The timing of assembly and tectonic origins of terranes in the northern Cordillera of Alaska, British Columbia, and the Pacific Northwest are debated. Stikinia, a long-lived arc terrane, has an enigmatic regional Mesozoic accretionary history and its tectonic origins remain unconstrained. Zircon U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotopic data on Triassic-Jurassic sedimentary and igneous rocks from central Stikinia shed light on the terrane-scale effects of a latest Triassic-Early Jurassic collision between Stikinia and pericratonic Yukon-Tanana terrane. Main age peaks from central Stikinia are 250-160 Ma, reflecting ongoing Mesozoic arc-related igneous activity within Stikinia. Comparison of isotopic evolution and unconformity development between central Stikinia and northern Stikinia (Whitehorse trough) provide new constraints on regional latest Triassic-earliest Jurassic deformation. We attribute the shortening-related deformation to variable along-strike interactions during end-on collision with the Yukon-Tanana terrane, with significant crustal thickening at the northern apex of Stikinia that did not persist farther south. A small pre-Devonian zircon population is significant, as the oldest exposed rocks in Stikinia are Early Devonian. Pre-Devonian age peaks differ from those of the northern Yukon-Tanana terrane, but resemble zircons from southern Wrangellia. These zircons are likely multi-cyclic, derived from crust that originated in the Arctic region near the northern end of the Caledonide orogeny. We suggest that Stikinia was an independent crustal block prior to latest Triassic onset of collision with Yukon-Tanana terrane. The ongoing, end-on collision in turn promoted oroclinal assembly of the peri-Laurentian terranes. GEORGE ET AL.

New U–Pb, K–Ar, and Rb–Sr dates from the Eagle Plutonic Complex and adjacent map units place timing constraints on intrusive and deformational events along the southwestern margin of the Intermontane Belt. U–Pb zircon minimum dates for Eagle tonalite and gneiss (148 ± 6, 156 ± 4, and 157 ± 4 Ma) document previously unrecognized Middle to Late Jurassic magmatism and syn-intrusive deformation along the eastern margin of the Eagle Plutonic Complex and the southwestern margin of the Intermontane terrane. Widespread mid-Cretaceous (Albian–Cenomanian) resetting of K–Ar and Rb–Sr isotopic systematics in Jurassic and older rocks is coeval and cogenetic with emplacement of plutons of the Fallslake Plutonic Suite (110.5 ± 2 Ma, U–Pb) which crosscut Jurassic plutons and structures but were themselves ductilely deformed along the Pasayten fault during sinistral, east-side-up, reverse displacement. K–Ar and Rb–Sr cooling dates for the Fallslake Suite of ca. 100 Ma, including dates from mylonites along the Pasayten fault, suggest that uplift, cooling, and unroofing of the Eagle Plutonic Complex occurred in mid-Cretaceous time along the Pasayten fault. Regional geologic evidence suggests that this thermal and unroofing event affected much of the southwest margin of the Intermontane Belt. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios and U–Pb geochronometry for the Fallslake Plutonic Suite suggest that it was derived, in part, from preexisting and relatively nonradiogenic Paleozoic to Mesozoic crust. K–Ar dating of several stocks demonstrates widespread Early Eocene plutonism in the Coquihalla area, and dating of the Needle Peak pluton indicates plutonism continued into Middle Eocene time.

New U–Pb zircon ages are reported from western Stikinia. Devonian and Pennsylvanian ages of volcanic rocks at Oweegee dome confirm the presence of pre-Permian strata, and with Paleozoic and Triassic detrital zircons from Lower Jurassic sandstone, they help to demonstrate pre-Lower Jurassic deformation and uplift. The absence of pre-Paleozoic inherited zircon from all samples is consistent with Nd–Sr isotopic data which suggest that Stikinia consists mainly of juvenile crust. U–Pb ages for posttectonic intrusions suggest that structures in Skeena Fold Belt in the Kinskuch area formed prior to Eocene time. Five ages for felsic volcanic rocks from stratigraphically well-constrained upper parts of the Hazelton arc are approximately 196–199 Ma and suggest near-contemporaneity for cessation of volcanism in the areas studied. The Sinemurian or late Sinemurian – early Pliensbachian ages are older than previously reported U–Pb and biostratigraphic ages for presumed correlative rocks to the west, and westward-migrating volcanism is implied. Together with Toarcian fossils from overlying sandstone, the new ages suggest that a hiatus of moderate duration preceded regionally extensive sedimentation.

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