Geochemical Character of Neogene Volcanic Rocks of the Central Beetle-

Vol ca nic rocks have formed along the length of the North Amer i can Cor dil lera dur ing the Neo gene and Qua ter nary pe ri ods. Vol ca nism of this age is dom i nantly al ka line and ex tends through out cen tral Brit ish Co lum bia and the south ern Yu kon Ter ri tory. Dis tinct prov inces of al ka line magmatism have been iden ti fied in BC, in clud ing the north ern Cor dil lera vol ca nic prov ince, the Chil cotin Group and the Anahim vol ca nic belt (e.g., Ed wards and Rus sell, 2000). Of these, the lat ter two oc cur within the Bee tle-In fested Zone and rep re sent the youn gest units mapped by Mihalynuk et al. (2008). A ma jor-el e ment geo chem i cal in ves ti ga tion of the con tem po ra ne ous Anahim vol ca nic belt and Chil cotin Group bas alts suggests that their com po si tions are controlled by a common process.