Ancient continental margin assemblage in the northern Coast Mountains, southeast Alaska and northwest Canada

Abstract

Geologic relations indicate that quartz-rich metasedimentary rocks in the northern Coast Mountains separate strata to the east that belong to the Stikine terrane from strata to the west of the Alexander, Wrangellia, and Taku terranes. The quartz-rich rocks structurally overlie western terranes along a mid-Cretaceous thrust fault and are overlain structurally (originally stratigraphically ) by strata of the Stikine terrace. These rocks are interpreted to be a continental margin assemblage that belongs to the Yukon Crystalline terrane. U-Pb and Nd isotopic data indicate that the metasedimentary rocks were shed from a source terrane consisting at least in part of Proterozoic rocks.