Nelson, J. Et Al,. 2013-Copiar

©2013 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
Special Publication 17, pp. 53–109
Chapter 3
The Cordillera of British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska: Tectonics and Metallogeny
JoAnne L. Nelson,1,† Maurice Colpron,2 and Steve Israel2
1 British Columbia Geological Survey, P.O. Box 9333, Stn Prov Gov’t, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 9N3, Canada
2 Yukon Geological Survey, P.O. Box 2703 (K-14), Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 2C6, Canada
Abstract
The Cordilleran orogen of western Canada and Alaska records tectonic processes than span over 1.8 billion
years, from assembly of the Laurentian cratonic core of Ancestral North America in the Precambrian to sea-floor
spreading, subduction, and geometrically linked transform faulting along the modern continental margin. The
evolution of tectonic regimes, from Proterozoic intracratonic basin subsidence and Paleozoic rifting to construc-
tion of Mesozoic and younger intraoceanic and continent-margin arcs, has led to diverse metallogenetic styles.
The northern Cordillera consists of four large-scale paleogeographic realms. The Ancestral North American
(Laurentian) realm comprises 2.3 to 1.8 Ga cratonic basement, Paleoproterozoic through Triassic cover succes-
sions, and younger synorogenic clastic deposits. Terranes of the peri-Laurentian realm, although allochthonous,
have a northwestern Laurentian heritage. They include continental fragments, arcs, accompanying accretion-
ary complexes, and back-arc marginal ocean basins that developed off western (present coordinates) Ancestral
North America, in a setting similar to the modern western Pacific basin. Terranes of the Arctic-northeastern
Pacific realm include the following: pre-Devonian pericratonic and arc fragments that originated near the Bal-
tican and Siberian margins of the Arctic basin and Late Devonian to early Jurassic arc, back-arc, and accretion-
ary terranes that developed during transport into and within the northeastern paleo-Pacific basin. Some Arctic
realm terranes may have impinged on the outer peri-Laurentian margin in the Devonian. However, main-stage
accretion of the two realms to each other and to the Laurentian margin began in mid-Jurassic time and contin-
ued through the Cretaceous. Terranes of the Coastal realm occupy the western edge of the present continent;
they include later Mesozoic to Cenozoic accretionary prisms and seamounts that were scraped off of Pacific
oceanic plates during subduction beneath the margin of North America.
Each realm carries its own metallogenetic signature. Proterozoic basins of Ancestral North America host
polymetallic SEDEX, Cu-Au-U-Co–enriched breccias, MVT, and sedimentary copper deposits. Paleozoic syn-
genetic sulfides occur in continental rift and arc settings in Ancestral North America, the peri-Laurentian ter-
ranes, and in two of the older pericratonic Arctic terranes, Arctic Alaska, and Alexander. The early Mesozoic
peri-Laurentian arcs of Stikinia and Quesnellia host prolific porphyry Cu-Au and Cu-Mo and related precious
metal-enriched deposits. Superimposed postaccretionary magmatic arcs and compressional and extensional
tectonic regimes have also given rise to important mineral deposit suites, particularly gold, but also porphyries.
Very young (5 Ma) porphyry Cu deposits in northwestern Vancouver Island and sea-floor hotspring deposits
along the modern Juan de Fuca Ridge off the southwest coast of British Columbia show that Cordilleran metal-
logeny continues.
Introduction mineralization in Yukon adds an important new deposit

The Cordilleran orogen in British Columbia, Yukon, and model. Deposits of possible future economic importance that
Alaska (Fig. 1) has a tremendous mineral endowment. The form well-defined belts and clusters with clear tectonic con-
diversity of deposits, which range in age from 1.6 Ga to Recent, trols include: Irish-type syngenetic sulfides; Mississippi Val-
reflects equally diverse tectonic processes; thus, the orogen ley-type (MVT) Pb-Zn; skarns; carbonatites (REE, Nb-Ta);
is an excellent example of how metallogeny is governed by and iron-oxide copper-gold (IOCG).
tectonics. Herein we integrate the origins of major metallic The mineral deposits described herein are, of necessity, a
mineral deposits and mineral belts in the northern Cordillera small subset of the listings of deposits, prospects, and occur-
with its protracted tectonic history, updating Nelson and Col- rences in British Columbia (BC) MINFILE (>13,000), Yukon
pron (2007) to incorporate advances in mineral discovery and MINFILE (>2600), Alaska Resource Data File (>7,100), and
tectonic understanding in the last five years. the NORMIN database for the Mackenzie Mountains in
Mineral deposit types that include significant past and pres- Northwest Territories (~320). Mines and undeveloped min-
ent producing mines and/or major undeveloped resources eral resources were included in this discussion based on the
are as follows: porphyry Cu-Au, Cu-Mo, and Mo; epither- size and grade of individual deposits, on the cumulative eco-
mal, transitional, and intrusion-related gold; orogenic gold; nomic potential of belts and camps, and on qualitative criteria
volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS); and sedimentary exha- such as perceived economic potential and genetic links to
lative (SEDEX). The recent discovery of Carlin-type gold large-scale tectonic events. Grade and tonnage values should
be taken as approximate; for up-to-date resource estimates,
the reader should consult company websites and current gov-
† Corresponding author: e-mail, joanne.nelson@gov.bc.ca ernment databases.
53
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54 NELSON ET AL.
70
124°W
MORPHOGEOLOGICAL BELTS
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°N
°W
140°W
W
156
2°
148
W
17
66
°N Arctic
Ocean
AG
FO
70°N
RE
AA
OM
LA
IN
ND
Ko Bro
EC
Seward bu oks
k
A
Range
Nome
fault
KY AG AA
a
AG
INSU
RB Pacific
Alask
Yukon
Kaltag Yukon Ocean
Rich
62
CO
IN
°N fault
Flats
TE
AG
LAR
ards
AS
AG
AG
NWT
66°N
RM
o
T
n tro
ON
4°W
Fairbanks
ugh
Ogilvie BE
TA
KY
16
Yukon-Tanana platform
Denali Upland LT
NE
F FW
NF Ran YT
ska ge NAb NAp
Ala BE
FwF B
EL LT
B
FW TT
EL
easte
NAp T
T
Selwyn
Ti
KB
fault
rn
fa
basin
n
KY WR Mackenzie
ul
tin
Mtn platform
t
a
58 tle Anchorage fa fa 62°N
°N Cas s CG ul
t YT QN ul NAb Yellowknife
t
ge
an Te M
R sl SM cE
Ca
PW in vo
PE Seward
ss
KS y
ia
YA AX
limit
YT
fau
platform
r
rde
lt
Bo Whitehorse YT
NAp NWT
Yukon
CF BC
CC SM
Maplat
Alberta
Yakutat
Ke F
YA
cD for
Th of 58°N
ch
Juneau ibe
on m
ika
rt
PW
Coastal
Prince William
ald
Pacific fa
Ocean ul NAc
PS
CG Chugach YT t
F
tro
CSF
ug
PR ST
h
CS
Al NAc
Co
Z
CR Crescent as
AX ka
rd
MT Methow
ille
ran
KY
Peri-Laurentian (Intermontane)
Koyukuk, Nyak, Togiak QN

RM
TkF
CD Cadwallader
T
NAp 54°N
Arctic - Northeast Pacific
PE Peninsular Edmonton
BR Bridge River
Qu
Prince Rupert def

Alexander orm
Insular
AX
een
CC Cache Creek atio

SM n
Co
WR Wrangellia
ast
Harrison WR ST
PF
HA AX
Ch
CC NAp
ar
KS Kluane, Windy, Coast

lo
CK Chilliwack
tte
YF NAb Calgary
pl
Angayucham/
ut
Northern Alaska
AG ST Stikinia fa Kootenay
on
Tozitna/Innoko Ancestral ul
FF
terrane
ic
Arctic-Alaska, t CD
AA Hammond QN Quesnellia North America co QN SM Bow
mp BR platform
RB Coldfoot, Ruby, NAb North America - deep 50°N WR lex
Seward OK Okanagan water (incl. Kootenay) OK
North America - Vancouver HA BC
FW Farewell YT Yukon-Tanana NAp
platform 0 100 200 300
North America - CK MT USA
116°W
KB Kilbuck SM Slide Mountain NAc

craton & cover km PR
Victoria
CR
Fig. 1. Terranes of the Canadian-Alaskan Cordillera (after Colpron and Nelson, 2011a). Terranes are grouped in the
legend according to paleogeographic affinities shown in Figure 2. Inset shows morphogeologic belts of the northern Cordillera
after Gabrielse et al. (1991). Fault abbreviations: CF = Cassiar fault, CSF = Chatham Strait fault, FF = Fraser fault, FwF
= Farewell fault, KF = Kechika fault, NFF = Nixon Fork-Iditarod fault, PF = Pinchi fault, PSF = Peril Strait fault, NMRT
= northern Rocky Mountain trench, TkF = Takla-Finlay-Ingenika fault system, TT = Talkeetna thrust, YF = Yalakom fault.
Overview of Northern Cordilleran Tectonics Cordilleran orogen developed on and near the plate margin
that separates North America from the Pacific Ocean basin.
The North American Cordillera is one of the world’s clas-
Within the eastern part of the orogen are autochthonous and
sic accretionary orogens, where deformation, metamorphism, parautochthonous rocks of Ancestral North America (NAc,
and crustal growth accompanied continued subduction Fig. 1) and its overlying Proterozoic to Triassic cover (NAp
and accretion, rather than a process ending in continent- and NAb, Fig. 1). Farther west, most of British Columbia,
continent collision (Cawood et al., 2009). In this paper we Yukon, and Alaska are underlain by allochthonous terranes
focus on the Canadian and Alaskan Cordillera (Fig. 1). The (Fig. 1), defined here as rock assemblages of regional extent

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THE CORDILLERA OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, YUKON, AND ALASKA: TECTONICS AND METALLOGENY 55
within an orogenic belt that show internal geological consis- subdued region of islands and passages. The Boundary, St.
tency and that differ significantly from rock assemblages in Elias, Wrangell, Kenai-Chugach, and Alaska Ranges of south-
adjacent terranes. These allochthonous terranes include vol- ern Alaska (and western Yukon) owe their lofty heights to
canic, plutonic, sedimentary, and metamorphic assemblages ongoing terrane collision caused by subduction of the Pacific
that originated as magmatic arcs, accretionary complexes, plate.
microcontinents, and floors of ocean basins. Originating at
varying times between the Neoproterozoic and Cenozoic, the Cordilleran Terranes and Paleogeographic Realms
terranes accreted to western North America (present coor- The concept of tectonostratigraphic terranes (Fig. 1) was
dinates) in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Much of the orogen first applied to tectonic analysis of the North American Cor-
is overlain by Jurassic and younger syn- and postaccretion- dillera in a series of groundbreaking papers in the early 1980s
ary siliciclastic deposits. All but the most cratonward part of (Coney et al., 1980; Jones et al., 1983), a concept that contin-
the orogen is intruded by postaccretionary plutons. In some ues as the basis for understanding Cordilleran geology. Ter-
regions, notably the southern interior of British Columbia, are rane names have become enshrined in the literature, and ter-
thick, relatively young subaerial volcanic cover strata. rane boundaries have, in most cases, shifted little since their
Braided sets of postaccretionary strike-slip faults transect original delineation. In the original definition, terranes were
the orogen (Fig. 1): the Tintina, Teslin, Thibert, Cassiar, Pin- characterized by internal homogeneity and continuity of stra-
chi, Takla, Yalakom, and Fraser faults in the center of the tigraphy, tectonic style and history separated by boundaries
orogen; on its oceanward side the Denali, Nixon Fork, Fare- that are not “conventional facies changes or unconformities”
well, Talkeetna, Castle Mountain, Chatham Strait, and Border (Coney et al., 1980), or as fault-bounded geologic entities of
Ranges faults; and the Kaltag and Kobuk faults in northern regional extent, each characterized by a geologic history that
Alaska. The Queen Charlotte and Border Ranges faults form is different from the histories of continguous terranes (Jones
the present margin between the North American and Pacific et al., 1983).
plates. Most of these faults parallel the present continent mar- The concept that each terrane is a fault-bounded entity,
gin, northwesterly in Canada and westerly and southwesterly unrelated to adjacent terranes, has come into question.
in Alaska. They record mainly dextral displacement, from Detailed studies have repeatedly documented primary strati-
mid-Cretaceous to, in the case of the Denali and Queen Char- graphic and intrusive links between some of the major ter-
lotte faults, present time. The total Cretaceous to Eocene ranes (e.g., Klepacki and Wheeler, 1985; Gardner et al., 1988;
offset on the Tintina-Teslin-Pinchi-Fraser system has been Colpron et al., 2007a) and pairing of arcs to accretionary belts
estimated at about 800 km (Gabrielse et al., 2006); the total (Nokleberg et al., 2005). A useful current definition needs to
offset on the Denali is about 300 to 400 km (Eisbacher, 1976; acknowledge the enduring importance of terranes as region-
Lowey, 1998). Motion on the Queen Charlotte and Border ally recognizable geologic entities, while accepting that they
Ranges faults has been of the order of thousands of kilome- may have developed as adjacent, locally linked tectonic ele-
ters. The tectonic configuration of central and western Alaska, ments. Investigation of interterrane relationships, along with
in which the Koyukuk and related late Mesozoic arc terranes faunal and isotopic evidence for paleogeographic affinities,
are enclosed in a V-shaped frame of older terranes (Fig. 1), form the basis for progress in understanding the tectonic evo-
may represent original salients and reentrants in the collision lution of the Cordillera.
zone and later dextral strike-slip movement (Box, 1985) and Based on region of origin, sets of related terranes in the
rotation of Arctic Alaska (Lawver and Scotese, 1990). northern Cordillera can be grouped into paleogeographic
The physiography of the northern Cordillera (Fig. 1 inset) realms (Fig. 2): (1) the Laurentian realm, which includes the
reflects the sum of the tectonic processes that created it. In autochthon and parautochthon of Ancestral North America;
British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, the Canadian (2) the peri-Laurentian realm of marginal arc, basin, and peri-
Rocky Mountains are made of continental margin sedimen- cratonic terranes and fore-arc accretionary complexes that
tary rocks of the Foreland belt that were detached from and evolved in proximity to the western (present coordinates)
thrusted and folded above Ancestral North America, mainly continent margin of Ancestral North America; (3) The Arctic-
in the Cretaceous. To the west, high mountains in the Omin- northeastern Pacific realm, including pre-Devonian terranes
eca belt, one of the two tectonic welts of Monger et al. (1982), of Baltican, Caledonian and/or Siberian affinity that origi-
reflect postaccretionary crustal thickening and transpression, nated in the present circum-Arctic region, and then evolved
which peaked in the Cretaceous and Tertiary transtensional at high latitudes in the ancestral northeastern Pacific basin,
collapse. along with younger associated arc and accretionary terranes;
West of the Omineca belt, the interior Intermontane and (4) the Coastal realm of later Mesozoic and Cenozoic
region, with its relatively subdued topography, continues into accretionary complexes that originated near or on the eastern
the Yukon plateau and Yukon-Tanana upland of east-central side of the Pacific basin and are accreted (or accreting) along
Alaska. Farther west, the Coast Mountain belt, the second the present North American-Pacific plate boundary (Fig. 2).
tectonic welt of Monger et al. (1982), consists of plutonic
rocks (with preintrusive metamorphic rocks) that form one of Laurentian realm
the largest batholiths in the world. This mountain belt con- The Laurentian realm refers to the western (present coor-
stitutes the root of a Late Jurassic to Eocene continental arc dinates) flank of Ancestral North America and the overly-
formed when Pacific plates subducted beneath the postac- ing strata that were deposited along its margin. The term
cretionary western flank of North America. The Insular belt “Laurentian” emphasizes the relationship of these rocks to
of British Columbia and southeastern Alaska is a relatively the ancient cratonic core; it parallels terminology used in

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56 NELSON ET AL.
70
124°W
116°W
108°
180°
°W
90°W
132°W
90°E
°N
°W
140°W
W
156
2°
148
80°N
W
17
Arctic Ocean
Sea
66 nts Arctic Realm
°N Arctic B are
Ocean
La
60°N
70°N
ur
NE
en
an
Pacific
e
tia
Oc
Ko Bro
oks
tic
Tethyan
n
bu 30°N
k
lan
Range
At
fault
Pacific Ocean
62 Kaltag Yukon
°N fault
Flats
NWT
66°N
4°W
16
F
NF nge
Ra
ka
easte
as
Al
Ti
rn
n
De
tin
a
na
58 fa Wrangell fa 62°N
li
°N Chu ul Mts ul
g es i-
gac
h
t t
an na Te
Ke
fa
R Mt sl
in
ult
s
St. Elias
limit
fau
r
rde Mts
lt
Bo
Yukon NWT
CF BC
Bo
Alberta
un
Th of 58°N
da
ibe
KF
rt
ry
fa
Ra
ul
t
nge
Pacific
CSF
Ocean
CS
Al
Co
Z
as
ka
rd
ille
ran
RM
TkF
54°N
Qu
def
orm
een
atio
Coastal realm n
PF
Ch
Arctic - NE Pacific realm -

ar
lo
N.Alaska and Insular terranes

tte
YF
fa
Peri-Laurentian realm - ul
FF
t
Intermontane terranes
50°N
Laurentian realm - BC
Ancestral North America 0 100 200 300
USA
116°W
km
Fig. 2. Cordilleran terranes grouped by paleogeographic affinities. Paleogeographic affinity is assigned according to region
of origin in Paleozoic time, except for the Coastal terranes, which originated along the late Mesozoic-Cenozoic eastern Pacific
plate margin. Inset shows the main distribution of Paleozoic paleogeographic realms in the circum-Pacific region. Diago-
nal hatching indicates oceanic terranes in the peri-Laurentian and Arctic realms, horizontal hatching indicates accretionary
complex containing elements of Tethyan affinity (e.g. Cache Creek terrane). Fault abbreviations: CF = Cassiar fault, CSF =
Chatham Strait fault, FF = Fraser fault, KF = Kechika fault, NFF = Nixon Fork-Iditarod fault, PF = Pinchi fault, NMRT =
northern Rocky Mountain trench, TkF = Takla-Finlay-Ingenika fault system, YF = Yalakom fault.
the Canadian Appalachians (van Staal, 2007). The Paleozoic et al., 1991). However, its stratigraphy closely resembles that
architecture was one of long-lived generally shallow-water of the parautochthonous McEvoy and MacDonald platforms.
platforms (Mackenzie, McDonald, Bow, McEvoy) and deep- Similarly, stratigraphic ties have been demonstrated between
water basins (Selwyn, Kechika, Richardson; Fig. 1). Separated the Kootenay terrane and the adjacent Paleozoic continental
by the Tintina fault from the parautochthonous continental margin in southeastern British Columbia (Colpron and Price,
margin, the Cassiar platform in northern British Columbia 1995). In the Yukon-Tanana upland and northern Alaska
and southern Yukon has been classified as a terrane (Wheeler Range of eastern Alaska, a large tract of metamorphosed

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pericratonic strata and Devonian plutons, formerly consid- through Cretaceous time, first in the paleo-Arctic basin and
ered part of the allochthonous Yukon-Tanana terrane, is now then in the northeastern Pacific basin. Arctic Alaska, Fare-
considered part of the western Laurentian margin (NAb on well, Kilbuck, and Alexander are of pericratonic or partly peri-
Fig. 1) based on its structural position and lack of late Paleo- cratonic origin, with strata as old as Proterozoic and detrital
zoic arc assemblages characteristic of the Yukon-Tanana ter- zircons as old as Archean, but they lack evidence of pre-Late
rane (Hansen and Dusel-Bacon, 1998; Dusel-Bacon et al., Devonian relationships to western Ancestral North America
2006; Nelson et al., 2006). or to the terranes of the peri-Laurentian realm. Instead, their
early Paleozoic faunal and isotopic affinities are with each
Peri-Laurentian realm other and with Siberia and/or Baltica (Bazard et al., 1995;
The peri-Laurentian realm includes the Slide Mountain, Soja and Antoshkina, 1997; Bradley et al., 2003; Amato et
Yukon-Tanana, Quesnel, Stikine, Cache Creek, and Bridge al., 2009; E.L. Miller et al., 2011; Beranek et al., 2013a, b).
River allochthonous terranes (Intermontane terranes of Mon- Silurian-Devonian migration of some or all of these pericra-
ger et al., 1982). The boundary between the peri-Laurentian tonic fragments westward through the paleo-Arctic basin is
realm and Ancestral North America is marked by discontinu- marked by influx of their signature detrital zircon populations
ous slivers of the Slide Mountain terrane, an oceanic assem- into Middle Devonian and younger siliciclastic strata of the
blage that exhibits late Paleozoic stratigraphic links both to northern Laurentian margin in the Canadian Arctic (Beranek
Ancestral North America (Klepacki and Wheeler, 1985), and et al., 2010; Lemieux et al., 2011; Anfinson et al., 2012a, b).
to the Yukon-Tanana terrane (Murphy et al., 2006). It con- Beginning in the Late Devonian, successive intraoceanic
tains interbedded mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) and Mis- arcs of the Insular terranes developed, in part on older crustal
sissippian chert and quartz clast-bearing sandstones and con- fragments, in the northeastern Pacific region. Devonian gab-
glomerates with northwestern Laurentian detrital zircon bros (S. Israel, unpub. data, 2013) and Pennsylvanian plutons
populations (Nelson, 1993; Roback et al., 1994; L. Beranek, (Gardner et al., 1988) link the Paleozoic arc of Wrangellia to
pers. comm., 2010). The Slide Mountain ocean, which may the pericratonic Alexander terrane of southwestern Yukon
have been up to 3,000 km wide by the mid-Permian, origi- and eastern Alaska. In turn, the Jurassic Talkeetna arc of the
nated as a Late Devonian to Permian back-arc basin (Nelson, Peninsular terrane is considered equivalent to the Bonanza
1993) that opened between the continental margin and Devo- arc, the youngest phase of Wrangellian arc activity (Clift et al.,
nian-Permian arcs to the west (present coordinates) in the 2005). In the northernmost Chugach terrane near the Border
Yukon-Tanana, Quesnel, and Stikine terranes (Colpron et al., Ranges fault, Early Jurassic blueschists and blocks of Permian
2007a). limestone with exotic, western Pacific faunas are thought to
Collectively, the peri-Laurentian arc terranes were origi- mark a subduction assemblage seaward (south) of the Penin-
nally bounded on their outer, oceanward margins by corre- sular terrane (Plafker et al., 1994). This accretionary complex,
sponding accretionary complexes represented by the Cache analogous to the Cache Creek terrane, represents a fore-arc
Creek and Bridge River terranes. These accretionary com- subduction complex of the Jurassic Talkeetna arc. Late Paleo-
plexes include slivers of high-pressure metamorphic rocks zoic and early Mesozoic faunas place the Insular terranes at
and, in the Cache Creek terrane, large carbonate bodies that varying latitudes in the northeastern Pacific region (Smith
cap seamounts or oceanic plateaus and contain Permian to et al., 2001; Belasky and Stevens, 2006). Their accretion to
Middle Triassic faunas that originated far out in the ancestral the outer edge of the peri-Laurentian terranes began in the
Pacific Ocean (Orchard et al., 2001). These features identify mid-Jurassic.
them as the sites of subduction of Pacific basin lithosphere. Arctic Alaska may have been the last of the Arctic-north-
For their entire history, arc terranes in the peri-Laurentian eastern Pacific realm terranes to find its resting place in the
realm show evidence of affinity for, and interactions with, the northern Cordillera, in concert with Cretaceous opening of
western Laurentian margin. Their evolution as a distinct realm the Canada basin (E.L. Miller et al., 2011). The Late Juras-
began with establishment of a continental arc on the western sic-Early Cretaceous Koyukuk arc of western Alaska (Fig.
margin of Ancestral North America in Devonian time, fol- 1) formed during subduction of the Angayucham oceanic
lowed by the Late Devonian to Permian opening of the Slide terrane, which separated it from pericratonic Arctic Alaska.
Mountain ocean and oceanward migration of the frontal arcs. This event ended with entry of Arctic Alaska and the adjoin-
Closure of the Slide Mountain ocean and initial reaccretion of ing Ruby terrane into the subduction zone and their collision
the inner margin of Yukon-Tanana and Quesnel terranes with the Koyukuk arc (Moore et al., 2004).
ocurred in the Triassic, and final accretion and amalgamation
took place in the mid-Jurassic, with closing of the Cache Coastal realm
Creek ocean, joining of Stikinia to Quesnellia, and trapping of The outermost, Coastal belt of terranes developed in the
the Cache Creek terrane between the two (Mihalynuk et al., eastern Pacific near or along the Cordilleran margin. The
1994a). terranes are relatively young (Mesozoic to Paleogene) and
include accreted Paleocene-Eocene seamounts of the Cres-
Arctic-northeastern Pacific realm cent terrane and accretionary complexes filled with sediments
This realm includes the Arctic Alaska, Farewell, Kilbuck, eroded from the emerging Cordillera (post-Early Jurassic
Ruby (in part), Angayucham, and Koyukuk terranes, and Chugach, Prince William, Pacific Rim, and Yakutat terranes).
also those in the Insular physiographic belt, the Alexander, Although they originated along the more-or-less present
Wrangell, and Peninsular terranes. Together these terranes margin of North America, some of the terranes in the Coastal
show evidence of a linked tectonic history from Proterozoic realm have undergone significant northward translation. Late

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58 NELSON ET AL.
Cretaceous to Eocene clastic rocks of the Chugach and Prince and Parrish, 1991) and nearby Gold Creek gneiss (2.0–2.1 Ga
William terranes show detrital zircon populations likely of quartz diorite orthogneiss; Murphy et al., 1991); and (D) the
local provenance, whereas those in the Yakutat terrane were Sifton Ranges of north-central British Columbia (SR; ca.
probably derived from southwestern North America (J. 1.85 Ga granitic orthogneiss; Evenchick et al., 1984). These
Garver, pers. commun., 2013). Paleomagnetic data also indi- basement complexes match well the ages and composition of
cate large translations, of the order of 13° to 23° (Bol et al., domains in the adjacent western Laurentian craton (Fig. 3).
1992; Gallen, 2008; Housen et al., 2008). Most of these basement occurrences are involved in the Cor-
dilleran deformation and probably originated 100 to 200 km
Laurentian Realm: Ancestral North America southwest of their present exposures (e.g. McDonough and
Parrish, 1991). It is notable that the only occurrence of
Western extent of Laurentian crust Archean basement, in the Priest River complex of Idaho, lies
The Cordilleran orogen was constructed along the western south of the projected boundary between Archean and Paleo-
margin (present-day coordinates) of the Laurentian craton, proterozoic domains in the Alberta basement to the east (Red
the Precambrian core of the North American continent. Lau- Deer zone, Fig. 3).
rentia was assembled through the progressive accretion of 3. Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios from Mesozoic granitoids sug-
microcontinents and magmatic arcs beginning in the Archean, gest that Precambrian crust extends at least as far west as
culminating with the Paleoproterozoic “Hudsonian orogeny” the Monashee complex in southern British Columbia (MC
(2.0–1.8 Ga), and concluding in the early Mesoproterozoic on Fig. 3) and the Teslin fault in Yukon (Armstrong, 1988).
(Hoffman, 1988). These successive orogenic events have A ratio greater than 0.706 indicates melting or assimilation
imparted a tectonic grain to the cratonic basement that is of older (Precambrian) crust or lithospheric mantle, whereas
well imaged in the regional aeromagnetic map of western ratios lower than 0.704 reflects magma genesis in more juve-
Canada (Fig. 3). At the Cordilleran deformation front, prom- nile, Phanerozoic crust or lithospheric mantle (Armstrong,
inent structural trends in the cratonic basement are mainly 1988, p. 77). The 87Sr/86Sr isopleths shown on Figure 3 are
northeasterly and at a high angle to the Cordilleran grain, derived primarily from granitic rocks 90 Ma and older in the
south of 56°N (Fig. 3; Ross, 2002). To the north, in Yukon eastern half of the orogen (Armstrong, 1988) and have thus
and Northwest Territories, the Cordilleran structural grain been translated northeasterly by as much as 100 to 200 km
follows the arcuate trend of Paleoproterozoic basement during Late Cretaceous to Paleocene development of the
domains in the subsurface of northwestern Canada (Aspler et Foreland belt. The assimilation of older crustal components
al., 2003). Basement structures evident on the aeromagnetic is also evident in the common occurrence of Paleoproterozoic
map of the Alberta basement can be traced confidently and Archean inherited zircons in Cordilleran granitic rocks.
beneath the Cordillera south of 56°N as far west as the south- 4. Seismic reflection and refraction profiles acquired by the
ern Rocky Mountain trench (SRMT on Fig. 3), at which point Lithoprobe program indicate that North American Precam-
the magnetic signature is overprinted by Cordilleran meta- brian crust presently extends beneath much of the Cordille-
morphism and magmatism of the Omineca belt. Several lines ran orogen. In seismic profiles of the southern Canadian Cor-
of evidence, however, suggest that western Laurentian Pre- dillera, the North American basement is inferred to extend
cambrian crust extends farther west beneath the orogen as far west as the Fraser fault (Cook et al., 1992; Clowes et
(Ross, 1991). al., 1995). In the northern Cordillera, autochthonous North
America is interpreted to project beneath the orogen as far
1. Rapid thickness and facies changes in Mesoproterozoic west as surface exposure of the Cache Creek terrane (Figs.
to early Paleozoic strata of the Ancestral North American 1, 3; Cook et al., 2004; Clowes et al., 2005; Evenchick et al.,
margin locally occur across NE-trending structures that are 2005).
transverse to the Cordilleran tectonic grain and have been
interpreted as southwest continuations of major structures in These observations collectively suggest that Precambrian
the cratonic basement to the east (Fig. 3). In southern Brit- crust of western Laurentian affinity extends beneath the
ish Columbia, the Moyie-Dibble Creek fault (MDC in Fig. 3) eastern half of the present-day Cordillera of British Colum-
and related structures probably represent surface expressions bia and Yukon (Fig. 3). The western extension of the cra-
of the Vulcan Low to the east (e.g., Price, 1981; McMechan, tonic basement and its contained crustal structures played an
2012). In the north, the NE-trending Hay River, Liard, and important role in the genesis and localization of some of the
Fort Norman lines controlled thickness and facies in both mineral deposits in the eastern Cordillera. Furthermore, the
autochthonous and parautochthonous Neoproterozoic and alignment of depositional facies and structural trends in par-
early Paleozoic strata of the Ancestral North American margin autochthonous strata of Ancestral North America with base-
(Cecile et al., 1997). ment structures of the northwestern Laurentian craton limit
2. Crystalline basement exposures have been documented the amount of lateral translation that could have occurred
in four locations at low structural levels within the Omineca within the western Laurentian realm. An additional constraint
belt: (A) the Priest River complex in northern Idaho (PRC on on paleogeographic reconstructions of the continent margin
Fig. 3; ca. 2.65 Ga augen orthogneiss; Doughty et al., 1998); is provided by detrital zircon populations of Ancestral North
(B) the Monashee complex (MC; ca. 1.86–2.10 Ga augen American strata, which generally reflect a mixture of Paleo-
orthogneiss and granodiorite gneiss; Crowley, 1999); (C) the proterozoic and Archean sources that closely match subjacent
Malton complex (MG; ca. 1.87 Ga, Yellowjacket augen basement domains of northwestern Laurentia (Fig. 3; Gehrels
orthogneiss and Bulldog granodiorite gneiss; McDonough et al., 1995; Gehrels and Ross, 1998).

