Low-temperature cooling history of the Shuswap metamorphic core complex, British Columbia: constraints from apatite and zircon fission-track ages

Abstract

Nine zircon and 18 apatite fission-track ages are used to determine the low-temperature cooling history of part of the Shuswap metamorphic core complex of the Canadian Cordillera. The zircon ages range from 54 to 38 Ma and the apatite ages from 49 to 28 Ma. These ages reveal a similarity in cooling histories across the Shuswap units until temperatures of ~250°C were reached at about 45 Ma. From this time onwards, the regional cooling pattern within the core complex was controlled by the relative movements on two normal faults, the Victor Creek fault and the Columbia River fault. Cooling since 45 Ma was variable, depending on the structural level of the sample. On this basis four thermotectonic units are defined. These units are controlled by normal faults that crosscut the lithological units of the core complex and reflect the latest stage of its evolution.