The Mount Meager volcanic complex (MMVC) is one of the eight major calc-alkaline volcanic centres within the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, Canada. MMVC volcanism spans ∼2 Ma and has been mainly intermediate to felsic in composition. However, small-volume mafic centres are located around the periphery of the Mount Meager massif and have been collectively referred to as the Mosaic Assemblage or Mount Meager basalts. Here, we present new 40Ar/39Ar ages and expanded chemical datasets for the MMVC mafic rocks. We show that mafic eruptive ages are both older and longer-lived than previously interpreted, spanning the last ∼450 ka, and occurring in four episodes at ∼440, 200, 106, and 17 ka. We also found that chemical signatures for the MMVC mafic rocks have evolved across the four periods, fluctuating from “OIB”-like melt characteristics to more typical slab-influenced, calc-alkaline, before returning to “OIB”-like in the youngest phase. These findings provide the first evidence of a temporal-chemical evolution of melt sourcing for the Garibaldi belt volcanism. Lastly, field mapping has identified edifices and deposits that are glaciovolcanic in origin (vs. nonglaciovolcanic), which were used in conjunction with our new 40Ar/39Ar age estimates to document the presence or absence of Coast Mountain sectors of earlier Cordilleran ice sheets in southwest British Columbia over the last 500 ka.
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December 20, 2022
A 500 ka record of volcanism and paleoenvironment in the northern Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, British Columbia Available to Purchase
Martin A. Harris;
(Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft)
a
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadab
Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USACorresponding author: Martin Harris (email: [email protected])
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James K. Russell;
James K. Russell
(Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing)
a
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Alexander Wilson;
Alexander Wilson
(Software, Visualization, Writing – review & editing)
c
Minerva Intelligence, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Brian Jicha
Brian Jicha
(Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Writing – review & editing)
d
Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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Martin A. Harris
Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft
a
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadab
Department of Geology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA
James K. Russell
Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing
a
Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alexander Wilson
Software, Visualization, Writing – review & editing
c
Minerva Intelligence, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Brian Jicha
Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Writing – review & editing
d
Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USACorresponding author: Martin Harris (email: [email protected])
Publisher: Canadian Science Publishing
Received:
16 Sep 2022
Accepted:
24 Nov 2022
Accepted Manuscript:
20 Dec 2022
First Online:
05 Apr 2023
Online ISSN: 1480-3313
Print ISSN: 0008-4077
The Author(s)
Permission for reuse (free in most cases) can be obtained from copyright.com.
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences (2023) 60 (4): 401–421.
Article history
Received:
16 Sep 2022
Accepted:
24 Nov 2022
Accepted Manuscript:
20 Dec 2022
First Online:
05 Apr 2023
Citation
Martin A. Harris, James K. Russell, Alexander Wilson, Brian Jicha; A 500 ka record of volcanism and paleoenvironment in the northern Garibaldi Volcanic Belt, British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 2022;; 60 (4): 401–421. doi: https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2022-0101
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Index Terms/Descriptors
- absolute age
- alkaline earth metals
- Ar/Ar
- British Columbia
- Canada
- Cenozoic
- chemical composition
- glacial environment
- hafnium
- Hf-177/Hf-176
- igneous rocks
- isotope ratios
- isotopes
- lead
- mafic composition
- metals
- Nd-144/Nd-143
- neodymium
- paleoenvironment
- Pb-206/Pb-204
- Pb-207/Pb-204
- Pb-208/Pb-204
- Pleistocene
- Quaternary
- radioactive isotopes
- rare earths
- Sr-87/Sr-86
- stable isotopes
- strontium
- volcanic rocks
- volcanism
- Western Canada
- Garibaldi volcanic belt
- Mount Meager volcanic complex
- Upper Lillooet Provincial Park
Latitude & Longitude
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