Thermotectonic Evolution of the Wolverine
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THERMOTECTONIC EVOLUTION OF THE WOLVERINE METAMORPHIC COMPLEX, BRITISH COLUMBIA: LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF COMBINED ION EXCHANGE AND NET-TRANSFER REACTION GEOTHERMOBAROMETRY AT UPPER AMPHIBOLITE- FACIES METAMORPHISM by Reid Staples B.Sc. Simon Fraser University, 2007 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE In the Department of Earth Sciences © Reid Staples 2009 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Reid Staples Degree: Master of Science Title of Thesis: Thermo-tectonicevolution of the Wolverine metamorphiccomplex, British Columbia:limitations on the useof combinedion exchangeand net-transfer reactiongeothermobarometry at upper amphibolite- faciesmetamorphism ExaminingCommittee: Chair: Dr. Dirk Kirste AssistantProfessor, Department of EarthSciences Dr. Dan Marshall SeniorSupervisor AssociateProfessor, Department of EarthSciences Dr. Derek Thorkelson Supervisor Professor,Department of EarthSciences Dr. Dan Gibson Supervisor AssistantProfessor, Department of EarthSciences Dr. Bert Struik E,xternalExaminer GeologicalSurvey of Canada Date Defended/Approved: March25'h. 2009 Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the “Institutional Repository” link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: <http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/112>) and, without changing the content, to translate the thesis/project or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. While licensing SFU to permit the above uses, the author retains copyright in the thesis, project or extended essays, including the right to change the work for subsequent purposes, including editing and publishing the work in whole or in part, and licensing other parties, as the author may desire. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Last revision: Spring 09 AB STRACT Peak metamorphism of the Wolverine metamorphic complex ( W M C ) occurred at conditions of 770°-830°C and 7.2-10.4 kbars, and was accompanied by partial melting and the development of tight to isoclinal northeast-vergent folds that are axial planar to a transposition foliation. The WMC is modelled as a diffuse northeast-vergent shear zone that formed beneath a southwest-vergent panel of rocks as the orogenic wedge detached and translated northeastward during Mesozoic contraction. Juxtaposition of Middle Jurassic greenschist-facies upper crustal rocks against upper amphibolite-facies rocks of the WMC, which contain Eocene 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages, suggests that the WMC remained at deep crustal levels until it was rapidly exhumed in the Eocene along the normal Wolverine fault. Mineral reaction and disequilibrium textures indicate a near- isothermal decompression path from 7.2-10.4 kbars to below 4 kbars, corresponding to a minimum of 11 km of exhumation prior to cooling below ~650°C. Keywords: Wolverine metamorphic complex; Geothermobarometry; P-T-t path; tectonic evolution; 40Ar/39Ar geochronology Subject Terms: Metamorphism (geology); Earth temperature; Rock pressure; Rocks, metamorphic iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank Dan Marshall for giving me the opportunity to work on the high-grade metamorphic rocks of the Wolverine complex. Thank you for all of your support, mentorship, intellectual insight, and perhaps most all giving me the freedom to think for myself. I am very thankful to Dan Gibson and Derek Thorkelson for taking the time to make suggests that greatly improved this thesis, as well as their helpful and thought provoking discussions. I have also gained considerably from having had the opportunity to meet and learn from someone as knowledgeable as Bert Struik. I am very grateful to have had such a wonderful lab mate as Karin Fecova, and am forever indebted to her patience, tolerance and willingness to help. I am very thankful to Kevin Cameron for the numerous discussions and for always providing me with a great lab to TA. Gabe, Sarah, Francesca, Liz, Rusty and Michael have made my time at SFU very enjoyable. I would like to thank Fil Ferri from the BCGS for providing me with thin- sections and field notes at a time when I had nothing. I am also very appreciative to Mati Raudsepp for his help with the microprobe. I would like to thank my parents as well as my Nan for their support and for giving me the opportunity to pursue my studies. Finally, my deepest thanks go to Melissa Jackson for all of her love and support. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval .............................................................................................................. ii Abstract .............................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................... v List of Figures ................................................................................................... vi i List of Tables ..................................................................................................... ix 1: Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 2: Geologic setting ............................................................................................. 4 3: Lithology ......................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Metamorphic rocks ............................................................................. 8 Unit 1a: Biotite-to garnet-grade pelitic schists ................................................ 9 Unit 1b: Sillimanite- to K-feldspar + sillimanite-grade pelitic schists ............... 9 Unit 2: Calcsilicate gneiss ............................................................................ 11 Unit 3: Amphibolite gneiss ........................................................................... 11 3.2 Intrusive rocks .................................................................................. 12 4: Correlation .................................................................................................... 16 5: Structure ....................................................................................................... 20 5.1 Pre- to syn-transposition structures .................................................. 20 5.2 Post-transposition structures ............................................................ 25 6: Metamorphism and microstructure ............................................................ 27 6.1 Petrography – mineralogy and microstructure .................................. 27 Sample locations.......................................................................................... 27 Pelitic and semipelitic schist and gneiss ...................................................... 27 Amphibolites ................................................................................................ 32 6.2 Mineral chemistry ............................................................................. 33 Metapelites .................................................................................................. 34 Amphibolites ................................................................................................ 35 6.3 Partial melting and P-T constraints ................................................... 38 Metapelites .................................................................................................. 38 Amphibolites ................................................................................................ 40 6.4 Interpretation of observed textures and zoning ................................ 45 Partial disequilibrium during diffusional relaxation of growth zoning in garnet ............................................................................................ 45 v Retrograde zoning ......................................................................................