rhyolite. The andesites and basalts were derived by a combination of low-pressure fractional crystallization, higher pressure fractional crystallization, and variable parental magmas, whereas low-pressure fractional crystallization of plagioclase, biotite, and apatite from parental basalt and andesite produced the rhyolites. The parental magmas were basalts and basaltic andesites with high K, Sr, and Ba. The primary source of these magmas is inferred to have been an alkali-enriched hydrous peridotite with neither plagioclase nor garnet present in the residuum.

Regional stratigraphy and structural setting of the Kamloops Group, south-central British Columbia

1981 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1464-1477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Ewing
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Basaltic Andesite ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Fault Movement ◽  
South Central ◽  
Type Area ◽  
Slip Displacement ◽  
Fault Network

The Kamloops Group is redefined as an assemblage of Lower to Middle Eocene volcanic and sedimentary rocks widespread in south-central British Columbia. In the type area west of Kamloops, the basal Tranquille Formation consists of 500 m of lacustrine and deltaic sediments, pillowed flows, and hyaloclastites. Elsewhere, basal coal-bearing nonvolcanic fluvial and lacustrine units occur, such as the Coldwater Formation at Merritt, the Chu Chua Formation at Barriere, and the Shorts Creek Formation west of Vernon. Overlying these formations are dominantly volcanic units. At the type area, the Dewdrop Flats Formation includes over 1000 m of interstratified basaltic andesite flows, andesitic flow-breccia sheets and cones, basaltic tuff rings, and an andesitic composite cone. Elsewhere, flat-lying basaltic andesite flows about 600 m thick with local flow breccias are common.The basal sediments accumulated in separate fault-bounded basins initiated immediately before the onset of volcanism. These volcanic rocks filled the basin and formed a widespread volcanic blanket, which was disrupted by continued fault movement. The numerous basins are linked by a throughgoing fault network with up to 12 km of net right-lateral strike-slip displacement.

Petrology and geochemistry of Cambrian volcanic rocks from the Avalon Zone in New Brunswick

1985 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Greenough ◽  
S. R. McCutcheon ◽  
V. S. Papezik
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Trace Element Geochemistry ◽  
Element Geochemistry ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
Mafic Rocks ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Petrology And Geochemistry ◽  
Eastern Seaboard ◽  
Highly Evolved

Lower to Middle Cambrian volcanic rocks occur within the Avalon Zone of southern New Brunswick at Beaver Harbour and in the Long Reach area. The Beaver Harbour rocks are intensely altered, but the major- and trace-element geochemistry indicates that they could be highly evolved (basaltic andesites) within-plate basalts. The mafic flows from the Long Reach area form two chemically and petrologically distinct groups: (1) basalts with feldspar phenocrysts that represent evolved continental tholeiites with some oceanic characteristics; and (2) a group of aphyric basalts showing extremely primitive continental tholeiite compositions, also with oceanic affinities and resembling some rift-related Jurassic basalts on the eastern seaboard. Felsic pyroclastic rocks in the Long Reach area make the suite bimodal. This distribution of rock types supports conclusions from the mafic rocks that the area experienced tension throughout the Early to Middle Cambrian.

Origin of the Tulameen ultramafic-gabbro complex, southern British Columbia

1969 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Findlay
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Age Determination ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
Ultramafic Rocks ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Gabbroic Intrusion

The Tulameen Complex is a composite ultramafic-gabbroic intrusion that outcrops over 22 sq. mi. (57 km2) in the Southern Cordillera of British Columbia. The complex intruded Upper Triassic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Nicola Group, and on the basis of geologic relations and a K–Ar age determination (186 m.y.) is tentatively dated as Late Triassic.The principal ultramafic units — dunite, olivine clinopyroxenite, and hornblende clinopyroxenite — form an elongate, non-stratiform body whose irregular internal structure is best explained by deformation contemporaneous with crystallization of the rocks. The derivation of the ultramafic rocks is attributed to fractional crystallization of an ultrabasic magma. The gabbroic mass, which consists of syenogabbro and syenodiorite, partly borders and partly overlies the ultramafic body and was apparently intruded by it.The ultramafic and gabbroic parts of the complex probably formed from separate intrusions of different magmas, but the two suites have sufficient mineralogical and chemical features in common to indicate an ultimate petrogenic affinity of the magmas. Comparison of the Tulameen rocks with nearby intrusions of the same general age, in particular the Copper Mountain stock, suggests that they are members of a regional suite of alkalic intrusions. The possibility is also raised that these intrusions may be comagmatic with the Nicola volcanic rocks.

