Structural and engineering geology of the East Gate Landslide, Purcell Mountains, British Columbia, Canada

The East Gate Landslide is a prehistoric landslide that was reactivated in January 1997. The slope failure took place in the lower greenschist metasedimentary units of the Precambrian Horsethief Creek Group. The Grizzly Creek Thrust is a regional overturned fault that coincides with the location of the headscarp of the East Gate Landslide. Four discontinuity sets were recognised from detailed engineering geological mapping of the headscarp and surrounding area. The main scarp of the section reactivated in 1997 was sub-divided into three structural domains based on its position within the landslide, lithology, and orientation of the discontinuity sets. Limit-equilibrium techniques, finite-difference (FLAC) and distinct-element (UDEC) codes were used to investigate the failure mechanism of the 1997 event. The results of the field observations and numerical models suggest that the 1997 failure involved a complex mechanism incorporating components of rock-slumping, bi-planar, and pseudo-circular failure that was controlled by both the orientation of the discontinuity sets and reduced rock-mass quality due to tectonic deformation.     

Controls on natural levée development in the Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada

Natural levées of the Columbia River near Golden, British Columbia, were investigated to identify the mechanisms that control levée development and morphology. Topographic profiles of 12 levée pairs were surveyed, and measurements of water-surface elevation, flow velocity, flow direction and turbidity were obtained during an average magnitude flood (1·2 years recurrence interval). Sedimentation rates and grain-size distributions were measured from sediment traps placed along levée-to-floodbasin transects. Results show that water and sediment exchange between the channel and floodbasin was mainly by advection. During flooding, local floodbasins behave more as efficient water pathways than water storage features, resulting in down-valley floodbasin flows capable of limiting basinward growth of levées. Levée shape results primarily from two independent factors: (1) maximum channel water stage, which limits levée height; and (2) floodbasin hydraulics, which control width. In the Columbia River, the competence of floodbasin flows results in relatively narrow and steep levées. Natural levées grow under two general conditions of deposition as governed by flood-stage elevation relative to levée-crest elevation: front loading and back loading. During large floods when crests are inundated, front loading preferentially aggrades the proximal portions of levées with sediment directly from the channel, thus increasing levée slope. During average or below-average floods when many levée crests are not overtopped, back loading preferentially aggrades the distal levée areas and floodbasin floor, reducing levée slope. In the study area, a balance between front and back loading sustains these narrow and steep levée shapes for long periods, reflecting an equilibrium between hydraulic regime, floodplain morphology and deposition.     

Petrology of metapelites in the Bugaboo aureole,British Columbia,Canada

Contact metamorphism of greenschist facies Neoproterozoic turbidites by the Cretaceous Bugaboo Batholith in southeastern British Columbia has resulted in a well‐developed contact aureole. The aureole is about 1 km wide and can be divided into three main zones: (i) spotted phyllite zone, extending from the first appearance of spots of cordierite or andalusite to the last occurrence of primary chlorite; (ii) cordierite + andalusite + biotite zone, comprising hornfelses or schists with abundant porphyroblasts of cordierite and andalusite and, at higher grades, fibrolitic sillimanite; and (iii) K‐feldspar zone, characterized by hornfelses and schists that, in the inner part of this zone, are variably migmatitic. Four parts of the aureole were examined, three of which are characterized by schists, and one of which (Cobalt Lake area) is characterized by hornfelses and has exceptional exposure and comparatively unaltered rocks. Petrographic, modal, mineral‐compositional and whole rock‐compositional data were collected from the Cobalt Lake transect, allowing the prograde reaction sequence to be inferred. Notable features of the aureole at Cobalt Lake include: initial development of andalusite and plagioclase at the expense of paragonite‐rich white mica; a narrow interval across which cordierite, andalusite and biotite increase markedly at the expense of chlorite; gradual development of andalusite and biotite at the expense of cordierite and muscovite upgrade of chlorite consumption; and near‐simultaneous development of andalusite + K‐feldspar and sillimanite, the latter indicating a pressure of contact metamorphism of ~3 kbar. In other parts of the aureole, the development of sillimanite downgrade of the initial development of K‐feldspar suggests slightly higher pressures of contact metamorphism. Lack of correspondence between the observed sequence of reactions in the aureole and those predicted thermodynamically suggests that modifications to some of the thermodynamic data or activity–composition models may be required. Textural features in the aureole suggest the influence of kinetic factors on metamorphic recrystallization, including: (i) deformation‐catalysed reaction in the schists compared to the hornfelses, as indicated by different mineral‐growth sequences inferred from microstructures, and (ii) heating rate‐controlled recrystallization, as indicated by the decrease in grain size of hornfelses with increasing metamorphic grade.     

