Geology of the Murphy Lake Area (NTS 093A/03)
By P. Schiarizza, K. Bell and S. Bayliss
View Open File 2009-3 Map (PDF, 16.5 MB)
The Murphy Lake map area encompasses 950 square kilometers of subdued topography within the Fraser Plateau and Quesnel Highland, including NTS map area 093A/03 and a small portion of adjoining area 093A/06. Access is via roads that branch east from Highway 97 at Lac La Hache and 150 Mile House. This new geological map is based on fieldwork conducted in 2008. The map area is underlain mainly by Mesozoic rocks of the Quesnel magmatic arc, including volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Upper Triassic Nicola Group, Late Triassic monzodiorite of the Spout Lake pluton, and Early Jurassic granitic rocks of the northwestern part of the Takomkane batholith. It also includes Eocene volcanic rocks of the Kamloops Group, Neogene basalt of the Chilcotin Group, and small exposures of Quaternary basalt that are outliers of the Wells Gray volcanic field to the east. The Takomkane batholith and adjacent Nicola Group host significant Cu-Au-Mo mineralization near Woodjam Creek, and Cu-Au mineralization is hosted by the Spout Lake pluton near Murphy Lake.
This program was partially funded through the Geological Survey of Canada's Geoscience for Pine Beetle Program.
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