Eocene Challis-Kamloops volcanism in central British Columbia: an example from the Buck Creek basin

1998 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 951-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Dostal ◽  
D A Robichaud ◽  
B N Church ◽  
P H Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Rare Earth ◽  
Rare Earth Element ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Earth Element ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
The United States ◽  
Calc Alkaline ◽  
Heavy Rare Earth Element

Eocene volcanic rocks of the Buck Creek basin in central British Columbia are part of the Challis-Kamloops volcanic belt extending from the United States across British Columbia to central Yukon. The volcanic rocks include two units, the Buck Creek Formation, composed of high-K calc-alkaline rocks with predominant andesitic composition, and the overlying Swans Lake unit made up of intraplate tholeiitic basalts. Whole rock 40Ar/39Ar data for both units show that they were emplaced at 50 Ma. They have similar mantle-normalized trace element patterns characterized by a large-ion lithophile element enrichment and Nb-Ta depletion, similar chondrite-normalized rare earth element patterns with (La/Yb)n ~4-14 and heavy rare earth element fractionation, and overlapping epsilonNd values (2.4-3.1) and initial Sr-isotope ratios ( ~ 0.704). These features suggest derivation of these two units from a similar mantle source, probably garnet-bearing subcontinental lithosphere. The differences between tholeiitic and calc-alkaline suites can be due, in part, to differences in the depth of fractional crystallization and the crystallizing mineral assemblage. Fractional crystallization of the calc-alkaline magmas began at a greater (mid-crustal) depth and included fractionation of Fe-Ti oxides. The volcanic rocks are probably related to subduction of the Farallon plate under the North American continent in a regime characterized by transcurrent movements and strike-slip faulting.

scholarly journals An Eocene brontothere and tillodonts (Mammalia) from British Columbia, and their paleoenvironments

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (9) ◽  
pp. 981-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaelyn J. Eberle ◽  
David R. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Forested Landscapes ◽  
Radiometric Ages ◽  
Age Range

We describe Eocene fossils of the tillodont Trogosus from the Allenby Formation in Princeton, British Columbia (B.C.), as well as teeth of Brontotheriina from the lower Australian Creek Formation near Quesnel, B.C. These fossils represent the only occurrence of Tillodontia and Brontotheriidae in B.C. Further, the presence of the largest species of Trogosus — T. latidens — as well as a smaller species identified only as Trogosus sp. supports a late early – early middle Eocene (Bridgerian) age for the Vermilion Bluffs Shale of the Allenby Formation. Based on their morphology and large size, the teeth referred here to Brontotheriina represent one of the larger, more derived brontothere genera, and suggest a Uintan–Chadronian (middle–late Eocene) age range for the lower Australian Creek Formation that is consistent with radiometric ages of underlying volcanic rocks. Paleobotanical data from sediments correlative to those that produced these Eocene mammal fossils suggest they inhabited forested landscapes interspersed with swamps and open water environments, under mild and wet temperate climates (mean annual temperature (MAT) ∼10–16 °C; cold month mean temperature (CMMT) −4–4 °C; mean annual precipitation (MAP) >100 cm/year). These mixed conifer–broadleaf forests included tree genera typical of modern eastern North American forests (e.g., Tsuga, Acer, Fagus, and Sassafras), together with genera today restricted to east Asia (e.g., Metasequoia, Cercidiphyllum, Dipteronia, and Pterocarya). The paleobotanical evidence is consistent with the hypothesized habitats of both tillodonts and brontotheres.

Interpretation of structures in the southeastern Nechako Basin, British Columbia, from seismic reflection, well log, and potential field data1This article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme of New insights in Cordilleran Intermontane geoscience: reducing exploration risk in the mountain pine beetle-affected area, British Columbia.2Geological Survey of Canada Contribution 20100002.