by guest
110°W
100°W
120°W
130°W
°W
70°N
140
CBL
Ho
tta
h
Gre
65 Sim at
°N
t pso
Thelon
For east
n
ern Rae
>2.5 Ga
Slave
Bear
65°N
0.
70
Te
5 an
s
>2.5 Ga
1.78-1.87 G
lin
Ti
m
or
n
Hottah
tin
.N
Ft
a
Nahann
0.707
limit ne
a zo
1.84-1
Rae
i
.88 Ga
60° >2.5 Ga
fau
SZ Hearne
N
2.1-2.3 Ga
of
L i c
lt
GS on
fau
0.705
>2.5 Ga
ct
lt
te 60°N
d
W iar
on
L
0.704
ES FN
mps
SR
TE Taltson
RN Hottah
d
t Si
bir
For
ow
Cordilleran
1.93-
ED
Sn
0.7
1.97 Ga
RF
GE
Buffalo
07
H Head
Chi
55°
N 1.99-2.32 Ga
nch
Nova
OF
>2.5 Ga? KD
aga
1.90-
1.98 Ga a 55°N
G
KL d 5
ef .8
o 2.08- -1
rm 2.18 Ga 78
1.
0.704
LAURENTIAN
at
io Hearne
n Trans-Hudson
0.7
Ga be
0.7
Wabamun a >2.5 Ga 1.8-1.9 Ga

<2 com
04
~2.32 G
07
.3
L a
TL
y
0.
MG
be
Frase
70
im
Z
7
50°N
RD
SR
R
0.7
M
r fault
MC
04
T
CRU
an
Vulc
50°N
ST
DC Medicine Hat block

M 2.6-3.3 Ga 0 100 200 300
110°W
120°W
W
T Z
130°
PRC GF km
Fig. 3. Residual total field aeromagnetic map of western Canada, showing Precambrian basement domains of the western
Laurentian craton with respect to the Cordilleran orogen (eastern limit of Cordilleran deformation indicated by white line).
Precambrian basement domains are after Hoffman (1988), Ross et al. (1991), Villeneuve et al. (1993), Ross (2002), Hope and
Eaton (2002), and Aspler et al. (2003). Aeromagnetic image is derived from a 2010 compilation in the Canadian aeromag-
netic database (http://gdr.agg.nrcan.gc.ca/geodap). Precambrian domain boundaries are delineated by dotted lines; major
basement structures are shown by short dashed lines. Some major structures extend beneath the Cordillera, including the
Moyie-Dibble Creek fault (MDC) and related structures in the south (after McMechan, 2012), and the Liard and Fort Nor-
man lines in the north (after Cecile et al., 1997). Stars show location of Precambrian basement exposures in the Omineca belt:
MC = Monashee complex (1.86–2.10 Ga; Crowley, 1999); MG = Malton complex and Gold Creek gneiss (ca. 1.87–2.09 Ga;
McDonough and Parrish, 1991; Murphy et al., 1991); PRC = Priest River complex (ca. 2.65 Ga; Doughty et al., 1998); SR =
Sifton Ranges (ca. 1.85 Ga; Evenchick et al., 1984). Initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio isopleths for Mesozoic granitic rocks of the Cordillera
(dashed blue lines) are after Armstrong (1988). Dashed brown line indicates inferred extent of North American crust beneath
the Cordilleran orogen from geophysical, geochemical, and geological data discussed in text. Other abbreviations: CBL =
Cape Bathurst line, FN = Fort Nelson high, GFTZ = Great Falls tectonic zone, GSLSZ = Great Slave Lake shear zone, HRF
= Hay River fault, KD = Ksituan domain, KL = Kiskatinaw low (1.90–1.98 Ga), LD = Lacombe domain, RDZ = Red Deer
zone, SRMT = Southern Rocky Mountain trench, TL = Thorsby low (1.91–2.38 Ga).

by guest
60 NELSON ET AL.
Proterozoic basins of the western Laurentian realm Supergroup (Gayna River deposits). Rocks of the Muskwa
(1.71–0.78 Ga) basin are host to the Churchill Copper vein systems. The Belt-
Following the Hudsonian orogeny (2.0 –1.8 Ga), but before Purcell basin contains the giant Sullivan SEDEX deposit.
breakup of the western margin of Ancestral North America Wernecke-Mackenzie Mountains: Successions in the Wer-
(780–570 Ma), sedimentary successions accumulated in three necke, Ogilvie, and Mackenzie Mountains of Yukon and
main areas of the northern Cordillera: the Wernecke-Mack- Northwest Territories (Fig. 4), record multiple episodes of
enzie Mountains, the Muskwa basin, and the Belt-Purcell sedimentation punctuated by orogenesis, magmatism, and
basin (Figs. 4, 5; Successions A and B of G.M. Young et al., prolonged subaerial exposure (e.g., Thorkelson et al., 2005).
1979). All three areas contain significant mineral deposits, The 13-km-thick Wernecke Supergroup (post-1.64, pre-
each of distinct types (Nokleberg et al., 2005). The Cu-Au- 1.60 Ga; Thorkelson et al., 2001a; Furlanetto et al., 2012;
U-Co-enriched Wernecke breccias crosscut older strata of the Fig. 5) was deposited in a broadly subsiding marine basin
Wernecke Supergoup and Mississippi Valley-type mineraliza- floored by extending crystalline basement. Wernecke Super-
tion occurs in younger strata of the Mackenzie Mountains group strata were deformed and metamorphosed during the
124°W
116°W
108°
132°W
°W
140°W
148
W
Arctic
Ocean
70°N
Shaler
basin
a
ine
Alask
Yukon
erm
pp
/Co
l Lk 66°N
Wernecke ma
Dis
NWT
Wernecke breccias Gayna

basin River
easte
Hart
River
rn
Mackenzie
Mtns basin 62°N
limit
Yukon NWT
BC
Alberta
Muskwa
of Churchill 58°N
basin Copper
Pacific
Ocean
Al
Co
as
ka
rd
ille
ran
54°N
Proterozoic
sulfide deposits def
orm
atio
n
Mackenzie Mountains basin
Belt-Purcell basin
Muskwa basin
Sullivan
Wernecke basin Mine
Extent of Neoproterozoic Fig. 4. Paleoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic basins
and older ‘basement’ of 0 100 200 300 Belt- and mineral deposits of northwestern Laurentia. Wernecke
western Laurentian affinity USA
Purcell breccia occurrences from Lefebure et al. (2005). Light blue
km
basin area shows distribution of rocks with Laurentian ancestry.

by guest
Southern B.C. Yukon - SE-vergent Racklan orogeny at ca. 1.6 Ga, an event that has
Northwest U.S. Northern B.C. western NWT been related to accretion of a cryptic terrane comprising ca.
600
Marinoan 1.71 Ga magmatic rocks (Bonnetia of Furlanetto et al., 2012).
Windermere Spgp
A widespread hydrothermal event at ca. 1599 to 1595 Ma post-
Windermere
Windermere
Hay Creek Gp
breakup
Horsethief Ck Ingenika Gp
Group Crest
dates the Racklan orogeny and led to emplacement of the Wer-
??
Gataga Rapitan Gp necke breccias (Thorkelson et al., 2001b). Hunt et al. (2007,
700 Irene Toby Fm Misinchinka Gp Sturtian 2011) favor a nonmagmatic origin for the Wernecke breccias
NEOPROTEROZOIC
Mt Harper Gp
Coates Lk Gp. in which fluids derived from meta-evaporites near the base
Callison Lk dol. of the Wernecke Supergroup caused periodic overpressuring
RODINIA
???
800
Hottah Little Dal basalt
Tsezotene sills of formational and metamorphic water. The breccias form an
Mackenzie Mtns spgp

Churchill Cu
Mount Nelson Fm Little Dal Gp extensive, curvilinear, E-W–trending belt that corresponds to
Gayna River Wernecke Supergroup exposures in the Wernecke and Ogil-
(Paleozoic?)
vie Mountains of north-central Yukon (Fig. 4); associated
Katherine Gp
900 deposits are considered IOCG-type (iron-oxide copper-gold;
Lefebure et al., 2005; Corriveau, 2007). Significant parallels
??? Hematite Ck Gp can be drawn between the Wernecke breccia deposits and the
giant Olympic Dam deposit in Australia (Bell and Jefferson
1000
1987), and Thorkelson et al. (2001b) favor a pre-Rodinia con-
metamorphism
in Belt Spgp Pinguicula Gp, tinental reconstruction that places them ~1,000 km from each
lower Fifteenmile
???
other in a single, contiguous early Mesoproterozoic supercon-
1100 granitoid clasts
in Coates Lk
assembly tinent. However, pre-Rodinian and Rodinian reconstructions
diatreme
are contentious and poorly constrained (see below and Fig. 6),
and in contrast to the Wernecke breccias, the Olympic Dam
deposit appears to have been related to continental arc mag-
1200 matism (Ferris and Schwartz, 2003).
???
MESOPROTEROZOIC
Bear River
Following a ca. 220 m.y. hiatus, rocks of the Wernecke
Supergroup were intruded by the ca. 1.38 Ga Hart River
East Kootenay
1300 sills and overlain by their volcanic equivalents (G. Abbott,

1997; Thorkelson et al., 2005). The Hart River massive sul-
metamorphism
fide deposit (Figs. 4, 5) is the only known significant occur-
in Belt Spgp Hart River rence associated with this phase of magmatism. The overlying
1400 Hart River VMS
3.5-km-thick Pinguicula Group was originally interpreted to
Belt-Purcell Muskwa
Supergroup be intruded at its base by the Hart River sills. However, recent
assemblage
Sullivan Moyie sills examination of contact relationships shows that the Pinguicula
1500 Group unconformably overlies the Hart River sills and their
Wernecke Supergroup host (Medig et al., 2010). Siliciclastic
and carbonate rocks of the Pinguicula Group were depos-
Racklan
Wernecke
breccias ited in a slope to deep-basin environment (Thorkelson, 2000;
1600 GL Medig et al., 2010, 2012). Preliminary detrital zircon analy-
Wernecke Q
Supergroup FL ses suggest that strata of the Pinguicula Group are younger
than ca. 1150 Ma (Fig. 5; Medig et al., 2012). The Pinguicula
PALEOPROTEROZOIC
Group is unconformably overlain by shallow-water siliciclastic

1700 “Bonnetia”
and carbonate rocks of the Hematite Creek Group, a west-
ern basal succession of the Mackenzie Mountains Supergroup
(Thorkelson, 2000; Turner, 2011), and part of a widespread
1800 deformation &
Neoproterozoic depocentre in northwestern Laurentia (e.g.
mineral deposit
metamorphism Rainbird et al., 1996). The Mackenzie Mountains Supergroup
Ma felsic magmatism glacial deposit (ca. 1.0–0.78 Ga; up to 4 km thick; Fig. 5; Long and Turner,
2012; Turner and Long, 2012) includes a lower succession
of shallow-marine to fluvial mudstone, siltstone, and quartz
arenite that contains abundant Mesoproterozoic detrital zir-
cons (1.25–1.0 Ga). These strata are interpreted to form part
Fig. 5. Generalized stratigraphy of Proterozoic precursor basins in the
Canadian Cordillera. Modified after Thorkelson et al. (2001a, 2005), Turner
of a pan-continental braided river system with sources in the
(2011), Furlanetto et al. (2012), F.A. Macdonald et al. (2012) and Martel et Grenville orogen of southeastern Laurentia (Rainbird et al.,
al. (2012). Bonnetia is a cryptic terrane represented by ca. 1.71 Ga igneous 1997). Overlying carbonate and minor evaporite of the Little
clasts in Wernecke breccias and inferred to have been accreted to northwest- Dal Group record deposition in an intracratonic basin. Reef
ern Laurentia during the ca. 1.6 Ga Racklan orogeny. Timing of assembly mounds in the Little Dal Group contain the only known sig-
and breakup of Rodinia are shown by arrows at right. Relative stratigraphic
position of major mineral deposits discussed in text is also shown. Abbrevia- nificant mineralization in the Mackenzie Mountains Super-
tions: FL = Fairchild Lake Group, GL = Gillespie Lake Group, Q = Quartet group, the Gayna River deposits, a cluster of MVT deposits
Group. totaling some 50 Mt averaging 4.7% Zn (Figs. 4, 5). The age

by guest
62 NELSON ET AL.
a) SWEAT b) AUSWUS
Moores (1991) Karlstrom et al. (1999)
Hoffman (1991) Burrett & Berry (2000)
Australia
Australia
Antarctica
Grenville
Olympic Dam
Olympic Dam
Antarctica
G
Wernecke
re
Wernecke
n
vi
Sullivan
lle
Sullivan
equator equator
b
Siberia el
t Siberia
be
Laurentia
lt
Laurentia
Baltica Baltica
1000 km
c) Siberian connection d) South China in Rodinia

Sears & Price (2000, 2003a,b) Li et al. (1995, 2008)
Australia
Siberia
Antarctica
Australia
Olympic Dam
S China
G
re
Olympic Dam Antarctica

nv
Wernecke
Ta
im
i
yr
Siberia
lle
tro
equator
ug
Wernecke
h
Udzha Sullivan
trough
be
Sullivan G
equator re
lt
Laurentia
n
vi
Laurentia lle
Baltica Baltica
be
lt
Proterozoic basins
sediment transport 1.5-1.4 Ga Belt-Purcell
-
direction 1.45 Ga Sullivan SEDEX 1.7-1.6 Ga Wernecke,
- Mt. Isa/McArthur
inferred edge of 1.5 Ga mafic dikes Precambrian domains (craton)
craton 1.5-1.4 Ga granite- 1.4-1.0 Ga - Grenville, Sveconorwegian
Phanerozoic rhyolite province
orogenic belt 1.6-1.4 Ga - Pinwarian-Telemarkian
1.6 Ga IOCG breccias 1.8-1.6 Ga - Yavapai-Mazatzal
2.0-1.8 Ga - Trans-Hudson, Svecofennian
Archean (>2.5 Ga) - Superior, Kola-Karelian

Fig. 6. Alternative models for Mesoproterozoic reconstruction of Laurentia within the supercontinent Rodinia (ca. 1.0
Ga). (a) The SWEAT hypothesis (Hoffman, 1991; Moores, 1991) juxtaposes Australia with northwestern Laurentia (modern
reference frame). This reconstruction provides the best fit between Mesoproterozoic IOCG occurrences in northwestern
Canada and Australia, and a “western” Australian source for 1.6 to 1.5 Ga zircons in Mesoproterozoic strata of the Belt-Purcell
Supergroup (Ross et al., 1992) and the Pinguicula Group (Medig et al., 2012). (b) The AUSWUS connection (Karlstrom et
al., 1999; Burrett and Berry, 2000) juxtaposes Australia to the southwestern United States, leaving the northwestern Lau-
rentian margin opened (or juxtaposed to an unspecified craton). This reconstruction also provides adequate source regions
in Australia for 1.6 to 1.5 Ga zircons. Reconstruction of Siberia against the northern Laurentia margin in A and B is after
Rainbird et al. (1998) and Khudoley et al. (2001). (c) The Siberian connection of Sears and Price (2000, 2003a, b) juxtaposes
the Archean Aldan shield and Wyoming craton; 1.6 to 1.5 Ga zircons are sourced in the mid-continent granite-rhyolite prov-
ince of Laurentia and transported via the Udzha trough (Siberia) into the Belt-Purcell basin. This reconstruction also aligns
1.5 Ga mafic dikes and sills in western United States (including the Moyie sills) with similar dikes in northern Siberia. In
this model, the northern Laurentian margin is open and there is no source region for 1.6 to 1.5 Ga zircons in the Wernecke
Mountains. (d) The reconstruction of Li et al. (1995, 2008) places the South China craton between Laurentia and Australia.
This model extends Grenvillian orogenesis in the Siboa belt and thus provides the closest fit for hints of Grenvillian tectonism
in the North American Cordillera (Milidragovic et al., 2011). Only continents that have a postulated relationship with western
Laurentia are shown here.

by guest
of the Gayna River deposits is not well constrained. Kesler extension related to the ca. 1.37 Ga East Kootenay “orogeny”
(2002) related their formation to penecontemporaneous (McMechan and Price, 1982; Doughty and Chamberlain,
basinal fluids, in which case mineralization would have been 1996; H.E. Anderson and Parrish, 2000; Zirakparvar et al.,
early Neoproterozoic, but lead isotopes from Gayna River 2010; Nesheim et al., 2012), an event that is broadly coeval
and other Zn-Pb occurrences in the Mackenzie Mountains with Hart River magmatism in Yukon (Fig. 5). The record
favor a Paleozoic event (or events) possibly related to SEDEX for the next ~300 m.y. is sparse in the northern Cordillera;
mineralization in the Selwyn basin (see below; Godwin and although hints of Mesoproterozoic magmatism and possible
Sinclair, 1982; Ootes et al., 2013). Turner and Long (2008) Grenvillian-age tectonism are reported from an increasing
have suggested that deposition of the Mackenzie Moun- number of localities along the Cordillera (e.g., H.E. Anderson
tains Supergroup occurred in an extensional basin, probably and Parrish, 2000; Zirakparvar et al., 2010; Milidragovic et al.,
a precursor to the late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian breakup 2011; Nesheim et al., 2012), their scale is insignificant com-
of Rodinia. They interpret abrupt thickness and lithofacies pared with the Grenville orogen, which in Ancestral North
variations to mark the locus of transverse, NE-striking growth America extends from Labrador to western Mexico.
faults, which subsequently focused fluid flow and the younger
mineralization. Laurentia in Rodinia
Muskwa basin: The age of the westward-thickening sedi- By the end of the Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1.0 Ga), the Pre-
mentary prism in the Muskwa basin is loosely bracketed cambrian cratons were assembled to form the supercontinent
between 1766 Ma, the age of its youngest detrital zircons, and Rodinia (e.g., Hoffman, 1991; Moores, 1991; Li et al., 2008).
crosscutting 779 Ma diabase dikes (Ross et al., 2001). Like the Several reconstructions have been proposed, most placing
Wernecke basin, it has been interpreted as an intracratonic Laurentia within the core of the supercontinent, but all pro-
basin (Long et al., 1999). The Churchill Cu-bearing quartz- posing different craton(s) as conjugate to the Neoproterozoic
ankerite veins (Fig. 4) are cospatial with abundant diabase western Laurentian margin (Fig. 6). These reconstructions
dikes in a generally NE-striking array that postdates a phase have implications for understanding Proterozoic basin devel-
of NE-vergent folding. Ross et al. (2001) suggested that both opment, sediment source regions, the genesis of associated
veins and dikes relate to the onset of Neoproterozoic rifting ore deposits, and the identification of potential global metal-
that fragmented Rodinia. lotects. Are the Wernecke breccias close cousins to IOCG
Belt-Purcell basin: The Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell basin deposits in Australia? Is there a continuation of the Belt-Pur-
is host to one of Canada’s stellar deposits, the 160 Mt Sullivan cell basin on some other continent, with its promise of pro-
Pb-Zn-Ag orebody (Figs. 4, 5), which was mined continuously spective ground for the discovery of another giant SEDEX
from 1914 until closure in 2001. The Belt-Purcell Supergroup deposit like Sullivan?
is significantly younger than the Wernecke Supergroup (Fig.
5; 1.47–1.40 Ga, Ross and Villeneuve, 2003; 1.50–1.32 Ga, Protracted breakup of western Laurentia: 780–570 Ma
Lydon, 2007). It also shows a much more active style of depo- In western Laurentia, extension that would eventually lead
sition than the Wernecke and Muskwa basins, with rapid rates to the demise of Rodinia probably began with deposition of
of sedimentation (18–20 km thick; Lydon, 2007), mafic vol- lower Neoproterozoic strata of the Mackenzie Mountains
canic rocks and sill complexes, and well-defined intrabasinal Supergroup (Fig. 5; Turner and Long, 2008) and magmatism
syndepositional faults (Ross and Villeneuve, 2003). Facies of the Gunbarrel large igneous province (LIP; Harlan et al.,
and paleocurrent indicators, as well as detrital zircon popula- 2003), but this attempt at rifting apparently failed. It was only
tions of 1.61 to 1.50 Ga that are not represented in the nearby in late Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian time that the west-
Laurentian basement, are interpreted by Ross and Villeneuve ern margin of Ancestral North America was born as Laurentia
(2003) to indicate non-Laurentian western sources that were broke out of Rodinia and the paleo-Pacific ocean opened—
removed during late Proterozoic or earlier continental rifting the ocean that would by late Paleozoic time become the world
(Fig. 6a, b). The presence of detrital grains identical in age to ocean, Panthalassa (Scotese, 2002).
sedimentation in the Belt-Purcell basin suggests that it may The creation of the margin was protracted and involved at
have abutted an active magmatic belt on its western side (Ross least two main episodes of rifting (see Colpron et al., 2002;
et al., 1992; Ross and Villeneuve, 2003). This basin provided Lund et al., 2003, 2010). An earlier phase (ca. 723–716 Ma,
the tectonic setting for accumulation of syngenetic, sediment- Cryogenian; F.A. Macdonald et al., 2010, 2012) is shown in
hosted massive sulfide ore. The Sullivan deposit, dated at 1.47 coarse, immature siliciclastic deposits and local volcanic rocks
to 1.45 Ga by Sm-Nd methods (Jiang et al., 2000), is associ- of the Windermere Supergroup, and widespread LIP mag-
ated with a NE-striking synsedimentary fault array, including matism of the Franklin event (Heaman et al., 1992). The final
the St. Mary, Kimberley, and Moyie-Dibble Creek faults (Höy phase is recorded by upper Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) to
et al., 2000; MDC, Fig. 3) as well as with the voluminous syn- Lower Cambrian Hamill-Gog Group strata of southeastern
sedimentary mafic Moyie sills. The NE-striking faults align British Columbia (e.g., Devlin and Bond, 1988; Warren, 1997;
with the Vulcan Low to the east (Fig. 3), at a high angle to the Colpron et al., 2002; ca. 570–540 Ma).
NNW-trending basin margin, as well as to trends of rift gra- Rifting was coeval with at least two global Neoproterozoic
ben (Price, 1981; McMechan, 2012). Lead-zinc-silver miner- glaciations (Rapitan [Sturtian] and Ice Brook [Marinoan];
alization with characteristic tourmaline alteration is localized the Snowball Earth events of Hoffman et al., 1998; Hoffman
where the cross-faults offset rift basins (Höy et al., 2000). and Schrag, 2002; Arnaud et al., 2011). In the south, ther-
Deposition in the Belt-Purcell basin ended with an epi- mal subsidence associated with the later rifting event began
sode of bimodal magmatism, burial metamorphism, and about 575 Ma (Bond and Kominz, 1984). The lower part of

by guest
64 NELSON ET AL.
the Hamill-Gog Group lies unconformably on the Winder- Early Paleozoic continental margin
mere, and strong facies and thickness variations and signifi- Following breakup, intermittent extension continued
cant local accumulations of basalt suggest that it was depos- to shape the western margin of Ancestral North America
ited in a series of N-trending rift gräben (Warren, 1997). A throughout the early Paleozoic. Extension was accompanied
ca. 570 Ma dike related to this phase of magmatism dates the by four major volcanic pulses and locally related diatremes
second pulse of rifting in the southern Canadian Cordillera and syenite, in Cambrian, Silurian, Early to Middle Ordovi-
(Colpron et al., 2002). cian, and Middle to Late Devonian (Fig. 8; Goodfellow et al.,
During the Ediacaran, continental extension is recorded 1995; Lund et al., 2010; Millonig et al., 2012). The Selwyn
in three grand-cycles in the upper Windermere Supergroup basin was a deep-marine embayment in the northern conti-
of the northern Cordillera (Narbonne and Aitken, 1995; Dal- nental margin that was initiated in the Neoproterozoic with
rymple and Narbonne, 1996; Turner et al., 2011). Deposi- deposition of the Hyland Group and persisted throughout
tion of the coarse, immature siliciclastic rocks of the Hyland early Paleozoic (Gordey and Anderson, 1993). Alkalic to ultra-
Group in Selwyn basin probably also began at that time (Fig. potassic volcanic rocks occur throughout the Selwyn basin
7; Fritz et al., 1991; Gordey and Anderson, 1993; Colpron et and its southern extension, the Kechika trough, and within
al., 2013). Intermittent extension between these two major basinal successions of northern Yukon (Fig. 8; Goodfellow et
episodes of rifting is indicated by sporadic alkaline magma- al., 1995). The strong structural control in the development of
tism along the length of the Cordilleran margin (e.g., Lund Selwyn basin is particularly evident along its northern edge,
et al., 2003, 2010; Pigage and Mortensen, 2004; Millonig et where abrupt facies changes and sporadic magmatism in Neo-
al., 2012). proterozoic to Devonian strata are localized near the Dawson
Although it records a major continental rift event, the Win- fault (Fig. 7a). The Dawson fault is a deep-seated, long-lived
dermere Supergroup hosts only limited syngenetic mineral- structure with a compound history of extension and com-
ization, all of which is in the far northern Cordillera of Yukon pression from the Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic, and perhaps
and NWT. Mineralization in the Redstone copper belt, in the Cenozoic (G. Abbott, 1997; Colpron et al., 2013). This abrupt
Mackenzie Mountains, is hosted by carbonate rocks of the platform to deep-water transition contrasts with the more typ-
Coates Lake Group, a succession of evaporite, redbed (sand- ical interfingering of facies observed between Selwyn basin
stone, conglomerate), and carbonate rocks deposited in fault- and Mackenzie platform in eastern Yukon and NWT (Fig. 7b).
bounded gräben that developed during the early stages of Along its southern edge, the platform to basin transition shifts
Windermere rifting (Figs. 7, 8; Jefferson and Ruelle, 1986; nearly 200 km to the west along the Yukon-British Colum-
Ootes et al., 2013). The copper mineralization is diagenetic bia border (Fig. 8), a feature that is attributed to reactivation
and is concentrated at the transition between redbeds and of transverse basement structures in early Paleozoic (Fig. 3;
carbonates. The source of metal is inferred to be the volca- Cecile et al., 1997). In northern British Columbia, the plat-
nic-rich sedimentary rocks of the basal Coates Lake Group form-to-basin transition resumes its southeasterly trend and
(Jefferson and Ruelle, 1986). Overlying glaciogenic strata of lower Paleozoic deep-water facies were deposited in the nar-
the Rapitan Group (diamictite, mudstone) are host to one of row Kechika trough (Fig. 8). In southern Yukon and northern
the largest and most unusual undeveloped iron deposits in British Columbia, lower Paleozoic strata of Selwyn basin and
North America: the >5-billion-tonne Crest deposit (Figs. 5, Kechika trough are bounded to the west by the relatively high
7, 8; Yeo, 1986). The Rapitan banded iron formation consist standing McEvoy and Cassiar platforms that were probably
of hematite-jasper rhythmites, locally with dropstones, that contiguous prior to Eocene displacement on the Tintina fault
are interpreted to be chemical precipitates formed during a (Figs. 7b, 8). This belt of outboard platformal facies is inferred
major marine transgression in the aftermath of the Sturtian to indicate the presence of thicker, less extended continental
snowball event (Hoffman and Schrag, 2002). Accordingly, crust that attests to the heterogeneous style of extension that
iron was dissolved in anoxic seawater that existed in an ice- occurred along the early Paleozoic continental margin.
covered silled basin (Baldwin et al., 2012), and the iron for- Similar basement highs are also inferred from well-doc-
mation was deposited at the end of glaciation by the oxidation umented thickness and facies variations in lower Paleozoic
of ferrous iron when ocean and atmosphere once again outer continental margin strata of the western Rocky and
interacted. Purcell Mountains in southeastern British Columbia (Fig. 7c;
Fig. 7. Schematic stratigraphic relationships for Neoproterozoic and younger strata of the Ancestral North American
margin. (a) north-south section across Ogilvie platform (Yukon stable block) and northern Selwyn basin in Yukon. (b) east-
west section across Mackenzie platform and Selwyn basin in Northwest Territories and Yukon. (c) east-west section across
the southern Rockies and Selkirk Mountains at the latitude of the Trans-Canada highway in Alberta and British Columbia.
Approximate lines of sections are shown in Figure 8. Approximate stratigraphic positions of major mineral deposits hosted
in Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic strata are shown. Although epigenetic, the general stratigraphic position for Carlin-type gold
occurrences in Yukon is also shown for reference. Sections a and b are modified after Abbott (1997); horizontal datum is
the base of the Earn Group or Besa River Formation. Section a is modified to account for recent mapping by Colpron et al.
(2013). Section c is modified after Price et al. (1972) for the Rocky Mountains; horizontal datum is the transition from marine
to nonmarine Jurassic rocks, which corresponds approximately with the transition from continental margin to foreland basin
deposition. The western part of section c through the Dogtooth and Selkirk Mountains is inspired from Kubli and Simony
(1992) and Logan and Colpron (2006).

