The Kamloops Group is a widespread assemblage of Eocene volcanic and sedimentary rocks in south-central British Columbia. Detailed mapping of the type area near Kamloops has resulted in its subdivision into two formations and thirteen formal and informal members. The Tranquille Formation, 0-450 metres thick, consists of lacustrine sediments which grade upward into pillowed flows, hyaloclastite breccia and aquagene tuff. The overlying Dewdrop Flats Formation, with nine members, consists of up to 1000 metres of basalt to andesite phreatic breccia, flow breccia and flat-lying flows. In one large and four minor volcanic cones, basal phreatic volcanic rocks pass upward into subaerial flows and breccia. A fault zone of inferred strike-slip displacement to the southwest, and a complex reverse-faulted zone to the south of the area, localized deposition of the Tranquille Formation. Later fault activity created the complex Tranquille Canyon graben, in part filled with Dewdrop Flats Formation volcanics. Reconnaissance of the Kamloops Group throughout the Thompson-Okanagan region, and detailed mapping at McAbee and Savona, have shown that most Kamloops Group sections consist of a lower sedimentary and volcanosedimentary unit, followed by thicker, dominantly basalt to andesite, flow and breccia units. Thick sedimentary accumulations were localized in zones of extension within a network of strike-slip faults. The Kamloops Group is a high-alkali calc-alkaline volcanic suite dominated by augite - pigeonite - labradorite andesite and basalt, with unusually high K, Sr and Ba. Initial strontium isotopic ratios distinguish a boundary between 'old' crust upper mantle to the east and 'young' or Rb-depleted materials to the west. Petrographic and chemical data are consistent with magma genesis by partial melting of alkali-enriched peridotite between 40 and 75 km depth, with subsequent deep- and shallow-level fractional crystallization producing the observed volcanic chemistry. Compilation of Paleogene geology and geochronometry in the Pacific Northwest shows the Kamloops Group to be part of a robust calc-alkaline volcanic arc extending from Wyoming to Alaska. Superimposed on this arc were dextral, strike-slip faults, sedimentary basins and reset metamorphic terranes. These elements formed a tectonic, network which accommodated 90 to 450 kilometres of right-lateral displacement between coastal British Columbia and North America. A tentative plate-tectonic reconstruction is based on the compilation. A northeast-dipping subduction zone, active along the entire coast of the Paleocene Pacific Northwest, ceased to be active after 53 Ma. The transform motion between Pacific and North American plates was distributed inland, driving the Eocene tectonic activity, while the remnant subducted slab gave rise to the Eocene magmatic arc. Transform motion later became localized along the continental margin, as the east-dipping subduction zone south of 49° latitude intiated the Cascade volcanic arc in the Late Eocene and Oligocene. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

The Tatla Lake Metamorphic Complex (TLMC) underlies 1000 km² on the western side of the Intermontane Belt (1MB) northeast of the Yalakom fault Three fault-bounded lithotectonic assemblages are recognized in the area studied: an amphibolite grade gneissic and migmatitic core, structurally overlain by a 1 to 2.5 + km-thick zone of amphibolite and greenschist grade mylonite and ductilely sheared metamorphic rocks, the ductilely sheared assemblage (DSA), which is in turn structurally overlain by weakly deformed to unstrained subgreenschist grade rocks of the upper plate which flank the TLMC on three sides. Structures in the gneissic core include a gneissic foliation and schistosity (Sic), which has been deformed by west to northwest-trending tight to isoclinal folds (F2c). Tectonic fabrics observed throughout the DSA which formed during Ds deformation include a gently dipping mylonitic foliation (Ss), containing a mineral elongation (stretching) lineation (Ls) which trends towards 280° ± 20°. Minor folds of variable trend (Fs), almost exclusively confined to DSA metasedimentary rocks, are interpreted as coeval with ductile shear. Vergence of these folds defines movement sense and direction of top towards 290° ± 20°. Kinematic indicators from DSA rocks which have not been deformed by syn-ductile shear folds indicate a top-to-the-west sense of shear while those deformed by Fs folds yield conflicting results, with a top-to-the-west sense predominating. The entire lower plate comprising the TLMC has been deformed by broad, upright, west to west-northwest trending, shallowly plunging map-scale folds (F3) during D3, which deform Sic and Ss surfaces. The steeply dipping, northwest-trending Yalakom fault truncates all units and structures of the TLMC. Gently to moderately dipping normal faults of Ds and post-D3 relative age are the southern and eastern boundaries between DSA upper plate rocks and 1MB lower plate rocks. U-Pb zircon dates from igneous arid meta- igneous rocks from the lower plate range from Late Jurassic (157 Ma) through Eocene (47 Ma). These dates bracket the timing of Cretaceous (107 Ma to 79 Ma, in the core) and Eocene (55 Ma to 47 Ma, in the DSA) deformation and metamorphism in the lower plate. Biotite and hornblende K-Ai dates of 53.4 Ma to 45.6 Ma for lower plate rocks are in sharp contrast to Jurassic dates from nearby upper plate rocks; they record the uplift and cooling of the TLMC. Whole rock initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (and for most samples present-day values) of less ≤0.704 have been determined for igneous and meta-igneous rocks of the TLMC; such values are typical of magmatic arc rocks of the 1MB and Coast Plutonic Complex of B.C. Whole rock major and trace element chemistry of lower plate igneous and meta-igneous rocks indicate sub-alkaline, calcalkaline, volcanic arc affinities. Garnet-biotite temperatures (interpreted as Eocene in age), from pelitic schist in the southern part of the DSA increase from about 400 ± 50 to 650 ± 50 C with increasing structural depth. A GT-BI-QZ-Al₂SiO₅ pressure of 8 ± 3 kb has been calculated for one of these samples. A T-P of 650 ± 50 C and 5.3 ± 3 kb, calculated from inclusions and garnet cores in a small pelitic pendant in the northwest part of the DSA, reflects conditions during intrusion of the surrounding 71 ± 3 Ma igneous body. A pressure of 7.2 ± 1.4 kb, based on the total Al in hornblende, has been calculated for this body. Cretaceous ductile deformation in the gneissic core may be related to folding and thrusting which occured in high level rocks to the west and east of the field area. During Early Eocene time (55-47 Ma) the TLMC acquired the characteristics of a Cordilleran metamorphic core complex. Mylonites of the DSA were emplaced by faulting beneath weakly deformed, low metamorphic grade rocks of the upper plate. Synchronously, metamorphic rocks of the gneissic and migmatitic core of the TLMC were moved to higher crustal levels along the footwall of the DSA normal ductile shear zone. The formation of F3 folds and final uplift of the TLMC (47-35 Ma) is postulated to be the consequence of transpression related to later Eocene dextral motion along the Yalakom fault The TLMC has structural style and timing of deformation similar to metamorphic core complexes in southeastern B.C. Local and regional evidence is consistent with the formation of the TLMC in a regional extensional setting within a vigorous magmatic arc. / Science, Faculty of / Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of / Graduate