Petrology and Cooling Rates of the Valhalla Complex, British Columbia, Canada

Rocks from the Valhalla metamorphic core complex, British Columbia,Canada, have experienced granulite facies metamorphism at conditionsof 82030C, 81 kbar. Peak metamorphism was accompanied bydehydration melting of muscovite, but not biotite, followedby minor back reaction of garnet $ K-feldspar $ H₂0= sillimanite$ biotite$plagioclase. At conditions very near those of thepeak, extensive shearing produced s-c (schistositS-cisaillement)fabrics, ribbon quartz and grain size reduction of garnet atseveral locations. Gamet-biotite Fe-Mg exchange thermometryyields temperatures that range from 580 to 1051C Low temperaturesare calculated from biotite modified dominantly by Fe–Mgexchange with garnet; high temperatures are calculated fromFerich biotites produced from the above retrograde reaction.Geothermometry is useless in these rocks to estimate peak temperaturea priori, but is very useful to help constrain the complex reactionhistory of biotites. Geochronology on monazite, zircon, allanite,titanite, hornblende, muscovite, biotite and apatite has beenused to constrain the timing of the metamorphic peak at 67–72Ma and the average cooling rate to 24 6C/Ma. Diffusion modelingof Fe–Mg exchange between biotite inclusions and hostgarnet yields cooling rates of either 3–80C/Ma or 200–2500C/Ma, depending on the choice of diffusion coefficients. Theformer value is consistent with the average cooling rate of24 C/Ma for the complex determined from geochronology, butthe faster rate cannot be ruled out and may indicate initialvery rapid cooling by thrusting of the complex onto cooler basementIt is suggested that cooling rates determined from geochronologicvs petrologic methods may not be directly comparable becausepetrologic methods sample near-peak nutamorphic cooling rateswhereas geochronologic methods sample post-peak to ambient coolingrates. KEY WORDS: geothermometry; geochronology; garnet diffusion; cooling rates; Valhalla complex ^*Corresponding author. Telephone: (518) 276-6103, Fax: (518) 276-8627. e-mail: spear{at}harold.geo.rpi.edu HTTP: //www.geo.rpi.edu/facstaff/spear/valhalla/valhalla.html     

Engineering geomorphological interpretation of the Mitchell Creek Landslide,British Columbia,Canada

The recent assessment of the Mitchell Creek Landslide (MCL) in northern British Columbia is a good case history of engineering geomorphological analysis of a large landslide. It was completed using historic aerial photographs, with approximately 20-year time intervals dating back to the mid-twentieth century and field investigations completed between 2008 and 2014. The large bedrock slide initiated between 1956 and 1972 and continues to experience ongoing annual movements. Significant glacial downwasting and retreat has been observed in the photographic record, and it is hypothesized that alpine glaciation has contributed to development of the MCL. This paper documents four aspects of the engineering geomorphological assessment completed at the MCL: (i) topographic evolution, (ii) slope morphology, (iii) deformation features, and (iv) displacement behavior. Four distinct geomorphic zones have been defined at the MCL based on these analyses, controlled by different failure mechanisms. The extents of these zones have changed little over the documented history of the landslide, and rates of movement estimated from aerial photography have been consistent over the last 60 years. Retreat of the Mitchell Valley Glacier appears to have played an important role in landslide initiation, as the ice mass receded the kinematic freedom of the slope increased. This study of the initiation and development of the MCL demonstrates the capabilities of a multi-faceted approach to engineering geomorphology. The combination of historical aerial photographs with digital photogrammetric modeling and point cloud analysis techniques, and geomorphological mapping, allows for development of a robust understanding of landslide behavior.     

