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USGS1988

Location maps and list of U.S. Geological Survey reports on water resources in Alaska, 1950 to 1988

The objective of this compilation is to provide a listing of water-resources reports in Alaska by location. For the purposes of this report, Alaska has been divided into six geographic sections: Arctic Slope, West, Southwest, East-Central, Southcentral, and Southeast. In addition, reports are cited in the following categories: Statewide and Topical, Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, and Glaciers. The Statewide and Topical reports are not located on maps. The index to the location maps is on the facing page. The numbers on the location maps refer to the bibliographic citations. (Gaps have been left in the numbering system for additional reports in future editions of this compilation.)

Alaska↗
USGS1989

Alaska Interim Land Cover Mapping Program; final report

In 1985, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated a research project to develop an interim land cover data base for Alaska as an alternative to the nationwide Land Use and Land Cover Mapping Program. The Alaska Interim Land Cover Mapping Program was subsequently created to develop methods for producing a series of land cover maps that utilized the existing Landsat digital land cover classifications produced by and for the major land management agencies for mapping the vegetation of Alaska. The program was successful in producing digital land cover classifications and statistical summaries using a common statewide classification and in reformatting these data to produce l:250,000-scale quadrangle-based maps directly from the Scitex laser plotter. A Federal and State agency review of these products found considerable user support for the maps. Presently the Geological Survey is committed to digital processing of six to eight quadrangles each year.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1992

Molecular and isotopic analyses of the hydrocarbon gases within gas hydrate-bearing rock units of the Prudhoe Bay-Kuparuk River area in northern Alaska

Gas hydrates, which are crystalline substances of water molecules that encase gas molecules, have the potential for being a significant source of natural gas. World-wide estimates for the amount of gas contained in hydrates range from 1.1 x 105 to 2.7 x 108 trillion cubic feet. Gas hydrates exist in many Arctic regions, including the North Slope of Alaska. The two primary objectives of the U.S. Geological Survey Gas Hydrate Research Project are (1) to map the distribution of in-situ gas hydrates on the North Slope of Alaska, and (2) to evaluate the geologic parameters that control the distribution of these gas hydrates. To aid in this study, British Petroleum Exploration, ARCO Alaska, Exxon Company USA, and the Continental Oil Company allowed the U.S. Geological Survey to collect geochemical samples from drilling North Slope production wells. Molecular analysis of gaseous drill cutting and free-flowing gas samples from 10 production wells drilled in the Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk River, and Milne Point oil fields indicates that methane is the primary hydrocarbon gas in the gas hydrate-bearing stratigraphic units. Isotopic data for several of these rock units indicate that the methane within the inferred gas hydrate occurences originated from both microbial and thermogenic processes.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1995

Bibliography for Hayes, Spurr, Crater Peak, Redoubt, Iliamna, Augustine, Douglas, and Aniakchak volcanoes, Alaska

Alaska has more than 40 active volcanoes, many of which are close to the major population centers of south-central Alaska. This bibliography was compiled to assist in the preparation of volcano hazard evaluations at Cook Inlet volcanoes. It lists articles, reports, and maps about the geology and hydrology of Hayes, Spurr, Redoubt, Iliamna, Augustine, and Douglas volcanoes in the Cook Inlet region as well as Aniakchak Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula. References on the biology and archaeology of areas surrounding each volcano also are included because they may provide useful background information.

Alaska↗
USGS1995

Data report for onshore-offshore wide-angle seismic recordings in the Bering-Chukchi Sea, Western Alaska and eastern Siberia

This report presents fourteen deep-crustal wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction profiles recorded onland in western Alaska and eastern Siberia from marine air gun sources in the Bering-Chukchi Seas. During a 20-day period in August, 1994, the R/V Ewing acquired two long (a total of 3754 km) deep-crustal seismic-reflection profiles on the continental shelf of the Bering and Chukchi Seas, in a collaborative project between Stanford University and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The Ewing's 137.7 liter (8355 cu. in.) air gun array was the source for both the multichannel reflection and the wide-angle seismic data. The Ewing, operated by the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, steamed northward from Nunivak Island to Barrow, and returned, firing the air gun array at intervals of either 50 m or 75 m. About 37,700 air gun shots were fired along the northward directed Lines 1 and 2, and more than 40,000 air gun shots were fired along the southward directed Line 3. The USGS and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF), deployed an array of twelve 3-component REFTEK and PDAS recorders in western Alaska and eastern Siberia which continuously recorded the air gun signals fired during the northward bound Lines 1 and 2. Seven of these recorders also continuously recorded the southward bound Line 3. These wide-angle seismic data were acquired to: (1) image reflectors in the upper to lower crust, (2) determine crustal and upper mantle refraction velocities, and (3) provide important constraints on the geometry of the Moho along the seismic lines. In this report, we describe the land recording of wide-angle data conducted by the USGS and the UAF, describe in detail how the wide-angle REFTEK and PDAS data were reduced to common receiver gather seismic sections, and illustrate the wide-angle seismic data obtained by the REFTEKs and PDAS's. Air gun signals were observed to ranges in excess of 400 km, and crustal and upper /mantle refractions indicate substantial variation in the crustal thickness along the transect.

