| Title | Analyzing spatial patterns of thermal alteration in the Stikine and Wrangell terranes of the Canadian Cordillera using the conodont color alteration index (CAI) to identify hot spots and cold
spots |
| Download | Downloads |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Lei, J Z X; Golding, M L; Husson, J M |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 8746, 2020, 43 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/327243  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2020 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | readme
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| File format | pdf; rtf; dbf; shp; xml; adf; docx (Microsoft® Word®) |
| Province | British Columbia; Yukon; Alberta; Northwest Territories |
| NTS | 82; 83; 92; 93; 94; 95; 96; 102; 103; 104; 105; 106; 114; 115; 116 |
| Lat/Long WENS | -141.0000 -112.0000 67.0000 48.0000 |
| Subjects | paleontology; regional geology; geochemistry; Science and Technology; Nature and Environment; thermal alteration; thermal maturation; paleoenvironment; micropaleontology; microfossils; conodonts; colour
alteration index; statistical analyses; mapping techniques; bedrock geology; lithology; igneous rocks; intrusive rocks; sedimentary rocks; limestones; metamorphic rocks; metamorphic facies; isotopic studies; carbon isotopes; tectonic setting;
metamorphism; models; Canadian Cordillera; Stikine Terrane; Wrangell Terrane; North American Plate; Cassiar Terrane; Slide Mountain Terrane; Quesnellia Terrane; Yukon-Tanana Terrane; Cache Creek Terrane; Bridge River Terrane; Alexander Terrane;
Island Plutonic Suite; Westcoast Crystalline Complex; Bonanza Group; Vancouver Group; Mount Hall Gabbro; Buttle Lake Formation; Aksala Formation; Sinwa Formation; Quatsino Formation; Parsons Bay Formation; Geographic information systems; Trends;
Phanerozoic; Mesozoic; Paleozoic |
| Illustrations | location maps; geoscientific sketch maps; photomicrographs; stratigraphic sections; plots; screen captures |
| Program | GEM2: Geo-mapping for Energy and Minerals Western Cordillera |
| Released | 2020 10 19 |
| Abstract | Spatial analysis has been conducted on CAI data from archival conodont collections across the Canadian Cordillera of British Columbia and Yukon, creating thermal alteration maps with Kriging
interpolation surfaces and Getis-Ord Gi* statistical hot spots. Major hot spots include the southeast corner of British Columbia, the central coast of British Columbia, southern Vancouver Island, and most of the British Columbia - Yukon border. Major
cold spots include the northeast quadrant of British Columbia, the northern tip of Vancouver Island, and central Haida Gwaii. Hot spots on Vancouver Island generally correlate with the prevalence of intrusive units nearby; however, the largest hot
spot coincides with a southern region unique on the island for having significant outcroppings of Permian limestone, which is more heavily altered than the Triassic limestones commonly sampled for conodonts further north on the island. Comparison of
locations where paleoenvironmental studies have utilized delta-13C, both near the British Columbia - Yukon border, as well as at the far north of Vancouver Island, demonstrates that stratigraphic sections which preserves a primary delta-13C signal
tends to be situated closer to the center of a thermal alteration cold spot than sections that do not. Beyond the select examples discussed in this study, the broader analysis has potential applications in a wide variety of research, from Cordilleran
tectonics to preliminary hydrocarbon exploration. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Conodonts are a group of fossils which change colour as they are heated. This property allows them to be used to work out geological temperatures. This
paper uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to plot temperatures determined from conodonts in British Columbia and Yukon. This identifies regions which were particularly hot or cold. This information is useful for hydrocarbon
exploration, and for identifying samples that may be suitable for additional geochemical studies - colder samples are more likely to preserve original geochemical signatures than hot ones. This is the first study to use GIS to map the distribution of
conodont-based temperatures in Western Canada. The file includes a summary report, GIS images, and original shapefiles to allow the user to recreate the results. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 327243 |
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