Abstract
The Wild Rogue Wilderness ophiolite (WRWO) has been correlated
with the Coast Range ophiolite (CRO) and overlying Great Valley
Sequence in California. The WRWO occurs on the east limb of a
large Cretaceous syncline within a folded thrust sheet. The
basement units strike NE, are subvertical and fault bounded and
include from east to west: (1) a sheeted dike complex having
gabbro screens; (2) a ductily, but heterogeneously deformed
metatonalite containing abundant mylonites; (3) a heterogeneously
deformed metagabbro having a relic magmatic foliation overprinted
by solid-state deformation at amphibolite facies and lower grade
conditions; (4) a 0.5-0.9 km wide, high-strain zone consisting of
mafic and silicic ultramylonites and mylonites; (5) undeformed
pillow basalts cut by mafic and silicic dikes; (6) quartz gabbro
to tonalite (Half Moon Bar diorite); (7) poorly exposed
metavolcanic rocks, including at least some volcaniclastics in the
uppermost section of this unit.
The following events have been identified in the Wild Rogue
Wilderness: (1) preophiolite deformation and (regional?)
amphibolite facies metamorphism (unit 3; ~171 Ma); (2) formation
of the ophiolite, related normal faulting and subseafloor
hydrothermal alteration (units 1, 2, and 5; ~164 Ma); (3)
Post-ophiolite arc-related magmatism (units 6 and 7; 153-160 Ma);
and (4) Nevadan-age ductile deformation (unit 4 and mylonites in
units 2 and 3; ~149 Ma).
The trace-element analysis indicates that the WRWO consists of
rocks having magmatic affinities to normal mid-ocean ridge basalt
island-arc tholeiite, calc-alkaline basalt and boninite.
Compositional variations within units and between units cannot be
explained with differences in the degree of partial melting and/or
fractionation. A highly heterogeneous source is inferred, which
was probably variably depleted by previous melting and variably
re-enriched with a subduction component.
The evolution of the WRWO is similar to that of the CRO and the
Josephine ophiolite, which is consistent with previously proposed
models that invoke rifting of the volcanic arc built on western N.
America. The geochemical diversity of the WRWO is indicative of
formation in a fore-arc or intra-arc setting similar to that of
the Miocene Tonga are, SW Pacific. Rift-propagation and melting of
heterogeneous, inherited mantle may have played an important role
in the magmatic evolution of the WRWO.
Kosanke, S.B., 2000. The geology, geochronology, structure and
geochemistry of the Wild Rogue Wilderness remnant of the Coast
Range ophiolite, southwest Oregon: Implications for the magmatic
and tectonic evolution of the Coast Range ophiolite.
Unpublished PhD dissertation, State University of New York at
Albany. 754pp., +xxii (2 vols); 1 folded plate (map)
University at Albany Science Library call number: SCIENCE
MIC Film QE 40 Z899 2000 K67
Copies of this PhD dissertation can be ordered from
Proquest UMI
Front matter (title, table of contents,
abstract, acknowledgements) - 0.25MB pdf file
Photo and figure pages in
dissertation (colour and
greyscale photos and diagrams with captions): - 44.9MB pdf
file
Plate 1 - Geological map of the
Wild Rogue Wilderness, southwest Oregon
(coloured geological map; scale ~1:24,000) -
1.3MB pdf file
Simplified
geological map and cross-sections of the Wild Rogue Wilderness,
with geological age and geochemical affinities of units
(Figs
2.2a, b; 5.1; 7.2 combination) - 0.3MB pdf file
Data tables and lists;
sample locations:
Fig 5.1 - Sample locations on
simplified geological map
Table 2.1 - 40Ar/39Ar ages; U/Pb
zircon ages
Tables 3.1-3.4 - Hornblende compositions
and paleotemperature estimates
Tables 5.1-5.7 - Major and trace element
geochemical compositions of igneous and metaigneous samples
Appendix A - Petrographic summary
descriptions of samples
Appendix B - Age spectra and related
diagrams for the 40Ar/39Ar dated samples
Appendix C - Electron microprobe
compositions of clinopyroxene, plagioclase, and Cr-spinel
Appendix D - Fault slip and sense of
shear data
Appendix E - Quality check of the trace
element analysis by ICP-MS at Union College
Appendix F - ICP-MS geochemical data
for samples (Wild Rogue Wilderness; Snow Camp Mountain;
Black Mountain; Llanada)
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completed in the Geological Sciences Program, University at Albany