Alaska↗
USGS1996

Catalog of earthquake hypocenters for Augustine, Redoubt, Iliamna, and Mount Spurr volcanoes, Alaska: January 1, 1991 - December 31, 1993

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has maintained a program of seismic monitoring at potentially active volcanoes in the Cook Inlet region since 1988. The principal objectives of this program include the seismic surveillance of the Cook Inlet volcanoes and the investigation of seismic processes associated with active volcanism. This catalog reflects the status and evolution of the seismic monitoring program, and presents the basic seismic data for the time interval January 1, 1991, to December 31, 1993. For an interpretation of these data the reader should refer to several recent articles on volcano related seismicity in the Cook Inlet region (e.g. Jolly and others, 1994; Power and others, 1995; and McNutt and others, 1995). A similar catalog covers the period from October 12, 1989 to December 31, 1991 (Power and others 1993). The AVO seismic monitoring program has undergone significant changes during the catalog period. The changes included 1) new seismic stations placed at Mount Spurr and Redoubt Volcano, resulting in increased earthquake detection capability and improved earthquake locations, 2) the addition of several regional stations to the seismic data acquisition system which improved location quality near the volcano and enhanced our ability to scale eruptions and measure magnitudes of the largest volcanic earthquakes, 3) installation of a new event detection algorithm XDETECT (Rogers, 1993), which offered increased data collection capabilities , 4) modifications to the earthquake location program HYPOELLIPSE (Lahr, 1989) which now allows distinct velocity models and station corrections at each volcanic center, and 5) the addition of seismic stations at Augustine and niamna volcanoes to the data acquisition/location system. The 1992 eruptions at Mount Spurr's Crater Peak vent provided the highlight of the catalog period. The crisis included three sub-plinian eruptions, which occurred on June 27, August 18, and September 16-17, 1992. The three eruptions punctuated a complex seismic sequence which included volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquakes, tremor, and both deep and shallow long period (LP) earthquakes. The seismic sequence began on August 18, 1991, with a small swarm of volcano-tectonic events beneath Crater Peak, and spread throughout the volcanic complex by November of the same year. Elevated levels of seismicity persisted at Mount Spurr beyond the catalog time period.

Alaska↗
USGS1997

Preliminary Volcano-Hazard Assessment for Redoubt Volcano, Alaska

Redoubt Volcano is a stratovolcano located within a few hundred kilometers of more than half of the population of Alaska. This volcano has erupted explosively at least six times since historical observations began in 1778. The most recent eruption occurred in 1989-90 and similar eruptions can be expected in the future. The early part of the 1989-90 eruption was characterized by explosive emission of substantial volumes of volcanic ash to altitudes greater than 12 kilometers above sea level and widespread flooding of the Drift River valley. Later, the eruption became less violent, as developing lava domes collapsed, forming short-lived pyroclastic flows associated with low-level ash emission. Clouds of volcanic ash had significant effects on air travel as they drifted across Alaska, over Canada, and over parts of the conterminous United States causing damage to jet aircraft. Economic hardships were encountered by the people of south-central Alaska as a result of ash fallout. Based on new information gained from studies of the 1989-90 eruption, an updated assessment of the principal volcanic hazards is now possible. Volcanic hazards from a future eruption of Redoubt Volcano require public awareness and planning so that risks to life and property are reduced as much as possible.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1999

Reconnaissance geologic map of the Duncan Canal-Zarembo Island area, southeastern Alaska

The geologic map of the Duncan Canal-Zarembo Island area is the result of a multidisciplinary investigation of an area where an airborne geophysical survey was flown in the spring of 1997. The area was chosen for the geophysical survey because of its high mineral potential, a conclusion of the Petersburg Mineral Resource Assessment Project, conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1978 to 1982. The City of Wrangell, in southeastern Alaska, the Bureau of Land Management, and the State of Alaska provided funding for the airborne geophysical survey. The geophysical data from the airborne survey were released in September 1997. The U.S. Geological Survey conducted field investigations in the spring and fall of 1998 to identify and understand the sources of the geophysical anomalies from the airborne survey. This geologic map updates the geologic maps of the same area published by David A. Brew at 1:63,360 (Brew, 1997a-m; Brew and Koch, 1997). This update is based on 3 weeks of field work, new fossil collections, and the geophysical maps released by the State of Alaska ( DGGS, Staff, and others, 1997a-o). Geologic data from outcrops, fossil ages, radiometric ages, and geochemical signatures were used to identify lithostratigraphic units. Where exposure is poor, geophysical characteristics were used to help control the boundaries of these units. No unit boundaries were drawn based on geophysics alone. The 7200 Hertz resistivity maps (DGGS, Staff, and others, 1997k-o) were particularly helpful for controlling unit boundaries, because different stratigraphic units have distinctive characteristic conductive signatures (Karl and others, 1998). Increased knowledge of unit ages, unit structure, and unit distribution, led to improved understanding of the nature of unit contacts. Northwest- to southwest-directed thrust faults, particularly on Kupreanof Island, are new discovery. Truncated faults and map patterns suggest there were at least 2 generations of thrusting, and that the thrust faults have been folded. Subsequent right-lateral strike-slip NW-SE faults, have offset thrust faults, and these in turn are offset by N-S right-lateral strike-slip faults. Our fieldwork raised as many questions as it answered, and we see this map as a progress report at a reconnaissance level. The main contributions of this map are 1) the greater distribution of Triassic rocks, 2) increased fossil age information, and 3) the identification of thrust faults within and between units.

