Nd–Sr isotopic constraints on the interactions of the Intermontane Superterrane with the western edge of North America in the southern Canadian Cordillera

Abstract

Sr and Nd isotopic compositions of the late Paleozoic metavolcanics and Late Triassic to early Tertiary granitoids from four magmatic episodes in the southern Canadian Cordillera from the Kootenay Arc to the Fraser Fault have been used to (i) identify the sources of these rocks, (ii) constrain the compressive tectonic history from Middle Jurassic to Paleocene, and (iii) constrain the western boundary of the basement in this region. The 215–190 Ma old primitive granitoids (εNd = +3.1 to 8.7; 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7028 − 0.7043) of the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic magmatic episode were emplaced in the Paleozoic oceanic crust of Quesnellia (εNd = +2.9 to +9.3) prior to its obduction over the basement. In contrast, during the younger magmatic episodes (Middle–Late Jurassic, Cretaceous, and early Tertiary), the granitoids from western Quesnellia show primitive isotopic compositions, and those from eastern Quesnellia show eastward-increasing crust-contaminated compositions. The contaminated characters of the Middle–Late Jurassic (180–150 Ma) granitoids from eastern Quesnellia (εNd = +2.8 to −9.1; 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7041 − 0.7083) suggest that by 180 Ma, the eastern part of Quesnellia obducted over the North American cratonic basement by an amount of about 100 km (Eocene extension corrected) measured from westward shifts of the Nd and Sr isopleths. The eastward-increasing crustal-contamination patterns in the Cretaceous (120–80 Ma) and the Paleocene igneous rocks also show westward shifts of these isopleths by 20 and 70 km, respectively. Thus, we observe that a total 190 km of obduction took place, this amount is similar to the amount of shortening measured in the Rocky Mountains Fold and Thrust Belt, and the western boundary of the North American basement presently lies at least 25–75 km east of the Fraser Fault.