Petrology of the Turnagain ultramafic complex, northwestern British Columbia

Abstract

The Turnagain ultramafic complex is an Alaskan-type complex of possible Late Triassic age. It has a central zone of dunite and an outer zone of wehrlite, olivine clinopyroxenite, clinopyroxenite, dunite, hornblendite (rare), and basic hornblende and plagioclase-bearing rock (rare). The complex is largely fault-bounded. The central dunite intrudes the pyroxene-bearing rocks in one area; elsewhere the two zones are gradational. Small-scale layering occurs locally, and is most common in the outer zone. Layering dips steeply due to folding during regional deformation. The ultramafic rocks are generally only partly serpentinized, and consist largely of olivine, clinopyroxene, pargasite, phlogopite, and chrome spinel. The outer zone contains sporadic concentrations of iron–nickel–copper sulfides. Olivine is most magnesian (Fo94.9) in the central dunite, and most iron-rich (Fo80.2) in olivine clinopyroxenite. Clinopyroxene is diopside and follows an iron-enrichment trend. Minor-element contents of minerals indicate that crystallization caused magmatic impoverishment in Ni and Cr, and enrichment in Ti and Al. The primitive Turnagain magma was probably ultrabasic, extremely magnesian, and poor in Al and Ti. Differentiation followed an alkalic trend, possibly at relatively low oxygen fugacity compared to other Alaskan-type complexes. The complex may have formed in a subvolcanic magma chamber, and thus be related to nearby Upper Triassic volcanic rocks.