by guest
a) S
Selwyn basin Yukon stable block
N
(Wernecke Mtns)
=J Marg 7?ps
4T =J 4?MC
=G
=J - Jones Lake Fm 5S - Sombre Fm `S - Sekwi Fm 54E >g 54E Earn Group
4?MC - Mount Christie Fm 5C - Camsell Fm {`V - Vampire Fm 5O
4T - Tsichu Fm ^5D - Delorme Fm {`BR - Backbone Rgs Fm Road River ^5c
54BR - Besa River Fm ^5S - Sapper Fm {Ì - Ingta Fm `G _^D ^v
{`HN `5B
54E - Earn Gp ^S - Steele Fm {`HN - Narchilla Fm {HA
a _^c
54P - Prevost Fm _^W - Whittaker Fm {HA - Algae Fm
>g
Osiris-Conrad
5PL - Portrait Lake Fm `5B - Bouvette Fm {HY - Yusezu Fm `SC
5O - Ogilvie Fm `^H - Haywire Fm {B - Blueflower Fm {Ì
5F - Funeral Fm _BS - Broken Skull Fm {SH - Sheepbed Fm {B H
5GB - Grizzly Bear Fm _^D - Duo Lakes Fm {IB - Icebrook Fm {S
r
5N - Nahanni Fm `_R - Rabbitkettle Fm {K - Keele Fm Hyland {HY pe {T
up {SZ
5H - Headless Fm `SC - Slats Creek Fm {T - Twitya Fm Group
t
faul
5L - À - Avalanche Fm {SZ - Shezal Fm {SA
Landry Fm Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic
Ck
5NA - Natla Fm `RS - Rockslide Fm {SA - Sayunei Fm "basement"
Crest
Hay
s on
itan
5A - Arnica Fm `G - Gull Lake Fm {CL - Coates Lake Gp (Wernecke Supergroup,
W
Unnamed units have lower case identifiers Hart River basalt, Pinguicula Gp
Rap
ind
Daw
Hematite Creek Gp)
erm
ere
b) W =J E
Selwyn basin 4?MC Mackenzie platform
4T
Earn Group 54Ep

Mac Pass
5Ep 54BR
5F,5GB
^S
Howards Pass
Road River Group 5L,5H,5N
^5c _^D ^5S
`^H
Anvil `_R
l`V
À
`G `_BS 5S,5C,5A,5NA
{HA
Ha
{`HN
L i mi t of `_R Prairie Ck ^5D,
_^W
McEvoy e
x
p
`RS
Coates Lk
o `S {CL
Hyland s
u
Group r e
{HY
lower Neoproterozoic
"basement"
{K
Gp {SA
BR
(Mackenzie Mountains spgp)
{`
Mineral Occurrences
H
{S
pi {SZ
3000
Carlin-type Au (epigenetic)
n
Backbone
ta
VMS
{T
{IB
Ranges Fm
Ra
SEDEX - Irish Windermere
Supergroup
MVT “upper Windermere”
Rapitan iron Hay Creek Gp
Sed.-hosted Cu 0m
c) Selkirk Purcell Rocky Mountains
Calgary
W E
Mountains Mountains
Banff
U3-( Paskap
oo Fm
Cypru
s Hills
Rocky Mtn
Field, BC
L3 Brazeau Fm Edmonton
trench
Bl Fm
air
M-U< - L3 m
or Belly River Fm
Koo eG
tena p Alberta Gp
y
L< Fernie
=
@-? Fairholme Gp
Rogers
Rundle Gp
Pass
E{-0
Revelstoke
ent
54 Banff Fm basem
Palliser Fm
Sassenach Fm
sub-Devonian unconformity
e
Beaverfoot llin Calcareous sandstone,
sta
U_-L^ Mt Wilson siltstone and shale
y
Broadview Glenogle cr Chert conglomerate, grit
c
p sandstone, and siltstone

M`
U`-M_
ay G
Lardeau Group
54g
McK
Jowett Fm Chert, shale
Akolkole Shale
Ice River
x Fm complex
Dogtooth Siltstone, shale
high
Chancellor Fm
Sandstone, siltstone, shale

n
Index Fm M`
entia
Goldstream >g Shale, sandstone

Badshot
Laur
Grit, sandstone, shale

J&L (turbidites)
p
Hamil
G
l Gp Diamictite
Gp
og
Syenite
Hors
G
te
U{-L` ethie Quartzite

iet
Grouf Cree Granodiorite

Hor
M
seth
ie
p k Silty and argillaceous
Gro f Cree Diabase sills and dikes limestone
up k U{
Felsic volcanic rocks Dolostone
U{ M{ Purcell Spgp
Mafic volcanic rocks Limestone

by guest
66 NELSON ET AL.
124°W
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°W
140°W
156
148
W
Arctic Lower Paleozoic
Ocean volcanic occurrences
Pericratonic terranes 70°N
with western Laurentian ancestry
Ancestral North America
deep-water facies
Richardson
trough Ancestral North America
continental platform
a
Yukon
Alask
Yukon
Stable
block
NWT
66°N
Dawson
fault A Crest
Goz Mackenzie
platform
easte
Selwyn
basin
rn
Coates Lk
Howards B 62°N
Anvil Pass
Cassiar/
McEvoy
limit
platforms
Yukon NWT
BC
Alberta
MacDonald
of 58°N
platform
Pacific
Ocean Kechika
Al trough
Co
as
ka
rd
ille
ran
Rapitan-type iron
54°N
Sediment-hosted Cu
def
MVT deposit orm
atio
n
VMS, SEDEX deposit
“Kootenay arc type” Kootenay
carbonate-hosted deep-water Goldstream C
stratiform/replacement facies
deposit
50°N
Kootenay BC
0 100 200 300 arc deposits USA
116°W
km
Fig. 8. Distribution of late Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic deposits and paleogeographic elements of the Ancestral
North American margin. Lower Paleozoic volcanic occurrences are from Goodfellow et al. (1995). Deposit locations from
J.G. Abbott et al. (1986), Nelson (1991), Logan and Colpron (2006), Massey (2000a,b). Red lines show approximate line of
stratigraphic sections in Figure 7.
e.g., Windermere and Dogtooth highs of Reesor, 1973; and does not correspond to coeval shallow-water units of the conti-
Kubli and Simony, 1992, respectively). To the west, in the nental shelf to the east. The Lardeau Group is thought to rep-
Selkirk Mountains, thick Lower Cambrian limestone of the resent deposition in a deep trough along the outer continent
Badshot Formation occurs near the base of the Kootenay ter- margin (Fig. 7c; Logan and Colpron, 2006), a southern equiv-
rane, which comprises the most westerly exposure of parau- alent of the Selwyn basin and Kechika trough. This succession
tochthonous lower Paleozoic strata (Colpron and Price, 1995). extends southward into northeastern Washington State along
The Badshot Limestone is overlain by the Lardeau Group, a the curvilinear Kootenay arc (Fig. 8). The southern, SW-strik-
>3.5-km-thick lower Paleozoic succession of graphitic phyl- ing flank of the Kootenay arc marks another westward shift of
lite, immature siliciclastic rocks, and mafic volcanic rocks that nearly 100 km in the platform to basin transition that has been

by guest
ascribed to reactivation of basement faults that are generally in pyrite, low sedimentation rates, and the absence of local
aligned with the Vulcan structure in the Alberta basement to scarp-related facies or volcanic activity.
the east (Fig. 3; Price, 1981). Mafic volcanic rocks of MORB
to ocean island basalt (OIB: enriched intraplate basalt) affinity The Peri-Laurentian Realm
occur at various stratigraphic horizons in the Lardeau Group,
but the two most widespread episodes (upper Index and Devonian-Mississippian arc construction, rifting,
Jowett formations; Fig. 7c) preceded influx of coarse clastic and drifting
rocks of the Akolkolex and Broadview formations (Logan and The Devonian marked a profound shift from extensional
Colpron, 2006). Coarse clastic rocks in the Lardeau Group are processes related to continental breakup and its long after-
inferred to be sourced in Neoproterozoic strata of the Hors- math, to subduction-related processes. After breakup of
ethief Creek and Hamill groups exhumed along the basement Ancestral North America in the Neoproterozoic, rifting
highs in the Purcell Mountains. processes continued on the continental margin for another
In contrast to the Neoproterozoic, numerous syngenetic 150 m.y. During this interval, the continental margin occu-
deposits of Cambrian age occur in continental margin strata pied a single plate joined to oceanic lithosphere. Initiation of
of both the northern and southern Canadian Cordillera. The eastward subduction of oceanic crust beneath the continent
Faro deposits in Yukon, which were mined for nearly 30 years in the Middle to Late Devonian led to inception of magmatic
(1970–1998), are part of the Anvil district, a NW-trending belt arcs along the length of the North American Cordillera, both
of SEDEX Zn-Pb-Ag deposits hosted in Cambrian siliceous in the autochthonous outer continental margin and in what
graphitic units in the uppermost part of the Mt. Mye Forma- would become the terranes of the peri-Laurentian realm
tion and lowermost Vangorda Formation in the western Sel- (Rubin et al., 1990; Colpron et al., 2006). Arc initiation fol-
wyn basin (equivalents to the Rabbitkettle Formation, Figs. lowed the closing of the Iapetus Ocean on the eastern flank
7b, 8; Jennings and Jilson, 1986; Pigage, 2004). The deposits of Ancestral North America, which caused a global shift in
are localized near the northeastern margin of the graphitic plate configurations and probably triggered subduction along
facies, an alignment that Jennings and Jilson (1986) related to its western edge.
a second-order extensional basin. Redox changes caused by The onset of arc magmatism is recorded within the conti-
the mixing of anoxic bottom waters were probably important nental margin and in the parautochthonous Kootenay terrane
within it (Shanks et al., 1987). and Yukon-Tanana upland, as well as in the Yukon-Tanana,
In the Kootenay arc of southern British Columbia, the Stikine, and Quesnel terranes (Fig. 9; Nelson et al., 2006;
Lower Cambrian Badshot Limestone is host to a number of Paradis et al., 2006a). Uranium-lead zircon crystallization
stratiform, strata-bound, laminated to massive sulfide bod- ages range from ca. 390 to 320 Ma, with the major peak at
ies (Fig. 8; Nelson, 1991). They have many features in com- 360 to 350 Ma (Nelson et al., 2006). Throughout this interval,
mon with Irish-type deposits and, like them, probably arose magmatism was markedly bimodal. Felsic components show
through fluid venting along sea-floor growth faults. The pres- significant contributions of continental crust. Mafic compo-
ence of carbonate led to more extensive subsurface replace- nents show diverse geochemical signatures including the fol-
ment mineralization than in typical SEDEX deposits. lowing: arc tholeiite, calc-alkalic, MORB, E-MORB (enriched
To the north in the Selkirk Mountains, a belt of Cambro- MORB), OIB, boninitic, and back-arc basin basalt (BABB)
Ordovician Besshi-type, Cu-Zn-rich VMS deposits are associ- variants (Piercey et al., 2006). The pericratonic arcs devel-
ated with fine-grained sedimentary rocks, MORB-type meta oped on attenuating Laurentian continental crust, as shown
basalt, and laterally extensive manganese and boron-enriched by detrital and inherited zircons derived from Precambrian
exhalative horizons in the Index Formation (Lardeau Group; basement domains, evolved isotopic signatures of magmatic
Logan and Colpron, 2006). The most notable of these is the rocks, and strongly radiogenic sulfide Pb signatures that over-
Goldstream deposit (Figs. 7c, 8), which was mined in the lap those of the western continental margin (Field 3 on Fig.
early 1990s. Both the Lardeau Group itself and its contained 10; Nelson et al., 2006: Piercey et al., 2006). Detrital zircon
deposits are thought to have formed in a rift zone within the populations in the Yukon-Tanana terrane show prominent
new continental margin characterized by episodic rapid sub- 1.8 to 2.0 Ga and Archean peaks, similar to detrital zircon
sidence, OIB to MORB magmatism, and local hydrothermal populations in strata of the northwestern continental margin,
activity (Logan and Colpron, 2006). which are directly comparable to basement ages of northwest-
Ordovician to Early Devonian SEDEX-type deposits occur ern Laurentia (Gehrels et al., 1995; Gehrels and Ross, 1998;
in the Selwyn basin and Kechika trough, hosted by black Piercey and Colpron, 2009; Fig. 3).
shales of the Road River Group and other carbonaceous strata Back-arc extension ultimately led to initial opening of the
(Fig. 7; J.G. Abbott et al., 1986; MacIntyre, 1991). Most are Slide Mountain ocean in the latest Devonian to Early Missis-
small; however, the very large Howards Pass district (Fig. 8) sippian (Fig. 11). The active, frontal part of the arc (and its peri-
is hosted by Lower Silurian strata in the Selwyn basin (Fig. cratonic basement) became the Yukon-Tanana terrane (Figs.
7b). In contrast to most other Cordilleran SEDEX deposits, 11, 12b; Nelson et al., 2006; Colpron et al., 2007a). Inactive
those at Howards Pass apparently did not form in an active remnants of the arc that remained on the continental side of
extensional regime. The deposits consist of laterally extensive, the Slide Mountain ocean include the Kootenay terrane (Para-
finely laminated sphalerite, galena, and pyrite associated with dis et al., 2006a) and the parautochthonous rocks of the Yukon-
laminated limestone, cherty mudstone, and carbonaceous Tanana upland and northern Alaska Range (Dusel-Bacon et
chert (Goodfellow and Jonasson, 1986). They infer a stable, al., 2006). In these, arc magmatism dwindled after ca. 360 Ma,
starved, anoxic, basinal setting, based on high d34S values and was extinguished by ca. 350 Ma (Nelson et al., 2006).

by guest
68
NELSON ET AL.
124°W
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°W
140°W
Cache Creek terrane (future)
156
148
W
Mesozoic Stikinia/Quesnellia (future)
Arctic
Ocean Paleozoic Stikinia/Quesnellia basement
Yukon-Tanana 70°N
pericratonic rifted block & Paleozoic arc
Slide Mountain
marginal oceanic terrane
North America (Laurentia) basinal
Presqu’ile Devonian
carbonate barrier
a
Alask
Yukon
North America (Laurentia)
shelf/platform
NWT
66°N
Kantishna
Hills
Bonnifield Marg
easte
Bear-Twit
Delta
rn
Selwyn
basin Macmillan
Z
Pass
LS
GS
Ice Pine
Prairie Point
Creek
Wolverine
limit
NWT
Yukon
Sylvester BC
allochthon Kechika
Tulsequah Kechika Trough
of 58°N
Pacific volcanic
belt
Ocean Cirque
Kutcho
Robb
Lake
Alberta
F
Foremore
HR
Al
as Aley
ka carbonatite,
Co
Ospika pipe
rd
ille
Deposit types
ra
n
54°N
VMS
(Devonian-Miss./ Permian) Ecstall Wicheeda
def
orm
SEDEX atio
n
MVT
Fir
carbonatite/
alkaline intrusion Chu Chua
Rea Gold, Ice River
Homestake
50°N
BC
0 100 200 300
USA
116°W
km
Fig . 9. Tectónica y metalogenia del Devónico al Mississippi del margen norteamericano ancestral y el reino peri -
Laurentian (de Nelson et al., 2002 , 2006 ). Los depósitos Pérmicos seleccionados en los terrenos peri -Laurentian se
muestran en verde. GSLSZ = zona de corte del Gran Lago Esclavo, HRF = falla de Hay River.
The most important mineral deposits from this period are British Columbia (Murphy et al., 2006; Piercey et al., 2006,
syngenetic sulfides. These include volcanogenic deposits in Dusel-Bacon et al., 2006, Paradis et al., 2006a). Of these,
proximal back-arc and intra-arc settings, and SEDEX styles in Tulsequah Chief, and Samatosum, Homestake, and Rea Gold
the more distal back-arc regions of the Selwyn basin and in the Eagle Bay district have been producers; Wolverine, in
Kechika trough (Figs. 9,11; Nelson et al., 2002). Notable VMS the Finlayson Lake district, is currently in production (Fig. 9).
districts include the Finlayson Lake belt in the Yukon-Tanana The largest and best-known Devonian SEDEX deposits are
terrane, Tulsequah Chief in far northwestern Stikinia, the those at Macmillan Pass in the eastern Selwyn basin and
Delta and Bonnifield districts in the parautochthonous Alaska Cirque in the Kechika trough. The more recently discovered
Range, the Marg deposit in northern Selwyn basin, and the and explored Akie prospect, south of Cirque, has a 7.8 Mt indi-
Eagle Bay deposits in Kootenay terrane of southeastern cated resource at 11.9% combined Zn and Pb (7% Zn cutoff;

by guest
15.75
Devonian-Mississippian
deposits of the Arctic-
NE Pacific realm
3
250
250
360
Devonian-Mississippian Ambler 510

440
Laurentian, European
15.65 deposits 700
Pb/ 204 Pb
700
Brooks R. Late Devonian-
urve 2 4
Mississippian
western
Sh ale c peri-Laurentian
deposits
Pine
207
15.55 Point Sicker

1 1 Navan, Polaris
2 Meggen, Rammelsberg, Iberian pyrite
belt
3 Selwyn basin SEDEX, Yukon-Tanana
VMS
to Devonian mantle
(17.8, 15.42) 4 Ecstall belt, Stikinia (transitional
pericratonic to primitive intra-oceanic arc)
15.45
17.6 17.8 18.0 18.2 18.4 18.6 18.8 19.0
206 204
Pb/ Pb
Fig. 10. Pb isotope signature of Devonian-Mississippian syngenetic deposits of the Cordillera compared with Arctic and
European deposits. Data sources: Sicker, Robinson et al. (1996); Pine Point and European deposits from compilation of
Nelson et al. (2002) and references therein; all other data, Mortensen et al. (2006). Shale curve, representing Pb evolution of
northwestern Ancestral North America, from Godwin and Sinclair (1982).
Canada Zinc Metals, 2012). All of these are hosted by black 2012). Long-lived NE-trending basement structures may also
carbonaceous and siliceous strata of the Earn Group (Fig. 7b). have played a role in localizing carbonatite intrusions, for
They are associated with facies transitions and synsedimen- instance the well-known Aley carbonatite, which lies on the
tary faults related to the back-arc extensional tectonic regime. westernmost extension of the Great Slave Lake shear zone
Also related to back-arc extension are latest Devonian- (Fig. 9, Hay River fault; McMechan, 2012). Recent global
Early Mississippian (ca. 360–340 Ma) carbonatites and associ- market conditions have stimulated active exploration of Brit-
ated alkalic intrusions of the western Rockies and Omineca ish Columbia carbonatites for REE, Ta, and Nb potential,
belt. Their ages of emplacement overlap the main episode including the Aley and more frontier targets such as the Fir
of arc magmatism and the formation of nearby SEDEX-style and Wicheeda (Fig. 9; Millonig and Groat, 2013).
deposits. Some are in clusters of older carbonatites, indicat- In the continental interior, Devonian MVT deposits such
ing reactivated zones of fertile upper mantle (Millonig et al., as Robb Lake in the Rockies and Pine Point, ~500 km east of
A-type A-type
Magmatic Boninite Calc- E-MORB MORB E-MORB OIB
types Arc tholeiite alkalic OIB OIB E-MORB
Alkalic-hosted
VMS
Felsic-hosted VMS Homestake, Wolf, SEDEX
Wolverine Mac Pass MVT
KZK Cirque Pine Point,
VMS VMS Robb Lake
Fyre Lake VMS
Eclogite in hanging wall Chu Chua Marg
of Cleaver Lk. thrust Ice
Yukon-Tanana terrane Slide Kootenay, Ancestral

Mountain Cassiar North
terrane terranes America
Subduction
rollback/sinking
of slab
drives extension
Devonian-Mississippian
Fig. 11. Schematic cross section of the Ancestral North American margin in Devonian-Mississippian time with variation
in magmatic styles and associated deposits (from Nelson et al., 2006). Although of Permian age, the mafic volcanic-hosted
VMS deposits of the Slide Mountain terrane (Chu Chua, Ice) are shown here in relation to other late Paleozoic geodynamic
elements of the peri-Laurentian realm. Note that these deposits formed during the mature stage of the Slide Mountain ocean;
the nascent stage of this marginal basin is depicted here.

by guest
70 NELSON ET AL.
A) Silurian (ca. 425 Ma)

a) Silurian stromatolites and
sphinctozoan sponges
ca. 600-700 Ma granites
60°N A ca. 900-980 Ma granites
S
S ~2000 km
A
L
A
H SIB
T OM
30°N
N KAZ
A FW
P YR
AX
AA
PE PALEO-TETHYS
OCEAN
es
0°
Caledonid
BAL
Timanides
LAU
Grenville
belt ians SCH
ch
pala
30°S Ap subduction
L RHEIC
S AV OCEAN transform
ETU
IAP SEU ridge
AFR orogeny
b) Late Devonian - Mississippian (ca. 360 Ma)

B)
OM
60°N WR FW SIB
AX
URA
LIAN KAZ
RB SEA
30°N YT AA PE
PA N
OK
Ellesmerian PALEO-
YR BAL TETHYS
LAU
THA
0° Antler
Variscan
LAS
ia ns
a lach SEU
MEX App
SA
RHEIC ARB
OCEAN NA
D WA
30°S
GON IND
AFR
SAM ~2000 km
Fig. 12. Schematic paleogeographic reconstruction of peri-Laurentian and Arctic realm terranes in early to mid-Paleozoic
time. (a) In Silurian, the Arctic terranes start migrating westward as Baltica and Laurentia “collide” in the Caledonian orog-
eny. Arctic Alaska (AA, including Wrangel Island and Chukotka) lay against northern Baltica (E.L. Miller et al., 2011) and
Alexander terrane (AX) at the northern end of the Caledonides (Beranek et al., 2013b). The terranes share affinity with the
Timanides of northern Baltica. Locations of Precambrian granitic rocks from Patrick and McClelland (1995) and Gee (2005).
Silurian fossil localities from Soja and Antoshkina (1997). (b) By Late Devonian to Early Mississippian, subduction had
migrated westward and transported many of the Arctic terranes into eastern Panthalassa. The subduction zone propagated
southward along western Laurentia in Devonian, followed by back-arc rifting, opening of the Slide Mountain ocean and
initiation of arc magmatism in Yukon-Tanana terrane (YT). Other terranes: FW = Farewell, OK = Okanagan subterrane, OM
= Omulevka, PE = Pearya, YR = Yreka. Continental reconstructions for all paleogeographic maps are modified after Scotese
(2002). AFR = Africa, ARB = Arabia, BAL = Baltica, IND = India, KAZ = Kazhakstan, LAU = Laurentia, MEX = Mexico,
SAM = South America, SCH = South China, SIB = Siberia.

by guest
the Cordillera along a reactivated segment of the Great Slave northern California (referred to as the McCloud faunal belt)
Lake shear zone, formed when relatively cool hydrothermal differ from coeval faunas in the autochthon (M.M. Miller,
fluids interacted with carbonate strata (Fig. 9; Nelson et al., 1988). Statistical faunal analysis suggests that these terranes
2002). Prairie Creek is an Irish-type polymetallic deposit probably lay 2,000 to 3,000 km west of North America by
formed in a faulted basin-to-platform transition on the east- Early Permian time (Belasky and Stevens, 2006). Volumi-
ern margin of the Selwyn basin. It is partly carbonate hosted nous Late Pennsylvanian-Early Permian basaltic volcanism
and partly structurally controlled (Paradis et al., 2006b; Ootes combined with minimal sedimentation in the Slide Moun-
et al., 2013). tain terrane are compatible with significant sea-floor spread-
ing, and opening of a broad ocean between the peri-Lauren-
Offshore arcs, Slide Mountain ocean, quiet margin tian arc terranes and the continent (Fig. 13; Nelson et al.,
(Pennsylvanian-Permian) 2006).
Arc-related successions continued to accumulate in the Continental margin tectonics was more subdued during
Quesnel, Stikine, and Yukon-Tanana terranes throughout the the late Paleozoic than at any time before or since; Perm-
late Paleozoic (Nelson et al., 2006; Colpron et al., 2006, 2007a; ian strata are thin and consist mainly of limestone, chert, and
Piercey et al., 2006). However, the character of volcanism and local phosphorite beds, rather than siliciclastic rocks. Phos-
sedimentation changed. Instead of widespread bimodal vol- phorite occurrences indicate deep, upwelling currents consis-
canism associated with carbonaceous deep-water strata that tent with a wide ocean (Maughan, 1994). In the Permian, the
characterize Devonian to Mississippian arcs, Pennsylvanian- frontal arcs lay far to the west of the continent, insulating it
Permian successions are mainly intermediate in composition from interactions with Pacific oceanic plates (Fig. 13). How-
and associated with limestone, siliciclastic rocks, and chert, ever, changing patterns of facies and unconformities in the
and rhyolite and basalt in parts of the sequence (Simard et western part of the autochthon may represent evolving uplifts
al., 2003; Gunning et al., 2006). These upper Paleozoic units and basins, possibly linked to tectonic events within the Slide
are linked to older parts of the Yukon-Tanana terrane at a Mountain basin (Henderson et al., 2012).
number of localities by unconformities, intrusive contacts, The only deposits of significance which formed during the
and transitional sequences (Jackson et al., 1991; Mihalynuk et late Paleozoic are modest Cyprus-type Cu-rich massive sul-
al., 1994b; Mihalynuk, 1999; Simard et al., 2003; Nelson and fide deposits such as Ice in the Finlayson district of Yukon
Friedman, 2004; Nelson et al., 2006). and Chu Chua in southeastern British Columbia, both of
Early to Middle Permian faunas of the Stikine, Quesnel, which were within the Slide Mountain ocean basin (Figs. 9,
and the Eastern Klamath terranes of southern Oregon and 11).
McCloud fauna
OM
60°N
FW SIB
AX Ta
ANGAYUCHAM im
yr
WR RB AA
ST PE
KAZ
Urals
SLIDE
YT MOUNTAIN
OK BAL
QN YR LAU
EK
PA
0° NS SEU
Variscan
NT
PALEO-
Alleghenian TETHYS
HA
LA
GOND WANA
SS
30°S
SAM ARB
A
AFR
~2000 km
Pennsylvanian - Early Permian (ca. 285-300 Ma)

Fig. 13. Late Paleozoic (Pennsylvanian to Early Permian) paleogeographic reconstruction. Location of Insular (WR, AX)
and Intermontane (YT, ST, QN) terranes based largely on Belasky and Stevens (2006). Location of Farewell terrane (FW)
based conceptually on Bradley et al. (2003). Omulevka Ridge (OM) from Nokleberg et al. (2005). AA = Arctic Alaska, EK =
Eastern Klamaths, NS = Northern Sierras, OK = Okanagan, PE = Pearya, QN = Quesnellia, RB = Ruby, ST = Stikinia, YR
= Yreka.

by guest
72
NELSON ET AL.
Cierre del océano Slide Mountain y sus secuelas conjunto Klondike) como del noroeste de Laurentia, lo que indica
(Pérmico Medio a Triásico Medio) la proximidad paleogeográfica por el Triásico Inferior (Beranek y
Al final del Triásico , el océano de Slide Mountain se cerró , Mortensen , 2011; Figura 14). Se documentan relaciones similares
devolviendo los terrenos Yukon -Tanana y Quesnel a una posición en el sureste de la Columbia Británica. La imbricación pérmica del
cercana a la Ancestral Norteamérica (Fig. 14). El antiguo régimen terreno Slide Mountain está indicada por la falla Whitewater y el
de subducción por inmersión en E, establecido por primera vez conglomerado suprayacente de Lower Permian Marten (Klepacki y
debajo del margen occidental de Laurentian en el Devónico y Wheeler , 1985 ). Los estratos siliciclásticos triásicos del Grupo
continuando a través del Paleozoico tardío bajo sus arcos Slocan , con firmas isotópicas influenciadas por el continente (
pericratónicos periféricos , llegó a su fin en el Pérmico Medio. En Unterschutz et al., 2002), se superponen al terreno de la montaña
el Pérmico Temprano a Medio , el magmatismo se extinguió en Slide, las rocas paleozoicas de Quesnellia (Read y Okulitch, 1977) y
Stikinia (Gunning et al., 2006) y Quesnellia (Nelson et al., 2006), y los estratos del margen continental.
por el Pérmico Medio a Tardío la subducción hacia el este a lo El arco Kutcho del Pérmico Tardío -Triásico Temprano , que
largo del margen occidental del terreno Yukon -Tanana fue ahora está incorporado en el terreno occidental de Cache Creek (
reemplazada por subducción hacia el oeste a lo largo de su flanco Figs.9, 14; Childe et al., 1998 ; Schiarizza , 2012 ), es el único otro
este (Fig. 14). Este cambio en la polaridad del arco, que finalmente arco que se desarrolló durante este tiempo. Este arco se diferencia
causó el cierre de la cuenca oceánica de Slide Mountain , es de Stikinia y Quesnellia en su composición química , carácter
registrado por el conjunto Klondike, un conjunto de rocas félsicas y isotópico extremadamente primitivo, probable basamento oceánico
máficas menores relacionadas con el arco, de influencia continental y edad, y se considera como un fragmento de un arco naciente que
que se superponen e invaden las rocas del Misisipio y más antiguas se formó dentro del océano paleopacífico , bien fuera de borda del
del Yukón Terreno de Tanana (Colpron et al., 2006; Piercey et al., peri-Laurentian. reino (Fig.14). El depósito de sulfuro masivo rico
2006; Beranek y Mortensen , 2011). A lo largo del margen oriental en Cu de Kutcho Creek en el noroeste de Columbia Británica (Fig.
del terreno Yukon -Tanana se encuentra un cinturón de rocas 9) está intercalado con rocas volcánicas félsicas en la parte norte
metamórficas de alta presión y depósitos siliciclásticos gruesos que del arco de Kutcho. Como este fragmento ofiolítico se reconoce a
son coetáneos con el conjunto de Klondike y que probablemente lo largo del terreno de Cache Creek (Childe et al., 1998; Schiarizza
se formaron en su arco frontal cuando se cerró el océano de Slide , 2013), existe un considerable potencial de impacto a lo largo de
Mountain (Nelson et al., 2006). ; Colpron et al., 2006). Entre 260 y los equivalentes de Kutcho.
252 Ma , parte del margen Laurentian entró en la zona de
subducción y se deslizó por debajo del terreno predominante Arcos del Triásico tardío al Jurásico temprano
Yukon-Tanana (orogenia Klondike de Beranek y Mortensen, 2011). La subducción renovada hacia el este debajo de los flancos
Las sucesiones de cobertura en los terrenos Yukon-Tanana y Slide occidentales de los bloques peri-Laurentian que se reunieron con
Mountain y el margen norteamericano ancestral contienen circones la América del Norte Ancestral al cerrarse el océano de Slide
detríticos derivados tanto del terreno Yukon-Tanana (incluido el Mountain (Yukon-Tanana, Quesnellia), y la renovada subducción
FW OM
ANGAYUCHAM SIB
60°N
RB AA
AX+WR
PE Urals
ST
KAZ
trace of future YT BAL
Late Triassic QN
subduction
ma
EK
no
Ku NS LAU
So
SEU PALEO-
MEX TETHYS
ian
0° cyn
Her
PA
NT
PA N G E A
TU
HA
ARB
SAM
LA
AFR IRN
30°S
TIB
SS
~2000 km
A
TETHYS
Late Permian - Early Triassic (ca. 250 Ma) IND
Fig. 14. End Paleozoic (Late Permian to Early Triassic) paleogeographic reconstruction. AA = Arctic Alaska, AX = Alex-
ander, EK = Eastern Klamaths, FW = Farewell, Ku = Kutcho arc, NS = Northern Sierras, OK = Okanagan, OM = Omulevka,
PE = Pearya, QN = Quesnellia, RB = Ruby ST = Stikinia, YT = Yukon-Tanana.

