Geology of the Clachnacudainn Salient Near Albert Canyon, British Columbia

Abstract

The nature of the Clachnacudainn Salient of the Shuswap Metamorphic Complex has been investigated in the vicinity of Albert Canyon, British Columbia. A concordant, folded sheet of granodiorite to quartz–diorite gneiss lying between two contrasting panels of metasedimentary rocks is exposed along the Illecillewaet Valley between Albert Canyon and Revelstoke. The lower panel, consisting predominantly of quartzo–feldspathic schist, is exposed in the Woolsey Creek Window in the core of the Lauretta Dome, and in an adjacent antiform at Clachnacudainn Creek. The upper panel, comprised in part of quartzo–feldspathic schist and migmatite, contains, in addition, thick beds of white marble and white or light gray quartzite. Marble and quartzite of the upper panel are correlated with the Badshot limestone and the Hamill quartzite found east of Albert Canyon in the Selkirk Mountains. Within the granodiorite gneiss, axes of broad open folds trend northwest–southeast as do the mineral lineations. Folding within the metasediments is complex and has not been resolved into a systematic pattern. Crosscutting bodies of diorite, granite, and pegmatite are abundant in many parts of the area, cutting both the granodiorite gneiss and the metasedimentary rocks.