A Thrust Plate of Ophiolitic Rocks in the Preston Peak Area, Klamath Mountains, California
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A thrust plate of ophiolitic rocks in the Preston Peak area, Klamath Mountains, California ARTHUR W. SNOKE Department of Geology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208 ABSTRACT ultramafic-mafic complexes and their significance in the tectonic evolution of the Klamath Mountains has been emphasized by Irwin In the Preston Peak area, Klamath Mountains, California, a re- and Lipman (1962), Irwin (1964), Lipman (1964), and Davis gional thrust fault separates metasedimentary rocks of the Late (1968). However, the ophiolitic character and local preservation of Jurassic Galice Formation from an overlying plate of older ophio- intact pseudostratigraphic sequences has only recently been investi- litic rocks. The ophiolite consists of a basal sheet of ultramafic gated (Snoke, 1971; Irwin, 1972; Lindsley-Griffin, 1973). tectonite overlain and intruded by a heterogeneous mafic complex In the Preston Peak area (Fig. 1), glaciated exposures and deeply that in turn is overlain by metabasaltic and metasedimentary rocks. dissected canyons permit an exceptional opportunity to examine Field relations indicate that the ophiolite is polygenetic, with a the ophiolite sequence that forms the basal part of the western major temporal hiatus separating the tectonitic ultramafic rocks Paleozoic and Triassic belt of Irwin (1960). The ophiolite is divisi- and the associated mafic rocks. Mineral assemblages and textures ble into three distinct units: (1) a basal sheet of alpine-type perido- in the ultramafic rocks suggest high-temperature recrystallization tite and sparse dunite, locally with a tectonite fabric; (2) a mafic and penetrative deformation. In contrast, diabase and diabase complex, consisting predominantly of diabase, basalt, and diabase breccia, the most abundant constituents of the mafic complex, are breccia all metamorphosed to nonschistose rocks of the greenschist nonschistose rocks metamorphosed to lower greenschist facies. facies; and (3) an originally overlying but now fault-bounded se- Contacts between ultramafic rocks and rocks of the mafic complex quence of interlayed basaltic and sedimentary rocks regionally are fault contacts, intrusive contacts, or both. Mafic rocks occur in metamorphosed to the greenschist facies. Other eleméhts of the the ultramafic rocks as diabase dikes with chilled margins and as ophiolite include scarce masses of jackstraw-textured talc-olivine tectonic inclusions. Piecemeal growth of the ophiolite is also indi- rock in tectonitic peridotite, tectonic inclusions of amphibolite in cated by minor features: scarce jackstraw-textured talc-olivine serpentinite mélange, gabbro and olivine clinopyroxenite fragments rocks in tectonitic peridotite, cognate xenoliths of gabbro and in the diabasic and basaltic rocks of the mafic complex, and dikes olivine clinopyroxenite in diabase, and scattered dikes of inter- of intermediate composition intrusive into the mafic complex. A mediate composition in both ultramafic and mafic rocks. schematic summary of the lithology of the ophiolite is given in Fig- Field aspects of the ophiolite appear more compatible with a ure 2; the distribution of rock units is shown in Figure 3. primitive island-arc setting than with a spreading oceanic ridge or Although the ophiolite appears to be a distinct petrotectonic as- marginal-basin model. The temporal relations between the ultra- semblage, contact relations between the component parts suggest a mafic and mafic rocks, the presence of pyroclastic breccias, and the polygenetic history, with a major hiatus between the tectonitic ul- character of associated epiclastic rocks support this hypothesis. On tramafic rocks and the overlying mafic segments. This reasoning is the basis of this interpretation, the tectonic history of this segment supported by a sharp metamorphic contrast between the tectonitic of the Klamath Mountains during late Paleozoic to Jurassic time alpine-type peridotite and the nonschistose, lower greenschist- was dominated by island-arc genesis and westward extensional rift- facies, metadiabasic and metabasaltic rocks. A distinct time break ing. The ultimate collapse of this system occurred during the Late in the development of the ophiolite is also indicated by the occur- Jurassic (Nevadan orogeny) when the Galice Formation (Jurassic rence of jackstraw-textured talc-olivine rock in the tectonitic island arc and associated sedimentary basin) was thrust beneath the peridotite, with mafic dikes in both ultramafic rock types. Preston Peak ophiolite, a Permian-Triassic remnant arc. ALPINE-TYPE ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS INTRODUCTION A folded and faulted ultramafic sheet is separated from the un- An arcuate belt—like arrangement of