2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1000-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Hayward ◽  
Andrew J. Calvert
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Potential Field ◽  
Seismic Reflection ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Tectonic Setting ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Strike Slip ◽  
Potential Field Data ◽  
The North

The structure and stratigraphy of the southeast Nechako Basin, which are poorly understood primarily because of substantial volcanic cover, are investigated in an analysis of seismic reflection, well, and potential field data. Formation and development of the SE Nechako Basin resulted in sub-basins containing Cretaceous and Eocene rocks. Interpretation reveals that dextral transtension in the Early to Middle Eocene created NNW-trending, en echelon, strike-slip faults linked by pull-apart basins, which locally contain a thickness of Eocene volcaniclastic rocks of >3 km. This structural pattern is consistent with regional observations that suggest the transfer of slip from the Yalakom fault to the north via a series of en echelon strike-slip faults. In the Middle to Late Eocene, faults associated with a change in the direction of stress, echoed by the north-trending right-lateral Fraser fault, reactivated and cut earlier structures. A simple model agrees with local observations, that northeast-directed compression was subparallel to the relic Cretaceous grain. Cretaceous rocks are discontinuous throughout the basin and may be remnants of a broader basin, or a number of contemporaneous basins, formed in a regional transpressional tectonic setting that caused northeast-directed thrusting along the eastern side of the Coast Plutonic Complex. Results suggest that thrusting affected most of the SE Nechako Basin, as observed across the Intermontane Belt to the northwest and southeast. The pattern of deposition of Neogene volcanic rocks of the Chilcotin Group was in part controlled by the Eocene structural grain, but we find no evidence of Neogene deformation.

The Petrology of the Tarosero Volcanic Complex: Constraints on the formation of extrusive agpaitic rocks

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Braunger ◽  
M A W Marks ◽  
T Wenzel ◽  
A N Zaitsev ◽  
G Markl
Keyword(s):  
Trace Element ◽  
Water Activity ◽  
Fractional Crystallization ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Alkali Feldspar ◽  
High Water ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Volcanic Complex ◽  
Rock Types

Abstract The Quaternary Tarosero volcano is situated in the East African Rift of northern Tanzania and mainly consists of trachyte lavas and some trachytic tuffs. In addition, there are minor occurrences of extrusive basalts, andesites, latites, as well as peralkaline trachytes, olivine trachytes and phonolites. Some of the peralkaline phonolites contain interstitial eudialyte, making Tarosero one of the few known occurrences for extrusive agpaitic rocks. This study investigates the genetic relationships between the various rock types and focuses on the peculiar formation conditions of the extrusive agpaitic rocks using a combination of whole-rock geochemistry, mineral chemistry, petrography, thermodynamic calculations, as well as major and trace element modelling. The Tarosero rocks formed at redox conditions around or below the fayalite-magnetite-quartz buffer (FMQ). During multi-level magmatic fractionation at depths between ∼40 km and the shallow crust, temperature decreased from > 1100 °C at near-liquidus conditions in the basalts to ∼ 700 °C in the peralkaline residue. Fractional crystallization models and trace element characteristics do not indicate a simple genetic relationship between the trachytes and the other rock types at Tarosero. However, the genetic relationships between the primitive basalts and the intermediate latites can be explained by high pressure fractional crystallization of olivine + clinopyroxene + magnetite + plagioclase + apatite. Further fractionation of these mineral phases in addition to amphibole and minor ilmenite led to the evolution towards the peralkaline trachytes and phonolites. The eudialyte-bearing varieties of the peralkaline phonolites required additional low-pressure fractionation of alkali feldspar and minor magnetite, amphibole and apatite. In contrast to the peralkaline trachytes and phonolites, the peralkaline olivine trachytes contain olivine instead of amphibole, thus indicating a magma evolution at even lower pressure conditions. They can be modelled as a derivation from the latites by fractional crystallization of plagioclase, clinopyroxene, magnetite and olivine. In general, agpaitic magmas evolve under closed system conditions which impedes the escape of volatile phases. In case of the extrusive agpaitic rocks at Tarosero, the early exsolution of fluids and halogens was prevented by a low water activity. This resulted in high concentrations of Rare Earth Elements (REE) and other High Field Strength Elements (HFSE) and the formation of eudialyte in the most evolved peralkaline phonolites. Within the peralkaline rock suite, the peralkaline olivine trachytes contain the lowest HFSE and REE concentrations, consistent with mineralogical evidence for a formation at a relatively high water activity. The lack of amphibole fractionation, which can act as a water buffer of the melt, as well as the evolution at relatively low pressure conditions caused the early exsolution of fluids and loss of water-soluble elements. This prevented a strong enrichment of HFSE and REE before the magma finally extruded.