by guest


debajo de Stikinia dio lugar al mayor conjunto de depósitos el eje del magmatismo jurásico continuó migrando hacia el este
minerales metálicos de la Cordillera norte: los pórfidos mesozoicos como lo muestra : (1) disminución progresiva (210-195 Ma) en las
de cobre, oro y molibdeno y vetas y depósitos relacionados ricos en edades de intrusiones y cinturones de pórfido hacia el este en el
metales preciosos (Figs. 15, 16). Los cinturones de intrusiones del sur de Quesnellia (Logan y Mihalynuk , 2013 ) ; (2) estratos
Triásico Tardío-Jurásico Temprano , cogenéticos con acumulaciones volcánicos del Grupo Rossland del Jurásico Inferior , que se
volcanosedimentarias gruesas, son un sello distintivo de Quesnellia y encuentran principalmente al este del Grupo Triásico Nicola en el
Stikinia . En Quesnellia , los grupos Takla y Nicola constituyen las sur de la Columbia Británica (Fig. 16; Wheeler y McFeely, 1991);
principales acumulaciones volcánicas del Triásico ; en Stikinia , los y (3) plutones abundantes de 204 a 185 Ma (en comparación con
grupos Triásico Stuhini y Takla y los últimos grupos Hazelton Triásico los extremadamente escasos> 205 Ma) en el terreno Yukon-Tanana
-Jurásico Temprano están ampliamente expuestos sobre el . En Stikinia , los gruesos estratos volcanogénicos del Jurásico
basamento paleozoico deformado de forma variable . Los cinturones Inferior del Grupo Hazelton se extienden a lo largo de 500 km de
intrusivos se extienden hacia el norte en el terreno Yukon -Tanana ( rumbo , que Marsden y Thorkelson (1992 ) atribuyeron a la
Fig. 16; Wheeler y McFeely , 1991 ), mostrando continuidad entre los subducción bajo los lados este y oeste del terreno y la generación
extremos norte de los arcos Stikine y Quesnel en este momento . Más de dos arcos separados por una depresión marina.
al sur , los dos terrenos de arco están separados por el terreno de En el Yukón y el este de Alaska , en el vértice norte de los
Cache Creek , que quedó atrapado durante el cierre de una cuenca últimos conjuntos magmáticos emparejados Triásico -Jurásico
oceánica entre Stikinia y Quesnellia por subducción opuesta (hacia el temprano de Quesnellia y Stikinia , el emplazamiento de plutones
oeste debajo de Stikinia , hacia el este debajo de Quesnellia ; ver la fue acompañado por una rápida exhumación de su basamento
siguiente sección ). metamórfico y el inicio de la sedimentación marina en la depresión
Las rocas volcánicas e intrusivas mesozoicas más antiguas en de Whitehorse (Fig.17). Aproximadamente 15 km de exhumación
Stikinia y Quesnellia son del Triásico Medio, pero el magmatismo se infieren de la petrología del ca . 204 a 185 Ma plutones (
de arco voluminoso comenzó en el Triásico Tardío (R.G. Anderson, Johnston et al., 1996 ; McCausland et al., 2002 ; Tafti , 2005 ). El
1991 ). En el sur de Quesnellia , el magmatismo triásico migró predominio de ca. 188 a 166 Ma 40Ar / 39Ar y K-Ar mica edades
progresivamente hacia el este , cambiando de carácter calco - de enfriamiento de gran parte del terreno Yukon-Tanana en el este
alcalino en el cinturón occidental de Nicola en ca . 210 Ma a de Alaska (Hansen y Dusel -Bacon , 1998 ) y ca. Las edades de
alcalino shoshonítico en el cinturón central de Nicola a ca. 205 Ma enfriamiento de 200 a 180 Ma en Yukon (Fig. 17) indican que se
(Mortimer , 1987 ; Logan y Mihalynuk , 2013 ). En el norte de había exhumado a niveles superiores de la corteza durante el
Quesnellia y Stikinia , estos patrones sistemáticos de crianza están Jurásico Temprano . La sucesión sedimentaria en la vaguada de
ausentes . Las unidades volcanogénicas de augita (plagioclasa ) - Whitehorse (Grupo Laberge del Jurásico Inferior a Medio) registra
fírica características del Triásico Tardío en ambos terrenos son indirectamente esta exhumación: abundantes clastos supracrustales
bajos en la sección de grado ascendente en clastos
sorprendentemente similares en características de campo , predominantemente plutónicos (Dickie y Hein, 1995; Hart et al.,
geoquímica de arco y firmas isotópicas primitivas (Dostal et al.,

1995 ; Johannson et al . , 1997 ). El Grupo Laberge contiene
1999). principalmente ca. Circones detríticos de 210 a 185 Ma con granos
Tanto en Quesnellia como en Stikinia , los arcos del Jurásico subordinados del Paleozoico superior , lo que refleja las fuentes
Temprano recién configurados se superpusieron a la arquitectura del locales (Colpron et al., 2007 b; y datos no publicados , 2011 ). Los
Triásico (Fig. 16). En los terrenos de Quesnellia y Yukon-Tanana depósitos piroclásticos pliensbachianos dentro de la vaguada de
Whitehorse se consideran expresiones del norte de una etapa
Late Triassic tardía del arco de Hazelton (Colpron y Friedman, 2008).
Las disparidades entre las faunas del Triásico de los terrenos de
OM Quesnel y Stikine y las faunas autóctonas (Reid, 1985; G.D. Stanley
FW
y Senowbari -Daryan , 1999) sugieren que los dos terrenos de arco
todavía eran latitudinalmente móviles con respecto al continente .
ANGAYUCHAM SIB
Los resultados paleontológicos y paleomagnéticos combinados
RB respaldan ubicaciones moderadas del sur, a unos 500 km al sur de
ST 60°N
Ku AA Quesnellia y hasta 1.500 km al sur de Stikinia . Las calizas del
AX+WR
Triásico Tardío en Lime Peak cerca de Whitehorse (61 ° N) y en el

YT KAZ
centro de Quesnellia contienen faunas complejas de coral y
esponjas que crecieron en arrecifes tropicales (Reid , 1985 ; G.D.
QN BAL Stanley y Senowbari -Daryan , 1999 ). Estas faunas indican
A paleolatitudes al sur del Trópico de Cáncer , que en ca. 220 Ma
ALASSA
NS EK
E 30°N cruzó el continente de América del Norte cerca de la frontera
LAU G
N
entre Canadá y EE. UU. (49 ° N de latitud actual; Kent e Irving ,
A 2010 ). Las actuales ubicaciones al norte de estos dos sitios
PANTH
P requerirían (como mínimo ) 1000 y 450 km de transporte hacia el

norte posterior al Triásico , respectivamente . Los desplazamientos
~2000 km
de esta magnitud se explican fácilmente durante la acreción del
Jurásico temprano a medio, y la sinacreción y el transporte dextral
Fig . 15 . Reconstrucción paleogeográfica del Triásico Tardío . AA =
Alaska ártica, AX = Alexander , EK = Eastern Klamath, FW = Adiós, NS =
posterior a lo largo del margen . La presencia de fosforita
Northern Sierra , OM = Omulevka , QN = Quesnellia , RB = Ruby , ST = sedimentaria en la Formación Fernie basal de las Montañas
Stikinia, WR = Wrangellia, YT = Yukon-Tanana. Rocosas del sur sugiere además que una depresión profunda
interconectada con el Océano Pacífico existió entre el margen
continental y los terrenos que se aproximaban hasta al menos
Sinemurian (Poulton y Aitken, 1989).

by guest
74
NELSON ET AL.
°W
°W
140°W
Cretaceous metamorphic belt NAp
156
148
(includes metamorphosed YT
Yukon-Tanana/Stikine) B.C.
YT
Arctic
Late Triassic - Early Jurassic
Na
plutons Ocean CC
hl i
Th NAp
Ki
ib
n
SM
ng
er
Mesozoic forearc/accretionary t
assemblage (Cache Creek terrane) m Sal
mo Fault Fa QN
n ult
Triassic-Jurassic arc
Peri-Laurentian realm
Fault
volcanic and plutonic belts
of Quesnellia & Stikinia CACHE CREEK SUTURE
(ca. 172-174 Ma) Pitman fault
Paleozoic pericratonic fragments QN
(mainly Yukon-Tanana/Stikine)
YT ST
a
Alask
Yukon
Slide Mountain terrane Middle
Jurassic ST
Ancestral North America rift
(Laurentia)
NWT
Eskay Treaty
BASIN
KSM
Brucejack
Granduc
R
BOWSE
m Anyox
0 100 200
Fig
ST
.1
Minto km
7
Lewes
River
Gp.
Yukon NWT
BC
Alberta
Stuhini 58°N
Gp. Golden Bear
Pacific
Red Chris
Ocean Schaft Cr. Toodoggone
Galore Cr., Copper Canyon
Takla
Big Missouri Gp. Kemess
Al
Premier as
k a Red Mtn. Lorraine Takla
Gp.
Hazelton Mt. Milligan
inset
Gp. 54°N
Porphyry-style
deposits
Others
Eskay, Anyox, Granduc: VMS; Mt. Polley
Toodoggone: epithermal; Gibraltar
Golden Bear: Carlin-type Nicola
Hedley: skarn Gp.
Afton, Ajax
Highland
50°N Valley Rossland
Brenda Gp.
Similco BC
Hedley
0 100 200 300
USA
116°W
km
Fig. 16. Cinturones magmáticos del Triásico al Jurásico Medio y depósitos asociados de los terrenos peri-Laurentianos . Las
ubicaciones de los depósitos son de McMillan et al. (1995). La cuenca de Bowser es la cuenca del antepaís del Jurásico Medio al
Cretácico Inferior al complejo de acreción Cache Creek. El área de la Figura 17 en Yukon se muestra con un contorno marrón. El
recuadro muestra detalles de la grieta Eskay del Jurásico medio y los depósitos VMS asociados (de Alldrick et al., 2005; nótese que
Granduc es del Triásico Tardío pero se encuentra dentro de la zona de la grieta posterior). Abreviaturas de Terrane: CC = Cache
Creek , m = Complejo plutónico de la costa , NAp = Ancestral North America , QN = Quesnellia , SM = Slide Mountain , ST =
Stikinia, YT = Yukon-Tanana.
Incluye lo siguiente : productores de larga data Highland

Valley, Gibraltar, Copper Mountain , Brenda y Afton; minas
Los pórfidos Cu -Au y Cu -Mo del Triásico Tardío al más nuevas en el monte . Polley y Kemess ; el desarrollo de
Jurásico Temprano y los depósitos genéticamente minas como Red Chris y Mt . Milligan ; probables minas
relacionados de Stikinia y Quesnellia (Fig . 16 ) son futuras en Kerr -Sulphurets -Mitchell (KSM ) y la vecina
colectivamente el metalotecto más importante en Columbia Brucejack ; y recursos muy grandes aún sin explotar como
Británica . El cinturón de depósitos se extiende hacia el Galore Creek en 530 Mt y Schaft Creek en 1.9 Bt (Fig. 16).
terreno Yukon-Tanana de Yukon (Minto y Williams Creek; Literalmente , se han escrito volúmenes sobre estos
Tafti y Mortensen , 2004; Tafti, 2005; Hood, 2012; Figs. 16, depósitos: canadienses
17).

by guest


140°W
Terranes Magmatic suites
Yuk
on Cache Creek Late Triassic - Early Jurassic
Rive
Stikinia/Quesnellia Early Cretaceous
64°N
r
180-200 Dawson Yukon-Tanana
40
Ar/39Ar & K-Ar mica ages
Alaska
Slide Mountain
Yukon
Tertiary (<63 Ma)

175 160-180 Late Cretaceous (63 - 85 Ma)
Cassiar
r Early Cretaceous (85 - 119 Ma)
175-185 Rive
Jura-Cretaceous K-Ar (119 - 160 Ma)
art
River Stew Late Triassic-Jurassic (160 - 206 Ma)
RL
136°W
Triassic and older (>206 Ma)
63°N 180-200
170
e
100
Whit
165-194
Yu Kilometres
Minto
kon QN 185-195 P
elly
Ri
ve
r
Williams Ck Ri
ve
r
62°N Carmacks
190
132°W
QN Ti
n
Te
tin
W
a
sli
166
hi
ST
n
te . 185-2zoic d
ca aleo
ho 10 Metrita
P
195 fau
rs a an l zirc
lt
e d m ons
tro inor
fa Te
ul sl
164
ug
QL
h
61°N
in
Ri
182 174
ve
r
ST
Whitehorse
Teslin
CC Watson
Lake
60°N Yukon
134°W British Columbia 130°W
Fig. 17. Elementos del Triásico tardío al Jurásico temprano de los terrenos peri-Laurentianos en Yukón. Las rocas volcánicas del arco
Triásico superior y los plutones del Jurásico temprano de Stikinia (ST) y Quesnellia (QN ) convergen al norte de Carmacks y están
envueltos por rocas paleozoicas metamorfoseadas del terreno Yukon-Tanana al noroeste. El terreno de Cache Creek (CC) termina cerca de
la latitud de Whitehorse , y Stikina y Quesnellia están separadas por la falla de Teslin a lo largo de la huelga hacia el noroeste. Las edades
de enfriamiento de la mica del terreno Yukon-Tanana son predominantemente ca. 200-180 Ma (enfatizado con puntos rojos), lo que indica
que la mayor parte del terreno había sido exhumado a niveles de la corteza superior (<300 ° C) por Early Jurassic (fuentes: Breitsprecher y
Mortensen, 2004b; Knight, 2012; M. Colpron y JR Ryan , datos no publicados, 2005). Se indica el rango para grupos de edades jurásicas.
La distribución de los estratos sedimentarios clásticos del Jurásico Inferior al Medio del Grupo Laberge (valle de Whitehorse) se muestra
en amarillo. La ubicación de la mineralización de cobre del Jurásico Temprano en Minto y Williams Creek se muestra con estrellas negras.
Tenga en cuenta que las edades de mica del Cretácico y más jóvenes están típicamente cerca de plutones o rocas volcánicas de edades
similares. También tenga en cuenta las apariciones de dos dominios en el terreno Yukon-Tanana que fueron exhumados en el Paleozoico
tardío (regiones sombreadas ): RL = dominio de Reid Lakes (enfriamiento de Mississippian ) y QL = dominio de Quiet Lake (Pérmico
tardío-Triásico). Consulte la Figura 16 para conocer el contexto regional.
Institute of Mining and Metalurgy Special Volumes 15 ( Las intrusiones del huésped van desde ca. 210 Ma (Galore
1976, editado por A. Sutherland Brown) y 46 (1995, editado , Highland Valley ) hasta ca. 183 a 178 Ma (Mt . Milligan ,
por T.G . Schroeter ) y un próximo número especial de Lorena ), un intervalo que abarca la mayor parte de la
Economic Geology, una señal de su perdurable importancia. historia del arco Triásico -Jurásico de Stikinia y Quesnellia .
En cuanto al potencial continuo de los objetivos de pórfido, Las edades más comunes son ca. 205 a 202 Ma (Mortensen
en abril de 2013 Colorado Resources anunció una et al., 1995; Logan y Mihalynuk, 2013), que corresponde a la
intersección de 242 m de 0,63% Cu , 0,85 g / t Au en un etapa final de la actividad del arco Triásico y el inicio del
pozo de perforación fronterizo en su propiedad North Rok, vulcanismo jurásico renovado . Durante estos 6 meses
a 15 km de la mina en desarrollo Red Chris. particularmente prolíficos. pulso de mineralización, centrado

by guest
76
NELSON ET AL.
en 203 Ma , se adquirió más del 90 % de la dotación de cobre Las operaciones subterráneas comenzaron en 2012 . Minto , y los
conocida (Logan y Mihalynuk , 2013 ). Este breve estallido de depósitos similares (pero oxidados ) de Williams Creek (también
emplazamiento de pórfido puede haber sido causado por un conocidos como Carmacks Copper ), están alojados en fases
cambio en la geometría de subducción después de la acreción del deformadas y schlieren del Batolito de Granito Montain de aprox.
arco de Kutcho en el Triásico Tardío (Logan y Mihalynuk, 2013). 204 a 196 Ma (Tafti , 2005 ; Hood , 2012 ). En Minto , la calcopirita
Las intrusiones de huéspedes tienden a ser de alto nivel, incluso diseminada a semimasiva y la bornita se asocia típicamente con
subvolcánicas (Nelson y Bellefontaine , 1996 ), excepto las del magnetita y biotita ; Re-Os lo ha fechado en molibdenita con la misma
terreno Yukon-Tanana, que están profundamente exhumadas (Tafti edad que la granodiorita huésped (Hood , 2012 ). Minto y Williams
y Mortensen , 2004 ). Los depósitos de pórfido de Stikinia y Creek se formaron en el terreno Yukon -Tanana en rápida
Quesnellia varían de cálcico-alcalino a levemente alcalino , con un exhumación en el centro -oeste de Yukon (Figs . 16, 17). Aunque su
marcado enriquecimiento de potasio y elementos litófilos de iones origen ha sido controvertido , probablemente representen niveles
grandes (LILE ) (shoshonítico ). Quesnellia alberga una tendencia más profundos de los pórfidos de la Columbia Británica o un sistema
de depósitos asociados con álcalis de Lorena y el monte . Milligan IOCG.
en el norte, a través del monte . Polley , Afton y Copper Mountain Desde 2007 , intensas campañas de perforación en las
en el sur. La Lorena y el monte . Las intrusiones de Milligan son propiedades adyacentes de KSM y Brucejack en la región de Iskut
los hospedadores de pórfido preaccrecionales más jóvenes , en ca. en el noroeste de la Columbia Británica han elevado este
182 a 178 Ma. Los pórfidos alcalinos más al sur de Quesnellia son campamento de un objetivo de interés a una potencial etapa de
todos ca. 205 a 202 Ma. Galore Creek en Stikinia está asociado con mina. La rápida expansión de los recursos minerales conocidos se
un conjunto intrusivo fuertemente alcalino que incluye fases demuestra mediante una comparación de las estimaciones de
pseudoleucita y pórfido portador de melanita (Enns et al., 1995). recursos en 2007 de 341 Mt para Kerr / Mitchell a 0.42% Cu, 0.65
Es uno de los depósitos de pórfido más antiguos del Triásico - g / t Au (recurso geológico; Sinclair, 2007) versus las publicadas en
Jurásico , en ca. 210 Ma (Mortensen et al., 1995 ). La tendencia un estudio de prefactibilidad de 2012 por Seabridge Gold Inc. para
hacia huéspedes alcalinos para grandes depósitos tanto del Triásico Kerr / Sulphurets / Mitchell / Iron Cap de 2.8 mil millones de
tardío como del Jurásico temprano tardío (Lang et al., 1995 ) es toneladas al 0.21% Cu y 0.55 g / t Au (recurso medido + indicado).

distintiva entre los cinturones de pórfido en todo el mundo . Los Para la zona del Valle de los Reyes en el proyecto vecino Brucejack
mecanismos precisos no se comprenden bien . Probablemente , en noviembre de 2012 Pretivm Resources publicó estimaciones
implicó una combinación de metasomatismo del manto superior a de 16,1 Mt a 16,4 g / t Au de recurso indicado y 5,4 Mt de recurso
largo plazo a lo largo del desarrollo episódico del arco Devónico al inferido . El sistema KSM -Brucejack es un conjunto de depósitos
Triásico tanto en Stikinia como en Quesnellia (Nelson y de pórfido y concentraciones de oro diseminado y almacenado
Bellefontaine, 1996), seguido de desencadenantes inmediatos como relacionadas desarrolladas en y alrededor del ca . 197 a 193
colisión de arco o meseta y / o desgarros de losa (Logan y intrusiones de Ma Mitchell (Kirkham y Margolis , 1995), asociadas
Mihalynuk , 2013 ). En el momento en que se emplazaron los con espectaculares zonas de alteración . La geometría del depósito
pórfidos , las placas superiores se encontraban en un estado de se complica por las fallas de empuje del Cretácico medio que
compresión o transpresión general , quizás con zonas de seccionan y compensan los cuerpos de mineral y yuxtaponen partes
transtensión transitorias locales. La evidencia del engrosamiento de profundas y menos profundas del sistema mineralizado (Kirkham y
la corteza incluye pliegues y fallas inversas del Triásico -Jurásico , Margolis, 1995).
discordancias del Triásico -Jurásico , una transición de condiciones En contraste con los depósitos de pórfido en Stikinia y
predominantemente marinas en el Triásico a un vulcanismo Quesnellia , la mina Granduc ahora cerrada en el noroeste de
subaéreo y marino poco profundo generalizado en el Jurásico, y la Columbia Británica explotó una serie de lentes VMS estratiformes
migración hacia el continente del eje sur del arco de Quesnel. . Los del Triásico Tardío, ricos en cobre, asociados con la formación de
depósitos de pórfido fueron acompañados por otros tipos de hierro magnetita . Se superponen a una sección de ca. 223 Ma (
depósitos epigenéticos , incluidos los depósitos auríferos y los Childe , 1997 ) basaltos toleiticos primitivos . Se infiere una
reemplazos en Brucejack; vetas subvolcánicas de Au-pirrotita tales configuración de arco primitivo o arco posterior para este depósito
como Snip (Alldrick , 1996), venas polimetálicas y minerales VMS inusual . Se encuentra a lo largo de la zona de cizalladura del río
ligados a estratos en Big Missouri ; skarn de oro en Hedley (Ray y Unuk, una estructura de larga vida en el noroeste de Stikinia, que
Dawson , 1994 ); y oro -plata en reemplazos de carbonatos más tarde se convirtió en el escenario del Eskay y los depósitos
controlados estructuralmente en Golden Bear (Fig . 16 ). La VMS del Jurásico medio relacionados (ver más abajo).
abundancia de pórfidos y depósitos relacionados con pórfidos en
Cache Creek terrane, final accretion of the
Stikinia y Quesnellia es comparable a los escenarios de arcos
modernos ricos en minerales como Filipinas.
peri-Laurentian realm, and the Eskay rift
Durante la última década, la exploración de objetivos de pórfido The Cache Creek terrane is an accretionary complex that
del Triásico -Jurásico en la Cordillera norte ha tomado nuevas was trapped between the Stikine and Quesnel terranes when
direcciones importantes . El descubrimiento de raíces de pórfido an intervening ocean basin closed, probably along opposing
profundas y estructuralmente controladas en la mina New Afton subduction zones (Figs. 18 and 19). It contains the following:
cerca de Kamloops y en Red Chris en el norte de la Columbia late Paleozoic to Lower Jurassic oceanic strata; the remnants
Británica , y la expansión de las reservas en Minto en Yukon , ha of late Paleozoic-Late Triassic oceanic plateaux (English et al.,
creado nuevas oportunidades mineras y un cambio de enfoque 2010), including carbonate caps with faunas originating in the
desde la amplia y de baja ley. , desde objetivos superficiales hasta central to western ancestral Pacific region (Orchard et al.,
recursos de grado mucho más alto, aunque menos accesibles. 2001); a primitive Late Permian-Early Triassic arc (Kutcho
La mina Minto comenzó la producción a cielo abierto en 2007 arc; Childe et al., 1998) and widespread primitive arc-related
con un recurso de 9 Mt de 1.7% Cu, ~ 0.5 g / t Au y ~ 7 g / t Ag, basalts and intrusions (English et al., 2010); and Late Triassic
que desde entonces se ha expandido a casi 60 Mt de ~ 1% Cu, 0,4 and mid-Jurassic blueschists. Correlative rocks west of the
g / t Au y 3,9 g / t Ag (Mercer y Sagman, 2012; Figs. 16, 17);

by guest
Early Jurassic a) Middle Jurassic

OM
SIB SIB
60°N
Koyukuk/
KAZ
FW ANGAYUCHAM
Togiak-Nyac
arcs ANGAYUCHAM
60°N
AA BAL
RB RB AA BAL
A
SI
FW
EA
30°N
YT
Whitehorse trough
G
PN A
N R
R
U
ST YT
+W
PA
PN
LA
AX+WR Ku QN 30°N
AX
Bonanza/ Nascent
Gravina/ ST Omineca
CACHE Talkeetna tectonic
Seldovia CREEK
‘OCEAN’ LAU arc
QN
welt
ocean
CC ntic
EQUATOR Atla
Late Pliensbachian PACIFIC
ammonite faunal boundaries LAU
l a
Boreal/Mixed
centr
~2000 km Mixed/Tethyan
(Smith et al., 2001) EQUATOR
Fig. 18. Early Jurassic paleogeographic reconstruction. Fossil constraints AFR
from Smith et al. (2001). Exhumation of the Yukon-Tanana terrane (YT) and ~2000 km
SAM
onset of deposition in Whitehorse trough occur at this time. Cache Creek and
Seldovia complexes incorporate late Paleozoic elements of Tethyan affinity.
AA = Arctic Alaska, AX = Alexander, FW = Farewell, Ku = Kutcho, OM = b) hypothetical cross section ~173 Ma
Omulevka, PN = Peninsular, QN = Quesnellia, RB = Ruby, ST = Stikinia, Quesnellia
WR = Wrangellia. Cache Creek
Stikinia terrane
McCloud belt arc terranes in Oregon and California are con-

sidered to mark the western margin of what became the North
American plate in early Mesozoic time (M.M. Miller, 1988). 100 km
Triassic fore-arc facies in central Quesnellia (including ultra- zone
mafic-gabbro clast conglomerates) occur adjacent to Triassic of
blueschist
blueschists in the Cache Creek terrane (Paterson, 1977; Struik formation
et al., 2001), indicating E-dipping subduction of the Cache
0 200
Creek ocean beneath the Quesnel arc (Figs. 18, 19). The pro-
km
gressive eastward younging of Triassic-Early Jurassic magma-
tism in Quesnellia documents successive migration of that arc c) 125°E 130°E 135°E
away from its subduction zone. On the other hand, available X-section A-B
evidence favors W-dipping subduction beneath the eastern
Ph
ilip
flank of Stikinia. Lower Jurassic clastic strata of probable fore- EURASIAN

pi
5°S
arc affinity exist in northeastern Stikinia and adjacent Cache P L AT E
ne
Creek terrane (Mihalynuk, 1999), and Lower Jurassic clastic

a
PHILIPPINE
Tr
ca Se
Sangihe
units that unconformably overlie the Kutcho assemblage are
en
arc P L AT E
North Sulaw A
ch
esi T
correlated with the Laberge Group of the Whitehorse trough renc
h Halmahera
Moluc
(Schiarizza, 2012), part of an interpreted fore-arc assemblage B arc

0 400
to northern extensions of the Quesnel and Stikine arcs within km
the Yukon-Tanana terrane. The Granduc VMS deposit in active arc metamorphosed
western Stikinia has been assigned to a back-arc basin tectonic pericratonic
clastic: dissected arc/
setting (Childe, 1997). Hence, possibly in the Late Triassic continent derived ca.172 Ma plutons
but probably by Early Jurassic time, opposing arc segments mature calc-alkalic ca.185 Ma plutons
arc
in Quesnel and Stikine terranes faced one another across the crustal scale thrust
same, closing but still-subducting ocean (Figs. 18, 19; Mih- ocean plate subduction zone
alynuk et al., 1994a). During the final stages of collision, the
Cache Creek terrane was obducted onto northeastern Stiki- Fig. 19. (a) Middle Jurassic schematic reconstruction. Koyukuk-Togiak-
nia on the SW-vergent Nahlin and King Salmon faults (Fig. Nyac arcs from Nokleberg et al. (2005). AA = Arctic Alaska, AX = Alexander,
CC = Cache Creek, PN = Peninsular, QN = Quesnellia, RB = Ruby, ST =
16 inset). One Cache Creek structural panel in the French Stikinia, WR = Wrangellia, YT = Yukon-Tanana. (b) Middle Jurassic sche-
Range of northern British Columbia contains coherent blue- matic cross section across the Intermontane terranes (after Mihalynuk et al.,
schist that has been precisely dated as 172 Ma both for peak 2004). (c) Tectonic map and cross section of the modern Molucca Sea region.

