scholarly journals Stratigraphic affinity of Upper Cretaceous volcanic rocks in the Churn Creek-Gang Ranch area, south-central British Columbia

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
M L Haskin ◽  
J B Mahoney ◽  
R J Enkin ◽  
P S Mustard ◽  
C J Hickson
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
South Central

The conglomerate of Churn Creek: Late Cretaceous basin evolution along the Insular–Intermontane superterrane boundary, southern British Columbia

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-73
Author(s):  
J W Riesterer ◽  
J Brian Mahoney ◽  
Paul Karl Link
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Clastic Rocks ◽  
South Central ◽  
Lower Member ◽  
Volcanic Source ◽  
Braided Stream ◽  
Bridge Group

Upper Cretaceous coarse clastic rocks exposed in the canyon of Churn Creek, south-central British Columbia, record active basin tectonism and coeval volcanism adjacent to the boundary between the Intermontane and Insular superterranes. Mid to late Albian (~104 Ma U–Pb), calc-alkaline andesite and basaltic andesite flows, with minor conglomerate and reworked epiclastic deposits and tuffs correlative with the Spences Bridge Group of the Intermontane superterrane are exposed in the canyon. In depositional contact above the volcanic rocks is the conglomerate of Churn Creek, which contains a thick (>1 km) sequence of complexly intertonguing conglomerate and sandstone that is divided into two members composed of four lithofacies. The lower member was deposited unconformably on the underlying Albian volcanic unit and contains late Albian–Cenomanian chert-pebble (>50% chert) conglomerate and interbedded chert- and volcanic-lithic sandstone. It is interpreted to have been deposited in a braided stream system flowing from southeast to northwest. The source for the chert was most likely the Bridge River terrane, a Mississippian to Jurassic ocean floor assemblage located to the southwest of Churn Creek, south of the Yalakom fault. Gradationally overlying the lower member throughout much of the basin is a mixed chert, plutonic, and volcaniclastic lithofacies of the upper member. Plutonic debris was provided to the mixed and plutonic lithofacies of the upper member by the Little Basin pluton, which was uplifted along the northeast-directed Little Basin thrust fault on the southwest margin of the basin. The upper member also contains a volcanic-rich lithofacies composed of chaotic volcanic conglomerate and local lithic tuff derived from a coeval proximal volcanic source. The conglomerate of Churn Creek records active northeast-vergent compressional tectonism and development of piggyback basins along the boundary between the Insular and Intermontane superterranes during Albian–Santonian time. The conglomerate of Churn Creek has been correlated to the Silverquick – Powell Creek succession of the Methow terrane, based on age, stratigraphic, lithologic, structural, geochemical, and paleomagnetic similarities, and may, therefore, represent an overlap assemblage linking the superterranes in the Late Cretaceous.

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.

Mineralogy and origin of the upper Eastend and Whitemud Formations of south-central and southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta

1969 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. N. Byers
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Weathering ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Major Constituent ◽  
Abrupt Decrease ◽  
South Central ◽  
Mechanical Weathering ◽  
Kaolinitic Clay

The Upper Cretaceous non-marine Whitemud Formation of south-central and southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta consists of kaolinitic, metamorphic lithic sands and silts, and kaolinitic clays. The sands and silts are not highly feldspathic as was originally thought. The major constituent is metamorphic lithic grains with minor kaolinitic clay and vermicular kaolin, clear angular quartz, chert, muscovite, and minor volcanic lithic grains and feldspar. The upper part of the Upper Cretaceous Eastend Formation, which conformably underlies the Whitemud Formation, consists of non-marine sands, silts, and clays. Kaolin is very rare. The bulk of the sands are composed of volcanic lithic grains with minor metamorphic lithic grains, clear angular quartz, chert, feldspar, muscovite, and biotite.The contact is characterized by the following changes from the Eastend Formation upward into the Whitemud Formation: an abrupt decrease in volcanic lithic grains and increase in metamorphic lithic grains; the appearance of kaolin and the disappearance of biotite and apatite; a slight increase in clear angular quartz and muscovite and a decrease in feldspar; a general increase in metamorphic heavy minerals; and an increase in the percentage of ilmenite (both as solitary grains and intergrown with magnetite), which is altered to leucoxene.On the basis of mineralogy, the Whitemud Formation is definitely a correlative of the Colgate Member of the Fox Hills Formation in Montana and North Dakota.The upper Eastend and Whitemud Formations were derived from Upper Cretaceous volcanic rocks, Precambrian and Paleozoic metamorphic rocks, and Paleozoic carbonates all situated in Montana. Upper Eastend sediments represent fast mechanical weathering of mountains of freshly extruded volcanic rocks, whereas the Whitemud sediments represent slow chemical weathering and leaching, which predominated once the mountainous volcanic rocks were worn down. This deep chemical weathering altered the volcanic tuffs and flows into kaolinitic clay at the source area; the kaolin of the Whitemud Formation is not derived from the weathering of feldspars at the site of deposition.It is suggested that the Frenchman and Ravenscrag Formations were also derived from Upper Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary volcanic rocks in Montana.

