Structure and Petrology of the Deer Peaks Area Western North Cascades, Washington

Author

Gregory Joseph Reller, Western Washington UniversityFollow

Date Permissions Signed

3-20-2018

Date of Award

Winter 1986

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geology

First Advisor

Brown, Edwin H.

Second Advisor

Babcock, R. Scott (Randall Scott)

Third Advisor

Engebretson, David C.

Abstract

Dominant bedrock units of the Deer Peaks area, northwestern Washington, include the Shuksan Metamorphic Suite, the Deer Peaks unit, the Chuckanut Formation, the Oso volcanic rocks and the Granite Lake Stock. Rocks of the Shuksan Metamorphic Suite (SMS) exhibit a stratigraphy of meta-basalt, iron/manganese schist, and carbonaceous phyllite. The shear sense of stretching lineations in the SMS indicates that during high pressure metamorphism the subduction zone dipped to the northeast relative to the present position of the rocks. Exposures of the SMS along Coal Mountain are consistent with interpretation of folding as an isoclinal anticline though discrimination between an F₁ or an F₂ structure is not possible. The Deer Peaks unit (DPu) (age unknown) consists of transitional calcalkaline tuffaceous andesite with minor interbedded dacite and less abundant slate and chert, all of which is intruded by diabase dikes. Trace element geochemistry is interpreted to indicate a transitional-to-arc back arc basin origin for the igneous protolith of the DPu. During rnetamorphism, a penetrative foliation (S ) was developed parallel to primary layering. S₁ is folded into northeast-southwest trending F₂ folds which are in turn folded about a south-southwest trending F₃ axis. Metamorphic mineral assemblages recognized in the DPu are (in addition to quartz and albite):

1) Chlorite + Pumpellyite + Epidote + Actinolite

2) Pumpellyite + Calcium Carbonate + Actinolite

3) Epidote + Calcium Carbonate + Actinolite

Calcium carbonate is present as both aragonite and calcite. Metamorphism of the DPu is of high-P/low-T type, occurring at temperatures between 330^oC and 350^o C, and pressures between 7 and 11 Kbar. Rocks of the Deer Peaks unit are emplaced above those of the Shuksan Suite along the Deer Peaks thrust fault.

The Eocene Chuckanut Formation nonconformably overlies the metamorphic rocks in the study area. The Chuckanut Formation is intruded by quartz-diorite of the Higgins Mountain and Granite Lake stocks, and unconformably overlain by the 43.2 ± 1.9Ma Oso volcanic rocks. The Chuckanut Formation is folded into northwest trending open folds. Two northwest trending high angle faults juxtapose the Chuckanut Formation with metamorphic rocks in the area: the Higgins Mountain-Day Lake fault and the Segelson Lake shear zone. The Higgins Mountain-Day Lake fault is a sinistral strike slip fault.

Type

Text

Keywords

Western North Cascades geology, Deer Peaks geology, Shuksan Metamorphic Suite

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25710/7ct2-2n70

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1041937307

Subject – LCSH

Geology, Structural; Metamorphism (Geology); Petrology--Washington (State)--Deer Peaks Region; Geology--Washington (State)--Deer Peaks Region

Geographic Coverage

Deer Peaks Region (Wash.)

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.

Recommended Citation

Reller, Gregory Joseph, "Structure and Petrology of the Deer Peaks Area Western North Cascades, Washington" (1986). WWU Graduate School Collection. 726.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/726