by guest
78 NELSON ET AL.
metamorphism (U-Pb zircon) and cooling (40Ar/39Ar plateau The Mt. Milligan (ca. 183 Ma; Mortensen et al., 1995) and
ages; Mihalynuk et al., 2004). The final collision is modeled as Lorraine deposits (ca. 180–178.5 Ma; Devine et al., in press)
a Halmahera-like arc-arc collision (Figs. 19b, c). resulted from the final stage of porphyry copper-gold miner-
Maximum temporal limits on accretion of the peri-Lauren- alization in Quesnellia as an independent island arc. The caus-
tian terranes to the continental margin and simultaneous trap- ative intrusions rose into the shallow crust as the terrane over-
ping of Cache Creek terrane include the following: (1) the age rode the leading edge of the North American margin. This
of youngest Cache Creek radiolarian cherts (Toarcian, ca. 183 process could be compared to a tectonic “Heimlich maneou-
–176 Ma; Cordey et al., 1987); (2) the cessation of vigorous arc ver” applied to the midcrustal magma chambers that previ-
volcanism throughout Stikinia (early Pliensbachian, ca. 188 ously fed the Triassic-Early Jurassic Hogem batholith and its
Ma; Gagnon et al., 2012, fig. 15); and (3) the age of youngest satellite intrusions.
arc magmatism and youngest porphyry deposits, Mt. Milligan Just prior to final tightening, the narrow, laterally continu-
and Lorraine, in Quesnellia (late Pliensbachian-early Toarcian, ous, N-trending Eskay rift zone cut across the Stikine crustal
186–178 Ma; Nelson and Bellefontaine, 1996; Devine et al., block, at a high angle to the incipient zone of Cache Creek
in press). Minimum limits include: (1) top-to-the-northwest collision as it is defined by the Nahlin and King Salmon faults
fabrics in tectonites in the Yukon-Tanana terrane of eastern (Fig. 16 inset). The rift fill includes fanglomerates, conglomer-
Alaska, with 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages that decrease structurally ates, sandstones, argillites, and a bimodal suite of locally thick
downward from ca. 188 to 166 Ma (Hansen and Dusel-Bacon, pillow basalts and small rhyolite bodies (Alldrick et al., 2005);
1998); (2) the age of pinning plutons across Quesnel-North U-Pb ages of rhyolites are ca. 175 Ma (A.J. MacDonald et al.,
America boundary (Toarcian, ca. 185–181 Ma; Murphy et al., 1996). These rocks are assigned to the Iskut River Formation
1995); (3) the age of the oldest (ca. 183 Ma) bentonite in the of the upper Hazelton Group (Gagnon et al., 2012), in recog-
autochthonous Fernie basin (Hall et al., 1998), likely sourced nition of their distinct lithologic character and tectonic setting
from the Rossland arc in Quesnellia and marking its close compared to regionally extensive upper Hazelton units. The
arrival to the continent margin; (4) the ages of the oldest post- Eskay Creek precious metal-rich massive sulfide deposit (Fig.
kinematic intrusions (Fourth of July suite near Atlin, ca. 172 16 inset), which was the highest grade VMS mine in terms of
Ma, Mihalynuk et al., 1992; Nelson plutonic suite, ca. 175 Ma, silver in the world during operation (1998–2008), occurs in
Murphy et al., 1995); and (5) the age of the oldest deposits carbonaceous sedimentary strata above one of the rhyolites
in Bowser basin (Fig. 16 inset, considered an Aalenian fore- and below pillow basalts (Sherlock et al., 1999). Anyox, a Cu-
land depression, ca. 176–172 Ma; Ricketts et al., 1992). Taken
rich, basalt-hosted VMS-style mined deposit, lies to the south,
together these data specify initial encounters at ca. 188 to 181
along strike of the rift zone. It is considered to be coeval with
Ma, and full-fledged collision at ca. 175 to 172 Ma.
Eskay, but of a more primitive character caused by under-
In Yukon, rapid Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian-Toarcian)
lying crust, more advanced rifting, or both (Evenchick and
exhumation of the Yukon-Tanana metamorphic infrastructure
McNicoll, 2002).
all around Whitehorse trough, shortly after onset of deposi-
tion, suggests that collapse of the Stikine-Quesnel-Cache The Eskay rift represents a departure from earlier tectonic
Creek arc-trench system first occurred in the north. Early to and magmatic styles, and trends for 300 km at a high angle to
Middle Jurassic sedimentation in Whitehorse trough records the arc front. A sinistral shear sense is recorded on its bound-
the transition from a fore-arc setting to an intermontane, pig- ing faults and in adjacent rocks (Alldrick et al., 2005). We spec-
gyback, synorogenic basin similar to the Bowser basin (Fig. ulate that it exploited preexisting basement structures such as
17; White et al., 2012). The ca. 188 Ma and younger NW- the Unuk River shear zone and developed as a regional-scale
vergent ductile shear fabrics in the Alaskan Yukon-Tanana cross-fracture or impactogen (Sëngor et al., 1978) related to
terrane (Hansen and Dusel-Bacon, 1998) record margin- a shear couple across the Stikine block, in response to col-
parallel, transpressional collision, perhaps against a salient of lisional stresses particularly on its northeastern margin (Fig.
the continent margin located in the parautochthonous Yukon- 16 inset). This would explain its anomalous northerly trend,
Tanana upland region. its short-lived but intense development as a rift zone, and the
The shift in Stikinia from active Sinemurian (ca. 190 Ma) lateral displacement across it.
arc to incipient collision is recorded in the Hazelton Group: The Arctic-Northeast Pacific Realm
primarily volcanic deposits in lower units are unconformably
overlain by primarily sedimentary units (Gagnon et al., 2012). Taken together, terranes of the Arctic-northeastern Pacific
Early Pliensbachian to Oxfordian upper Hazelton Group sedi- realm mark an evolutionary path that began in the Arctic
mentary units document postarc cooling and rift-related sub- basin and continued in the northeastern paleo-Pacific. Herein
sidence at both regional and local scales. we consider the following: (1) the early history of the oldest
Evenchick et al. (2007) have noted the similarity of timing (Paleoproterozoic to Devonian) terranes in the Arctic basin,
of mid-Jurassic SW-vergent structures in northern Stikinia which have either peri-Baltican-Caledonian or peri-Siberian
and the southern Omineca belt, and complementary patterns heritage; (2) the westward migration of these terranes into the
of orogen-derived clastic sedimentation in the Bowser basin northeastern paleo-Pacific region (Silurian-Devonian) along a
and southern Foreland belt. Prior to Cretaceous and Eocene Caribbean-like Paleozoic Northwest Passage (Colpron and
dextral faulting, these two regions were probably adjacent Nelson, 2009) and resultant Devonian arc magmatism; and
and beginning to function as related parts of a kinematically (3) multistage arc development (Devonian-Jurassic) punctu-
linked orogen that would persist through the Cretaceous and ated by local orogenies and an unusual episode of Triassic LIP
early Tertiary (Fig. 16 inset; Evenchick et al., 2007). (?) magmatism.

by guest
Origins and early history (Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic) Yukon, the Brooks Range, and the North Slope of Alaska to
the Seward Peninsula of Alaska, and the Chukotka Peninsula
Tectonics: Cordilleran terranes of early Arctic affinity
and Wrangel Island of northeastern Russia (Amato et al.,
include Arctic Alaska, Farewell, Kilbuck, and Alexander (Figs. 2009; E.L. Miller et al., 2010). The Farewell terrane com-
1, 12a, 20). The Arctic Alaska terrane (Moore et al., 1994) is a prises Proterozoic basement overlain by Paleozoic shelf and
long-lived (early Neoproterozoic to Cretaceous) pericratonic slope strata and Permian clastic wedge deposits (Bradley et
composite terrane including the Hammond, Coldfoot, and al., 2003). The small Kilbuck terrane to the southwest com-
Seward subterranes (Fig. 1) that extends from northernmost prises ca. 2050 Ma gneisses (Box et al., 1990) and shares ca.
70
124°W
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°N
°W
140°W
W
156
Alexander
2°
148
W
17
66
Wrangellia
De
°N
Red Dog Arctic
na
Ocean
li
Drenchwater
Windy Craggy
YT
Ambler B.C.
Arctic VMS
Ruby Cr district
Greens Creek
B.C
Alask
Yukon
AK
62 Late Triassic
.
°N
rift zone
it
Chatham Stra
NWT
4°W
16
easte
0 100 200
rn
58 km
°N
DM gabbros
Barnard Upper Triassic
Glacier Wellgreen Tats and Hyd groups
pluton
limit
Triassic VMS
Yukon NWT
Devonian - Mississippian Windy
VMS, SEDEX Craggy BC
Alberta
Proterozoic - Cambrian of
VMS Greens
Creek
Triassic
Magmatic Nickel - PGE
Al
Co
as
Koyukuk-Togiak-Nyac ka
rd
ille
terranes Niblack
Northern Alaska
ran
Khayyam
Angayucham terrane
def
Arctic-Alaska terrane Pacific
orm
atio
n
Seward/Hammond terranes Ocean
Ruby terrane
Farewell/Kilbuck terranes
Wrangellia & Peninsular

Insular
terranes 50°N
Buttle
Alexander terrane Lake
0 100 200 300 BC
Okanagan terrane USA USA
km
Fig. 20. Mineral deposits and key tectonic features of the Arctic-northeastern Pacific realm terranes. Deposit locations
from Massey (2000a) and Nokleberg et al. (1994). Locations of Late Devonian-Mississippian gabbros (black squares) and
the Pennsylvanian Barnard Glacier pluton (red square) that intrude Wrangellia and Alexander terrane are from Gordey and
Makepeace (2001) and Gardner et al. (1988). Inset shows details of the Late Triassic rift zone and associated VMS deposits in
Alexander terrane. Upper Triassic Tats and Hyd group outcrops compiled from Mihalynuk et al. (1993), Gehrels et al. (1987),
and Silberling et al. (1994).

by guest
80 NELSON ET AL.
850 Ma orthogneiss with the Farewell terrane; it may repre- the Niblack and Khayyam on Prince of Wales Island in south-
sent basement to Farewell (Bradley et al., 2007a). The Alex- eastern Alaska (Fig. 20). Recent exploration of the Niblack
ander terrane is regionally variable and probably composite. deposit has confirmed its association with ca. 565 Ma rhyo-
Neoproterozoic to lower Paleozoic intraoceanic arc sequences lites and traced out the favorable horizon as a set of cascad-
in the Craig subterrane of southeastern Alaska (Gehrels and ing recumbent folds (J. Oliver, oral comm., 2011). Back-arc
Saleeby, 1987) contrast strongly with lower Paleozoic pericra- facies associated with the Descon arc, on far southern Prince
tonic strata in the St. Elias Range (Mihalynuk et al., 1993; of Wales Island and extending into coastal northwestern Brit-
Beranek et al. 2012, 2013a). ish Columbia, are host to Kuroko-style VMS deposits (Ayuso
Devonian and older units in these terranes display evidence et al., 2005). Lead isotope signatures from one of these, the
of links to northern Baltica, the northern Caledonides of Nor- Pitt deposit on Pitt Island, closely match leads from Ordovi-
way and, in some cases, northern Siberia, rather than western cian Appalachian and Caledonian VMS deposits (Nelson et
Laurentia (Patrick and McClelland, 1995; Bazard et al., 1995; al., 2013).
Soja and Antoshkina, 1997; Dumoulin et al., 2002; Bradley
et al., 2003; Blodgett et al., 2002; Antoshkina and Soja, 2006; Westward migration of the Arctic terranes, early interactions
Colpron and Nelson, 2009, 2011b; E.L. Miller et al., 2011; with northwest Laurentia, and Devonian arc magmatism
Beranek et al., 2013a, b). First, detrital zircons reflect a het- Tectonics: Westward migration of the Arctic terranes in
erogeneous basement with multiple sources between 2.0 and the mid-Paleozoic, first suggested by Sweeney (1982), has
1.0 Ga, including significant populations in the 1.61 to 1.49 Ga been modeled as a Caribbean-like subduction system (Fig.
North American magmatic gap (Van Schmus et al., 1993), and 12) that developed between Laurentia-Baltica and Siberia in
(except for Farewell terrane) only minor Archean-Paleopro- mid-Paleozoic time (the Northwest Passage of Colpron and
terozoic sources. Second, the terranes contain early Neopro- Nelson, 2009, 2011b). Dispersion of these terranes and their
terozic (980–900 Ma) magmatic rocks and abundant similarly rapid westward travel began as the Iapetus and Rheic oceans
aged detrital zircons, late Neoproterozoic (700–540 Ma) and closed between eastern Laurentia and western Baltica, form-
Ordovician-Silurian arc rocks. Third, they record Late Silu- ing the Appalachian-Caledonian orogen (Fig. 12a).
rian-Early Devonian orogenic events. Finally, they contain Displacement of Arctic terranes along northern Laurentia
early Paleozoic macro- and microfossils of Baltican, Siberian, is shown by westward younging deformation, beginning with
or mixed Laurentian-Siberian affinities. Late Silurian-Early Devonian sinistral transpressive emplace-
The early Paleozoic orogenic record of the Alexander and ment of the allochthonous terrane Pearya on northern Elles-
Arctic Alaska terranes can be linked to events in Baltica. The mere Island (Fig. 12b), and culminating with the S-verging
depositional base of southern Alexander terrane is represented Ellesmerian orogeny (Colpron and Nelson, 2009, 2011b).
by the Ediacaran ca. 595 to 565 Ma Wales Group (Gehrels et Clastic influx from the migrating Arctic terranes, with their
al., 1996; J. Oliver, oral commun., 2011), a primitive, intraoce- Baltican (2150–900 Ma), Timanian (700–500 Ma), and Cale-
anic arc assemblage. The Wales Group was deformed in the donian (470–420 Ma) zircons, and associated Devonian arc
Cambrian Wales orogeny (Gehrels et al., 1996), which cor- terranes is recorded in Eifelian and younger strata of the
responds to a widespread unconformity in the Arctic Alaska northern Laurentian margin (Beranek et al., 2010; Lemieux
terrane (Amato et al., 2009). These tectonic events are coeval et al., 2011; Anfinson et al., 2012a, b). The Arctic Alaska ter-
with the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Timanide orogeny of rane may have been part of this migration (Colpron and Nel-
northern Baltica, which involved accretion of Ediacaran intra- son, 2009, 2011b), or it may have remained attached to Baltica
oceanic arcs to the continent margin (Bogolepova and Gee, until it rifted in Cretaceous time because of sea-floor spread-
2004; Colpron and Nelson, 2011b). In Baltica, a regional ing in the Arctic basin (Miller et al., 2011).
sub-Early Ordovician angular unconformity marks the onset In the Alexander terrane, the Late Silurian-Early Devonian
of passive margin sedimentation following postcollision rift- Klakas orogeny was marked by local thrust imbrication, meta-
ing and opening of the Uralian ocean (Bogolepova and Gee, morphism, ductile deformation, and deposition of the Kar-
2004). Similarly, early Paleozoic passive margin sedimentation heen Formation, a clastic wedge comparable to the Old Red
succeeded the unconformity in Arctic Alaska (Amato et al., Sandstone of the Caledonides (Gehrels et al., 1996). Influx of
2009) and in the Farewell terrane, although overall Farewell Meso- and Paleoproterozoic zircons into the primitive intra-
shows a greater affinity with Siberia (Bradley et al., 2007b). oceanic arc terrane of southern Alexander is taken to indicate
In the southern Alexander terrane, renewed Early Ordovi- that pericratonic blocks were being tectonically juxtaposed
cian to Early Silurian arc magmatism led to the deposition at this time (Gehrels et al., 1996; Gehrels and Boghossian,
of the Descon Formation unconformably on the deformed 2000). The ca. 500 to 400 Ma detrital zircon populations in
Wales Group (Gehrels and Saleeby, 1987). In the northern the Karheen Formation and Goatherd Mountain assemblage
Alexander terrane, Cambrian basalts overlain by the silici- match the ages of intrusive and metamorphic events in the
clastic Donjek assemblage in the St. Elias Mountains signal a northern Caledonides, and resemble detrital ages from the
continent-margin back-arc basin, which Beranek et al. (2012) Old Red Sandstone (Colpron and Nelson, 2011b and refer-
interpret as developing behind the Descon arc. Ordovician- ences therein; Beranek et al., 2013b).
Early Silurian intraoceanic arcs are a hallmark of the Appa- A record of Early to Middle Devonian arc activity is pre-
lachian-Caledonian orogen; they mark the active margins of served in plutons and volcanic suites of the southern Arctic
Iapetus (van Staal, 2007). Alaska terrane and the Seward Peninsula. Arc magmatism
Metallogeny—Proterozoic and Paleozoic VMS deposits: spans the period of ca. 402 to 366 Ma and probably reflects
The Wales Group hosts a number of VMS deposits, notably N-dipping (present-day coordinates) subduction beneath the

by guest
Arctic Alaska terrane (Moore et al., 1994; McClelland et al., of the Price Formation. The Myra Falls (Buttle Lake) depos-
2006). The ca. 370 Ma Sicker arc of Wrangellia initiated near its are interpreted to have formed in an arc-rift zone similar to
the end of the Arctic migration. A suite of Late Devonian the classic Kuroko deposits of Japan (Juras, 1987). Facies and
gabbros and related mafic dikes intrude both northern Wran- thickness changes across postdepositional faults may record
gellia and the Alexander terrane in the St. Elias Mountains fault reactivation and basin inversion (Nelson, 1997; also see
(S. Israel, unpub. data, 2013). As these are among the oldest cross sections of Price zone in Juras, 1987). Lead isotope data
known rocks of Wrangellia, they suggest that the intraoce- from Myra Falls form a distinct cluster that is significantly
anic Wrangellia arc initially developed anchored to the older more radiogenic than the Ambler district, and overlaps the
Alexander crustal fragment much as the present-day Aleutian least radiogenic data for peri-Laurentian Devonian-Mississip-
chain is anchored to the Alaskan Peninsula. pian deposits (Stikinia; Robinson et al., 1996; Fig. 10). Several
Fragmentary evidence suggests that pieces of Arctic-derived other VMS systems have been identified in Paleozoic strata of
crust may have interacted with, and accreted to, terranes southern Wrangellia, both slightly older and much younger
of the western peri-Laurentian realm in the mid-Paleozoic. than Myra Falls (Ruks et al., 2009, 2010).
Pre-Devonian siliciclastic units in the Ruby terrane of cen-
tral Alaska show both northwestern Laurentian and Baltican Mississippian to Early Jurassic history of the
detrital zircon signatures, and the terrane may be a structural Insular and related terranes
composite of both (Roeske et al., 2006; Bradley et al., 2007b). Tectonics: In northern Wrangellia in southwest Yukon, the
The Okanagan subterrane, which forms the basement to Late oldest exposed strata comprise mainly non-arc mafic volcanic
Devonian and younger sequences of southern Quesnellia, is rocks of earliest Mississippian age. We interpret them to have
unlike the peri-Laurentian Yukon-Tanana basement of north- formed in a precursor to the later Skolai arc (see below), in a
ern Quesnellia, and may be an accreted remnant from the back-arc basin on the margin of the Alexander terrane in the
Arctic realm. latest Devonian to Early Mississippian, separating it from the
Mid-Paleozoic Metallogeny—Devonian-Mississippian syn- frontal Sicker arc. Thus, the Sicker arc was attached to the
genetic deposits and Devonian VMS deposits: The Arctic Alexander terrane (Fig. 12b).
Alaska terrane hosts two different types and ages of syngenetic Vigorous arc magmatism began in northern Wrangellia in
sulfide deposits: the giant (50.7 Mt reserves 2011, 16.1% Zn, the earliest Pennsylvanian (ca. 320 Ma), with deposition of
4.% Pb) Red Dog SEDEX deposit, the largest Zn producer in volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Station Creek Forma-
the world since its opening in 1989 (Fig. 20), and other similar tion, the main phase of the Skolai arc (Smith and MacKevett,
deposits in the western Brooks Range; and the Ambler district 1970; Read and Monger, 1976). Magmatic rocks of the Sko-
VMS deposits in the southern Brooks Range. Red Dog and its lai arc intrude both the Station Creek Formation and nearby
smaller equivalents are hosted by black shales of the Missis- Paleozoic schists (the Kaskawulsh Group) that locally form
sippian Kuna basin, and are related to extension and isolation the basement of the Alexander terrane (Gardner et al., 1988).
of the basin by a seaward landmass (L.E. Young, 2004). The This Pennsylvanian link, along with earlier connections, con-
immense strata-bound orebody has been dated at ca. 338 Ma firms that the Paleozoic Wrangellia arc terrane developed
by Re-Os methods on pyrite (Morelli et al., 2004), in accord adjacent to the older crustal fragment of Alexander terrane.
with Osagean-Chesterian (mid- to Late Mississippian) radio- On Vancouver Island, Upper Mississippian to Permian strata
larian ages from the host Kuna Formation (Dumoulin et al., are a mix of bimodal volcanic, volcaniclastic, and epiclastic
2001). rocks, denoting comparatively weak arc activity contempora-
The Ambler district lies within pericratonic rocks along the neous with the Skolai arc (Massey, 1995; Yorath et al., 1999;
southern fringe of the Arctic Alaska terrane. The deposits are Ruks et al., 2009, 2010).
associated with metarhyolite bodies with a ca. 380 Ma U-Pb Late Pennsylvanian-Early Permian deformation in the Alex-
ages (McClelland et al., 2006). Mineralization is hosted in a ander, Wrangellia, and Farewell terranes occurred markedly
Middle Devonian ensialic arc sequence that reconstructs to earlier than, and was probably unrelated to, the Late Permian
the south (present coordinates) of the main Brooks Range. Klondike orogeny that affected the peri-Laurentian Yukon-
Unlike the Selwyn basin–Yukon-Tanana connection, a direct Tanana terrane. We hypothesize that upper plate advance
connection between the Ambler and Red Dog districts is lack- of the Skolai arc of northern Wrangellia caused closure of
ing. They are separated in time by 40 m.y., and occur in sepa- its back arc, leading to collision with the Alexander terrane
rate allochthonous panels. However, their Pb-isotope charac- and accompanying exhumation of the Devonian gabbros. In
ter (Fig. 10) is consistent with derivation from similar crustal this area, both Alexander terrane and the Station Creek For-
sources. mation are unconformably overlain by Permian sedimentary
The VMS deposit at the long-running Myra Falls mine rocks of the Hasen Creek Formation, which has tradition-
(Buttle Lake, Fig. 20) on Vancouver Island is hosted by the ally been assigned to Wrangellia, but may represent a post-
Sicker Group, a succession of island arc and related strata accretion overlap sequence (Sharp, 1943). Cobbett (2011)
(Yorath et al., 1999); rhyolite associated with the orebodies reported a ca. 267 Ma 40Ar/39Ar muscovite age from meta-
has a U-Pb zircon age of 370 Ma (Juras, 1987). The deposit morphosed Alexander terrane rocks near the structural con-
consists of a series of stacked lens-shaped massive sulfide tact with Wrangellia in southwest Yukon that may also reflect
bodies hosted by basaltic to rhyolitic flows and volcaniclastic this event. Coeval and probably related Early Permian orog-
rocks, lesser epiclastic rocks, argillites, and cherts of the Myra eny affected parts of the Alexander terrane of southeastern
Formation, which overlies feldspar-pyroxene porphyritic Alaska, as shown by metamorphic 40Ar/39Ar mica ages ranging
andesite flows, flow breccias, and minor pyroclastic deposits from ca. 273 to 260 Ma and a post-Carboniferous, pre-Early

by guest
82 NELSON ET AL.
Permian unconformity (Karl et al., 2010). The Browns Fork predominantly basalts (Mihalynuk et al., 1993); farther south
orogeny affected the Farewell terrane in Pennsylvanian-Early intermediate and felsic units become important in the Hyd
Permian time. Metamorphism at ca. 285 Ma is documented Group (Taylor et al., 2008). This voluminous Triassic volca-
by 40Ar/39Ar muscovite plateau ages in the northern part of the nism was unique to the Wrangellia and Alexander terranes,
terrane. Thick, widespread Pennsylvanian-Permian coarse compared to other terranes with which they had previously
clastic deposits were interpreted as a foreland wedge by Brad- shared history. At this time, the Farewell and Arctic Alaska
ley et al. (2003), who speculated that the collision zone in the terranes were sites of siliclastic and carbonate sedimentation.
Urals and Taimyr (Fig. 13) could have been tectonically linked They probably continued to reside in or near the Arctic basin
to a system of convergent plate boundaries on which Farewell (Fig. 15).
and, more remotely, Alexander and Wrangellia were sited. Paleomagnetic data from the Karmutsen basalts places
Somewhat younger deformation affects strata as young southern Wrangellia about 800 km south of its present loca-
as Lower Permian but predates deposition of Triassic rocks tion (Kent and Irving, 2010). It is tempting to relate the Trias-
in Wrangellia of southwestern Yukon (Israel et al., 2006a). sic Wrangellian flood basalts and rifting in the Alexander ter-
Similarly, Massey (1995) described folded and faulted Paleo- rane to continued southward translation from the far north-
zoic strata unconformably overlain by Triassic volcanic rocks eastern Pacific region, perhaps crossing a plume track.
in southern Wrangellia. This deformation is approximately Following the Triassic flood basalt episode, the Upper Trias-
coeval with Permian-Triassic structures in the peri-Lauren- sic to Middle Jurassic Bonanza Group in southern Wrangellia
tian terranes and may be an early indicator of kinematic links. represents establishment of a magmatic arc. Minor arc-related
Statistical analysis of marine faunas (brachiopods, corals, igneous rocks occur within the Upper Triassic Parson Bay
and fusulinids) suggests that in the Early Permian Wrangellia Formation, with full arc development shown by the ca. 203
lay north of the peri-Laurentian terranes (Stikinia, Quesnellia, Ma and younger Lemare Lake volcanics and cogenetic Island
and the Eastern Klamath terrane of northern California) and, intrusions (Nixon et al., 2011a, b, c, d). The 205 to 156 Ma Tal-
like them, 2,000 to 3,000 km west of the northern Laurentian keetna arc in the Peninsular terrane of southwestern Alaska
continental margin (Fig. 13; Belasky and Stevens, 2006). These is considered a northern correlative of the Bonanza arc (Clift
data suggest that by late Paleozoic time, the Alexander terrane et al., 2005). The Talkeetna arc faced southwest in present
had been transported out of the Arctic realm and, along with coordinates, as shown by its paired subduction complex along
attached Wrangellia, was already enroute to a more south- the northern margin of the Chugach terrane (Plafker et al.,
erly Mesozoic location. In Figure 13, we depict Wrangellia 1994). Interestingly, although evidence for direct interaction
as part of a chain of arcs that lay offshore of Ancestral North between Wrangellia and the Peninsular terrane with the peri-
America, separated from it by the Slide Mountain ocean and Laurentian Stikine terrane in the Early Jurassic is lacking, they
its probable northern continuation, the Angayucham ocean. are readily modelled as adjoining segments in a single chain
The Angayucham terrane (Fig. 1) is a Late Devonian to Juras- of magmatic arcs (Fig. 18). For reasons not well understood,
sic oceanic assemblage that lies structurally above the Arctic the latest Triassic-Early Jurassic Bonanza and Talkeetna arcs
Alaska and Ruby terranes (Moore et al., 1994). It is correlated lack the rich porphyry endowment of coeval arcs in the peri-
with the Slide Mountain terrane on the basis of age (in part), Laurentian terranes.
rocks, and structural position as the innermost terrane of oce- Early Jurassic faunal and paleomagnetic data place Wran-
anic affinity (Plafker and Berg, 1994). gellia and Stikinia at comparable, moderately southerly paleo-
In the Late Triassic, a new tectonic style affected the Wran- latitudes compared to Quesnellia. Differences in latitude of
gellia and Alexander terranes. During the middle Ladinian to the present faunal boundaries between late Pliensbachian
Norian (ca. 239–225 Ma), the Karmutsen and Nikolai flood (ca. 185 Ma) boreal, mixed, and low-latitude ammonite taxa
basalts, thick accumulations of nonarc, enriched flows of tho- show that (1) Quesnellia was about 500 km south of where it is
leiitic affinity inundated the older arc basement of Wrangellia today, relative to the craton margin; (2) Stikinia and southern
(Lassiter et al., 1995; Greene et al., 2008, 2009a, b). These Wrangellia were about 1000 km south; and (3) the Peninsu-
basalts, key in the initial definition of Wrangellia as a terrane lar terrane was co-latitudinal with southern Wrangellia (Fig.
(Coney et al., 1980), have been interpreted as a plume-related 18; Smith et al., 2001). Distribution of high vs. low-latitude
LIP, intermediate between true oceanic plateaus and conti- Sinemurian and Pliensbachian pectinoid bivalves shows a
nental flood basalts, similar to the ca. 250 Ma Siberian traps similar paleogeography (Aberhan, 1999). In agreement with
(Lassiter et al., 1995; Reichow and Saunders, 2005; Greene et the faunal data, re-analysis of Early Jurassic paleomagnetic
al., 2009a, b). Mafic-ultramafic sills and dikes intruding Paleo- data places Stikinia (1,200 ± 680 km) and Wrangellia (1,650
zoic strata of Wrangellia in southwestern Yukon and adjacent ± 560 km) south of their present positions (Kent and Irving,
Alaska are host to magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE deposits and may be 2010). By this time, the Insular terranes were outboard of,
feeders to the Nikolai basalts (Hulbert, 1997). and in part co-latitudinal with, Stikinia.
In Norian time, coeval with the youngest Nikolai basalts, a Metallogeny—Triassic Ni-Cu-PGE and VMS: Mafic-ultra-
rift developed in the northern and eastern part of the Alexan- mafic intrusions that cut Paleozoic rocks in Wrangellia are
der terrane. It is defined by a narrow, discontinuous belt of feeders to the Nikolai flood basalts and host a number of Ni-
rift-fill clastic and volcanic strata of the Tats (Mihalynuk et al., Cu-PGM occurrences, including the Wellgreen deposit in
1993) and Hyd (Gehrels et al., 1987) groups, that host respec- southwestern Yukon, which has an inferred resource of 446 Mt
tively the Windy-Craggy and Greens Creek volcanogenic at 0.3 % Ni, 0.25 % Cu and 0.87 g/t PGM + Au (Fig. 20).
massive sulfide deposits (Fig. 20). Tats Group volcanic rocks Volcanogenic deposits of contrasting types are associated
in the northern end of the rift zone, nearest to Wrangellia, are with different Norian volcanic suites within the Tats-Hyd