Geochemistry of coals from the Elk Valley coalfield, British Columbia, Canada

The Elk Valley coalfield of British Columbia is one of the major coal producing areas in Canada. The coals are of Cretaceous and Jurassic–Cretaceous age and range in rank from high-volatile to low-volatile bituminous (%Ro_max: 0.8–1.6). Coal seams from outcrops and active mines in this coalfield were analysed for rank and maceral composition using reflected light microscopy, for geochemistry using AAS, INAA, and ICPES, and also by proximate and ultimate analyses. The Elk Valley coal seams contain low average concentrations of hazardous elements such as As, Mo, Pb, and Se. However, there are seams that contain relatively high concentrations of some of these elements, such as 8 mg/kg and 108 mg/kg of arsenic. When the geochemistry of coal seams is compared within the different parts of the coalfield, the elemental composition amongst the seams from various sections located in the central area of the coalfield is similar. Coal seams in the northern area of the coalfield have different geochemistry than coal seams in other areas of the coalfield; seams in the northern area have much higher As, Br, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, and Na content, but contain less Ca.     

Municipal flood hazard mapping: the case of British Columbia,Canada

Historical responses to flood hazards have stimulated development in hazardous areas. Scholars recommend an alternative approach to reducing flood losses that combines flood hazard mapping with land use planning to identify and direct development away from flood-prone areas. Creating flood hazard maps to inform municipal land use planning is an expensive and complex process that can require resources not always available at the municipal government level. Senior levels of government in some countries have addressed deficiencies in municipal capacity by assuming an active role in producing municipal flood hazard maps. In other countries, however, senior governments do not contribute to municipal flood hazard mapping. Despite a large body of research on the importance of municipal land use planning for addressing flood hazards, little is known about the extent of flood hazard information that is available to municipalities that do not receive outside assistance from senior governments for flood hazard mapping. We assess the status of flood hazard maps in British Columbia, where municipalities do not receive outside assistance in creating the maps. Our analysis shows that these maps are generally outdated and/or lacking a variety of features that are critical for supporting effective land use planning. We recommend that senior levels of government play an active role in providing municipalities with (1) detailed and current information regarding flood hazards in their jurisdiction and (2) compelling incentives to utilize this information.     

Upstream control of river anastomosis by sediment overloading,upper Columbia River,British Columbia,Canada

Anastomosing rivers, systems of multiple interconnected channels that enclose floodbasins, constitute a major category of rivers for which various sedimentary facies models have been developed. While the sedimentary products of anastomosing rivers are relatively well‐known, their genesis is still debated. A rapidly growing number of ancient alluvial successions being interpreted as of anastomosing river origin, including important hydrocarbon reservoirs, urge the development of robust models for the genesis of anastomosis, to facilitate better interpretation of ancient depositional settings and controls. The upper Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada, is the most‐studied anastomosing river and has played a key role in the development of an anastomosing river facies model. Two hypotheses for the origin of upper Columbia River anastomosis include the following: (i) downstream control by aggrading cross‐valley alluvial fans; and (ii) upstream control by excessive bedload input from tributaries. Both upstream and downstream control may force aggradation and avulsions in the upper Columbia River. In order to test both hypotheses, long‐term (millennia‐scale) floodplain sedimentation rates and avulsion frequencies are calculated using ¹⁴C‐dated deeply buried organic floodplain material from cross‐valley borehole transects. The results indicate a downstream decrease in floodplain sedimentation rate and avulsion frequency along the anastomosed reach, which is consistent with dominant upstream control by sediment overloading. The data here link recent avulsion activity to increased sediment supply during the Little Ice Age (ca 1100 to 1950 ad ). This link is supported by data showing that sediment supply to the upper Columbia study reach fluctuated in response to Holocene glacial advances and retreats in the hinterland. Upstream control of anastomosis has considerable implications for the reconstruction of the setting of interpreted ancient anastomosing systems. The present research underscores that anastomosing systems typically occur in relatively proximal settings with abundant sediment supplied to low‐gradient floodplains, a situation commonly found in intermontane and foreland basins.     

