Trials and Tribulations of Life on an Active Subduction Zone: Field Trips in and around Vancouver, Canada

This volume, prepared for the 126th GSA Annual Meeting in Vancouver, Canada, offers guides to trips in the Cascadia subduction zone. The active tectonism of the region has had a profound effect on the bedrock and surficial geology of the area, and on human interactions with the geologic environment. These themes are reflected in the trips associated with the meeting. Trip topics relate to bedrock geology, volcanism and Cordilleran glaciation and deglaciation, as well as human interaction with the natural environment. The trips that discuss human interaction cover archaeology, natural hazards and the urban environment, as well as the role that local geology and tectonism have played in shaping colonization of the region since the last glaciation. The field guide volume has something for everyone!
Volcanism and glacial interaction in the Wells Gray–Clearwater volcanic field, east-central British Columbia Available to Purchase
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Published:January 01, 2014
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CiteCitation
Catherine J. Hickson*, Nathalie Vigouroux*, 2014. "Volcanism and glacial interaction in the Wells Gray–Clearwater volcanic field, east-central British Columbia", Trials and Tribulations of Life on an Active Subduction Zone: Field Trips in and around Vancouver, Canada, Shahin Dashtgard, Brent Ward
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Abstract
This field guide describes a three-day trip from Vancouver, British Columbia, to the Wells Gray–Clearwater volcanic field (WGCVF) in east-central British Columbia. The WGCVF is the site of transitional to alkali olivine basaltic volcanism erupted over the last three million years. The small volume magmas (<1 km3) erupted along preexisting normal faults related to the late stages of Cordilleran terrane amalgamation, along the boundary between the miogeoclinal and pericratonic rocks of the Kootenay terrane and the allochthonous Slide Mountain and Quesnellia terranes west of ancestral North America. The magmas are highly enriched in incompatible elements, especially large-ion lithophile elements, and are interpreted as the result of low degrees of partial melting of a heterogeneous, metasomatized mantle. Upon ascent through the crust, they carried up both crustal and mantle xenoliths. During the eruptive period of the WGCVF, at least four glacial periods have occurred. The interplay between volcanism and glaciation is captured in the wide range of volcanic features found in the region. Field trip participants will view numerous diverse volcanic landforms and deposits: from tuyas to ice-marginal valley-edge deposits, volcanoclastic-lacustrine deposits, and associated pillow lavas and hyaloclastites.
- absolute age
- alkali basalts
- alkali olivine basalt
- allochthons
- basalts
- British Columbia
- Canada
- Canadian Cordillera
- Cenozoic
- cinder cones
- dates
- eruptions
- field trips
- genesis
- geosynclines
- glaciation
- Holocene
- hyaloclastite
- igneous rocks
- inclusions
- interpretation
- K/Ar
- Kootenay Arc
- large-ion lithophile elements
- lava
- lava flows
- magmas
- metasomatism
- miogeosynclines
- North America
- North American Cordillera
- partial melting
- pillow lava
- Pleistocene
- pyroclastics
- Quaternary
- Quesnellia Terrane
- road log
- Slide Mountain Terrane
- spatial distribution
- volcanic features
- volcanic rocks
- volcanism
- Western Canada
- whole rock
- xenoliths
- Green Mountain
- Fraser Valley
- east-central British Columbia
- Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field
- Wells Gray Provincial Park
- Buck Hill
- Clearwater Valley
- Third Canyon Creek
- Spahats Falls
- Murtle Plateau
- Moul Falls
- Second Canyon Creek
- Osprey Falls
- Dawson Falls
- Helmcken Falls