by guest
rift that cuts the Alexander terrane. The Greens Creek mine accretion of the Insular terranes (McClelland et al., 1992).
(Fig. 20), a long-producing polymetallic VMS deposit with Support for this interpretation comes from distinctive Yukon-
enhanced precious metal contents, is associated with rhyo- Tanana detrital zircon populations in Gravina clastic rocks
lite in the southern part of the rift, and the very large Windy (Kapp and Gehrels, 1998; G. Gehrels, unpub. data, 2011) and
Craggy Besshi-type Cu-Co-rich deposit (Peter et al., 1999; from observed overlap relationships (Gehrels, 2001). How-
Fig. 20) is hosted in interbedded argillite and basalt in its ever, farther north, in southwestern Yukon and southern
northern extent. Taylor et al. (2008) infer a south to north Alaska, correlatives of the Gravina belt include the Dezadeash
transition from incipient rifting of thick, older crust, associ- Formation, Nutzotin Mountains sequence, and Kahiltna ter-
ated with low-volume mixed volcanic rocks and polymetallic rane (Fig. 21), which lack demonstrable ties to the peri-Lau-
VMS mineralization, to wider, more complete rifting, accom- rentian terranes (McClelland et al., 1992), and evidence from
panied by basalt and Cu-enriched deposits. the somewhat younger Kluane schist suggests that this part of
the basin remained intraoceanic until the Late Cretaceous
Bringing the Arctic-Northeastern Pacific, (see below). In southwestern British Columbia, the Late
Peri-Laurentian, and Western Laurentian Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Tyaughton basin, east of the Coast
Realms Together: The Middle Jurassic belt, also remained open and in a fore-arc position until mid-
The Middle to early Late Jurassic marked the beginning of Cretaceous time (Monger et al., 1994). Thus evidence for clo-
amalgamation between terranes of the Arctic-northeastern sure between the Insular and peri-Laurentian terranes varies
Pacific realm and those of the peri-Laurentian realm, coeval considerably along strike, with earliest, Middle to Late Juras-
with accretion of the peri-Laurentian terranes to the conti- sic accretion only in central latitudes. By analogy with the
nent. Evidence for initial accretion of the Alexander terrane Ordovician Appalachians (Zagorevsky and van Staal, 2011),
to western Stikinia and Yukon-Tanana terrane is provided at this could have been caused by initial promontory-promontory
several localities in the northern and central Coast Mountains. collision between central Stikinia and the Alexander terrane.
In southeastern Alaska, the Alexander terrane lies structur- As outlined above, Quesnellia and the Slide Mountain
ally beneath rocks correlated with Yukon-Tanana and Stikine terrane were emplaced in their present structural positions
terranes (Gehrels, 2001, 2002) along a large-magnitude, low- above strata of the western margin of Ancestral North Amer-
angle ductile fault system that is crosscut by Late Jurassic ica at ca. 186 to 183 Ma, and eastern Stikinia, Quesnellia, and
(162–139 Ma) dikes (Saleeby, 2000). In this region, Middle the North American margin were subsequently involved in
Jurassic (ca. 177–168 Ma) volcanic rocks and Upper Jurassic- W-vergent deformation and crustal thickening by ca. 175 Ma
Lower Cretaceous strata of the Gravina belt (Figs. 19, 21) (Fig. 19; Mihalynuk et al., 2004), probably centered on the
overlie both terranes (Gehrels, 2001). The inboard margin of latitude of southern British Columbia (Evenchick et al., 2007;
the Alexander terrane was involved in a broad dextral shear see below). The Insular terranes began to impinge on the
zone of mid-Jurassic age (McClelland and Gehrels, 1990). outer fringe of central Stikinia at a slightly later time. Roughly
In the central Coast Mountains, intrusion, ductile deforma- coinciding with the initial opening of the Atlantic Ocean
tion, and metamorphism occurred ca. 160 to 155 Ma; this is and the beginning of strong westward motion of the North
interpreted to reflect collision between the Insular and Inter- American Plate (Coney, 1972; May and Butler, 1987; Coney
montane terranes (van der Heyden, 1992). In the southwest- and Evenchick, 1994; Fig. 19), the two collisional events were
ern Coast Mountains, rocks of the ca. 183 Ma Bowen Island likely driven by the western continent margin impinging on
Group, which is correlated with the Bonanza Group of Wran- its by then proximal fringing elements, rather than the seren-
gellia, were isoclinally folded prior to intrusion of ca. 155 Ma dipitous arrival of exotic crustal blocks. The concept of North
plutons (Monger, 1993). On the outer islands of the central America as driver explains the diachrononous east-to-west
Coast belt, undeformed ca. 150 Ma plutons (Banks Island nature of this event, with slightly older accretion (188–172
suite) intruded isoclinally folded amphibolite-facies strata of Ma) at the continental margin and overlapping to somewhat
the Alexander terrane (Nelson et al., 2012). younger (177–155 Ma), less complete collision between the
Slightly younger timing for onset of collision between the peri-Laurentian and Arctic-northeastern Pacific terranes.
Insular terranes and the outer margin of the peri-Laurentian Collision was succeeded by magmatism in a broad west-
terranes is seen in the ca. 156 Ma demise of the Talkeetna arc northwesterly belt cutting across the southern part of the
in the Peninsular terrane of southwestern Alaska (Clift et al., newly accreted terranes and the continental margin. Eastern-
2005). Uplift, cessation of magmatism, and deposition of con- most in the belt is the voluminous ca. 175 to 160 Ma Nelson
glomerates at about 160 Ma are taken to record its collision plutonic suite that intrudes both accreted and continental
with the peri-Laurentian margin by N-dipping subduction. margin rocks in southern British Columbia. Intrusions of this
The absence of continental signatures in Talkeetna arc igne- suite were emplaced during and after W-vergent structures
ous rocks argues against the alternative of a S-dipping (pres- on the western flank of a regional fan structure (Murphy et
ent coordinates) subduction zone (Clift et al., 2005). al., 1995; Colpron et al., 1996; Gibson et al., 2005; Fig. 21),
Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous turbidites and volcanic rocks and show pronounced crustal influence in their isotopic char-
of the Gravina belt (Fig. 21), which overlie the eastern Alex- acter (Murphy et al., 1995; Ghosh, 1995). Hazelton Group
ander terrane in northwestern British Columbia and south- volcanism ceased throughout northern Stikinia, but contin-
eastern Alaska, are attributed to an oceanic basin of unknown ued farther south between Bella Coola and Kitimat in central
width that separated it from the peri-Laurentian terranes western Stikinia, accompanied by comagmatic mid- to Late
(Haeussler, 1992). The Gravina belt has been described as a Jurassic and even earliest Cretaceous plutons (Mahoney et al.,
series of transtensional arc-rift basins postdating initial 2009; Gehrels et al., 2009; Israel et al., 2013). Arc magmatism

by guest
84
NELSON ET AL.
70
124°W
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°N
°W
140°W
W Northern Northern
Ag
156
2°
148
W
Ky Alaska Alaska
17
terranes terranes Early
Ocean
66
°N Arctic
proto-sinistral
mid-Cretaceous
Ocean fault
? YTT
Kh Kl YTT Kl sinistral
? fault 70°N
Nt
Dz Kh
Nt
Inter
Inter
Gr Dz
Ch
Ch Gr
mon
Insular
mon
terranes
tane
tane
a
Alask
Yukon
62
terra
terra
°N
Brid
NWT
Insular 66°N
nes
n
ge
for
es
terranes entrapment of
4°W
e
arc
Bridge River
16
Ocean segment
Ri
de
Ty
ve
po
r
Ty
sits
O
Kahiltna Klondike ce
an
easte
White Gold
Middle
magmatic
Late Jurassic
rn
Nu axis magmatic
tzo axis 2°N
58 tin 6
°N
Kluane
schist
De
limit
za
de
as
Yukon NWT
hF
m
BC
Alberta
of 58°N
Magmatic belts
Gr
Orogenic deposit
avi
155-135 Ma Bowser
na
Al basin
Intrusion related
Co
as
be
ka
deposit
rd
lt
ille
176-156 Ma
ran
Francois 54°N
Mesozoic and younger Lake
arc and accretionary terranes, def
still mobile with respect to Cordillera orm
Endako Regional atio
fan structure n
Accreting oceanic terranes Pacific
Ocean
Accreted terranes - dominantly
non-continental affinity
Island
Accreted and acceting terranes - Copper
dominantly continental affinity
50°N
Ancestral North America -
parautochthon Island Nelson
BC
Ancestral North America - 0 100 200 300 Britannia
autochthon USA
116°W
km
Fig. 21. Middle Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous (176–135 Ma) magmatic belts and associated deposits. Magmatic belts
from Hart et al. (2004) and Massey et al. (2005). The axis of a regional fan structure that developed near the leading edge
of the accreted terranes is shown in blue. Inset map shows relationship between Middle Jurassic to Cretaceous sedimentary
basins and overall tectonic interaction between the Insular (dark green) and Intermontane (light green) terranes. Ag = Anga
yucham ocean, Ch = Chugach complex, Dz = Dezadeash basin, Gr = Gravina basin, Kh = Kahiltna basin, Kl = Kluane schist,
Ky = Kyokuk arc, Nt = Nutzotin basin, Ty = Tyaughton/Methow basin, YTT =Yukon-Tanana terrane.
also continued through the mid-Jurassic in southern Wran- In the far northwestern part of the developing orogen, the
gellia on northeastern Vancouver Island (Island plutonic Angayucham ocean closed by S-dipping (present coordinates)
suite north of Holberg Inlet, ca. 177–160 Ma; Nixon et al., subduction under the Koyokuk-Nyac-Togiak arc, entraining
2011a,b) and the Queen Charlotte Islands (Breitspreicher Arctic Alaska and the Ruby terrane (Nokleberg et al., 2005).
and Mortensen, 2004a). This arc hosts the now-closed Island Granulite and peridotite structurally high within the Angayu-
Copper mine near Port Hardy on Vancouver Island (Fig. 21), cham and Tozitna terranes display 169 to 163 Ma 40Ar/39Ar
a Cu-Mo porphyry deposit associated with a ca. 168 Ma body, cooling ages (Wirth et al., 1993; Ghent et al., 2001), and north-
one of the youngest Island intrusions. vergent deformation in the Brooks Range, accompanied by

by guest


exhumation of blueschists in the hinterland, took place at 2009; Monger, 1993; Monger and McNicoll, 1993). In the
about 145 to 112 Ma (Moore et al., 2004). In northern Arctic southern Coast Mountains, plutons of comparable age are
Alaska, Jurassic failed-rift deposits as old as 190 to 185 Ma are overlain by siliciclastic and volcanic rocks of the Hauteriv-

overlain by an interpreted Early Cretaceous rift-drift uncon- ian to Albian (ca 133–100 Ma) Gambier Group, considered
formity, taken to mark the initial opening of the Canada basin the supracrustal expression of Early Cretaceous arc activity
(Grantz et al., 1994; Moore et al., 1994) and detachment of (Monger, 1993). Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous plutons form
Arctic Alaska and Chukotka from the northern margin of a belt in southeastern Alaska that continues northward into
Laurasia (Miller, 2011). the St. Elias Range (155–130 Ma, St. Elias suite; Wheeler and
McFeely, 1991; Dodds and Campbell, 1988). This belt may
Post-Amalgamation, Cordilleran-Wide Tectonics, be the northern continuation of the arc in the western Coast
Arc Development and Mineralization Mountains, now offset along Cenozoic dextral faults such as
Mid-Jurassic accretion fundamentally changed the emerg- the Chatham Strait and Peril Strait.
ing Canadian Cordillera from a set of loosely connected arc Metallogeny: El depósito más notable asociado con el conjunto
and pericratonic terranes to a single, progressively thickening intrusivo del Jurásico Tardío -Cretácico Temprano es la mina de
transpressional/transtensional orogen, within which crustal- molibdenita Endako en la antigua Stikinia (Kimura et al., 1976; Fig
scale detachments and transcurrent faults were increasingly . 21), para la cual ca. 144 Las edades de Ma Re-Os en molibdenita
linked (Figs. 22, 23; Evenchick et al., 2007). Postaccretion- coinciden con las edades de U-Pb en el plutón anfitrión Endako ,
ary arcs, including the huge, long-lived (160–45 Ma) Coast parte de la suite Francois Lake (Selby y Creaser, 2001; ver también
plutonic complex, were built across this dynamic substrate. Whalen et al., 2001 ). El yacimiento es una serie de golpes E en
With respect to paleogeographic restorations, it is important vetas escalonadas que forman una zona alargada hacia el noroeste,
to note that geologically constrained mid-Cretaceous and aproximadamente 3360 m por 370 m (BC MINFILE ). Las vetas
Eocene dextral displacements on faults in the Intermontane contienen molibdenita , pirita y magnetita, con calcopirita menor y
region total about 800 km (Gabrielse et al., 2006). Restoration trazas de esfalerita , bornita , especularita y esquelita . La mina ha
of these movements places the Bowser basin adjacent to the estado en producción periódica desde 1965, produciendo más de
southern Omineca belt in the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous 20 Mkg de concentrado de Mo a partir de 280 Mt de mineral
(Evenchick et al., 2007). From Late Jurassic through Tertiary, molido.
the previously accreted terranes and outer parts of the conti- Extremo noreste del frente magmático del Jurásico Tardío en el
nental margin moved relatively eastward as a tectonic wedge cinturón de la costa occidental , las vetas orogénicas en el depósito
de oro blanco en el oeste de Yukón (1.4 Moz Au; Fig.21) tienen
and, by the mid-Cretaceous, had started to ride up and over edades de molibdenita de 163 a 155 Ma Re -Os (Bailey , 2013 ),
the edge of the craton. Offscraped shelf and foreland sedi- similar a las edades de las venas en el distrito adyacente de
mentary strata were incorporated into the wedge, while the Klondike (12 – 20 Moz placer Au ; Allan et al ., 2013 ). Esta
denuded continental basement drove deep under the advanc- mineralización es inusual porque es posterior al final del evento
ing allochthons, entering a zone in which pervasive thermal magmático local principal anterior y la exhumación asociada en 20
strain softening and widespread crustal melting could occur. a 30 m .y. (ver Fig . 17 ), aunque corresponde a las edades de
The orogen provided fertile ground for a variety of epigene- enfriamiento postmetamórficas del Jurásico más jóvenes en el
tic deposits, with increasing influence of subjacent continental terreno Yukon -Tanana (Hansen y Dusel -Bacon , 1998 ).
sources of contained metals (e.g., Mo, W), and increasing pro- Mineralización similar en el área (por ejemplo, depósito de café, ~
pensity for the concentration of precious metals. Major types 30 km al sur) es claramente más joven , alojado en parte por un
include porphyry Cu-Mo(-Au) and Mo, intrusion-related gold, granito del Cretácico medio.
silver-lead-zinc, tungsten deposits, and structurally controlled Coast Mountains, que produjo 50 Mt a 1,1% Cu, 0,65% Zn, 6,25
epithermal and orogenic Au veins. Metallogenetic episodes g / t Ag y 0,625 g / t Au entre 1905 y 1974 , se desarrolló en una
in the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, mid-Cretaceous, Late serie de yacimientos VMS alojados por el Grupo Gambier del
Cretaceous, and Paleocene-Eocene (see Nokleberg et al., Cretácico Inferior (Payne et al., 1980 ). Se encuentra dentro de
2005), and Late Eocene to present, can be related to chang- rocas fuertemente alteradas y deformadas de cuarzo-sericita de la
ing convergence rates, relative motion of North American, zona de cizallamiento de Britannia que golpea W -NW , una
subduction zone geometry and generation of slab windows, estructura extensional sinvolcánica reactivada en ca. 94 Ma como
and back-arc convective heat transfer. una falla inversa vergente SW (Monger, 1993).
Jurásico tardío-Cretácico temprano (160-125 Ma) Mid-Cretaceous (120–90 Ma)

Tectonics: This magmatic episode represents, in part, a con- Tectonics: The foundations of the modern Cordillera
tinuation of synaccretion (175–160 Ma) activity, but at dimin- were largely built in late Early to mid-Cretaceous time. The
ished levels. Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous plutons are two tectonic-magmatic welts of Monger et al. (1982) arose
scattered in the central and southern Intermontane region through intense crustal shortening focused on older collision
(Fig. 21; Whalen et al., 2001; Mahoney et al., 2009). More zones in the Omineca and Coast belts (Figs. 22, 23). In these
importantly, this interval saw the birth of the Coast plutonic belts, deformation created pathways for pluton emplacement,
complex as a new frontal arc related to eastward subduction of which in turn facilitated shearing. Regional transcurrent faults,
Pacific plates under North America near the modern Queen dated by associated intrusions, offset older terrane boundar-
Charlotte fault. The oldest (ca. 160–140 Ma) most westerly ies. Heterogeneous strain produced contrasting regional
intrusions in the Coast plutonic complex cut deformed rocks structural styles: sinistral transpression in the Coast belt and
of the Insular terranes (van der Heyden, 1989; Gehrels et al., Skeena fold and thrust belt; E-vergent, linked ductile, and

by guest
86 NELSON ET AL.
70
Tombstone/Beaver Ck thrust
124°W
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°N
°W
0 300
140°W
W
156
2°
148
W
17
km Hess-Macmillan
66
°N Arctic Hyland River
Ocean
Mid-Cretaceous N
Au deposits 430 km of Eocene 70°
displacement restored
on Tintina fault
Mid-Cretaceous faults Teslin
Cas
NW-directed thrust
s
iar
Dextral strike-slip Tintina-NRMT
a
Sinistral strike-slip
Alask
Yukon
62
°N Mid-Cretaceous
CS
“core complex” Pinchi
Livengood True North,
Z
66°N
NWT
Fort Knox
Yukon
Grenville
4°W
Fairbanks/ Yukon- Channel

16
Salcha Tanana
Pogo Brewery Cr.

Dublin Gulch Tchaikazan
Tombstone/
easte
Moosehorn Bellekeno Tungsten
rn
Coffee Scheelite
58
Dome Mactung
°N Mt. Nansen, 62°N
Freegold
Kennecott Livingstone Anvil
Copper
Cantung
limit
Whitehorse
Copper Ketza 3Ace
Hyland NWT
Cassiar BC
Alberta
Erickson
Magmatic belts of 58°N
FO
CO
98-90 Ma Pacific
.2
RE
Fig
AS
Ocean
118-99 Ma
LA
I
Bowser
T
S-type
NSU
ND
basin
Co
O
118-90 Ma
rdi
M
lle
LAR
I-type
IN
ran
E
IN
C
54°N
A
Mesozoic and younger
arc and accretionary terranes,
TE def
R orm
BE
still mobile with respect to Cordillera Surf Point

M atio
n
O BE
LT
Accreting oceanic terranes N

Surf Inlet
TA LT 23
Orogenic deposit Fig.
B
N
EL

non-continental affinity Intrusion related E
B
T
deposit
Accreted and acceting terranes - Bralorne EL
dominantly continental affinity T
B
Tyaughton
EL
50°N basin
T
parautochthon Bayonne
BC
Ancestral North America - 0 100 200 300
autochthon USA
116°W
km
Fig. 22. Early to mid-Cretaceous (120–90 Ma) magmatic belts, transcurrent faults and associated deposits. Magmatic belts
from Hart et al. (2004) and Massey et al. (2005). Cretaceous strike-slip faults are shown in black; Eocene and younger faults
are gray. The purple dashed lines delimit the five morphogeological belts of the Canadian Cordillera (after Gabrielse et al.,
1991). Approximate lines of section for Figure 23 are shown by thin purple lines. Inset shows the geometry of mid-Cretaceous
northwest extrusion of an Intermontane crustal block (in green) with 430 km of displacement restored along the Eocene
Tintina fault (in blue). The Intermontane block is bounded on the northeast by a series of dextral strike-slip faults, whereas
sinistral strike-slip faults mark its southwestern edge in coastal and southern British Columbia. The NW-directed Tombstone
and Beaver Creek thrusts in Yukon and Alaska form the leading edge of this extruding block. Major faults are identified in
inset. Note the close association of mid-Cretaceous magmatic belts and gold occurrences with major structures bounding the
extruding wedge. CSZ = Coast shear zone, NRMT = Northern Rocky Mountain Trench.
brittle deformation in the Omineca belt and Rocky Mountain The Coast belt, which was also the locus of the frontal,
foreland fold and thrust belt; dextral transpression in the east- eastward-younging magmatic arc (Friedman and Armstrong,
ern Intermontane belt; and NW-vergent, orogen-parallel duc- 1995; Gehrels et al., 2009), underwent sinistral transpres-
tile deformation, thrusting and extension in the Selwyn basin sion between 125 Ma and 90 Ma (Israel et al., 2006b, 2013;
and Yukon-Tanana upland region. Mahoney et al., 2009; Nelson et al., 2011, 2012; Angen, 2013),

by guest
mid-Cretaceous (~120–90 Ma)

SW Coast belt Skeena fold belt (deformed
Bowser basin and Stikinia strata)
Omineca belt Foreland fold-
and-thrust belt
NE
Alberta Foreland Basin

0
F ar km
a llo Intermontane ‘block’
n/
Ku
la
Pl
at 50
e
Alberta foreland basin Accreted oceanic terrane - mid-Cretaceous I-type pluton

Cache Creek
Bowser basin Accreted terranes - mid-Cretaceous S-type pluton

dominantly continental affinity
Accreting Mesozoic arc Ancestral North America - thrust fault
and forearc terranes parautochthon
Accreted terranes - dominantly Ancestral North America - strike slip fault (dextral)
non-continental affinity autochthon
(Intermontane block)
North American craton strike slip fault (sinistral)
Fig. 23. Schematic cross section across the mid-Cretaceous Cordilleran orogen (modified after Evenchick et al., 2007 to
include Coast belt; Gehrels et al., 2009). Vertical exaggeration is 3X.
after which orthogonal shortening was predominant (Stow- account for the duplication by offset of the ca. 175 to 165 Ma
ell and Crawford, 2000; Rusmore et al., 2005; Monger and magmatic belt from near Kitimat east of the Coast Mountains
Journeay, 1994). Mid-Cretaceous displacements on indi- (van der Heyden, 1989; Gehrels et al., 2009) to northeastern
vidual faults are fairly modest, for example 40 to 80 km on Vancouver Island (Fig. 21; Nixon et al., 2011a, b). Cryptic
the Tchaikazan fault (Israel et al., 2006b) and about 10 km on large-scale Early to mid-Cretaceous sinistral shear may have
the Grenville Channel fault (J. Nelson, unpub. data, 2012). been accommodated on structures such as the Coast shear
Monger et al. (1994) proposed that mid-Cretaceous enclosure in the heart of the Coast orogen, where intense Late Creta-
and inversion of the Tyaughton-Methow basin in the south- ceous-Tertiary deep-level deformation has obscured evidence
eastern Coast Mountains and duplication of the ca. 105 Ma of earlier displacements. Part of the major sinistral shear in
Spences Bridge arc to the east was caused by about 800 km of the Coast belt may have been ongoing earlier in the Creta-
Early to mid-Cretaceous sinistral displacement of the western ceous, as the expression of northwestward motion of North
Coast belt. Sinistral displacement of about 400 km would also America (Fig. 24; Monger et al., 1994).
Age (Ma)
Late Early Cretaceous - Present 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
~110 - 0 Ma 60°N
Phanerozoic North American 50°
dextral
apparent polar wander path
v
transpression 40°
ican
v
mer ry
th A cto 30°
Nor te traje
Paleolatitude
v
pla
20°
v
Middle Jurassic - 10°

late Early Cretaceous
~170 -110 Ma 0
v
weak Cordilleran -10°

arc lithosphere
v
-20°
v
v
strong plate coupling -30°S

Pacific
v
N
Plate plaorth
te Am
tra er
jec ica
sinistral tor n
y
transpression
Fig. 24. Phanerozoic apparent polar wander path for North America (after Elston et al., 2002; 20 to 30 m.y. window run-
ning averages, reference point at 48°N, 115°W in northwestern Montana). In early Mesozoic, North America tracked north-
westerly relative to the Pacific plate resulting in sinistral transpression in the thermally weakened Cordilleran lithosphere. By
late Early Cretaceous (ca. 110 Ma) North America began tracking southwesterly leading to dextral transpression along the
Cordilleran margin. Diagram from Jim Monger (pers. comm. 2013).

by guest
88
NELSON ET AL.
The Skeena fold and thrust belt, in the central Intermon- southwest of the Tintina fault; a ca. 116 Ma Ar-Ar musco-
tane region, is mainly expressed as E-vergent structures in vite age provides a minimum age constraint on displacement
Bowser basin (Fig. 23). It also contains SE-vergent folds and (Day et al., 2003). Mid-Cretaceous core complexes involving
faults that are attributed to a sinistral component of defor- northwest-southeasterly extension in the previously thick-
mation (Evenchick, 2001; Kirkham and Margolis, 1995). ened orogen are documented in western and southern Yukon
40Ar/39Ar ages from synkinematic muscovite in southeast-ver- (Fig. 22 inset; Gabrielse et al., 2006; R. Staples, pers. com-
gent Skeena structures in the KSM-Brucejack camp of ca. 110 mun., 2012) and in eastern Alaska southwest of the Tintina
Ma (Kirkham and Margolis, 1995) establish the time of defor- fault (Hansen and Dusel-Bacon, 1998). The mid-Cretaceous
mation, consistent with stratigraphic constraints (Evenchick extension occurs within distributed zones in the hanging wall
et al., 2007). Shortening above a detachment rooted under of the Tombstone thrust. Total orogen-parallel motion on this
the Coast belt is estimated at 160 km (Fig. 23; Evenchick et part of the system is not as well constrained, but is probably
al., 2007). similar to the 250 km shown by offsets farther south.
In the southern Omineca belt, east-directed movement on All the structural zones described above were probably
middle and lower crustal detachments continued to shorten kinematically linked by middle and lower crustal detachments
the crust and widen the tectonic wedge to incorporate sedi- to produce cross-orogen shortening (Fig. 23). They also out-
mentary strata of the present Rocky Mountains, where it initi- line a large Intermontane tectonic flake that was escaping to
ated thin-skinned thrusting (Evenchick et al., 2007). An inner the northwest, bounded by sinistral shear in the Coast belt to
belt of mid-Cretaceous plutons, including abundant two-mica the west, dextral shear in the Omineca belt to the east, and the
granites, lies within the Omineca belt about 200 km west of Tombstone thrust on its leading edge. (Fig. 22 inset). North-
the eastern limit of Cordilleran folding and thrust faulting westerly extending zones in the hanging wall of the Tomb-
(Figs. 22, 23). Unlike the Coast plutonic complex, they are not stone thrust formed through northwesterly spreading of the
slab-derived arc plutons generated above subducting oceanic extruding orogen. Mid-Cretaceous orogen-parallel escape
crust, but appear to be the result of deep burial and melting tectonics might have been triggered by a change in the trajec-
of the margin of the old continent. tory of North America. From about 170 to 110 Ma, movement
A system of large-scale dextral faults developed in the Inter- was west-northwest, but at about 110 Ma the North Ameri-
montane region of south-central Yukon and northern British can plate vector rotated counterclockwise and movement was
Columbia between 115 and 95 Ma (Kechika, Cassiar, and west-southwest (Elston et al., 2002; Fig. 24). Cross-orogen
Teslin-Thibert-Kutcho; Fig. 1; Gabrielse et al., 2006). Dis- kinematic linkage and escape of the Intermontane tectonic
placements are geologically very well constrained. That on the flake was likely promoted by the high regional heat flow and
Teslin-Thibert fault in northern British Columbia, is about thermal crustal weakening. Hyndman and Currie (2011)
130 km; farther north in Yukon, motion is partitioned into proposed that the present Cordillera is underlain by anoma-

a series of splays, including the d’Abbadie, Big Salmon, and lously hot upper mantle, the result of shallow convection in
Towhata faults, which show a total of 125 km of dextral dis- the back-arc region. This is likely to have been the case by
placement (Bennett et al., 2010a; Colpron, 2011). The Cassiar late Early Cretaceous time as well, following approximately
and Thudaka faults in northern British Columbia, splays of the 50 Ma of stable subduction since terrane amalgamation. Hot
southern Teslin fault, show 80 and 50 km of offset respectively back arcs have thin lithospheres (<60 km), and thermal soft-
(Gabrielse, 1985; Gabrielse et al., 2006). Total motion on the ening would have aided the development of middle and lower
system was thus about 250 km, which probably was accom- crustal detachments. The elevated thermal regime would have
modated farther south on the Pinchi fault. Intimate relation- generated the peak magma volumes in both Coast and Omin-
ships between faults and plutons allow for precise dating of eca belts, and favored complete kinematic linkage between
movement. The Cassiar fault was coeval with, and controlled contractional, transcurrent, and local extensional structures
the emplacement of the Cassiar batholith; K-Ar cooling ages throughout the orogen, leading to northwestward tectonic
on synkinematic shear zone muscovites are identical to U-Pb escape of the Intermontane block (Fig. 22 inset).
zircon crystallization ages of the batholith (110–95 Ma; Gabri- Metallogeny : El régimen tectónico-magmático del Cretácico
else, 1998). Motion on the d’Abbadie fault in Yukon is dated medio fue muy favorable para la mineralización, en particular para
by the ca. 96 Ma synkinematic Last Peak granite (Gallagher, los diferentes tipos de depósitos de oro, incluidas las vetas de oro-
1999). cuarzo orogénicas , epitermales y profundas , estructuralmente
The northern splays of the Teslin fault system are truncated controladas y alojadas por intrusión. El conjunto más importante y
by the Tertiary Tintina fault (Fig. 22). Northeast of the Tintina extenso de depósitos de oro del Cretácico medio se encuentra en
fault, the offset equivalent of the Teslin system continues as el este de Alaska y Yukón (Fig. 22), en la parte norte del bloque de
curvilinear dextral(?) faults that extend into the Selwyn fold escape intermontano postulado . Las fallas de segundo y tercer
and thrust belt of north-central Yukon to merge with the north- orden con las que están asociadas probablemente radican en
west-directed, orogen-parallel Tombstone strain zone and desprendimientos corticales profundos que limitan los complejos
Tombstone thrust (Murphy, 1997). These structures are also centrales que se extienden de noroeste a sureste.
marked by Early Cretaceous (ca. 115–95 Ma) synkinematic El conjunto plutónico de 94 a 90 Ma Fairbanks -Salcha está
and late kinematic plutons (Gabrielse et al., 2006), includ- asociado con una variedad de depósitos de Au relacionados con la
ing the metallogenetically important Tombstone/Tungsten intrusión , el cinturón de Fairbanks , incluida la mina 7 Moz Fort
and Fairbanks suites (Fig. 22; Mair et al., 2006). Equivalent Knox y la mina True North (Fig.22; Hart et al., 2004 ) . La mina
northwest-vergent thrust faults are recognized in the vicinity Pogo, que se inauguró en 2006 con reservas de 7 Mt a poco menos
of the Pogo deposit in the Big Delta quadrangle in Alaska, de 15,6 g / t Au (Szumigala y Hughes , 2005 ), se encuentra en el
cinturón de Richardson, a unos 150 km al sur de Fairbanks.