Avulsions, channel evolution and floodplain sedimentation rates of the anastomosing upper Columbia River, British Columbia, Canada

Ages of channels of the anastomosing upper Columbia River, south‐eastern British Columbia, Canada, were investigated in a cross‐valley transect by ¹⁴C dating of subsurface floodplain organic material from beneath levees. The avulsion history within the transect was deduced from these data, and morphological stages in channel development were recognized. Additionally, floodplain sedimentation rates were established. The new data demonstrate that the upper Columbia River is a long‐lived, dynamic anastomosing system. Results show that anastomosis at the study location has persisted since at least 2700 cal. years BP, with avulsions occurring frequently. At least nine channels have formed in the studied cross‐valley transect within the past 3000 years. Channel lifetimes from formation to abandonment appear to be highly variable, ranging from approximately 800 to 3000 years. Log jams provoking avulsions and/or silting up of old channels are proposed as reasons for this variability. Long‐term average floodplain sedimentation rates appear to be significantly lower than previously proposed by Smith (1983, Int. Assoc. Sedimentol. Spec. Publ., 6, 155–168). A long‐term (4550 years) average of 1·75 mm year^?1 (after compaction) was based on ¹⁴C dates, while a short‐term sedimentation rate of 0·8 mm was determined for a single, relatively small, seasonal flood in 1994 using sediment traps. However, short‐term sedimentation rates vary considerably over the floodplain, with levees aggrading up to four times faster than floodbasins. Channels of the upper Columbia River anastomosed reach follow a consistent pattern in their development, with each stage being characterized by different morphology and processes. Channel evolution comprises the following succession: (1) avulsion stage, in which a crevasse splay channel deepens by scour and levee sedimentation; (2) widening and deepening stage, in which bank slumping and bed scouring dominates; (3) infilling stage, in which either channel narrowing (bank accretion) or channel shallowing (bed accretion) takes place; and (4) abandonment stage, in which the residual (remnant) channel is filled exclusively by silt, clay and organic material. Vertical stacking (super‐ imposition) of active channels on recent channel‐fill sand bodies is a notable feature of the upper Columbia River, which suggests that reoccupation of residual channels is a common process.     

Climate controls on nitrate concentration variability in the Abbotsford-Sumas aquifer,British Columbia,Canada

Understanding the linkage between temporal climate variability and groundwater nitrate concentration variability in monitoring well records is key to interpreting the impacts of changes in land-use practices and assessing groundwater quality trends. This study explores the coupling of climate variability and groundwater nitrate concentration variability in the Abbotsford-Sumas aquifer. Over the period of 1992–2009, the average groundwater nitrate concentration in the aquifer remained fairly steady at approximately 15 mg/L nitrate-N. Normalized nitrate data for 19 individual monitoring wells were assessed for a range of intrinsic factors including precipitation, depth to water table, depth below water table, and apparent groundwater age. At a broad scale, there is a negative correlation between nitrate concentration and apparent groundwater age. Each dedicated monitoring well shows unique, non-uniform cyclical variability in nitrate concentrations that appears to correspond with seasonal (1 year) cycles in precipitation as well as longer-period cycles (~5 years), possibly due to ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) or the Pacific North American (PNA) pattern. These precipitation cycles appear to influence nitrate concentrations by approximately ±30 % of the critical concentration (10 mg/L NO₃–N). Not all wells show direct correlation due to many complex local-scale factors that influence nitrate leaching including spatially and temporally variable nutrient management practices and soil/crop nitrogen dynamics (anthropogenic and agronomic factors).     