lithologically distinct derlying metasedimentary rocks of the Galice Formation by a eugeosynclinal rocks is the most obvious structural feature of the thrust fault and is in turn overlain by rocks of the mafic complex or Klamath Mountains province of northwestern California and western Paleozoic and Triassic belt. The ultramafic sheet consists of southwestern Oregon (Irwin, 1960). The belts are bounded by highly serpentinized peridotite, a little dunite, and very minor east-dipping faults that are interpreted to be thrust faults of re- pyroxenite. Similar but larger ultramafic sheets lie southeast (the gional extent (Irwin, 1964; Davis, 1968). The origin of this ar- Trinity sheet) and west (the Josephine sheet) of the Preston Peak rangement is not fully understood, but the concepts of plate tecton- area (Fig. 1). These ultramafic sheets lie directly on thrust faults and ics and sea-floor spreading suggest a gradual accretionary process presumably are tectonically emplaced (Irwin and Lipman, 1962; involving the subduction of eugeosynclinal sedimentary and vol- Irwin, 1964). canic rocks beneath an overriding continental margin (Hamilton, 1969; Irwin, 1973). Field Appearance Sheetlike and linear bodies of alpine-type ultramafic and as- sociated mafic rocks are concentrated along many of the bound- About half of the ultramafic rocks are massive and uncrushed, aries between the lithic belts. The deep-seated origin of the and half are highly sheared serpentinites (slickentite). The massive Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 88, p. 1641-1659, 14 figs., 1 table, November 1977, Doc. no. 71110. 1641 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/88/11/1641/3429345/i0016-7606-88-11-1641.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 1642 A. W. SNOKE ultramafic rocks typically weather to a brown or reddish-orange especially prevalent near the complexly faulted thrust zone between crust whose surface is studded with aggregates of relict olivine and the Galice Formation and the upper ophiolite plate; however, slick - pyroxene. Other unsheared ultramafic rocks may be totally serpen- entite also crops out in scattered interior areas of the ultramafic tinized but retain a vestige of their original coarse texture on sheet. weathered surfaces. The sheared serpentinites are dark olive green Locally in the massive ultramafic rock a mineral foliation is to bluish green and usually have a crude foliation. The unsheared defined by a planar arrangement of ellipsoidal aggregates of olivine ultramafic rocks form blocky, resistant outcrops, whereas the slick- and pyroxene. Scarce segregation banding is seen in the Middle entite forms smooth broad ridges that are subject to landsliding and Fork of the Smith River, where pyroxene-rich layers (about 5 mm other downslope movements. Highly sheared serpentinites are thick) alternate with olivine-rich layers (now almost completely METASEDIMENTARY AND METAVOLCANIC ROCKS 'mm Schists of Western Jurassic belt Condrey Mountain Western Paleozoic and Triassic belt Pm - Permian where differentiated Tr - Triassic Central metamorphic belt Eastern Klamath belt PLUTONIC ROCKS v: Granitic rocks Ultramafic and associated mafic rocks Modified from Hotz (1971) and Irwin (1972) Figure 1. Generalized geologic map of Klamath Mountains province, California and Oregon. Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/88/11/1641/3429345/i0016-7606-88-11-1641.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 THRUST PLATE OF OPHIOLITIC ROCKS, PRESTON PEAK AREA 1643 serpentinized). These structures are found in other California ul- ultramafic rocks from the Galice Formation. The contact between tramafic rocks (Burro Mountain, southern Coast Ranges — Burch, the Galice and the mafic rocks is a segment of the Preston Peak 1968; Loney and others, 1971; and Trinity ultramafic sheet — Lip- fault. The contact between the mafic rocks and the overlying ultra- man, 1964; Goullaud, 1975) and are interpreted to be the product mafic rocks is the Wounded Knee fault, an east-dipping, high-angle of penetrative flowage and «crystallization. reverse fault. Lying above the ultramafic rocks are either a heterogeneous as- Contact Relations with Adjacent Rock Units semblage of fine- to medium-grained metabasaltic rocks called the mafic complex or metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks corre- The contact between the ultramafic rocks and the underlying lated with the western Paleozoic and Triassic belt of Irwin (1960). metasedimentary (rarely metavolcanic) rocks of the Galice Forma- Commonly the contacts between these rocks and the ultramafic tion is the east-dipping Preston Peak fault (Fig. 3). The ultramafic rocks are faults, but in several places the mafic rocks are intrusive rocks along the contact are highly sheared, and in many places the into the ultramafic rocks. shear planes