Evolution of a Middle Jurassic volcanic arc: stratigraphic, isotopic, and geochemical characteristics of the Harrison Lake Formation, southwestern British Columbia

Abstract

The Harrison Lake Formation is an Early to Middle Jurassic volcanic-arc assemblage unconformably overlying Triassic oceanic basement in the eastern Coast Belt of southwestern British Columbia. The formation is subdivided into four members including, in ascending order, the Celia Cove Member (conglomerate), the Francis Lake Member (fine-grained strata), the Weaver Lake Member (flows and breccias), and the Echo Island Member (pyroclastic and epiclastic strata). New biostratigraphic constraints pinpoint the initiation of volcanism to late early Toarcian. U–Pb geochronology demonstrates the arc was active until at least late Bajocian–early Bathonian time (166.0 ± 0.4 Ma), and that the timing of arc volcanism strongly overlaps emplacement of both hypabyssal intrusions (Hemlock Valley stock) and deep-seated plutons (Mount Jasper pluton) within and adjacent to the arc. Geochemical data indicate the arc is of medium- to high-K calc-alkaline affinity, and is strongly light rare earth element enriched (LaN/YbN = 1.5 – 2.5). Nd and Sr isotopic data from primary volcanic rocks demonstrate the juvenile nature of the magmatic system, but isotopic data from associated fine-grained sedimentary rocks suggest temporally controlled variations in isotopic composition interpreted to represent two-component mixing between juvenile volcanic detritus and a more evolved detrital component. The succession of facies in the Harrison Lake Formation records initial basin subsidence in the Early Jurassic, initiation of explosive volcanism in the late early Toarcian, a change to effusive volcanism in the early Aalenian, and late-stage explosive volcanism in the late Bajocian. The Harrison Lake Formation contains mesoscopic folds and overturned bedding that are absent in the overlying Callovian Mysterious Creek Formation, strongly suggesting the existence of a regional Bathonian deformational event in the southern Coast Belt.