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Paul O’Sullivan

Publications and source records attributed to Paul O’Sullivan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Upper Triassic igneous rocks of the southern Kenai Peninsula, Alaska – Prelude to Early Jurassic subduction along the western Wrangellia composite terrane margin

New U–Pb zircon geochronology identifies a latest Triassic (ca 214–201 Ma) igneous suite of tuff, hypabyssal dikes, and a pluton on the southern Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. The igneous suite was emplaced within Upper Triassic sedimentary rocks along the southern margin of Western Wrangellia, the western-most fragment of the Wrangellia composite terrane. The igneous rocks range from mafic (50.6% SiO 2 ) to felsic (78.3% SiO 2 ), characteristically have less than 1.55% K 2 O, and generally have low trace element abundances. The tonalitic and trondhjemitic magmas were largely sourced in mafic-rich lower crust and incompletely assimilated quartz and other mineral xenocrysts are common. Fractionation involving plagioclase and amphibole is indicated for some magmas and composite intrusions and igneous xenoliths indicate magma mixing was possible. Paleozoic and Precambrian inherited zircons and initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr (0.704103–0.705609) and 143 Nd/ 144 Nd (0.512396–0.512777) ratios indicate that the Western Wrangellia crustal sources are heterogeneous and contain sialic components. The latest Triassic magmatism reflects processes that preceded Early Jurassic subduction along the Wrangellia composite terrane and Pacific Ocean plate boundary. These processes involved heating and melting of mantle lithosphere and lower crust as mantle instabilities accompanied the breaking of the plate boundary linkages. The Late Triassic transition to subduction along the Wrangellia composite terrane margin coincided with the transition to subduction cessation in the Late Triassic arcs of the western Intermontane terranes of Canada. The shift to subduction along the outboard Wrangellia composite terrane margin marks the beginning of the Pacific Ocean–Cordillera plate interactions that came to dominate the tectonic evolution of the northern Cordillera from the Early Jurassic to today.

Alaska↗

USGS2025

Structural analysis of brittle-plastic shear zones in the Sangre de Cristo Range, southern Colorado USA: Superposition of Rio Grande rift extension on Laramide contraction

The Sangre de Cristo Range in southern Colorado exposes some of the deepest Cenozoic structural levels in the Rocky Mountain region, including mylonitic shear zones associated with both the Laramide orogeny and Rio Grande rift. We investigated the relation between Laramide contraction and Rio Grande rift extension with detailed geologic mapping, kinematic analysis, and geochronometry in a 50 km 2 area centered on the Independence Mine shear zone (IMSZ). The 15−100-m-thick IMSZ is one of several shallowly to moderately (∼45° ± 20°) W-SW−dipping brittle-plastic shear zones along the western flank of the range. These shear zones display microstructural evidence of initiation as top-NE contractional mylonite zones, consistent with regional Laramide kinematics, which have been pervasively overprinted by shear fabrics indicating top-SW extensional reactivation. Both top-NE and top-SW shear fabrics involve cataclasis and quartz dislocation creep, although top-SW shear is more commonly localized along phyllosilicate-lined shear bands. Shear zones are hosted predominately within Proterozoic gneiss, and contain abundant chlorite and white mica derived from alteration of hornblende and feldspar, which indicates that weakening driven by fluid reactions played an important role in localizing strain. Extensional overprinting appears to be most pervasive along more steeply dipping portions of shear zones and where secondary phyllosilicates form an interconnected weak phase, which suggests that reactivation was primarily controlled by geometry and rheological contrasts inherited from contraction. One top-SW shear zone adjacent to the IMSZ cuts a late Oligocene gabbro stock, and monazite grains synkinematic with top-SW shear in the IMSZ yielded late Oligocene to Early Miocene U-Th-Pb dates that correspond with initiation of the Rio Grande rift. Reactivation of weak reverse faults may represent an important structural control during initial extension in the middle crust, prior to slip along the high-angle Sangre de Cristo normal fault system.

Colorado↗

USGS2025

Evidence for offset of Cretaceous plutons by the Tintina fault in eastern Alaska: Implications for regional metallogeny

Cretaceous magmatism in eastern interior Alaska is voluminous, but temporally and spatially diverse – suggestive of varying sources and drivers. More than 150 new U-Pb zircon and more than 500 geochemical analyses of Cretaceous plutonic units allow for the grouping of distinct plutonic suites. Magmatism was continuous from 120-66 Ma but can be grouped into temporally distinct pulses from ca. 115-100 Ma, 100-90 Ma, and 75-66 Ma. Geochemical diversity occurs during each pulse, further distinguishing multiple suites. Diverse metallogenic epochs are strongly correlated to pluton chemistry. Mineralization is largely absent prior to 108 Ma. From 108-100 Ma, plutonism is coeval with sparse, but notable Au-quartz veins with variable Bi, As, W, and Mo. From 100-90 Ma, intrusion-related mineralization zones from Au-Cu(-Bi) and U-Th in the northwest to central Au- Bi-As-Te(-W), and Mo-W to the southeast. Porphyry style Cu-Mo(-Au) occurrences occur with the latest Cretaceous plutons emplaced from 75-66 Ma . Restoration of ~450 km of dextral movement on the Tintina fault and comparison of metallogenic and geochemical characteristics of Alaska plutons suggest 100-90 Ma plutons may be the continuation of the metallogenically significant Tombstone, Mayo, and Tungsten suites from the Yukon.

Alaska↗