Northward motion of the Whitehorse Trough: paleomagnetic evidence from the Upper Cretaceous Carmacks Group

1988 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 2005-2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Marquis ◽  
Brian R. Globerman
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Andesitic Lava ◽  
Western Cordillera ◽  
Kinematic Models ◽  
Volcaniclastic Deposits

The Upper Cretaceous Carmacks Group (70.4 ± 2.4 Ma) comprises gently dipping basaltic and andesitic lava flows overlying volcaniclastic deposits of the Intermontane Belt in the Whitehorse Trough. The sampling area is in southern Yukon and northern British Columbia; it lies west of the Tintina – Northern Rocky Mountain Trench fault and Teslin Suture Zone and east of the Denali – Shakwak fault. Volcanic sections were sampled in three regions spread over 300 km, providing the first paleomagnetic data from pre-Tertiary volcanic rocks in the northern Canadian Cordillera. Alternating-field and thermal demagnetization revealed stable magnetization for 18 of the 27 sites collected. The overall mean direction (D = 166.7°, I = −71.4°, k = 53, α95 = 4.8°, N = 18 sites) is pre-folding and is most probably primary (latest Cretaceous). This gives a paleopole at 109.4°E, 82.1°N, K = 21, A95 = 7.8°. A critical evaluation of North American cratonic data yields a reference paleopole for the latest Cretaceous at 185.8°E, 77.7°N, A95 = 7.7°, implying 13.4 ± 8.5 °(1500 ± 950 km) northward displacement and 10.2 ± 20.7 °(not significant) clockwise rotation of the Whitehorse Trough. The displacement occurred between 70.4 ± 2.4 and 59 – 54 Ma, the "docking" time suggested by other paleomagnetic studies in Alaska. The amount and timing of this displacement are consistent with Gabrielse's estimate of cumulative dextral displacements along the Northern Rocky Mountain Trench fault and associated lineaments. As expected, it is intermediate between the low paleolatitudes observed from middle Cretaceous rocks and the concordant paleolatitudes observed in Middle Eocene rocks of the Western Cordillera farther south, in British Columbia and in northern Washington. The estimated displacement is consistent with those predicted by kinematic models of Engebretson and Umhoefer based on North Pacific Basin plate motions.

Age and Correlation of the Kobau Group, Mount Kobau, British Columbia

1973 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1508-1518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew V. Okulitch
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
South Central ◽  
Shuswap Metamorphic Complex ◽  
Basic Volcanic ◽  
Devonian Age ◽  
Tertiary Period ◽  
Okanagan Valley

The Kobau Group, found in south-central British Columbia, consists of highly deformed, low-grade metamorphic rocks derived from a succession of sedimentary and basic volcanic rocks of pre-Cretaceous, likely post-Devonian age. Deformation began in Carboniferous times and recurred with decreasing intensity up to the Tertiary Period. Possible correlative successions are found surrounding Mount Kobau. These include possibly late Paleozoic formations west and northwest of Mount Kobau, the Carboniferous to Permian Anarchist Group found south of the 49th parallel and east of the Okanagan Valley, the pre-Upper Triassic, possibly Mississippian Chapperon Group west of Vernon, and parts of the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex east of the Okanagan Valley. Prior to deposition of the Kobau Group, part of the Shuswap Complex was subjected to deformation, presumably in mid-Paleozoic time.

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