Multiple paleosols of the late Albian Boulder Creek Formation, British Columbia, Canada

Fifteen lithified paleosols, closely spaced in vertical sequence, occur in the top 90 m of the late Albian Boulder Creek Formation in the foothills of northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The paleosols have well-developed profiles 0·5 to 1·5 m thick, including A, B and C horizons. The paleosols are characterized by their grey colour, cutans, vertical roots, peds, spherulitic siderite and absence of sedimentary structures. The paleosols formed during a period when one or more basin wide unconformities occurred as a result of either eustatic sea level fluctuations or local tectonic events. These unconformities represent the terrestrial record of a lowered base level which caused valley incision and decreased rates of sedimentation on the incised flood plain. The climate was humid to subhumid. Overall, the environment in which these soils developed was of low relief and subject to little erosion. The water table was high for part of the year but there is also evidence of periodic drying and oxidation of organic debris. Cumulatively, the paleosols in this interval may represent 150000 yr of non-deposition.     

The Metamorphism of the Blue River Ultramafic Body, Cassiar, British Columbia, Canada

The Blue River ultramafic body is an ‘Alpine’-typeperidotite tectonically emplaced within spilitic volcanic rocksin northern British Columbia. The intrusive margins were shearedand serpentinized to a lizardite-chrysotile plus brucite assemblageduring emplacement, prior to thermal metamorphism in the aureoleof a younger batholith. Relatively anhydrous peridotite andhydrous serpentinite were both affected by thermal metamorphism.The body has been subdivided into units defined by the mineralassemblages observed in meta-peridotite and meta-serpentiniteabove and below the isograd for the advent of the mineral talc.Isograds were also established for prograde metamorphic olivine,tremolite, and enstatite. The intrusive was subjected to two metamorphic processes, oxidationand dehydration. The nucleation of metamorphic olivine in weaklymetamorphosed serpentinite was erratic, and turbid porphyroblastcores are enriched in Fe and Mn. The dehydration reaction isthought to have been metastable. Above the talc isograd, serpentine, in both peridotite and serpentinite,reacted with original spinel to form ferritchromit and chlorite.The chlorite becomes progressively more aluminous with increasein grade. The oxidation process inhibited dehydration in meta-peridotiteas a stable chlorite was formed. The process also served toreduce the Fe content of the silicate system, as shown by thecomposition of the olivine generated from excess serpentinein high grade meta-serpentinite.     

Stability analysis of a horizontal coalbed methane well in the Rocky Mountain Front Ranges of southeast British Columbia, Canada

This study describes a wellbore stability analysis undertaken for a horizontal coalbed methane well in the Mist Mountain Formation, SE British Columbia, Canada. Three triaxial compression tests, with ultrasonic velocities, were conducted on 38-mm-diameter core plugs taken from a large, fresh block of Seam 7. Due to the small size of the tested samples, the laboratory-derived strength values were reduced to reflect the in-situ stress conditions considered relevant for a 156-mm-diameter horizontal well. The vertical stress gradient was calculated by integrating a bulk density log from an offset well. Horizontal maximum and minimum stresses were estimated from regional stress data, whereas formation pressure was estimated on the basis of a local hydrological study. The 2D elastoplastic STABView™ numerical modeling code was used to forecast horizontal wellbore stability. The sensitivity of the predicted yielded zone size was examined for varying linear and non-linear rock strength criteria, horizontal in-situ stresses, bottom-hole pressures, formation pressure, drilling depth, and wall-coating efficiency. Stability analysis was performed at bottom-hole pressures ranging from overbalanced to underbalanced in order to simulate the conditions expected during drilling and production. The effects of weak bedding planes and varying well trajectories were also investigated. When drilling at 650 m depth under underbalanced to slightly overbalanced conditions, a high probability of getting the drill pipe stuck was predicted. STABView™ showed that, if the 38-mm-diameter core plug strengths were used directly for forecasting purposes, the predicted yielded zone would be almost 20% overgauge when drilling at balanced conditions. When peak cohesion of coal was reduced by 50% to reflect the conditions expected along weak intervals of a horizontal wellbore, the predicted enlarged borehole was almost 85% overgauge under the same drilling conditions. The most unstable trajectory has N–S azimuth, which is perpendicular to the maximum horizontal stress in the study area. STABView™ indicates that a production liner should be inserted immediately following the drilling of the horizontal well in this structurally complex geologic setting since pressure drawdown and reservoir pressure depletion would undoubtedly lead to enlarged yielded zones and collapse of the wellbore over time.     