Syngenetic magnetic anomaly sources: Three examples

Geophysics ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 902-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Parker Gay ◽  
Bronson W. Hawley
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Magnetic Anomalies ◽  
Magnetic Minerals ◽  
Subsurface Geology ◽  
South Central ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Source Materials

Aeromagnetic anomalies encountered in three areas, two in the western United States and one in Central America, are shown to arise from magnetic sedimentary formations. These examples are selected from a larger number of similar areas surveyed by Applied Geophysics, Inc. in various places in the U.S. Midcontinent and Rocky Mountain regions. The first area discussed is the northwest corner of Nebraska where the Miocene Arikaree formation, comprised of magnetic airfall and windblown tuffs, causes anomalies in areas of incised topography. The second area is located in south central Utah, where the Upper Cretaceous Kaiparowits sandstones contain detrital magnetite that causes large anomalies in tilted structures and over incised topography. The third area treated covers over half of southern Belize in Central America, including much of the offshore portion. Here, the Toledo formation of Paleocene‐Eocene age contains a thick section of clastic detritus rich in lithic grains of volcanic rocks that produce magnetic highs over thrusted and folded anticlinal axes. These three examples of magnetic anomalies due to syngenetic magnetite in widely scattered areas and from different types of source materials bring into question the assumption of so‐called “diagenetic magnetite” (or other magnetic minerals) as a cause of magnetic anomalies in other petroleum basins. It is necessary in all cases to determine the magnetic source from surface or subsurface geology, as was done here, rather than making assumptions strictly from magnetic profiles or mathematical models.

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.

Tip Top Hill volcanics: Late Cretaceous Kasalka Group rocks hosting Eocene epithermal base- and precious-metal veins at Owen Lake, west-central British Columbia

1992 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 854-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig H. B. Leitch ◽  
C. T. Hood ◽  
Xiao-Lin Cheng ◽  
A. J. Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Volcanic Rocks ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Vein Deposit ◽  
Type Area ◽  
Lake Formation ◽  
Host Rocks ◽  
Polymictic Conglomerate

Rocks hosting the Silver Queen epithermal Au–Ag–Zn–Pb–Cu vein deposit near Owen Lake, British Columbia, belong to the Tip Top Hill volcanics. They are lithologically similar to the informally named Upper Cretaceous Kasalka Group rocks exposed in the type area at Tahtsa Lake, 75 km southwest of the deposit, and at Mount Cronin, 100 km northwest of the deposit. The Kasalka Group rocks in the Tahtsa Lake area give questionable dates of 105 ± 5 Ma by K–Ar on whole rock but are cut by intrusions dated at 83.8 ± 2.8 Ma by K–Ar on biotite. The sequence at the Silver Queen deposit includes a polymictic conglomerate, followed upward by felsic fragmental rocks and a thick porphyritic andesite flow and sill unit, cut by microdiorite and quartz–feldspar porphyry intrusions. The porphyritic andesite and the microdiorite have been dated as Late Cretaceous (78.3 ± 2.7 and 78.7 ± 2.7 Ma, respectively, by K–Ar on whole rock), close to previous dates for these rocks (77.1 ± 2.7 and 75.3 ± 2.0 Ma, respectively). The quartz–feldspar porphyry intrudes the porphyritic andesites but has an older U–Pb zircon date of 84.6 ± 0.2 Ma, probably due to underestimation of the true age of the host rocks by the K–Ar whole-rock method. Later dykes correlate with younger volcanic rocks belonging to the Ootsa Lake and Endako groups. Eocene pre- and postmineral plagioclase-rich dykes (51.9 ± 1.8 to 51.3 ± 1.8 Ma) and late diabase dykes (50.4 ± 1.8 Ma; all by K–Ar on whole rock) may be correlative with trachyandesite volcanics of the Goosly Lake Formation, part of the Eocene Endako Group. These volcanics have been dated elsewhere at 55.6 ± 2.5 to 48.8 ± 1.8 Ma by K–Ar on whole rock and biotite, respectively. Mineralization at Silver Queen is therefore similar in age to, but slightly younger than, the producing Equity mine located 30 km to the northeast, which is estimated at 58.5 ± 2.0 Ma by K–Ar on whole rock.

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