Wind river canyon: An example of a greenstone belt in the Archaean of Wyoming, U.S.A.

Abstract

The Precambrian metamorphic complex in the southern portion of Wind River Canyon is interpreted as being a fragment of an Archaean greenstone belt. The sequence is composed of meta-sediments inferred to have been various types of pelites and psammites, including graywackes and shales, and a silicate facies banded-iron formation. Meta-volcanics are represented by massive amphibolites. The area has undergone three periods of roughly coaxial folding that represent a single tectonic pattern. A period of intrusion of leucogranite with associated pegmatites separates the first two periods of deformation. These rocks appear to have been derived anatectically from sialic material at greater depth, suggesting the possibility of a sialic basement on which the greenstone belt rocks accumulated. Boudinage of the country rocks can be correlated with either or both of the first two folding episodes, and boudinage of the intrusive rocks occurred with different styles in the axial surfaces of the second and third generation folds. One period of amphibolite-facies metamorphism corresponds to the first and second deformational phases. Minor retrograde effects, fracture fillings, and small-scale metasomatism occurred either in the waning stages of the metamorphism or during a minor subsequent thermal event. Numerous Archaean ages from the Wyoming Precambrian province place Wind River Canyon in a region where examples of such greenstone belts might be expected. As no young intrusive or tectonic events have been reported from the area, the youngest deformational features discussed are considered to be not much younger than reported radiometric dates and therefore not of regional significance.