Exotic and far-traveled oceanic crustal rocks of the Cache Creek terrane (CC) are bordered by less exotic Quesnel (QN) and Stikine (ST) arc terranes to the east, north, and west. All of these terranes are enveloped by an arcuate belt of displaced continental margin rocks; the Kootenay (KO), Nisling (NS), and parts of the Yukon-Tanana (YTT) terranes, that have indirect ties to ancestral North America (NA). Initial 87Sr/86Sr isopleths conform to this arcuate pattern. Such a pattern of concentric belts presents a geological comlndrum: How did the QN, ST, and CC come to be virtually enveloped by terranes with ties to NA? Past and current models that explain assembly of the Canadian Cordillera are deficient in their treatment of this problem. We propose that Early Mesozoic QN and ST were joined through their northern ends as two adjacent arc festoons that faced south toward the Cache Creek ocean (Panthalassa?). Oceanic plateau remnants within the CC today were transported from the Tethyan realm and collided with these arcs during subduction of the Cache Creek ocean. Counterclockwise oroclinal rotation of ST and NS terranes in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic caused enclosure of the CC. Rotation continued until these terranes collided with QN in the Middle Jurassic. Paleomagnetic declination data provide support for this model in the form of large average anticlockwise rotations for Permian to Early Jurassic sites in ST but moderate clockwise rotations for sites in QN. Specific modem analogues for the Cordilleran orocline include the Yap trench, where the Caroline rise is colliding end-on with the Mariana Arc and the Banda Arc, located on the southeastern "tail" of the Asian plate, which is being deformed into a tight loop by interactions with the Australian and Pacific plates.

No abstract

No abstract

New U-Pb ages and K-Ar dates, primarily for rocks proximal to mineral occurrences in the Fawnie Range of central British Columbia, document latest Cretaceous (ca. 74-66 Ma) continental-arc igneous activity and date associated base and precious metal mineralization. U-Pb ages of ca. 73-69 Ma for the Capoose pluton and hypabyssal to extrusive garnet rhyolites at the Capoose prospect demonstrate a latest Cretaceous age for mineralization and a likely plutonic source for mineralizing fluids. A U-Pb age of ca. 67 Ma for a late mineralized felsic dyke and two K-Ar dates (ca. 70 and 68 Ma) for hornfelsed Jurassic volcanic rocks at the Blackwater-Davidson prospect constrain a latest Cretaceous age for mineralization. A U-Pb age of ca. 74 Ma for a fine grained diorite sill that cuts a significant epithermal gold vein at the Tsacha prospect places a minimum age on mineralization at this probable Jura-Cretaceous deposit and documents latest Cretaceous magmatism. Latest Cretaceous K-Ar dates are reported for an andesite flow adjacent to the Eocene Holy Cross deposit (ca. 66 Ma), about 35 km north of the Fawnie Range, and a Kasalka Group rhyolite (ca. 68 Ma) exposed near the western margin of the Nechako Plateau. Latest Cretaceous magmatism and mineralization in the Fawnie Range represent the waning stages of Bulkley suite magmatism and porphyry-style mineralization, which was concentrated along the western margin of the Nechako Plateau at circa 88-70 Ma. The distribution of latest Cretaceous arc igneous rocks along the North American Cordilleran is reviewed and tectonic implications discussed. Résumé: De nouveaux âges U-Pb et de nouvelles datations K-Ar, surtout pour des roches à proximité d'occurrences minérales dans la chaîne Fawnie du centre de la Colombie-Britannique documentent la plus récente activité ignée d'arc continental au Crétacé (ca. 74-66 Ma) et datent la minéralisation associée de métaux précieux et de métaux de base. Des âges U-Pb d'environ 73-69 Ma pour le pluton de Capoose et les rhyolites grenatifères hypabyssales à extrusives dans la zone d'intérêt Capoose démontrent un âge Crétacé terminal pour la minéralisation et une source plutonique probable pour les fluides minéralisateurs. Un âge U-Pb d'environ 67 Ma pour un dyke felsique à minéralisation tardive et deux datations K-Ar (ca. 70 et 68 Ma) pour des roches volcaniques au faciès des cornéennes, datant du Jurassique, à la zone d'intérêt Blackwater-Davidson limitent l'âge de la minéralisation au Crétacé terminal. Un âge U-Pb d'environ 74Ma pour un filon-couche de diorite à grains fins qui recoupe une importante veine d'or épithermale à la zone d'intérêt Tsacha donne un âge minimum pour la minéralisation de ce dépôt, probablement au Jurassique-Crétacé, et documente le magmatisme au Crétacé terminal. Des datations K-Ar de Crétacé terminal sont rapportées pour un écoulement d'andésite adjacent au gisement de Holy Cross, datant de l'Éocène (ca. 66 MA), situé à environ 35 km au nord de la chaîne Fawnie et pour une rhyolite du Groupe de Kasalka (ca. 68 Ma) affl...

No abstract