Late Quaternary dynamics of forest vegetation on northern Vancouver Island,British Columbia,Canada

Pollen analysis of radiocarbon-dated lake sediment from northern Vancouver Island, southwest British Columbia reveals regional changes in forest vegetation over the last 12,200 ¹⁴C yr (14,900 cal yr). Between at least 12,200 and 11,700 ¹⁴C yr BP (14,900–13,930 cal yr BP), open woodlands were dominated by Pinus contorta, Alnus crispa, and various ferns. As P. contorta decreased in abundance, Alnus rubra and more shade-tolerant conifers (i.e., Picea and Tsuga mertensiana) increased. Increases in T. mertensiana, P. contorta, and A. crispa pollen accumulation rates (PARs) between 10,600 and 10,400 ¹⁴C yr BP (11,660–11,480 cal yr BP) reflect a cool and moist climate during the Younger Dryas chronozone. Orbitally induced warming around 10,000 ¹⁴C yr BP (11,090 cal yr BP) allowed the northward extension of Pseudotsuga menziesii, although Picea, Tsuga heterophylla, and A. rubra dominated early Holocene forests. By 7500 ¹⁴C yr BP (8215 cal yr BP), shade-tolerant T. heterophylla was the dominant forest tree. Cupressaceae (Thuja plicata and Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) was present by 7500 ¹⁴C yr BP but reached its maximum after 3500 ¹⁴C yr BP (3600 cal yr BP), when a cooler and wetter regional climate facilitated the development of temperate rainforest. The highest rates of vegetation change are associated with Lateglacial climate change and species with rapid growth rates and short life spans.     

Example of a debris-flow risk analysis from Vancouver Island,British Columbia,Canada

In July 2005, a debris flow and a water flood occurred on two adjacent gullies in the White River area, on northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The 16,000 m³ debris flow buried approximately 7.5 ha of second-growth trees, buried approximately 500 m of a forestry road, and reached two fish-bearing streams. The water flood eroded approximately 240 m of the same forestry road and plugged four culverts before overtopping and inundating the road. To better plan for future events, risk analyses of debris flows, debris floods, and water floods were carried out for the two gullies involved, plus a third adjacent gully. The elements at risk that were analyzed included, in order of priority: users of the forestry road, the fish-bearing streams, the forestry road itself, and a timber bridge. Using a series of qualitative, but defined, relative-risk matrices, the following components of specific risk were estimated for each of the three types of events on each of the three gullies for each of the four elements at risk: probability of occurrence, probability that the event will reach or otherwise affect the site of the element at risk, the probability that the element at risk will be at the site when the event occurs, and the probability of loss or damage resulting from the element being at the site when the event occurs.     

Exploration Techniques at the Thorn Ag-Au-Cu High-Sulfidation Epithermal Prospect, Northern British Columbia, Canada

Abstract. The Thorn prospect is an El Indio-style high-sulfidation epithermal prospect in a little-explored belt of Late Cretaceous subaerial volcanics and subvolcanic intrusions in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. More than 30 massive sulfide (pyrite-enargite-tennantite/tetrahedrite) veins, quartz-sulfide (quartz-pyrite-enargite-tennantite/tetrahedrite) veins and quartz-vuggy silica-alunite veins/breccias fill ENE fractures and faults over an area of 1,600 times 1,900 m. They are hosted within a Late Cretaceous feldspar-quartz-biotite granodioritic porphyry stock and flanked by alteration envelopes a few meters to tens of meters wide: an inner envelope of intense sericite-clay-pyrite and an outer one of weak clay-sericite-chlorite. Where several veins are close together, the sericite-clay-pyrite alteration envelopes coalesce into zones up to 150 m wide.
The most successful exploration techniques have been prospecting, silt and soil geochemistry, airborne magnetic and electromagnetic surveys and diamond drilling. Silt and soil geochemical anomalies for Au, Ag, As, Cu, Pb, Sb and Zn mark the known veins and indicate prospective areas where veins have not yet been discovered. Magnetics and resistivity outline the gross property-wide structure and lithologies. Most of the sericite-clay-pyrite alteration and known veins are outlined by the <264 ohm-m resistivity contour, which covers an area of 800 times 2,300 m. Weak EM conductors are thought to represent undiscovered massive sulfide and quartz-sulfide veins, and their flanking sericite-clay-pyrite alteration.     

