Notes from:

Where Terranes Collide: Geology in Western Canada

Video. 1993. 30 mins. Video on reserve; DVD in UNBC Stacks QE 185.Y6788 1993.
A link to a downloadable digital file of this video is available at the end of this document.

Key Points:
Geologic Formation of BC & Western Canada:
Cordillera: includes Western Alberta, Yukon, BC to 80 km off shore edge of the continent meets
deep ocean floor. Pacific Plate and Juan de Fuca Plate
Began 1.7 billion (1,700,000,000) years ago and continues today.

Context:
4.5 billion years ago (y.a.) formation of Earth,
2.75 billion (2750 million) years ago -- formation of continents, oceans and atmosphere; beginning of life;
and formation of Earths super continent
2.25 billion years ago dinosaurs first observed
1.7 billion (1700 million) years ago rifting of super continent growth of western Canada
65 million (0.065 billion) years ago -- dinosaur extinction
3.5 million (0.0035 billion) years ago -- first hominid forms on earth

Cordillera Formation Story:

Inland sea starts -- 1.7 billion years ago (y.a.) to 750 million y.a. before the super continent broke
apart. North America (NA), Australia (Aus.) and Antarctica split to form an inland sea with
Antarctica moving away. Mountainous area eroded sediments into this land locked sea. For 950
million years sediments accumulate to an over 10 km thick strata in the area now occupied by Alberta
Waterton Lakes strata rocks are over 1 billion years old, (mountains are much younger as
they formed later through thrust faulting)
Variations in layers show changing conditions; show variations in erosion and climate
For about 1 billon years, sediments eroded from mountains of NA, and Aus.
750 million y.a. -- continents broke apart again; separated along a line from Penticton to
Prince George (PG). The shoreline was in Alberta and the line running between Penticton
and PG was under the new sea. For half a billion years sediments were carried westward to
cover the new shore (looked like Bahamas, coral reefs dominated and were buried by new
eroding sediments and ocean sediments. Can see coral reefs next to black organic shales
(petroleum migrated into sediments. e.g. shales west of Canmore)

At Salmon Arm you can see evidence of the terranes that accreted to BC in 2 main successive
events. Each terrane formed in exotic (non-local) places. Horne Lake is an example limestone
from sea creatures is found under 6 km of basalt. Many terranes are volcanic chains and coral
atolls glued together with ocean sediments and basalt sea floor crust. Cache Creek Mlange an
other example: the Cache Creek Mlange is rock glue jointing the accreted terranes where the
sea floor was consumed beneath another tectonic plate.
1st collision: Collision Story begins 200 million y.a. (0.2 billion y.a.); Intermontaine Super
terranes (4 terranes amalgamated into a super terrane, -- some were coral atolls) migrated with

tectonic plate movements and over several million years these super terranes crashed into
North America creating a huge band of metamorphic rock called the Omineca Belt (i.e. the
metamorphic welt described in the video). It can be seen along the Trans Canada Hwy near
Revelstoke. The forces of this collision caused the rock to react like putty and metamorphise.
o This collision also impacted the sediments further to the east of the metamorphic welts
and caused the formation of the Rocky Mountains and Alberta Foothills. A classic
example is Mt. Rundle -- a classic thrust fault.
o Rocky Mtn. thrusting created the Alberta Foothills (between Calgary/Edmonton and
the Rocky Mtns.) as old ocean floor sediments (sedimentary rocks) were either thrust
above the former Alberta plain or folded because of the force of the collision (the folds
diminishing as the impacts shock wave moved east into the Alberta plains).
2nd collision: 160 100 million y.a. (0.16 to 0.1 billion y.a.) a second collision formed the
Coast Mountains in a similar way. The Insular Superterrane (another terrane amalgamation)
crashed into BC creating igneous and metamorphic rocks and forming the Coast Mtns
(similar to the Omineca Belt). These terranes are currently subducting under the continental
plate we are located on.
Recent Cordillera Developments:

~15,000 - 10,000 y.a. (thousands of years ago). Successive glaciations moved large materials to
the east and west resulting in erratics such as Big Rock.

Current interglacial period exponential rise of human population and impact on Earth.
Continued plate motions changing our part of the planet.

As of Fall 2008:
GeoScan Earth Sciences videos are now available on-line for download in MP4 files and Shockwave Flash
(SWF) files. The SWF files tend to be much smaller than the MP4 files and therefore quicker to view. Here is
the link to retrieve the videos.
Copy the link below in a new browser to get it to work (it wont work within the Geog 210 webpage):
http://geoscan.ess.nrcan.gc.ca/starweb/geoscan/servlet.starweb?path=geoscan/geoscan_e.web

Once at the link, in the "basic search" field type "educational videos" to retrieve the collection and search for
Where Terranes Collide in the results list.

Obtained Oct. 17, 2008 from:

Michel St-Martin
Multi-Media Officer / Agent des services multimdias
Natural Resources Canada Library // Bibliothque de Ressources naturelles Canada
Corporate Management and Services Sector//Secteur de la gestion et des services intgrs
615 Booth Street, 1st Floor, Room 121 / 615 rue Booth, 1 er tage, pice 121
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E9
Telephone/Tlphone: (613) 992-8163
Fax/Tlcopieur: (613) 943-1549
E-mail/Courriel: Michel.St-Martin@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca