The McQuesten River region in the northern part of the McQuesten and Mayo map areas (scale 1:250 000) is underlain by Upper Proterozoic to Mississippian rocks that were deposited in an offshelf setting during the formation of the northern Cordilleran continental margin, deformed during the Mesozoic, and intruded by pre and post-kinematic intrusions. The Selwyn Basin phase of evolution of the continental margin is represented by rock units that correlate with units defined in the eastern part of Selwyn Basin. Dark clastic and rare felsic metavolcanic rocks of the Deconian-Mississippian Earn Group unconformably overlie rocks of the Selwyn Basin phase and are overlain conformably by the Mississippian Keno Hill quartzite. Dark, fine-grained metaclastic rocks of unknown age locally overlie Keno Hill quartzite. Four episodes of plutonism can be distinguished in the area, the earliest probably Early Paleozoic in age, another mid-Triassic in age, and two phases of Cretaceous granitic magmatism. Early Paleozoic bodies are typically metre-scale, fine-grained diabasic dikes and sills intruding rocks of the Hyland Group. Mid-Triassic diorite to gabbro occurs in discontinuous pods of various sizes, primarily in the Tombstone Thrust sheet where they intrude Devonian and Mississippian rocks. The most voluminous and widespread granitic rocks are the early Late Cretaceous Tombstone intrusions (92 ± 2 Ma). Typical Tombstone intrusions are weakly porphyritic, medium-grained hornblende-biotite granite to granodiorite, but they range from syenite to granodiorite and are locally peraluminous. The latest episode of granitic magmatism, the 65 ± 3 Ma McQuesten intrustions, is not yet fully delineated but includes five stocks of peroluminous potassium feldspar megocrystic granite. Paleozoic and Mesozoic structures occur in the region. The Sprague Creek Fault, a pre-Late Cambrian normal fault, is inferred from stratigraphic relationships. A possibly Jurassic phase of shortening is represented by west-northwest-trending, south-vergent folds that pre-date Jura-Cretaceous structures. The most pervasive and important phase of deformation is Jura-Cretaceous in age and kinematically complex. The Robert Service and Tombstone thrusts and Tombstone Strain Zone formed between the Late Jurassic and early Late Cretaceous during northward and northwestward displacement of more southerly hanging wall rocks. The McQuesten River region has numerous mineral occurrences, a long history of mining and mineral exploration and good potential for further discoveries.

The Tummel fault zone, a northwest-trending belt of rocks of uncertain age and/or tectonic affinity, separates Paleozoic miogeoclinal strata of Cassiar Terrane from Yukon-Tanana Terrane metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks. Northeast of the fault, Cassiar Terrane comprises pelitic and semipelitic rocks with rare amphibolite, which are correlated with the Kechika Group. These are overlain by carbonate correlated with the Askin Group. Southwest of the fault, in Yukon-Tanana Terrane, Devono-Mississippian siliciclastic rocks are overlain by Mississippian arc volcanic rocks. Granodiorite and diorite of the Telegraph Plutonic Suite (348-350 Ma) intrude the siliciclastic rocks. Foliated greenstone, leucogabbro intrusions, serpentinite and chert occur in the Tummel fault zone. The Early Cretaceous Glenlyon Batholith intrudes strata of Cassiar Terrane. Contact metamorphism recognized across the Tummel fault zone is interpreted to have been imposed by the Glenlyon Batholith. If correct, this interpretation requires that post-mid-Cretaceous displacement across the Tummel fault zone has been minimal (~5 km).

Between the Cretaceous granitic rocks (Hake Batholith on the west; Cassiar Batholith to the east) are three belts of metamorphic rocks, collectively part of Yukon-Tanana terrane. These are remnants of oceanic and continental volcanic arcs, and marginal basin sediments of Early to mid-Paleozoic age. At the head of Borden Creek are thick carbonate and andesitic volcanic rocks correlated with Klinkit Group. The Ram Creek fault and Hidden Lake fault are not exposed but deduced to be steeply dipping brittle structures with northeastward thrust or transpressional offset, based upon more complete exposure to the southeast in 105B/3 map area. The former is likely of Cretaceous age; the latter was active between mid-Permian and Early Jurassic time.

Mainly schitose clastic strata of the northern Selwyn basin underlie Lansing map area. These strata form rounded mountains, although jagged ridgelines occur in the thermal metamorphic aureoles surrounding six Cretaceous granitic plutons. Major faults occupy some broad northwest-trending valleys: two of these extend eastward as the Hess and Macmillan faults (Abbott and Turner, 1990) in the Macmillan Pass area; another appears to contine westward as the Robert Service Thrust Fault. Argentiferous galena veins were intermittently mined from the east edge of the map area from 1976 to 1985; whereas the stratiform base metal and disseminated gold potential of these rocks have been investigated during the 1990s.

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The map area spans the western edge of the old North American continent and the terranes that accreted to it in Mesozoic time, which together form a generally west-dipping structural stack, separated by layer-parallel thrust faults. Three major elements are represented: 1) tilted strata of the ancient North American margin (Cassiar Terrane), 2) overthrust rocks that originated as volcanic arcs and off-shore sediments (Yukon-Tanana Terrane), and 3) granitic bodes injected into this thickened crust after the Cordilleran orogeny.

Metasedimentary and meta-igneous rocks in ‘Mendocina Creek’ (NTS 105F/5) and eastern Livingstone Creek (NTS 105E/8) areas are part of three distinct stratigraphic sequences: from east to west, the Sheep Creek, Scurvy Creek and Dycer Creek successions. The Sheep Creek succession contains extensive carbonate horizons and is likely part of the Cassiar terrane. To the west, metaclastic rocks of the Scurvy Creek succession are extensively intruded by sills and dykes composed of augen meta-granite of Early Mississippian age; they are correlated with the Snowcap assemblage of Yukon-Tanana terrane. The overlying Dycer Creek succession in the southwest comprises marble, carbonaceous rocks, greenstone and quartzite of Lower Mississippian (and younger?) age that probably correlate with the Finlayson assemblage of Yukon-Tanana terrane. The ‘Mendocina Creek’ area experienced at least four phases of deformation and greenschist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphism. An east-verging thrust locally imbricates the Scurvy Creek succession and the boundary between the Yukon-Tanana and Cassiar terranes corresponds with a west-verging, brittle-ductile thrust fault in the eastern part of the area. Re-interpretation of the geology in western Quiet Lake map-area indicates that this boundary is located 20 km east of the d’Abbadie fault, the previously inferred terrane boundary.

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Mafic volcanic and clastic strata of the Middle Triassic Joe Mountain Formation, east of Lake Laberge, Yukon, represent a juvenile volcanic arc sequence. Mafic volcanic rocks of the Upper Triassic Lewes River Group were formed in the spatial and temporal continuity of Joe Mountain volcanism. Carbonate sedimentation took place in shallow oceanic subbasins adjacent to the arc from the Carnian to Rhaetian; these subbasins were separated by physiographic boundaries inherent to the arc, resulting in lateral stratigraphic variations. Polymictic conglomerate and turbiditic sequences of the Lower-Middle Jurassic Laberge Group unconformably overlie Triassic rocks. Two north-northwest strike-slip faults, the Laurier Creek and the Goddard, control the distribution of units. Joe Mountain Formation rocks are characterized by an east-west structural trend, whereas the Upper Triassic and Jurassic sequences are characterized by north-northwest trending tight folds and thrust faults. At least five post-accretion igneous suites intrude or overlie older stratigraphy, including the Late Cretaceous Open Creek volcanic complex.