Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic Evolution

AbstractThe Challis-Kamloops belt of south-central British Columbia is a regionally extensive (>65,000 km2) magmatic province that erupted within the North American Cordillera during the Eocene (55-45 Ma). The inland volcanic belt runs parallel to the coast, and the rocks were...

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Main Authors: Jaroslav Dostal, J. Gregory Shellnutt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: GeoScienceWorld 2022-06-01
Series:Lithosphere
Online Access:https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/lithosphere/article/2022/1/9441099/614318/Eocene-Volcanic-Complex-from-Central-British
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author Jaroslav Dostal
J. Gregory Shellnutt
author_facet Jaroslav Dostal
J. Gregory Shellnutt
author_sort Jaroslav Dostal
collection DOAJ
description AbstractThe Challis-Kamloops belt of south-central British Columbia is a regionally extensive (>65,000 km2) magmatic province that erupted within the North American Cordillera during the Eocene (55-45 Ma). The inland volcanic belt runs parallel to the coast, and the rocks were emplaced mainly within extensional basins indicating volcanism was attributed to rift-related decompressional melting. The rocks include both calc-alkaline and tholeiitic mafic and intermediate types (i.e., low-Fe, medium-Fe, and high-Fe suites). Voluminous volcanic units (Buck Creek, Goosly Lake, Swans Lake) of the Buck Creek volcanic complex (~3,000 km2 in area) within the Nechako plateau erupted within 1-2 million years and show significant internal chemical variability. All rock types have similar Sr-Nd isotopic (87Sr/86Sri=0.70435-0.70487; εNdt=+2.6-+4.0) ratios indicating they originated from the same sub-Cordilleran mantle source. Petrological modeling using the most primitive rocks of the Buck Creek, Goosly Lake, and Swans Lake magmatic pulses demonstrates that the chemical variability observed in each system can be explained by hydrous fractional crystallization in the upper crust (≤0.1 GPa) under moderately oxidizing to oxidizing conditions (ΔFMQ 0 to +0.7). The primary difference between the low-Fe to medium-Fe (calc-alkaline) Buck Creek suite model and the high-Fe to medium-Fe (tholeiitic) Swans Lake suite model is water content as the Swans Lake model has lower (H2O=0.75 wt.%) starting water than the Buck Creek and also the Goosly Lake models (H2O=1.25-2.00 wt.%). Moreover, the intermediate to silicic rocks of the complexes are compositionally similar to rocks associated with “slab failure” suggesting that rifting and mantle melting were related to asthenospheric upwelling through a slab tear. The implications are that the chemical variability of the rock suites are primarily related to fractional crystallization and that the mantle source is heterogeneous with respect to water content which is likely due to heterogeneities in the processes related to pre-Eocene subduction.
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spelling doaj.art-b462394010354916b0e55ccfd04948022022-12-22T04:41:36ZengGeoScienceWorldLithosphere1941-82641947-42532022-06-012022110.2113/2022/9441099Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic EvolutionJaroslav Dostal0http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3110-4270J. Gregory Shellnutt1http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2289-29031 Department of Geology Saint Mary’s University 923 Robie Street Halifax NS Canada B3H 3C3 smu.ca2 Department of Earth Sciences National Taiwan Normal University 88 Tingzhou Road Section 4 Taipei 11677 Taiwan ntnu.edu.tw AbstractThe Challis-Kamloops belt of south-central British Columbia is a regionally extensive (>65,000 km2) magmatic province that erupted within the North American Cordillera during the Eocene (55-45 Ma). The inland volcanic belt runs parallel to the coast, and the rocks were emplaced mainly within extensional basins indicating volcanism was attributed to rift-related decompressional melting. The rocks include both calc-alkaline and tholeiitic mafic and intermediate types (i.e., low-Fe, medium-Fe, and high-Fe suites). Voluminous volcanic units (Buck Creek, Goosly Lake, Swans Lake) of the Buck Creek volcanic complex (~3,000 km2 in area) within the Nechako plateau erupted within 1-2 million years and show significant internal chemical variability. All rock types have similar Sr-Nd isotopic (87Sr/86Sri=0.70435-0.70487; εNdt=+2.6-+4.0) ratios indicating they originated from the same sub-Cordilleran mantle source. Petrological modeling using the most primitive rocks of the Buck Creek, Goosly Lake, and Swans Lake magmatic pulses demonstrates that the chemical variability observed in each system can be explained by hydrous fractional crystallization in the upper crust (≤0.1 GPa) under moderately oxidizing to oxidizing conditions (ΔFMQ 0 to +0.7). The primary difference between the low-Fe to medium-Fe (calc-alkaline) Buck Creek suite model and the high-Fe to medium-Fe (tholeiitic) Swans Lake suite model is water content as the Swans Lake model has lower (H2O=0.75 wt.%) starting water than the Buck Creek and also the Goosly Lake models (H2O=1.25-2.00 wt.%). Moreover, the intermediate to silicic rocks of the complexes are compositionally similar to rocks associated with “slab failure” suggesting that rifting and mantle melting were related to asthenospheric upwelling through a slab tear. The implications are that the chemical variability of the rock suites are primarily related to fractional crystallization and that the mantle source is heterogeneous with respect to water content which is likely due to heterogeneities in the processes related to pre-Eocene subduction.https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/lithosphere/article/2022/1/9441099/614318/Eocene-Volcanic-Complex-from-Central-British
spellingShingle Jaroslav Dostal
J. Gregory Shellnutt
Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic Evolution
Lithosphere
title Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic Evolution
title_full Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic Evolution
title_fullStr Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic Evolution
title_full_unstemmed Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic Evolution
title_short Eocene Volcanic Complex from Central British Columbia: The Role of Fractional Crystallization during the Magmatic Evolution
title_sort eocene volcanic complex from central british columbia the role of fractional crystallization during the magmatic evolution
url https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/lithosphere/article/2022/1/9441099/614318/Eocene-Volcanic-Complex-from-Central-British
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