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Lower to middle Jurassic (Pliensbachian to Bajocian) stratigraphy and Pliensbachian Ammonite fauna of the northern Spatsizi area, North Central British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The lithostratigraphy and Pliensbachian ammonite fauna of a sequence of Pliensbachian to Bajocian sedimentary rocks, informally referred to here as the Spatsizi Group, from the Spatsizi map-area (104 H) in north-central British Columbia are examined in this thesis. Twenty Five species of ammonites representing fifteen genera from Pliensbachian rocks of the Spatsizi Group are described and their stratigraphic ranges in the thesis area determined. The Spatsizi fauna is comprised primarily of ammonites of Tethyan aspect and also contains elements endemic to the East Pacific faunal realm. The Spatsizi fauna is located on the northern half of the Stikine terrane of the western Cordilleran eugeocline, and is surrounded by biogeographically related faunas containing ammonites of Boreal affinity in addition to Tethyan and East Pacific forms, indicating that northern Stikinia occupied a position within the mixed Boreal/Tethyan zone of the eastern Pacific region during the Pliensbachian. Subsequent tectonic displacement of Stikinia transported it northward to its present position. The Spatsizi Group is informally defined and is divided into five informal formations; the Joan, Eaglenest Gladys, Groves, and Walker Formations. Each formation reflects deposition in a different sedimentary environment affected by varying degrees of volcanic (epiclastic or pyroclastic) input Rocks of the Spatsizi Group represent the basinward sedimentary equivalents to the coeval Toodoggone volcanics that formed along the southern flank of the Stikine Arch. Facies transitions from the Stikine Arch in the north to the sedimentary basin in the south are best developed in sediments deposited during Pliensbachian and Early Toarcian times, when epiclastic sands and conglomerates accumulating on the southern flank of the arch graded southward into silts and muds in the basin. Two phases of non-coaxial deformation folded and faulted the rocks in the thesis map area. Deformation was probably related to interaction between the Stikinia and the North American continental margin during accretion.

Text

2010-05-26

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/25059

Geological Sciences

University of British Columbia

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