by guest


Este depósito de veta de oro y cuarzo de 104 Ma de nivel profundo Los productores anteriores, la mina Surf Point en la isla Porcher y
probablemente esté relacionado con plutones coetáneos cercanos, la mina Surf Inlet en la isla Princess Royal , están localizadas por
emplazados durante un período de extensión regional que sucedió proyecciones de segundo orden de la falla del canal Grenville ; las
a la falla de empuje del noroeste (Fig.22; Hart et al., 2002, 2004; venas de Surf Inlet están alojadas por un ca . 106 Plutón
Day et al . y referencias allí , 2003 ). La continuación de sincinemático Ma que es seccionado y compensado por la falla (
compensación al este del cinturón de oro de Fairbank a través de Nelson et al., 2011 ). El sistema de vetas de oro Bralorne está

la falla de Tintina , las suites de 97 a 92 Ma Mayo -Tungsten , alojado por cizallas Riedel dentro de una zona de cizalla sinistral -
albergan mineralización de Au en Dublin Gulch (Eagle), Scheelite inversa en las montañas de la costa sureste (Leitch , 1990 ). Se
Dome y Clear Creek , y depósitos de tungsteno de clase mundial debate la edad de la mineralización de la veta: Leitch et al. (1991)
que incluyen Mactung (57 Mt de 0,95% WO3) y Cantung (9 Mt de lo consideró como ca. 90 a 85 Ma, según las edades de circón U-Pb
1,4% WO 3). El relativamente alcalino ca. El cinturón de 92 Ma y hornblenda 40Ar / 39Ar de diques pre y posminerales , mientras

Livengood -Tombstone alberga el depósito de oro Brewery Creek, que Hart et al. (2008) obtuvieron edades de 68 a 64 Ma 40Ar / 39
así como varios Au skarns . En general , estos conjuntos son de Ar a partir de micas de alteración que se superponen a las edades
series de ilmenita y magnetita , reducidas de forma variable , con de circonio U -Pb de plutones cercanos de la suite Bendor .
valores de isótopo Sr iniciales de 0,710 a 0,730 que reflejan su Posiblemente , el escenario estructural de Bralorne pertenece al
origen como derretimientos de la litosfera continental profunda episodio de transpresión sinistral del Cretácico medio en las
durante la extensión postcinemática débil (Hart et al., 2004; Mair Montañas Costeras , preparando el terreno para la mineralización
et al. , 2006). del Cretácico Superior . Alternativamente , la mineralización es
Las vetas polimetálicas Ag -Pb -Zn alojadas en cuarcitas del sincrónica con la deformación del Cretácico medio y las edades del
histórico distrito de Keno Hill también probablemente estén Cretácico Tardío reflejan el reajuste de las micas durante el

relacionadas con el magmatismo de Tombstone (Lynch, 2010). Se emplazamiento del plutón Bendor . La última década ha visto el
estima que se produjeron más de 217 Moz Ag en el distrito entre surgimiento de un nuevo objetivo de exploración del Cretácico
1913 y 1989. La minería en el distrito se reanudó en 2011 tras la medio, el cinturón de oro del Puente Spences, cerca de Merritt en
reapertura de la mina Bellekeno con un recurso inicial de 11,9 el sur de la Columbia Británica . El interés comenzó con el
Moz Ag y potencial para otros 20 a 30 Moz Ag en depósitos descubrimiento de vetas de oro epitermales de baja sulfuración en
adyacentes (Alexco Resources Corp., diciembre de 2012). 2001, basado en el seguimiento de las anomalías de sedimentos de
En el extremo sur del cinturón de tungsteno , una serie de corrientes del Estudio Geoquímico Regional . De 2006 a 2008, la
apariciones orogénicas de Au (p. Ej., 3Ace, Hyland Gold; Fig.22) exploración estaba en curso en Skoonka , Prospect Valley y otras
parecen estar controladas por una serie de fallas con impacto de N proyecciones y prospectos (Madu, 2007; Diakow y Barrios, 2009).
que se extienden a lo largo del río Hyland (Hart y Lewis , 2006 ). Las vetas están alojadas y coetáneas de rocas volcánicas subaereales
Estas fallas son contrapartes compensadas inferidas de los trazos de del Grupo de puentes Spences del Cretácico medio. A ca. 104 Ma
impacto N de la falla de Teslin (fallas de Big Salmon , d'Abbadie ), 40Ar / 39Ar La fecha de la adularia de una de las venas coincide
después de ~ 430 km de desplazamiento dextral a lo largo de la con la edad U-Pb de una riolita del Puente Spences (Diakow y
falla de Tintina . Junto a la falla d’Abbadie , los ricos placeres del Barrios, 2009).
distrito de Livingstone se han extraído de forma intermitente desde
la fiebre del oro de Klondike de 1898, pero no se ha identificado ( Late Cretaceous (90–65 Ma)
todavía) una fuente de veta. Tectonics: During the early part of this interval, orthogo-
La mineralización multifase de Au y Cu del Cretácico Medio se nal shortening and crustal thickening with dextral motion on
superpone en el suroeste de Yukon. Las ocurrencias de minerales discrete faults became predominant in the northern Coast
relacionados con la intrusión definen un cinturón lineal en la belt, beginning with thick-skinned, W-vergent deformation at
Cordillera Dawson , que incluye vetas polimetálicas y skarn en ca. 90 to 85 Ma in its western part and ENE-vergent defor-
etapa temprana en el campamento Mount Freegold (Bineli Betsi y mation in its eastern part (Rusmore and Woodsworth, 1994;
Bennett , 2010 ; Bineli Betsi et al ., 2012 ), y la mineralización Stowell and Crawford, 2000). In the southern Coast belt,
epitermal de pórfido y Au de el campamento de Mount Nansen ( SW-vergent thrust faults dated at 94 to 91 Ma are the result
Fig.22; Allan et al., 2013). Varios depósitos y proyecciones de Au of orthogonal crustal shortening subsequent to sinistral clo-
orogénico (Moosehorn y Coffee; Fig. 22) se encuentran a lo largo
sure of the Tyaughton-Methow basin (Monger and Journeay,
de la tendencia al oeste de los sistemas relacionados con la
1994; Monger et al., 1994). Marine and continental siliciclas-
intrusión . El proyecto Coffee , que surgió de la fiebre del oro de
tic strata of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group crop out
Yukon en 2010, produjo un recurso inicial de 3,2 Moz Au después
on eastern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands (Mustard,
de menos de tres años de exploración (Kaminak Resources, 2012).
Las venas orogénicas de la mina Erickson (Table Mountain )
1994). The Nanaimo Group is considered a foreland basin
cerca de Cassiar , Columbia Británica , se han relacionado con el
to the SW-vergent southern Coast Mountains orogen, but is
movimiento de fluidos en la aureola de un cuerpo intrusivo also sourced from NW-vergent thrust sheets in the San Juan
enterrado del Cretácico medio (Nelson , 1990 ). Las venas Islands of northern Washington (E.H. Brown, 2012). Several
atraviesan todas las fallas anteriores de empuje de ángulo bajo large dextral strike-slip faults (e.g. Yalakom, Hozameen) along
relacionadas con la acreción y tienden hacia el noreste, la dirección the eastern margin of the Coast belt were active in the Late
de extensión preferida relacionada con las fallas transcurrentes Cretaceous (Umhoefer and Schiarizza, 1996). Arc plutonism
dextrales regionales como Cassiar y Kechika . Los depósitos de in the Coast belt continued to shift progressively to the north-
Manto en el sur de Yukón , como el río Ketza (rico en Au) y Sa east (Gehrels et al., 2009).
Dena Hes (rico en Pb-Zn), están relacionados distalmente con In contrast to the Late Cretaceous regime of postaccretion
intrusiones subyacentes del Cretácico medio. crustal thickening in the Coast belt of British Columbia and
En el margen exterior del bloque de escape intermontano southeast Alaska, geologic relationships in southwest Yukon
postulado en el cinturón de la costa, se encuentran varios depósitos
de vetas de oro -cuarzo orogénicas adyacentes a las principales
zonas de cizallamiento sinistral.

by guest
90 NELSON ET AL.
point at continued E-dipping subduction directly beneath the peak at ca. 82 Ma, as shown by metamorphic overgrowths on
western margin of the Yukon-Tanana terrane. The Kluane detrital zircons (Israel et al., 2011; B. Stanley, 2012). The Klu-
schist (Figs. 1, 25) is a belt of metaclastic rocks with rare pods ane schist is interpreted as the fore-arc sedimentary succes-
of ultramafite and carbonate that lies immediately southwest sion to a mid-Cretaceous magmatic arc, the Whitehorse-Cof-
of, and structurally below, the Yukon-Tanana terrane. Overall, fee Creek plutonic suite, which intrudes the Yukon-Tanana
detrital zircon populations show derivation from the Yukon- terrane (Johnston and Canil, 2006; Israel et al., 2011; Mezger
Tanana terrane and its superimposed arcs; the youngest detri- et al., 2001). It lies along the inboard margin of an ocean basin
tal zircon constrains the protolith age as post-94 Ma (Israel that separated Yukon-Tanana from a still-intraoceanic part of
et al., 2011). Late Cretaceous W-vergent thrusting, metamor- the Insular terranes. By 82 Ma the fore arc was overthrust
phism, and minor sinistral shear culminated in a metamorphic by the arc and its Yukon-Tanana terrane basement, forming
70
124°W
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°N
°W
140°W
W
156
2°
148
W
17
66
°N Arctic
Ocean 55-45 Ma
Eocene volcanic
and plutonic rocks
of southern B.C. 70°N
65-55 Ma, Alaska
75-60 Ma
Late Cretaceous
a
to Eocene plutons
Alask
Yukon
uti
Coast Mtns.
62
°N
an 60-45 Ma
o n-K Sanak-Baranof
NWT
k
Yukon 66°N
Yu
plutons
m
4°W
wi
ok
16
Donlin Ck s k Yukon- Dawson

Ku
thru
Tanana st
Tiger
Osiris-Conrad
Whistler McQuesten
easte
Alaska Range-
Talkeetna
rn
Casino Sonora
58
°N 62°N
Pebble Revenue/Nucleus Grew Creek
Sanak-Baranof Kluane Carmacks
schist
Kluane Red Mtn.
limit
Mt. Skukum
Silvertip NWT
Montana
Mtn.
Adanac BC
Alberta
Thorn of 58°N
Alaska
Juneau Moly Taku
Pacific
Ocean
rch
aa Babine
Al e en
Co
as Sk
ka
rd
Mesozoic and younger Big

ille
arc and accretionary terranes, Kitsault Onion Morrison,

ran
Hearne Hill,
still mobile with respect to Cordillera Bell, Granisle
Glacier Gulch
Equity Silver 54°N
Accreting oceanic terranes
Berg Huckleberry def
orm
Accreted terranes - dominantly Bulkley Wolf atio
n
non-continental affinity intrusive
suite
Accreted and acceting terranes -
dominantly continental affinity Blackwater-Davidson
Blackdome
parautochthon
Ancestral North America - Brett
autochthon 50°N Cliff
Zumar
Vault BC
0 100 200 300
USA
116°W
km
Fig. 25. Late Cretaceous to Eocene magmatism, transcurrent faults, and associated deposits. Volcanic fields of Alaska
from Moll-Stalcup (1994) and Hudson (1994). Volcanic fields in British Columbia from Massey et al. (2005). Deposit loca-
tions from Hart et al. (2002), Panteleyev (1991), Nokleberg et al. (1994), and BC MINFILE. Active faults are shown in black;
faults in blue were mainly active in mid-Cretaceous but may have been reactivated in Late Cretaceous-Eocene.

by guest


the Kluane metamorphic complex and resulting in the exhu- En Alaska , las zonas volcánico -plutónicas del Cretácico Tardío
mation of the upper plate rocks (Johnston and Canil, 2006; están relacionadas con arcos de margen continental construidos
Israel et al., 2011). Presumably this compressional event was sobre rocas sedimentarias carbonáceas.
because of the accretion of the remaining portion of the Insu- El distrito de 75 a 67 Ma Kuskokwim del suroeste de Alaska
lar terranes. alberga el depósito de oro relacionado con la intrusión de Donlin
Metallogeny: La mineralización del Cretácico Tardío se centró Creek , con su recurso de ~ 40 Moz (Buntzen y Miller , 1997 ;
en el cinturón Intermontano , en gran parte relacionada con Goldfarb et al ., 2004 ). El gigantesco depósito de pórfido de
pequeñas intrusiones , fallas de deslizamiento y extensión guijarros (10,78 Gt) se encuentra más al suroeste , en la península
cinemáticamente vinculada (Fig. 25). Un nuevo campo epitermal de Alaska, cerca del lago Iliamna (Fig. 25). La mineralización allí,
importante de carácter único está emergiendo en el área de que está alojada en un cuerpo de granodiorita del Cretácico
Nechako, densamente cubierta por corrientes de aire, en el centro- Superior , ha sido fechada por Re-Os en molibdenita en ca. 90,4 a
sur de la Columbia Británica. El principal descubrimiento nuevo es 89,7 Ma (Lang et al., 2013).
el prospecto Blackwater , conocido anteriormente pero que
Richfield Ventures Corp . destacó por primera vez en 2009 y Paleocene-Eocene (65–37 Ma)
actualmente es propiedad de Newgold Inc. En marzo de 2013, el Tectonics : El Paleoceno -Eoceno fue una época de gran
depósito contenía 116 Mt de recursos medidos a 1,04 g / t Au ( reconfiguración de placas en el noreste del Océano Pacífico y la
Comunicado de prensa de New Gold Inc. 4 de abril de 2013). El última gran época metalogenética en la Cordillera norte (Haeussler
oro diseminado y almacenado se encuentra en ca. muy alterado. 70 et al., 2003 ; Madsen et al., 2006 ). Para el Cenozoico temprano ,
rocas fragmentarias mafélsicas y estratos sedimentarios varias placas se subducían debajo del oeste de América del Norte (
circundantes del Jura-Cretácico ; una característica única de este Kula, Farallon y Resurrection, Fig. 26a; Haeussler et al., 2003). La
depósito es la presencia de granates que se han interpretado como placa de la Resurrección se infiere de intrusiones cercanas a la
de origen hidrotermal (Schroeter y Lane, 1994). Las rocas félsicas zanja en el cinturón de 61 a 50 Ma Sanak -Baranof , que migró de
intrusivas y extrusivas coevales en el prospecto cercano de Capoose oeste a este a lo largo del complejo de acreción del sur de Alaska y
también contienen granates ; las dos ocurrencias se consideran produjo una serie de ocurrencias de oro (Fig.25; Haeussler et al. .,
relacionadas . En el centro de la Columbia Británica , la mina 1995 , 2003 ). La subducción de la cresta condujo a huecos en las
Huckleberry actualmente en producción es un pórfido de Cu-Mo losas subducidas (o ventanas de losas) que generaron magmatismo
asociado con dos pequeños ca . 82 cepas de granodiorita ma fértil sobre los bordes de las losas (Fig. 26).
porfirítica, parte de la suite intrusiva Bulkley. Adanac (Ruby Creek El foco principal del magmatismo de arco cenozoico temprano
), cerca de Atlin, y Glacier Gulch, cerca de Smithers, son depósitos siguió siendo el complejo plutónico de la costa . Allí , el eje del
de pórfido de Mo que se concentran en pequeños ca . 70 Ma plutonismo se desplazó una vez más hacia el este, desarrollándose
existencias de monzonita de cuarzo, probablemente derretimientos adyacente al cinturón de intrusiones del Cretácico más antiguo ,
de la corteza en etapa tardía. excepto en el suroeste de Yukón , donde el arco magmático del
En el sur de Yukón , el depósito de pórfido de Mo de Red Paleoceno se desarrolló al sur -suroeste del magmatismo del
Mountain (río Boswell ) (Fig . 25 ) se encuentra en un stock de Cretácico (Fig . 25). Una vigorosa actividad volcánica e intrusiva
monzonita de cuarzo del Cretácico Tardío asociado con rocas estalló durante un breve intervalo de tiempo en todo el sur de la
volcánicas cercanas de 80 Ma (P. Brown y Kahlert , 1986 ). El Columbia Británica , desde el arco de Skeena hacia el sur hasta el
depósito de pórfido de Casino Cu-Mo-Au en el centro de Yukon se este de Washington e Idaho. Estas rocas se denominan Grupo del
centra en un ca. 74 Ma complejo de intrusiones subvolcánicas y Lago Ootsa en el sur de Stikinia , y grupos de Kamloops y
brechas intrusivas (Bower et al., 1995 ). El reciente estudio de Princeton en el sur de Okanagan. Las composiciones son variables,
exploración y prefactibilidad ha aumentado significativamente el con cierta tendencia a ligeramente alcalinas (shoshoníticas ); las
recurso mineral de este gran depósito con la zona hipógena que unidades félsicas son abundantes . El vulcanismo acompañó la
ahora contiene 711 Mt de 0.17% Cu, 0.023% Mo y 0.21 g / t Au, y extensión de la corteza y la exhumación de complejos centrales en
la zona supergénica contiene 313 Mt a 0.25% Cu. , 0.019% Mo y 0. el cinturón Omineca central y meridional y en la región
3 g / t Au (Fig.25; Western Copper and Gold Corp., diciembre de Intermontana meridional (Price y Carmichael, 1986; Struik, 1993).
2012 ). El depósito se encuentra cerca de la superficie debajo de Cerca de la frontera entre el noroeste de Columbia Británica y el
una capa lixiviada que contiene un recurso de óxido de Au de 84 suroeste de Yukón , los centros magmáticos del Paleoceno al
Mt a 0.4 g / t Au y 2.57 g / t Ag. Varios prospectos coetáneos , o Eoceno incluyen complejos volcánicos subvolcánicos intrusivos e
ligeramente más jóvenes , de pórfido a epitermal se extienden al intermedios a félsicos . De estos , el Eoceno (ca. 54–55 Ma ) Mt.
sureste de Casino en la Cordillera Dawson , vinculados a Complejo Skukum , alberga mineralización de oro epitermal
alimentadores subvolcánicos de unidades volcánicas del Grupo asociada con ensamblajes de alteración de baja sulfuración (
Carmacks . Algunos de los objetivos más prospectivos (p. Ej ., adularia -sericita ); las zonas de alunita -caolinita ligeramente más
Sonora Gulch, Revenue / Nucleus; Fig.25) se encuentran a lo largo tempranas son estériles (Love et al., 1998).
de la falla de Big Creek , una falla de deslizamiento dextral de During this interval, the Tintina fault accommodated
pequeño desplazamiento (<1 km ) que es paralela a la falla de 430 km of dextral motion (Gabrielse et al., 2006), along with
Teslin y parece tener estado activo durante y después de la ~115 km on the Hozameen-Yalakom fault and ~80 km of
mineralización de 75 a 74 Ma (Bennett et al., 2010b). En esta área, Late Eocene motion on the Fraser fault (Schiarizza
mostly
la metalogenia del Cretácico Tardío y Cretácico Medio eran más o et al., 1996; Fig. 26a). Dextral motion on the Denali fault was
menos coespaciales, insinuando controles de la corteza profunda de also ongoing at this time. Overall, the tectonic framework was
larga duración. one of rapidly emerging dextral transtension, accompanied by
El depósito de Thorn en el noroeste de la Columbia Británica es
un depósito de metales preciosos de alta sulfuración que se formó
cerca del final de un episodio de magmatismo de arco volcánico
plutónico continental fechado entre 93 y 80 Ma (Simmons , 2005).
Las vetas están controladas estructuralmente , con mineralización y
alteración.

by guest
92
NELSON ET AL.
140°W 120°W
De 65°N
A)
a) De
nal
Tin
t ina
53 Ma B)
b) subducted Pacific plate
na
li 39 Ma
i
subducted
Resurrection
plate
60°N
Qu
North
America
een
CS
NR
vector
CS
MT
Z
Kula plate subducted
Ch
Resurrection plate
ar
crustal extension remnant
lo
Pacific plate 55°N
t
te
& magmatism (captured Kula and
Eshamy plates)
Fras
Resurrection
er
plate
50°N
SC subducted
Farallon plate
0 200 400 km Farallon
plate
45°N
140°W 120°W
65°N
subducted
Farallon
C)
c) 5 Ma
Farallon plate De
na
plate li
subducted Pacific plate
FW
Pacific plate
60°N
North
America
vector
Qu
een
55°N
5 Ma magmatism
Ch
Pacific plate
N Vancouver Island
ar
lo
tte
50°N
Juan de subducted
Fuca plate Juan de Fuca plate
0 200 400 km
45°N
Fig. 26. Eocene-Pliocene plate configurations in the northeast Pacific region (after Madsen et al., 2006). Subducted slabs
are projected to 300 km depth beneath western North America; gaps in the subducted slabs (white areas) are slab windows.
(a) 53 Ma—the Farallon, Resurrection and Kula plates subduct along various segment of the trench. In the interior of the
Cordillera, dextral displacement takes place along Tintina-Northern Rocky Mountain Trench (NRMT) and Fraser-Straight
Creek (SC) fault systems while regional crustal extension and magmatism occurs in southern British Columbia. Dextral
displacement occurs along the Coast shear zone (CSZ), Chatham Strait (CS), and Denali faults in the Coast Mountain active
arc. A slab window between the subducted Kula and Farallon plates is beneath southern British Columbia and eastern
Washington. (b) 39 Ma—the Pacific plate has completed capture of the Kula and Eshamy (fragmented piece of Resurrection)
plates. The Pacific plate moves to the northwest toward the Aleutian trench, and dextral displacement takes place along the
Queen Charlotte transform fault. A second slab window opens beneath central British Columbia. (c) 5 Ma—the northern
Cordilleran slab window now extends over northern BC and Yukon. Young magmatism (~5 Ma) on northern Vancouver Island
corresponds to the southern edge of the slab window.
extension and collapse of previously thickened crust, particu- Estas fallas también controlaron el emplazamiento de los pórfidos,
larly in the southern Omineca belt and northern Coast plu- lo que sugiere un vínculo genético . El arco de Skeena marca el
tonic complex. borde norte abrupto del cinturón magmático del Eoceno , lo que
Metallogeny: El entorno tectónico y magmático transtensional sugiere que refleja un límite estructural o térmico fundamental en
del Eoceno creó un ambiente fértil para depósitos epitermales, que el manto superior-corteza inferior.
se concentraron en campos volcánicos y fallas casi transcurrentes, y El depósito de pórfido de molibdeno de Kitsault, que se extrajo
para depósitos de pórfido Cu-Au-Mo y Mo, que se concentraron de 1960 a 1972 y de 1981 a 1983 , se encuentra en el margen
en el arco Skeena de Stikinia central. Los depósitos de pórfido de oriental del complejo plutónico de la costa . Dada la gran
arco de Skeena están asociados con pequeños plutones de la suite concentración de plutones del Eoceno en el complejo plutónico de
ígnea de Babine , en muchos casos localizados a lo largo de fallas la costa oriental , es sorprendente que no se hayan encontrado
que chocan con el noroeste y el noreste (Carter et al., 1995 ; recursos adicionales sustanciales de molibdeno . Los depósitos
Wojdak y Stock , 1995 ). El cinturón contiene dos productores epitermales de Au-Ag del Eoceno se distribuyen ampliamente pero
anteriores, Bell y Granisle, con un total de 130 Mt molidas (Carter escasamente en las áreas ricas en volcánica del Okanagan y el sur
et al., 1995 ), y recursos significativos en los depósitos de Berg , de Stikinia . Se han extraído algunas , como Blackdome , que está
Morrison / Hearne Hill y Big Onion (Fig . 25 ). En el arco de asociada con rocas volcánicas del Eoceno cerca de la falla de
Skeena se aprecian fallas de bloques estilo Cuenca y Cordillera de Fraser, y en el graben de la República del estado de Washington.
etapa tardía (Wojdak y Stock, 1995).

by guest


Grew Creek, que se encuentra en la zona de falla de Tintina en el El oro diseminado se asocia con pirita hollín de grano muy fino y
centro de Yukon, es un sistema de vetas de baja sulfuración alojado se desarrolla mejor en unidades de piedra caliza descalcificada y
por rocas volcánicas del Eoceno . monte Skukum , un productor brechas de fallas. La mineralización está asociada localmente con
anterior , es un conjunto de vetas de cuarzo epitermales en un minerales de sulfuro de arsénico (rejalgar y oropimente ) y
centro volcánico aislado cerca de la frontera entre Columbia probablemente ubicada en bordes de arsenopirita , como es típico
Británica y Yukón . Los prospectos desarrollados en Okanagan de una mineralización similar en la tendencia Carlin de Nevada (
incluyen Brett, Zumar, Cliff y Vault. En la meseta de Nechako, los Barker et al., 2009; Tucker et al., 2013; Arehart et al., 2013). Las
extensos flujos de basalto del Mioceno y la espesa cobertura del anomalías de arsénico en el suelo y la aparición de sulfuros de
Cuaternario frustran la prospección , y los objetivos de las vetas de arsénico definen la tendencia de Nadaleen de 30 km de largo (Fig.
cuarzo carecen de firmas geofísicas pronunciadas . La más notable 27). En el momento de redactar este informe, no se había definido
de ellas , la propiedad Wolf es un enjambre de vetas de baja ningún recurso , pero la mayoría de los pozos de perforación
sulfuración con valores reportados en una zanja de 8.49 g / t Au y arrojaron intersecciones con> 3 g / t Au, incluidos los siguientes: 65
42.21 g / t Ag sobre 7.5 m. ,2 m de 4,65 g / t Au en la zona de Osiris; 114,9 m de 3,15 g / t Au
En los últimos años, ha surgido un nuevo e importante distrito en la zona de Conrad ; y 8 ,5 m de 19 ,85 g / t Au en el
de oro a lo largo del borde norte de la cuenca de Selwyn en el descubrimiento más reciente, la zona de Anubis, alojada en piedra
centro de Yukón . El cinturón de oro de Rackla de> 100 km de caliza del Devónico Medio. El cúmulo conocido de ocurrencias de
largo generalmente sigue la zona de empuje de Dawson que golpea oro tipo Carlin se encuentra en la intersección de la tendencia EW
al este (Figs. 25, 27), la estructura de larga duración que marca el prominente definida por las fallas de los lagos Dawson y Kathleen
borde norte de la cuenca (Fig. 7a). Fue el foco de exploración del y estructuras más pequeñas con impacto de N que controlan la
Zn-Pb-Ag tipo valle del Mississippi en la década de 1970, pero solo distribución de facies locales en los estratos neoproterozoicos del
emergió como un distrito aurífero con el descubrimiento en 2008 supergrupo Windermere (Colpron et al., 2013 ). Se desconoce la
del depósito Tiger cerca del extremo oeste del cinturón (Figs. 25, edad de la mineralización de tipo Carlin en el cinturón de Rackla,
27). La mineralización en Tiger ocurre como reemplazo de sulfuro pero probablemente es posterior a la deformación en el área y se
en rocas de carbonato silúrico intercaladas con rocas volcánicas considera tentativamente como del Cretácico más reciente al
máficas y volcaniclásticas en la pared del pie del empuje de Cenozoico temprano.
Dawson (Fig. 27). Se han documentado al menos dos pulsos de En el sureste de Alaska , las vetas orogénicas auríferas del
mineralización de Au, una fase temprana con arsenopirita y una cinturón de oro de Juneau se colocaron a lo largo y cerca de las
fase posterior asociada con bismutinita , esta última vinculada a la estructuras de contracción más antiguas reactivadas , las fallas
cercana ca. 63 Ma Rackla pluton (Kingston et al., 2010; Thiessen et Sumdum y Fanshaw , en ca. 57 a 53 Ma (L.D. Miller et al., 2000).
al., 2012 ). El recurso de oro en Tiger ocurre principalmente en Estas fallas fueron originalmente empujes del Cretácico que
una zona de óxido de alta ley que sigue una estructura local de yuxtapusieron, de este a oeste, el terreno Yukon-Tanana, el terreno
tendencia N. Taku y el cinturón de Gravina . Las rocas intrusivas antes de la
El extremo oriental del cinturón de Rackla es aún más sintetización cortan todas las rocas del área y son hospedadores
prometedor desde el descubrimiento de 2010 a 2012 de grupos de importantes de algunos de los depósitos (L.D. Miller et al., 1994).
mineralización de Au tipo Carlin cerca de las cabeceras del río El cinturón de oro de Juneau se extiende sobre 300 km de longitud
Nadaleen (Fig. 27). La mineralización conocida , en siete zonas de de rumbo y ha producido más de 6,7 Moz de oro (Goldfarb et al.,
más de 22 km , está alojada en piedra caliza limosa del 1991 a). Las minas en el área de Treadwell están en las rocas
Neoproterozoico al Devónico medio, diamictita calcárea y limolita metasedimentarias del cinturón de Gravina , mientras que A.J. El
no calcárea en la pared del pie (norte ) del empuje de Dawson ( depósito y la mina Kensington de Coeur Alaska, el depósito más al
Colpron et al., 2013). norte a lo largo del cinturón de oro de Juneau, se encuentran en
64°15’N
134°30’W
Kath
leen
r
ve
Ri
TIGER Lakes
fault PHARAOH
a Dawson River
l thrust
ck
132°W
a
R A NUBIS CONRAD
Be
av
OSIRIS
er
n
ee
Daw
l
son
da
Ri thrust
ve
Na
r art River
Stew
10 km
64°N
Devonian-Permian Earn Gp and overlying units Neoproterozoic-Cambrian Hyland Gp Carlin-type Au occurrence
(shale, chert, sandstone) (sandstone, grit, shale, carbonate)
Intrusion-related Au occurrence
Ordovician-Permian slope facies Neoproterozoic Windermere Spgp
(shale, carbonate) (siltstone, shale, carbonate) Realgar (± cinnabar) occurrence
Cambrian-Devonian platformal facies Other mineral occurrence
(carbonate) Older Proterozoic units? Pinguicula Gp? Wernecke Spgp?
Fig. 27. Simplified geologic map of the Rackla belt in east-central Yukon (after Colpron et al., 2013). Most mineral occur-
rences in the area straddle the trace of the Dawson thrust, a compound fault with a Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic (and perhaps
Cenozoic) history. Carlin-type Au occurrences are at the east end of the Rackla belt, where the major east-west structures
(e.g., Dawson and Kathleen Lakes fault) intersect a set of N-striking faults that also have a Neoproterozoic history.