Compositional evolution in Ca-amphibole in the Karmutsen metabasites, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract The 6-km-thick Karmutsen metabasites, exposed over much of Vancouver Island, were thermally metamorphosed by intrusions of Jurassic granodiorite and granite. Observations of about 800 thin sections from the Campbell River and Buttle Lake area show that the metabasites provide a complete succession of mineral assemblages ranging from the zeolite to pyroxene hornfels facies around the intrusion. The most important observations are as follows. (1) The compositional change of Ca-amphiboles with increasing metamorphic grade is not straightforward. The tremolite component decreases from the prehnite–actinolite facies to the greenschist facies with a compensating tschermak component increase, but the tendency is not clear thereafter. Instead, the edenite component increases from the amphibolite facies to the pyroxene hornfels facies. (2) The most pargasitic Ca-amphibole occurs in high-Fe²⁺/Mg metabasite from the greenschist/amphibolite transition zone. (3) The reasons for such irregular compositional trends, even in the rather uniform MORB-like composition of the Karmutsen metabasites, are non-ideal solid solutions of Ca-amphibole at low temperature and the effective control by bulk rock composition in the amphibolite facies. (4) The data from this study support, but do not prove, a transition loop for the actinolite–hornblende compositional gap rather than a solvus. If the gap is a solvus, its shape is asymmetric, and is highly dependent on the other compositional parameters such as Fe³⁺/Al and Fe²⁺/Mg. (5) The X_NaA/X_A±X_Ab) ratios between Ca-amphibole and plagioclase are most useful as an indicator of metamorphic grade even within the amphibolite facies, and these change systematically from 0.2 to 0.5 from the greenschist to pyroxene hornfels facies. (6) The compositional trend of Ca-amphibole from the Karmutsen metabasites indicates a typical low-P/T metamorphic facies series on a Rbk–Gln–Tr–Ts diagram.     

New data on associations of platinum-group minerals in placer deposits of British Columbia, Canada

