Abstract: The tectonic evolution of the Whitehorse trough in central Yukon is largely preserved by the Early to Middle Jurassic Laberge Group, an ~3000-m thick succession of synorogenic clastic strata that unconformably overlies arc and arc marginal rocks of the Lewes River Group. A two-year project was initiated to test a Sinemurian to Toarcian transgression of basal Laberge Group strata westward across the Whitehorse trough and examine the regional relationships between the timing of Jurassic exhumation, sedimentation, and terrane accretion in the northern Canadian Cordillera. Field studies in 2017 targeted basal Laberge Group strata at seven locations in central Yukon. At each field locality, basal Laberge Group strata are known or inferred to unconformably overlie the Povoas formation and multiple units of the Aksala formation. Pre-Early Jurassic unconformities may indicate variable basin topography due to the complex internal stratigraphy of the Lewes River Group, or that regional exhumation and erosion affected the Whitehorse trough prior to Laberge Group sedimentation.

Authors: van Drecht, L.H. and Beranek, L.P.

NTS Mapsheet(s): 105D, 105E, 115H, 115I

Citation: van Drecht, L.H. and Beranek, L.P., 2018. New investigations of basal Laberge Group stratigraphy, Whitehorse trough, central Yukon. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2017, K.E. MacFarlane (ed.), Yukon Geological Survey, p. 151-163.

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