Vancouver Island is part of the Insular Superterrane of western B. C

The Geology and Geological History of Vancouver Island Steven Earle, PhD Department of Geology Malaspina University-College Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

• Vancouver Island is part of the Insular Superterrane of western B.C.

Myra Falls Mine

Karmutsen Formation (Triassic) sea-floor pillowed basalt Quatsino Formation limestone (with a mafic dyke).

Jurassic aged Island Intrusion granite with a quartz-feldspar vein

Nanaimo Group (Cretaceous) Sandstone, mudstone, comglomerate

The City of Nanaimo exists because of coal mining, which took place from around 1850 to 1950. It could be argued that this is also why British Columbia is part of Canada. The only coal mining at present is from the Quinsam mine near to Campbell River. Exploration for coal bed methane is currently underway in the area north of Nanaimo

Leech River Complex (Pacific Rim Terrane) phyllite at Niagara Falls

Crescent Terrane Tertiary, Metchosin Igneous Complex, Sea-floor pillowed basalt

These collisions led to compression of western North America and the up-thrusting of Nanaimo Group and Wrangellia rocks onto Vancouver Island

Cross-section from the edge of the North American plate at the subduction front, across Vancouver Island to the Strait of Georgia. This section shows the Pacific Rim Terrane in brown and the Crescent Terrane in red. Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary rocks are shown in yellow.