Kelsey Krossa

Kelsey Krossa graduated from Simon Fraser University (Canada) with a BSc (Honours) in Earth Sciences where she completed an honours thesis project supervised by Dr. Dan Gibson on the tectonometamorphic evolution of the Monashee Complex using in-situ U-Th-Pb petrochronology on metamorphic monazite. Kelsey went on to do an MSc degree at the University of British Columbia – Okanagan (Canada) which she recently completed in June of 2024. Under the supervision of Dr. Brendan Dyck, her project focused on the timing of ductile shear along the Wopmay fault zone located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Kelsey’s MSc project found evidence for shear recrystallization (plastic deformation) along the Wopmay fault zone using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis coupled with in situ apatite U-Pb geochronology. EBSD analysis was performed to examine accessory apatite crystals for internal deformation as well as examine the crystallographic preferred orientations of the major rock form phases quartz, anorthite, and orthoclase. Combining the EBSD data with the in-situ apatite U-Pb geochronology, her project contributes a new age range of ca. 1890–1820 Ma for apatite shear recrystallization interpreted to have resulted from the strike-slip movement along the Wopmay fault zone. Kelsey’s project provides new data on the timing and kinematics of the Wopmay fault zone which in turn provides new insights on the tectonic evolution of the Hottah terrane and western margin of the Slave craton, both of which have implications for the broader evolution of northwestern Laurentia. Having completed her MSc degree, Kelsey will be moving on to starting a PhD degree at Simon Fraser University in 2025.