Summary We have conducted electron microprobe (EMP) analysis of 158 grains of platinum-group minerals (PGM; 0.1–1 mm in size) from 11 placer samples collected from Holocene fluvial placers and buried paleochannel placers at various localities in British Columbia. These grains principally comprise Pt-Fe-(Cu) alloy minerals: Fe-rich platinum [ΣPGE:(Fe + Cu + Ni) = 3.6–7.6], Pt₃Fe-type alloy (isoferroplatinum or Fe-rich platinum), subordinate “Pt₂Fe”-type alloy (probably, a compositional variant of Fe-rich platinum) and the tulameenite-tetraferroplatinum series. Less-abundant are iridium [Ir-dominant Ir-Os-(Pt) alloy] and osmium [Os-dominant Os-Ir-(Pt) alloy]. Ruthenium [Ru-dominant Ru-Ir-Os alloy] occurs as a single grain. One of these Pt-Fe alloy grains is unusually zoned; its core zone is: Pt_74.0Fe_20.4Cu_1.9Ir_1.5Rh_1.1Pd_1.0Os_0.08Ru_0.01Ni_0.01 (in at%) [ΣPGE:(Fe + Cu + Ni) = 3.5], and its rim zone is: Pt_78.5Fe_15.5Cu_1.7Ir_1.5Rh_1.4 Pd_1.2Ni_0.15Os_0.06Ru_<0.01 [ΣPGE:(Fe + Cu + Ni) = 4.8]. This zoning indicates late-stage removal of Fe and corresponding addition of Pt, probably as a result of interaction with a late fluid phase. Various combinations of minor elements: Ir-Rh, Rh-Pd, and Ir-Rh-Pd are observed in the analysed Pt-Fe-Cu alloys. However, the Ir-Pd pair appears to be prohibited because of crystallochemical factors. Minute PGM inclusions in Pt-Fe alloy grains, likely derived from the Tulameen complex, comprise: hongshiite (Pt_1.04Pd_0.02 Cu_0.93), sperrylite (Pt_0.93Ir_0.03)_Σ0.96(As_2.02Sb_0.01)_Σ2.03, hollingworthite-platarsite (Rh_0.74 Pt_0.21Fe_0.02Pd_0.02Ir_0.01)_Σ1.00S_0.91As_1.10, cuprorhodsite-malanite (Cu_0.91Fe_0.03Ni_<0.01)_Σ0.95 (Rh_1.06Pt_0.89Ir_<0.01)_Σ1.95S_4.10, a rare Te-rich isomertieite (Pd_10.96Fe_0.03)_Σ10.99(Sb_1.13 Te_0.94)_Σ2.07As_1.93, and an unusual Pt-Pd-Rh antimonide [(Pt + Pd + Rh):(Sb + As) = 1.2–1.25], related to genkinite. This antimonide may exhibit a minor solid solution extending from genkinite toward stumpflite. In addition, 20 grains of diopside [Ca_46.4–49.1Mg_42.8–48.2Fe_3.1–8.1; ≤0.59 wt% Cr₂O₃] and 20 grains of olivine [Fo_86.8–91.5 Fa_7.9–12.5], from a PGM-bearing placer located in the vicinity of the Tulameen complex, were analysed. The compositional ranges of these placer silicates are comparable to those of clinopyroxene and olivine in the olivine clinopyroxenite and dunite units of the Tulameen complex. The majority of the analysed placer PGM grains were probably derived from Alaskan-type source rocks, whereas an ophiolitic source, associated with the Atlin ophiolite complex, is suggested for the placer PGM deposits in the Atlin area, northern British Columbia. Authors’ addresses: Andrei Y. Barkov, Robert F. Martin, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, 3450 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada; Michael E. Fleet, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada; Graham T. Nixon and Victor M. Levson, B.C. Geological Survey, Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, PO Box 9320 Stn. Prov. Govt., Victoria, British Columbia V8W 9N3, Canada     

Point bar and floodplain formation of the meandering Beatton River, northeastern British Columbia, Canada

This study examines the morphology, sedimentology and genesis of the point bars and floodplain of the Beatton River. The formation of point bars occurs in distinct stages. An initial point bar platform composed mainly of coarse sediment is formed adjacent to the convex bank of a migrating meander bend, and is the base on which develops a single scroll bar of fine traction and suspended load. With continued sedimentation, the scroll bar grows, eventually supporting vegetation and becoming a floodplain ridge. Scroll bars form with greatest size and frequency in rapidly migrating bends, and the shape of the meander bend appears to determine both the location of the initial bar deposit, and its direction of growth up or downstream. Approximately one-half of the floodplain sediment is derived from suspended load, and the initiation of a scroll bar appears to be due to excessive deposition of suspended load in a zone of flow separation over a point bar platform. The critical flow condition for the initiation of a scroll bar does not occur with the same recurrence interval on different shaped meander bends, however, the average recurrence interval within the study reach is approximately every 30 years. Sedimentation rates on point bars and on the floodplain indicate two relatively distinct stages of floodplain alluviation. The most rapid is for surfaces less than 50 years old, although sediment accumulation still persists on surfaces up to 250 years in age. Although frequently flooded, surfaces older than this accumulate very little sediment. Despite 2–3 m of overbank deposition, the amplitude of floodplain ridges is maintained by secondary currents which sweep sediment from the swales towards the ridge crests.