INVESTIGATING BRIDGE RIVER TERRANE HYDRATED ULTRAMAFIC ROCKS AND POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND PALEO-TECTONICS IN SOUTHWESTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

To reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions and limit the impacts of climate change, there is an increasing interest in the research and development of carbon capture and storage solutions. The potential for rapid, permanent carbon capture through carbon mineralization within reactive, hydrated ultramafic rocks (e.g., serpentinite), has created a push to identify areas hosting these rocks and characterize their lithological properties. Additionally, ultramafic rocks are known hosts to Ni-Cr-Cu-PGE mineral deposits, which have been identified as critical metals in the move towards green energy systems. Thus, within the mining industry, there is potential to develop sustainable, carbon-neutral mining practices through carbon mineralization of ultramafic tailings.

Significant volumes of variably serpentinized ultramafic rocks occur within the Cordillera of western North America (e.g. Atlin (formerly part of Cache Creek), Bridge River, Slide Mountain terranes). These serpentinitic rocks are thought to be generated through hydrothermal alteration of supra-subduction zone lithospheric mantle and to signify the remnants of ocean basins that were tectonically emplaced onto the western North American margin (i.e., supra-subduction zone ophiolites). This PhD study will interrogate three areas within Bridge River terrane in southwestern British Columbia, Canada (Harrison Lake, Coquihalla Serpentinite Belt, and Shulaps Complex) that host significant volumes of variably serpentinized ultramafic rocks. The study will utilize field mapping, structural, whole-rock and mineral geochemical (major-, trace-element and isotopes), and geochronological analyses of the serpentinites and surrounding country rock to better understand the petrogenesis, emplacement mechanisms, paleo-tectonic settings, and deformation and alteration of the ultramafic rocks. These results will provide the necessary geological context to ongoing carbon mineralization potential studies in the Canadian Cordillera and globally. Furthermore, a more complete understanding of the tectonic setting of serpentinized ultramafics in southern BC will help to elucidate how the Bridge River and Cadwallader terranes and the mineral deposits they host, were generated, and in turn, help evolve the Cordilleran tectonic framework.