Petrologic, structural, and age relations of serpentinite, amphibolite, and blueschist in the Shuksan Suite of the Iron Mountain–Gee Point area, North Cascades, Washington

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Abstract
Part of the Shuksan blueschist terrane, near Iron Mountain and Gee Point, North Cascades, Washington, has associated serpentinite, amphibolite, barroisite schist, blueschist, rare eclogite, and blackwall-type metasomatic rock. Field, petrographic, and microprobe observations indicate that the amphibolite and barroisite schists were metamorphosed in contact with peridotite and suggest that the peridotite may have been a heat source. The serpentinite and associated rocks are structurally concordant with the regional blueschists and have been overprinted by blueschist metamorphism. Isotopic dating gives metamorphic ages of 148 ± 5 to 164 ± 6 m.y. for the amphibolite and barroisite schist and 129 ± 5 m.y. for nearby regional Shuksan blueschists. The origin of the serpentinite + amphibolite + blueschist assemblage is interpreted to be the result of sequential events in a subduction zone. As subduction began, oceanic crustal materials underwent high-temperature metamorphism along the hot ultramafic hanging wall and were converted to amphibolites; materials that were subducted later came in contact with a cooler hanging wall and recrystallized as blueschist. This hypothesis may be applicable to the origin of similar rock associations in the Franciscan terrane and other orogenic belts.
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