Calc-Alkaline Volcanism and Plutonism from the Great Bear Batholith, N.W.T.

Abstract

The Camsell River – Conjuror Bay area is a pendant of Aphebian intermediate and felsic volcanic rocks, lying in a granitic complex, and is part of the Great Bear batholith. This batholith complex has been interpreted as being the orogenic belt of the Coronation geosyncline.Twenty-four analyses of volcanic and plutonic rocks are presented; these show that, in spite of alteration, the rocks can be classified as comagmatic and part of an alkali-rich calc-alkaline suite. The suite is chemically similar to younger suites from continental-margin orogenic belts. These similarities support proposals that the Coronation geosyncline was of Andean type and that the magmas may have been generated by subduction.