D. Selby et al., Major and trace element compositions and Sr-Nd-Pb systematics of crystalline rocks from the Dawson Range, Yukon, Canada, CAN J EARTH, 36(9), 1999, pp. 1463-1481
Geochemical (major, trace, and rare earth elements) and isotopic (Nd, Sr, a
nd Pb) data of the Devono-Mississippian Wolverine Creek Metamorphic Suite,
mid-Cretaceous Dawson Range batholith, mid-Cretaceous Casino Plutonic Suite
, and Late Cretaceous plutons provide new information on the origin and evo
lution of the rocks from the Dawson Range in west-central Yukon, northern C
anadian Cordillera. Isotopic and other geochemical data for the Wolverine C
reek Metamorphic Suite metasedimentary rocks indicate that the detrital com
ponents were derived from two distinct provenances: (1) the North America c
raton, which contributed evolved felsic, upper crustal material; and (2) a
calc-alkaline arc, which shed juvenile mafic-intermediate material. The geo
chemical affinity of the metaigneous rocks indicates that the Yukon-Tanana
terrane represented a continental arc during Devonian-Mississippian times,
with magmas derived from geochemically primitive sources and partial meltin
g of the Yukon-Tanana terrane supracrustal rocks. The Dawson Range batholit
h likely represents crustally derived magmas from the Yukon-Tanana terrane
during the mid-Cretaceous, with the contemporaneous Casino Plutonic Suite r
epresenting a late-stage fractionate of these magmas. The Late Cretaceous p
orphyry Cu mineralization is genetically related to plutons derived from ma
ntle-source magmas related to active subduction.