by guest
94
NELSON ET AL.
rocas metasedimentarias y metavolcánicas del terreno Taku. Quartz Hill cerca de Ketchikan en el sureste de Alaska (Fig.28) es
La mina Kensington comenzó a operar en 2010 con reservas un depósito de Mo de pórfido de tipo bajo en flúor con una de las
probadas y probables estimadas en 1.3 Moz (a fines de 2011 mayores reservas de molibdeno del mundo , 1,7 Gt al 0,136% de
MoS2 (Nokleberg et al., 1994, 2005). Está asociado con una pasta
). La formación de estos depósitos se atribuye a la rápida
de pórfido de granito -latita -cuarzo -feldespato pequeño , de alto
exhumación del Eoceno en el complejo plutónico Coast y al
nivel , ca. 27 a 30 Ma (Hudson et al., 1979 ), emplazado en rocas
escape de fluidos metamórficos canalizados hacia arriba a lo metamórficas de grado anfibolita superior . Este cuerpo
largo de las fallas preexistentes (L.D. Miller et al., 1994 ; postorogénico en etapa tardía aparentemente cosechó las
Goldfarb et al., 1991a, b). recompensas de un largo proceso de engrosamiento y
En un entorno geológico similar en el suroeste de Yukon, cerca derretimiento de la corteza previos en el complejo plutónico de la
de donde el terreno Yukon-Tanana está empujado sobre el esquisto costa . Por el contrario , las voluminosas intrusiones cretáceas
de Kluane y es invadido por rocas del complejo plutónico de la anteriores del complejo plutónico de la costa tienden a ser
costa, varios prospectos de oro tienen el mismo carácter orogénico relativamente estériles, tal vez porque están muy erosionadas.
que los del cinturón de oro de Juneau (Israel et al. al., 2011). El sistema de vetas Cinola (Spegogna ) en el este de la isla
Graham (Haida Gwaii ; Fig. 28) es un gran depósito epitermal de
Eoceno tardío hasta el presente (<37 Ma)
baja sulfuración de tipo fuente termal relacionado con el
Tectonics: Broad belts of Eocene magmatism dwindled by desplazamiento activo del Mioceno en la falla Sandspit . Las
45 Ma and became extinct by 40 Ma. In particular, the Coast reservas extraíbles estimadas a junio de 1997 son 33,5 Mt con ley
plutonic complex, which had been an axis of arc magmatism de 2,11 g / t Au con una ley de corte de 1,20 g / t Au (BC
for over 60 m.y., shut off by 45 Ma, probably because subduc- MINFILE ). Es el depósito conocido más joven con reservas
tion ceased off the west coast of Canada north of Vancouver significativas en la Cordillera canadiense . Se formó junto con el
Island (Fig. 26b). At that time, the Queen Charlotte fault, régimen de fallas transtensionales posubducción que ahora
extending from north of Vancouver Island to Alaska, became prevalece en la región del Estrecho de Haida Gwaii-Hécate (Rohr
the plate margin, serving as a dextral transform geometri- y Currie, 1997).
cally linking Cascadia and Aleutian subduction (Fig. 26c). Un mapeo regional reciente y un estudio geocronológico en el
This “northern San Andreas” remains the site of jerky, peri- norte de la isla de Vancouver ha identificado una matriz este-oeste
odic decoupling between the edge of North America and the de ca . 5 Ma plutones (Fig .28 ; Nixon et al ., 2011 c, d ). Las
north-driving Pacific plate. In 2012, two sequential offshore proyecciones de cobre y oro dentro de ellos apuntan al potencial
earthquakes two months and 300 km apart expressed strain de pórfido en estos cuerpos intrusivos más jóvenes conocidos en
release and strain transfer along the Queen Charlotte fault Columbia Británica . Sin embargo , en la actualidad se están
west of Haida Gwaii and southeastern Alaska. A zone of late formando depósitos masivos de sulfuros en el fondo del mar en
Cenozoic dextral transtension related to the fault has caused respiraderos hidrotermales activos a lo largo del eje de la cordillera
subsidence in the Queen Charlotte basin, detachment fault- Juan de Fuca.
ing under the Coast belt, and northward movement of Haida El arco del Cenozoico a las Aleutianas recientes alberga una
Gwaii (Rohr and Currie, 1997). variedad de vetas epitermales y polimetálicas y depósitos de
Within the North American plate, the locus of dextral motion pórfidos de Cu y Mo en un cinturón de 800 km de largo (
shifted outboard from the Tintina to the Denali fault and its Nokleberg et al., 1994, 2005), asociados con centros volcánicos del
splays. The main volcanic arcs shifted to the Aleutian arc of Terciario y Cuaternario y sus raíces hipabisales . . Un conjunto de
western Alaska and adjoining islands, the Wrangell and St. grandes depósitos de pórfido de Cu-Mo de baja ley ocupa la zona
Elias Mountains, and the Cascade arc, which extends from the de transición , donde el arco joven de las Aleutianas se superpone
desde el sustrato oceánico hasta las rocas más antiguas del terreno
Coast Mountains of southern British Columbia through the
peninsular (Nokleberg et al., 1994, 2005). El más significativo de
Cascades of Washington and Oregon to northern California,
ellos es el ca. Depósito piramidal de 8 Ma, con 173 Mt de 0.35%
landward of the Farallon, and then the Juan de Fuca plate (Fig.
Cu , 0.02 % Mo y 0.088 g / t Au (recurso inferido , Full Metal
26b,c; 28; see also Nokleberg et al., 2005). The ca. 38 to 22 Ma
Minerals Ltd., junio de 2013 ; Fig.28). Su ocurrencia apunta a la
Chilliwack batholith east of Vancouver, small ca. 34 to 31 Ma
importancia de la corteza de arco previamente construida y
intrusions in metropolitan Vancouver, and Pleistocene to
engrosada para la génesis de depósitos de este tipo, como fue el
Recent Mt. Garibaldi are some of the most northerly manifes-
caso de los pórfidos Triásico-Jurásico de la Cordillera canadiense.
tations of the Cascade arc (Hickson and Edwards, 2001). This
Mechanisms and Models
overall pattern continued throughout the Cenozoic, sustained
by easterly subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate and northerly The history of mineralization in the Canadian-Alaskan Cor-
subduction of the Pacific plate. Much of the northern Cordil- dillera spans over 1.6 b.y., from Mesoproterozoic to the pres-
lera became underlain by a large slab window as a result of this ent time. The oldest events, the deep-water, rift-related
new plate configuration (Fig. 26c). Quaternary to Recent hydrothermal system that gave rise to Sullivan, and emplace-
extension in northwestern British Columbia, Yukon, and south- ment of the enigmatic Wernecke breccias, took place in
eastern Alaska is manifested by magmatism of the northern intracontinental settings. The main tectonic and metalloge-
Cordilleran volcanic province (Edwards and Russell, 2000). netic development of the Cordillera dates from the breakup
Metallogeny : Catface en el oeste de la isla de Vancouver (Fig. of the supercontinent Rodinia in late Neoproterozoic to Early
28 ) es un depósito de pórfido de Cu -Mo del Eoceno tardío Cambrian time. This is particularily true of the western con-
anormalmente joven, asociado con un cinturón de pequeños, ca. 37 tinental margin and the terranes of the peri-Laurentian
Ma plutones (Madsen et al., 2003 ). Aunque la configuración de realm, but arc and rift development in the Arctic realm ter-
Catface se ha interpretado como un arco de proa, en el momento ranes also dates to this time. Characterized by VMS deposits
de su ubicación el ca . 50 Ma arco hacia el este se extinguió .
Alternativamente , podría representar el extremo norte del arco
Cascade recién establecido.

by guest
70
124°W
116°W
108°
°W
132°W
°N
°W
140°W
W
156
2°
148
W
17
66
°N Arctic Aleutian arc
Ocean 5-0 Ma
30-5 Ma 70°N
45-30 Ma
Wrangell
Bering Sea volcanic belt
basalts
Cascade-Garibaldi
a
volcanic belt
Alask
Yukon
62
°N 5 Ma plutons
NWT
66°N
Yukon
45-30 Ma plutons
4°W
16
basalt fields
De
na 16
li
easte
N
or
th
rn
er
n
58
°N 62°N
Co
fa
ul
rd
t
ille
limit
ra
Pyramid h NWT
nc Fairweather
tre
volc
fault
Apollo-Sitka BC
AMERICA
Alberta
anic
tian
of
PLATE 58°N
Aleu
Chatham Strait fault
55
Pacific
province
20
Ocean
Que
Co
rd
Quartz Hill
ille
en
ran
non-continental affinity
54°N
Accreted and acceting terranes - Sandspit
Ch
dominantly continental affinity fault def

50°
N PACIFIC orm
arlo
Ancestral North America - Cinola atio

parautochthon
PLATE n
tte
Ancestral North America - 52 Chilcotin

autochthon Queen
fa
ul
Charlotte
t
basin
EP
Ca
s
ca
Middle Valley Catface BC

dia
0 100 200 300

25 USA
116°W
tre
km JFP
nc
h
Fig. 28. Oligocene to present tectonics and deposits. Volcanic fields of Alaska from Moll-Stalcup (1994); northern Cordil-
lera volcanic province from Edwards and Russell (2000). Modern plate configuration and relative motions (vs. fixed hotspot
reference; in mm/a) from Riddihough and Hyndman (1991). EP = Explorer plate, JFP = Juan de Fuca plate. Active faults
are shown in black.
related to rifting arcs, and SEDEX deposits in rifted conti- deposits beginning in Late Triassic time in the peri-Lauren-
nental margins, the Paleozoic might be called “the age of syn- tian Quesnel and Stikine arcs. Porphyry development contin-
genetic sulfides.” The mid-Paleozoic deposits, from Red Dog ued after terranes had been accreted, as exemplified by the
to Myra Falls to Mac Pass, are part of a worldwide Devonian- giant Late Cretaceous Pebble deposit, which formed in a suc-
Mississippian peak that has been related to rift tectonics and cessor arc, and only diminished as subduction faltered at the
ocean anoxia (Goodfellow, 2007). Following a weak period end of Eocene.
(Pennsylvanian to mid-Triassic) of syngenetic deposits, a new Overall, the history of the northern Cordillera depicts the
tectonic regime led to what could be called “the age of por- predominance of extension-related tectonics throughout the
phyries,” which became the premier style of large Cordilleran Paleozoic, followed by increasingly compressional tectonics

by guest
96 NELSON ET AL.
from the Late Triassic through the Paleocene. A brief episode and Nelson, 2009), including mainly Grenvillian to Edia-
of crustal transtension throughout the southern Canadian caran detrital zircon populations (Grove et al., 2008), Edia-
Cordillera in the Late Paleocene-Eocene then gave way to caran to Cambrian-Ordovician ophiolite (Lindsley-Griffin et
processes concentrated mainly near the present plate margin. al., 2008), Ordovician faunas in common with the Alexander
Monger and Price (2002) have related this evolution in tec- and Farewell terranes (Potter et al., 1990; Rigby et al., 2005),
tonic style to a change from an offshore arc system controlled Ordovician blueschist (Grove et al., 2008), and Silurian-Early
by slab rollback, to one in which the overriding North Ameri- Devonian melanges and accretionary complexes, including
can plate advanced toward its subduction zone as the Atlantic the Sierra City melange in the northern Sierras and the Yreka
Ocean opened. The initial propagation of magmatic arcs along terrane in the eastern Klamaths (Schweickert et al., 1984;
the western margin of Laurentia (ca. 400–360 Ma) coincided Lindsley-Griffin et al., 2008). However, in the Devonian,
with the final closing of Iapetus ocean. Their rapid subse- the Yreka and Trinity terranes (part of Eastern Klamaths)
quent detachment (ca. 360–345 Ma) was probably because and Sierra City melange (Northern Sierra) were imbricated
of slab rollback, in a process comparable to the late Oligo- with siliciclastic units that contain characteristic northwest-
cene to present opening of the Japan Sea (Jolivet et al., 1995), ern Laurentian detrital zircon populations (Colpron and Nel-
with concurrent formation of the Kuroko and younger VMS, son, 2009). Subsequently, arc sequences of Late Devonian
as well as currently forming seabed massive sulfide deposits through Permian age were built across the older composites;
in extending arc and back-arc settings. The Middle Juras- Permian limestones in these arc sequences, in common with
sic and younger crustal thickening event, that incorporated the peri-Laurentian terranes Quesnellia and Stikinia, contain
pericratonic blocks, arcs, and accretionary prisms as well as characteristic McCloud faunas (M.M. Miller, 1988).
the continental margin itself, was coeval with opening of the The Okanagan subterrane, which forms the basement to
Atlantic Ocean. Thus, a megacycle driven by major changes in Late Devonian and younger sequences of southern Quesnel-
continental plate motion can account for the broadest aspects lia, is unlike the peri-Laurentian Yukon-Tanana basement
of Cordilleran tectonic history. of northern Quesnellia. It includes the ca. 390 to 380 Ma
Some phases are less clearly related to global-scale plate intraoceanic arc–back-arc Knob Hill ophiolite (Massey et al.,
motions. The initial Permo-Triassic impingement of offshore 2013; Massey and Dostal, 2013), which is 15 m.y. older than
arcs against North America (the margin-long Sonoman orog- the onset of arc magmatism in the peri-Laurentian terranes
eny) occurred some 70 m.y. before initial opening of the (except Yukon-Tanana in the Coast Mountains) and continent
Atlantic. Did Pangaea as a whole begin to track westward margin. The Knob Hill ophiolite is a possible candidate for
prior to its breakup? Following this collisional event, new one of the frontal arcs in a west-migrating Caribbean-like sys-
Late Triassic peri-Laurentian arcs (particularly Quesnellia) tem. Silurian granitic clasts in Mississippian Slide Mountain
seem to have stepped seaward, perhaps caused by renewed strata (Roback et al., 1994) suggest a subjacent igneous assem-
slab rollback. At the same time, extension and widespread blage of late Caledonian age. These, among many unique
intraplate basaltic activity, both LIP and rift-related, prevailed aspects of the Okanagan subterrane, affiliate it more with the
in the yet-to-be accreted Insular terranes. Perhaps these Arctic-derived than the peri-Laurentian terranes (Colpron
crustal blocks then lay in a back-arc region along with the Arc- and Nelson, 2009).
tic terranes and the rest of the continental margin. By Early The tiny Chilliwack terrane (Fig. 1) is also one of the peri-
Jurassic time, magmatic arcs were reestablished in the Insu- Laurentian McCloud terranes (M.M. Miller, 1988). It is con-
lar terranes (Bonanza, Talkeetna), signifying that they were sidered an offset fragment of Stikinia, transported up to 800
part of the circum-Pacific arc system by then, along with the km south on Cretaceous sinistral faults (Monger and Struik,
Hazelton and Takla arcs. 2006). However, part of its basement (Yellow Aster and Tur-
tleback complexes) may be Caledonian, as indicated by xeno-
Discussion: Some Unresolved Problems crystic Ordovician and Silurian zircons in 418 to 389 Ma gra-
As in the analysis of any major orogen, questions and con- nitic intrusions that cut deformed and metamorphosed quartz
troversies remain. Below we highlight a few outstanding prob- sandstones with northwestern Laurentian detrital zircons
lems and offer directions for future research. (E.H. Brown et al., 2010).
The dual affinity of these regions suggests that fragments
Mid-Paleozoic interactions between the Arctic of the Arctic realm may have collided with the outer peri-
and peri-Laurentian realms? Laurentian margin before the Devonian onset of continental
As treated above, the Arctic and peri-Laurentian realms are arc magmatism and opening of the Slide Mountain ocean
portrayed as having evolved independently until the Middle (Colpron and Nelson, 2009). Furthermore, arrival of these
Jurassic. However, evidence is accumulating to suggest that Arctic terranes might have caused Devonian-Mississippian
parts of some peri-Laurentian terranes (Eastern Klamath shortening of the continental margin during the Antler orog-
and Northern Sierra in the USA, the Okanagan subterrane of eny, and Middle Devonian shortening in the continental
Quesnellia in southeastern British Columbia, and the Chilli- margin east of the Okanagan subterrane (Root, 2001). Prop-
wack terrane in the North Cascades of southwestern British agation of arcs and transport of crustal fragments from the
Columbia and northwestern Washington State) might have an Arctic basin to positions along the western margin of Ances-
early Arctic history. tral North America calls for fast rates of southward arc
Parts of the pre-Devonian basement assemblages of the migration, more than 5 cm/year (Colpron and Nelson, 2009;
Eastern Klamath and Northern Sierra terranes of Califor- E.H. Brown et al., 2010). This hypothesis presents a chal-
nia have characteristics typical of the Arctic realm (Colpron lenge for future structural and igneous and detrital zircon

by guest
analysis as well as tectonic modeling. Evidence for pre- Red Chris and GJ trend westerly. Neither of these structural
Devonian metamorphism and plutonism is also found in the trends are parallel to the overall northwestern Cordilleran
outer margin of the Yukon-Tanana terrane in southeastern tectonic grain. Are they reactivated structures that originated
Alaska (Saleeby, 2000; Gehrels, 2001). Future studies should in the basement of Stikinia and, if so, do they represent pre-
target areas like these for records of an as yet cryptic mid- Devonian collisional events? Similarly, the faults that control
Paleozoic orogeny. the alkalic intrusions and deposits of the central belt of south-
ern Quesnellia are also of unknown and possibly old origin,
Triassic-Jurassic tectonics of Stikinia and Quesnellia: and warrant further study. Another key field of research is
Geodynamics of the orocline and origins of porphyry deposits detailed space-time documentation of the Stuhini and Hazel-
As outlined above, geological relationships support the ton arcs throughout Stikinia. This will not only clarify their
idea that Stikinia and Quesnellia formed two adjacent arcs polarity and geometry, but will also illuminate the tectonic
that closed against each other in Early to mid-Jurassic time. setting(s) of associated porphyry deposits.
According to the oroclinal closure model (Figs. 15, 18, 19)
the Cache Creek ocean closed because of clockwise rotation Geologic versus paleomagnetic reconstructions of
of Quesnellia, possibly driven by westward motion of Ances- the Cretaceous Cordillera
tral North America, and counterclockwise rotation of Stikinia Some interpretations of Cretaceous paleomagnetic data
(Mihalynuk et al., 1994). This model remains to be fully tested. have led to the “Baja BC hypothesis”: that all or part of the
For example, understanding of the Jurassic tectonic history of northern Cordillera was 2,000 to 3,000 km south of the North
the Yukon-Tanana terrane, identified as the hinge zone of the American autochthon during the Cretaceous (Irving and
orocline, requires more study. How was the crust thickened? Wynne, 1990). However, abundant geologic data indicate
Which way did thrust faults verge? Are there extensional modest dextral displacements (totaling 800 km) in the Inter-
structures along strike to the northwest, as expected in an oro- montane region and preclude large-scale transport of ter-
clinal bend? A possible alternative, that Stikinia was displaced ranes north of the Denali fault. Results from early paleomag-
southwards to its position outboard of the Cache Creek ter- netic work on plutons of the Coast plutonic complex (Beck
rane, implies the existence of a large pre-mid-Jurassic sinistral and Noson, 1972; Irving and Wynne, 1990) remain suspect
fault on its eastern margin. Can such a fault be found? Com- because the degree to which inclinations were flattened by
pared to Quesnellia, the Mesozoic arc history of Stikinia is postemplacement tilting is uncertain (Butler et al., 2001,
still enigmatic. Polarity is perhaps better understood for the 2006). For this reason, recent studies have focused instead on
Jurassic (Marsden and Thorkelsen, 1992) than for the Trias- bedded sequences, for which a paleohorizontal reference can
sic, but the evolution of the arc, and thus its relationship to be determined (Enkin, 2006).
subduction zones, remains in question. Investigation of the Figure 29 shows available Cretaceous-early Tertiary poles
structural and tectonic controls on Mesozoic magmatism in from bedded rocks of the northern Cordillera plotted with
Stikinia will also have implications for the metallogeny of its Cretaceous-early Tertiary poles from North America (Enkin,
many porphyry and related deposits. 2006). The coincident early Tertiary poles from continent
Questions have been raised about the geodynamic viability and orogen indicate that by that time they were colatitudinal.
of the oroclinal model. Given the present ~1,500 km length
of the Stikinia segment (which may have been lengthened by
subsequent strike-slip deformation) and a reasonable angle 75
between the two active arc segments in Early Jurassic time Cantwell
(~40°; Fig. 18), the southern end of Stikinia would have had
Paleolatitude (°N)
to travel over 2,000 km between 195 and 175 Ma, at a very 60

fast rate of 10 cm/yr. Moreover, as the ocean narrowed, nor- Spences
mal subduction would fail, preventing slab rollback (A. Zag- Bridge
MacColl
orevsky, oral communication, February 2013). Future work 0 Ridge
45 Lake
should aim at reconciling geodynamic considerations with the Clarke
Carmacks
geological evidence. The role of the Bonanza-Talkeetna as
km
1000 Group
Silverquick
an additional arc segment, and initial collision of the Alexan- Nanaimo
Group
30
der terrane with western Stikinia and Yukon-Tanana terrane 2000
coeval with Stikinia-Quesnellia suturing, also need to be con- 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40
sidered in the oroclinal model. Time (Ma)
The association of rich Triassic-Jurassic porphyry endow- Cordilleran localities, southern Southwestern North American
Alaska, southwest of Denali fault autochthonous localities
ment of Quesnellia and Stikinia with subalkalic to alkalic host Eastern Arctic North American
Other Cordilleran localities
intrusions is unusual on a global basis. In spite of years of autochthonous localities
intense study, the tectonic basis for this association is still not Fig. 29. Paleolatitudes from mid-Cretaceous to Eocene bedded volcanic
well understood. Focus on the structural controls on porphyry and sedimentary units in the BC, Yukon, and Alaskan Cordillera, compared
and related deposits may shed some light. For instance, the to paleolatitudes from autochthonous North American sites. The light blue
major porphyry deposits of western Stikinia—Galore Creek, band shows paleolatitudes derived from cratonic poles transferred to North
America. All data from Enkin (2006, figs. 2 and 7). Note that all paleolatitudes
Schaft Creek, and KSM-Brucejack—are associated with a set were calculated at a common reference locality (51.3°N, 123.8°W), which
of strong, N-S–trending faults and lineaments, whereas in the corresponds to the present location of the Silverquick sample (see Enkin,
Iskut area of north-central Stikinia, controlling structures for 2006 for details on individual paleolatitudes and calculations).

by guest
98 NELSON ET AL.
Two of the Cretaceous sites (MacColl Ridge and Lake Clark) deposits, through Cu-Au porphyries in early Mesozoic time,
show significant inclination flattening with respect to North to porphyries and precious metal deposits with increasing
American poles, which indicate southern paleolatitudes. continental influence as amalgamation and crustal thickening
These sites are from south of the Denali fault, where large- progressed in Cretaceous and later time. Overall, the duration
scale Cretaceous-early Tertiary displacements with respect and complexity of northern Cordilleran tectonics have led to
to North America and to inner parts of the Cordillera are to a rich and varied endowment of metallic mineral deposits.
be expected. The mid-Cretaceous Spences Bridge pole from Recent exploration successes such as Red Chris, KSM-Bruce-
the southwestern Intermontane region shows only a moder- jack, the Rackla belt, Blackwater, and White Gold show that
ate discrepancy with North American poles, consistent with the mineral potential of this region is far from a closed book,
geologically determined displacements on faults to the east. and that the deposits we know now are also an intimation of
Paleopoles from the Silverquick Formation and the future discoveries.
Nanaimo Group are consistent with large-scale Cretaceous
displacements, but remain equivocal until the sources of error For more information
in determining paleohorizontal and original inclinations in Cordilleran study in Canada is vastly aided by modern geo-
deformed sedimentary sequences can be fully established logical and tectonic assemblage compilations: Canadian Cor-
(Butler et al., 2001). The farthest continentward Carmacks dillera (Wheeler and McFeely, 1991); Yukon (Gordey and
Group paleomagnetic sample site is of ca. 70 Ma continental Makepeace, 2001); British Columbia (Massey et al., 2005);
basalt flows from Solitary Mountain (Enkin et al., 2006), a few and a recent update for the pericratonic terranes of Yukon
kilometers west of the Tummel fault, one of the bounding and northern British Columbia (Colpron, 2006). Digital ter-
structures of the Yukon-Tanana terrane in central Yukon. But rane maps are available online (Colpron and Nelson, 2011b).
the last significant motion on the Tummel fault was about Large-scale geologic and tectonic assemblage maps for
35 m.y. before Carmacks volcanism, as demonstrated by the Alaska include Silbering et al. (1994) and Nokleberg et al.
age of the Glenlyon batholith, the contact aureole of which (1997); a GIS compilation is available for northern Alaska
overprints the fault (ca. 105 Ma; Colpron et al., 2005). The and surrounding areas (Klemperer et al., 2002). Older but
only other fault that separates Solitary Mountain from the more comprehensive syntheses include Dawson et al. (1991)
autochthon is the Tintina fault, for which cutoffs document for the Canadian Cordillera, and Nokleberg et al. (2005) for
Eocene dextral displacements of 430 km (Gabrielse et al., the Canadian-Alaskan Cordillera and Russian Far East. Cop-
2006). Northeast of the Tintina fault, well-documented geo- ies of the two Porphyry Volumes (CIMM 15 and 46), well-
logical relationships within the continental margin, as out- read and dog-eared, belong on every Cordilleran exploration-
lined in earlier sections describing the western extent of Pre- ist’s shelf.
cambrian basement and basement structures and facies rela- Key online mineral occurrence databases reside in BC and
tionships within Proterozoic to Paleozoic sedimentary Yukon MINFILE, and the British Columbia mineral deposit
sequences, preclude the existence of faults that could con- profiles (Lefebure, 2005). BC MapPlace (http://www.empr.
ceivably accommodate the additional ~1,500 km of transla- gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/MapPlace/Pages/default.aspx)
tion specified by the Carmacks poles. It must be noted that and YGS MapMaker Online (http://mapservices.gov.yk.ca/
paleohorizontal for a number of the Solitary Mountain sites YGS/WebMap.aspx) are integrated, online GIS-based map
was determined on the basis of columnar joints and lahar data systems for British Columbia and Yukon, respectively,
flows (Enkin et al., 2006, p. 225). Neither of these features that offer easy integration of spatial data sets such as geo-
represent reliable paleohorizontal indicators and thus the logic maps, geophysical and geochemical surveys, and min-
determined paleomagnetic inclinations should be interpreted eral deposit information in the MINFILE databases. Finally,
with care. in the last few years, company websites have become the
fundamental source for current information on individual
Conclusions deposits and exploration programs, including resource
Following the breakup of Rodinia, the western margin of estimates.
Laurentia/Ancestral North America did not merely subside:
it was actively rifting and metallogenetically alive through- Acknowledgments
out early Paleozoic time. From Late Devonian through Early Although the interpretations in this paper reflect our own
Jurassic, the craton margin was protected from the effects of opinions, our understanding has been deeply influenced by
continent-ocean interactions by the intervening peri-Lauren- the work of our colleagues, including Luke Beranek, Dwight
tian arcs, which were initially built on calved-off fragments of Bradley, Rob Carne, Julie Dumoulin, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon,
the margin and subsequently extended, probably continuously, Carol Evenchick, Fil Ferri, Hu Gabrielse, George Gehrels,
to separate Ancestral North America from the central paleo- Dave Harwood, Peter Hauessler, Murray Journeay, Sue Karl,
Pacific ocean. The large-scale cycle that we observe in the Nan Lindsley-Griffin, Bill McClelland, Margot McMechan,
Cordillera, from Paleozoic extensional tectonics to Mesozoic- Mitch Mihalynuk, Meghan Miller, Jim Monger, Tom Moore,
Paleogene accretion and compression, probably was largely Jim Mortensen, Don Murphy, Suzanne Paradis, Steve
caused by changes in relative motion of the North American Piercey, Ray Price, Charlie Roots, Gerry Ross, Charlie Rubin,
plate with respect to its western subduction zone, i.e., from Paul Schiarriza, Connie Soja, Alison Till, Peter van der Hey-
upper plate retreat to upper plate advance. The gross aspects den, Jim Wright, John Wheeler, and many others, who have
of this cycle are reflected in metallogenetic patterns, from dedicated themselves to unraveling the Cordilleran puzzle.
the predominance of Paleozoic rift-related syngenetic sulfide Insightful reviews by Jim Monger and Craig Hart, thorough

by guest
editing and rewriting by Larry Aspler, and editorial comments Ayuso, R.A., Karl, S.M., Slack, J.F., Haeussler, P.J., Bittenbender, P.E., Wand-
by Thomas Bissig and John Thompson have greatly improved less, G.A., and Colvin, A.S., 2005, Oceanic Pb-isotopic sources of Protero-
zoic and Paleozoic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits on Prince of Wales
the content and clarity of the manuscript. Finally, in the pro- Island and vicinity, southeastern Alaska, in Haeussler, P.J., and Galloway,
cess of discovery here, “the road goes ever on and on …” You, J.P., eds, Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska 2005: U.S. Geo-
the reader, are walking it. Enjoy the journey, and welcome. logical Survey, Professional Paper 1732-E, 20 p.
This is YGS contribution #018. Bailey, L. A., 2013, Geology and minerailzation of the Golden Saddle gold
deposit, west-central Yukon: Unpublished M.Sc thesis, Vancouver, BC,
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©2013 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Special Publication 17, pp. 53–109

Introduction mineralization in Yukon adds an important new deposit

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Koyukuk, Nyak, Togiak QN

Prince Rupert def

CC Cache Creek atio

KS Kluane, Windy, Coast

KB Kilbuck SM Slide Mountain NAc

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Arctic - NE Pacific realm -

N.Alaska and Insular terranes

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Wabamun a >2.5 Ga 1.8-1.9 Ga

DC Medicine Hat block

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Wernecke breccias Gayna

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Mackenzie Mtns spgp

1300 sills and overlain by their volcanic equivalents (G. Abbott,

Group is unconformably overlain by shallow-water siliciclastic

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c) Siberian connection d) South China in Rodinia

Olympic Dam Antarctica

Archean (>2.5 Ga) - Superior, Kola-Karelian

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Earn Group 54Ep

c) Selkirk Purcell Rocky Mountains

p sandstone, and siltstone

Sandstone, siltstone, shale

Goldstream >g Shale, sandstone

Grit, sandstone, shale

U{-L` ethie Quartzite

Grouf Cree Granodiorite

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Devonian-Mississippian Ambler 510

15.55 Point Sicker

Yukon-Tanana terrane Slide Kootenay, Ancestral

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A) Silurian (ca. 425 Ma)

b) Late Devonian - Mississippian (ca. 360 Ma)

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Pennsylvanian - Early Permian (ca. 285-300 Ma)

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Triásico Tardío en Lime Peak cerca de Whitehorse (61 ° N) y en el

P requerirían (como mínimo ) 1000 y 450 km de transporte hacia el

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Incluye lo siguiente : productores de larga data Highland

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Tertiary (<63 Ma)

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Early Jurassic a) Middle Jurassic

McCloud belt arc terranes in Oregon and California are con-

flank of Stikinia. Lower Jurassic clastic strata of probable fore- EURASIAN