Published paleomagnetic studies have shown that the Oregon Coast Range has rotated 60° clockwise since middle Eocene time, probably by pivoting either during collision of a seamount terrane or during an episode of asymmetric extension within western North America. Eocene sedimentary deposits within the Oregon Coast Range basin, in particular the Tyee Formation, document changes in basin evolution that provide geologic constraints for proposed rotation models. The Tyee Formation comprises an arkosic petrofacies which is different from underlying lithic sandstones that were derived from the adjacent Klamath Mountains. Isotopic study of sandstones of the arkosic petrofacies, including Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, K-Ar, and ¹⁸O analyses, indicate that much of the sandstone was not derived from the Klamath Mountains or nearby Sierra Nevada. The source area most likely included S-type granites of the Idaho Batholith. Lithofacies within the Tyee Formation include a sandy deltaic system to the south, a thin muddy shelf/slope sequence farther north, and a thick basinal sequence of sandy high-density turbidites that grade northward into low-density turbidites. Absence of facies segregation within the turbidite sequence precludes application of classical deep-sea fan depositional models and forms the basis for the delta-fed submarine ramp model introduced here. Delta-fed submarine ramps are short-lived sandy systems that result from rapid rates of progradation as well as aggradation. Synchronous changes in depositional style, structural deformation, sandstone composition, and rates of tectonic subsidence of the Oregon Coast Range basin are interpreted to record the transition from collisional trench-fill deposition to a subsiding forearc basin. The Tyee Formation was deposited after collision was complete and yet is rotated as much as the seamounts on which it lies; therefore, rotation must have occurred subsequent to collision. Since these sediments were partially derived from the Idaho Batholith region, the Oregon Coast Range probably lay much farther east during deposition and subsequently rotated westward to its present position. Tectonic rotation of the Oregon Coast Range may have resulted from continental extension that began in the Pacific Northwest about 50 Ma. Paleogeographic reconstructions show that basin development was synchronous with regional extension, arc migration, and tectonic rotation throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Science, 1980. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 15-16. / by Anna Catarina Shaughnessy. / M.S.

