Heterogeneity of conodont faunas in the Cache Creek Terrane, Canada; significance for tectonic reconstructions of the North American Cordillera

The northern termination of the Cache Creek terrane in Yukon: Middle Triassic arc activity and Jurassic–Cretaceous structural imbrication

“…Collectively, these findings suggest that mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks in the northern Cache Creek terrane represent fragments of intra-oceanic arc lithosphere. These rocks are coeval with and formed in a similar setting as those of the Kutcho assemblages and correlatives elsewhere in British Columbia; they may have developed as contiguous intra-oceanic arcs in Early to Middle Triassic, or as isolated fragments juxtaposed during Jurassic terrane accretion (Golding 2018). Accretion of Kutcho (and correlatives) intra-oceanic arc fragment(s) at the end of the Triassic is inferred to have led to slab tear and demise of the Triassic subduction beneath Stikinia and Quesnellia (Logan and Mihalynuk 2014).…”

“…The Cache Creek terrane has been described as an accretionary or subduction complex in which diverse and disparate oceanic assemblages are juxtaposed (e.g., Struik et al 2001;Golding 2018). Studies of the terrane in central British Columbia (southern Cache Creek; Fig.…”

“…1; e.g., Mihalynuk 1999;English and Johnston 2005;; Zagorevski et al 2015;Zagorevski 2016;McGoldrick et al 2017). The degree of heterogeneity between conodont faunas from different parts of the Cache Creek terrane suggests that they evolved independently until their Mesozoic accretion within the Intermontane terranes (Golding 2018).…”

U‐Pb Zircon Geochronology From the Northern Cordillera, Central Yukon, With Implications for Its Tectonic Assembly

“…For example, competing 3D models of oroclinal bending (e.g., George et al., 2021; Mihalynuk et al., 1994; Nelson et al., 2006) versus thrust‐nappe emplacement and strike‐slip displacement (e.g., Golding, 2020; Monger & Ross, 1971; Ryan et al., 2021; Wernicke & Klepacki, 1988; Yarnell et al., 1999) are entirely reliant upon a robust framework of terrane definitions. However, recent studies demonstrating the presence of subterranes, suture zones, and other structural or paleogoegraphic discontinuities within these terranes, based on faunal, geochemical or geochronological constraints, highlight inconsistencies in the current terrane framework that must be addressed before the structural assembly of the North Cordillera can be robustly interpreted in three dimensions (e.g., George et al., 2021; Golding, 2018, 2020; McGoldrick et al., 2017; Milidragovic & Grundy, 2019; Parsons, Coleman, et al., 2018; Parsons, Zagorevski, et al., 2018; Pecha et al., 2016; Ryan et al., 2014, 2021; van Staal et al., 2018; Zagorevski, 2019; Zagorevski et al., 2017; Zagorevski & van Staal, 2021).…”

3rd International Congress on Stratigraphy - Strati 2019

“…Conodonts from this complex range in age from Bashkirian (early Pennsylvanian) to Rhaetian (Late Triassic), and were described briefly by Orchard et al (2001). The Carboniferous and Permian conodonts from the central region of the Cache Creek Complex have been re-examined as part of a wider study on the conodont faunas of the Cache Creek terrane (Golding, 2018). More than 2000 specimens have been identified as belonging to more than 70 species, including three new species: Declinognathodus benedictus from the Bashkirian, Neognathodus brulensis from the Bashkirian-Moscovian, and Pseudosweetognathus accensus from the Artinskian.…”