Controls on the Timing and Evolution of Deep-Water Sedimentation in the Late Cretaceous Nanaimo Basin, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
Submarine channel-system deposits of the Late Cretaceous Nanaimo Group, British Columbia, Canada record long-lived (>10^6 yr) deep-water sedimentation across a tectonically active basin margin. The integration of detrital zircon geochronology and stratigraphic analyses provides a unique opportunity to characterize the paleogeographic setting, source-to-sink relationships, and temporal evolution of this ancient sediment-routing system. Three contemporaneous conglomeratic channel-levee deposits are documented across a 135-km basin margin (strike-oriented) transect, indicating a period of widespread deep-water sedimentation. At one of these locations, continuous sediment transfer occurred for 21.1 ± 3.4 m.y. through an established submarine conduit that underwent a period of prolonged sediment bypass followed by a phase of channel aggradation. The timing and nature of deposition along the paleo-basin margin relates to geomorphic and tectonic changes in the basin and upstream drainage-systems, suggesting localized and regional controls on deep-water sediment delivery. These deposits provide insight into the geologic history of North America and sediment dispersal in tectonically active settings globally.
Description
Keywords
Geology
Citation
Englert, R. G. (2017). Controls on the Timing and Evolution of Deep-Water Sedimentation in the Late Cretaceous Nanaimo Basin, British Columbia, Canada (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25458