Erosion beveled the Laramide Front Range uplift in Colorado to a surface of low relief by the end of the Eocene. This study uses paleobotanic climate analysis techniques to determine the paleoelevation of this regional surface by examining the overlying 34.9 Ma Florissant flora. Multiple regression models explaining 93.4% of the variance in mean annual temperature (MAT), 86.1% of the variance in growing season precipitation (GSP) and 65.7% of the variance in rainfall distribution were derived from J. A. Wolfe's dataset of 31 leaf physiognomic character states from 86 modern vegetation sites. When applied to a new collection of 29 species from the Florissant flora, estimates of MAT = 10.7 ± 1.5°C, and GSP = 55.6 ± 12.5 cm, with precipitation occurring mostly during the growing season, are derived. This paleoclimate estimate is corroborated by data from late Eocene Sequoia affinis from Florissant. Higher mean ring width of the fossil trees as compared to modern counterparts can be explained by a climate with summer mean monthly temperatures ≥ 14°C and summer mean monthly rainfall >1.5 cm. The estimated MAT, when combined with coeval sea level MAT and terrestrial lapse rate, implies an elevation of 2.3-3.3 km for Florissant, which is indistinguishable from the modern elevation of 2.5 km. The elevation of Florissant is tied to that of the Great Plains by the Wall Mountain Tuff, so the Great Plains were also high. The elevation was created either by underplating and/or mass transfer in the Laramide, or by mantle uplift of crust thickened by pre-Laramide tectonics. This elevation estimate implies that: (1) Pliocene uplift is not required to explain the present elevation. Thus, late Tertiary plateau uplift in the western US was not a contributing factor to the marked global cooling since 15 Ma; and (2) in the late Eocene, regional surfaces of planation could be formed at elevations significantly above sea level but below tree line. The surface was possibly formed from a lack of storminess; a preponderance of small storm events will diffusively smooth topography.

Graduation date: 1991

Not available / text

The sandstone petrology of the Cocoa Sand Member of the Eocene Yazoo Formation is not well documented. Acquisition of two cores (#1 Ketler and #1 Young) during the Mobil-Mississippi Project of 1993 has provided the opportunity for a detailed petrologic and depositional analysis.The Cocoa Sand Member is a moderate to well sorted, poorly cemented quartz arenite with an average composition of Q% Fo L4. Lithic fragments are dominated by sedimentary rock fragments that appear to be rip-up clasts from the underlying North Twistwood Creek Clay. Quartz grains range from well rounded to angular with embayed anhedral to euhedral grains common. They are often encased in tangential clays indicating a possible reworked sedimentary to volcanic source for this sandstone. Heavy mineral analysis supports a volcanic source, but also indicates a metamorphic contribution.The Cocoa Sand shows little compaction with a packing density averaging 43% and the packing proximity averaging 21%. Point and tangential contacts are predominant as point count porosity averages 18.4%. The dominant authigenic phase is Camontmorillonite with lesser amounts of kaolinite, illite, calcite, and heulandite.Core, petrographic, and log analyses indicates that the Cocoa Sand Member of the Yazoo Formation is an isolated, intrabasinal sheet sand that thickens in the down dip direction. Winnowing of the North Twistwood Creek Member of the Yazoo Formation during transgression resulted in the deposition of the Cocoa Sandstone. This is supported by the similarities in composition between the North Twistwood Creek Member and the Cocoa Sand Member and the presence of rip-up clasts found at the North Twistwood Creek-Cocoa Sand Member contact. It is concluded that the Cocoa Sand Member is the initiation of sequence TE3.3 and here called subset TE3.3a of a transgressive system tract. This subset runs from the base of the Cocoa Sand Member to the bottom of the Pachuta Marl. / Department of Geology

A study of a poorly understood limestone unit was conducted to contribute temporal information necessary to unraveling a series of cryptic events for a complex geologic region containing economically important natural resources. Secondary objectives included understanding the environment of deposition and regional influences. Biostratigraphic and sedimentologic information observed from the Uitoé Limestone went to reconstructing the paleoenvironment, constraining the age of deposition and indicating the paleogeographic faunal associations. Facies associations indicate a middle ramp depositional setting common in many location in the Tethys Sea. Paleogeographic associations for the microflora and fauna indicate a Tethyan signature present but a lack of Australian influence. A combination of planktic and benthic foraminiferal assemblages for the region constrain the age of the Uitoé Limestone between the middle of the Lutetian and the Early Bartonian. / Department of Geological Sciences

The Eocene Cocoa Sand Member of Yazoo Formation is fine grained, moderately to well sorted, poorly cemented, quartz arenite. Surface exposures are poor, but it has been mapped from west Choctaw County, Alabama to eastern Jasper County, Mississippi. In the subsurface, the Cocoa Sand Member is identified by obvious protrusion both in Spontaneous and Resistivity Logs. Northeast to southwest cross-sections (perpendicular to the paleo-shoreline) and northwest to southeast cross-sections (parallel to the paleo-shoreline) were developed, along with isopach maps, to determine the sequence stratigraphic setting and a depositional model of the Cocoa Sand Member. Previous work has interpreted the Cocoa Sand Member as a shelf margin sand deposited as part of a lowstand systems tract or as a transgressive sand. Grain size analysis indicates that the sand coarsens upward and there is evidence in core that the upper contact of the Cocoa sand with the Pachuta Marl is sharp, representing an upper erosion surface. The presence of rip-up clasts at the base of the Cocoa sand member supports the presence of a transgressive surface at the contact with the North Twistwood Creek. Based on the sand thickness distribution as identified in the Cocoa Sand isopach map and cross sections, two sand ridges have been recognized extending nearly parallel to the paleoshoreline across the Mississippi and Alabama. A three stage model is presented suggesting the formation of these ridges during transgression with the source of the sand being from the eroded and reworked underlying North Twistwood Creek Member. / Department of Geological Sciences