Alaska↗
USGS1999

Workplan for U.S. Geological Survey hydrologic data-collection and support activities on Fort Wainwright, Alaska, 1994-97

The U.S. Army Alaska is responsible for environmental activities on Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks, Alaska. In order to better meet the needs of environmental investigations, the Army requires geohydrologic information about the Fort Wainwright area. Since 1994, the U.S. Geological Survey has been working in cooperation with the U.S. Army Alaska and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to investigate the geohydrology of the Fort Wainwright area. The primary objectives of the study are to collect basic ground-water and surface-water data and to support ongoing environmental investigations by other agencies. This report is the workplan describing the technical methods used by the USGS to meet these objectives. It includes details on field procedures, data collection, and analyses of water samples.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1925

Aniakchak Crater, Alaska Peninsula

The discovery of a gigantic crater northwest of Aniakchak Bay (see fig. 11) closes what had been thought to be a wide gap in the extensive series of volcanoes occurring at irregular intervals for nearly 600 miles along the axial line of the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. In this belt there are more active and recently active volcanoes than in all the rest of North America. Exclusive of those on the west side of Cook Inlet, which, however, belong to the same group, this belt contains at least 42 active or well-preserved volcanoes and about half as many mountains suspected or reported to be volcanoes. The locations of some of these mountains and the hot springs on the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands are shown on a map prepared by G. A. Waring. Attention has been called to these volcanoes for nearly two centuries, but a record of their activity since the discovery of Alaska is far from being complete, and an adequate description of them as a group has never been written. Owing to their recent activity or unusual scenic beauty, some of the best known of the group are Mounts Katmai, Bogoslof, and Shishaldin, but there are many other beautiful and interesting cones and craters.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1989

Distribution, facies, ages, and proposed tectonic associations of regionally metamorphosed rocks in northern Alaska

Approximately half of the exposed bedrock in northern Alaska has been regionally metamorphosed. The most widespread metamorphic episode that affected northern Alaska occurred under low-grade, initially high-pressure (blueschist-facies) conditions during Mesozoic time. This episode is thought to have been related to the obduction of one or more oceanic terranes onto the continental margin of North America. Rocks whose metamorphism is considered to have been part of this major episode have an aerial distribution of approximately 10,000 km 2 in the southern Brooks Range, 5,000 km 2 across much of the Seward Peninsula, and 800 km 2 in the Ruby geanticline within the southeastern borderlands of the Yukon-Koyukuk basin. In the southern Brooks Range and on the Seward Peninsula, continental rocks experienced a clockwise pressure-temperature path that evolved during Middle Jurassic to late Early Cretaceous time from the low- to high-temperature subfacies of the blueschist facies and, finally, due to decreasing pressure, evolved to the greenschist facies. Metamorphism in the southern Brooks Range was associated with north-vergent compression along a south-dipping subduction zone that emplaced the oceanic rocks of the Angayucham terrane (represented by klippen of ultramafic rocks and prehnite-pumpellyite-facies metabasite, metatuff, metachert, and metasedimentary rocks) onto the continental margin. The present structural and metamorphic relation between the continental blueschistand greenschist-facies rocks and the structurally overlying lower temperature and pressure oceanic prehnite-pumpellyite-facies rocks to the south indicates that postmetamorphic or late metamorphic down-to-the-south, low-angle extensional faulting has dismembered the upper plate and removed much of the section that originally buried the blueschists. High-pressure metamorphism on the Seward Peninsula probably had a similar origin to that in the southern Brooks Range, but remnants of the overriding plate have not been identified, and the mechanism (such as left-lateral strike-slip faulting or oroclinal bending) by which the high-pressure rocks in the two areas were separated is not known. A significant difference between the thermal histories of these two metamorphic belts also is enigmatic: low-grade metamorphism on the Seward Peninsula was followed by intermediate-pressure amphibolite-facies and, locally, granulite-facies metamorphism as well as plutonism in mid-Cretaceous time, but no such high-temperature events have been documented within the high-pressure belt of the southern Brooks Range. In the Ruby geanticline, glaucophane, attesting to high-pressure metamorphism, is sporadically developed both within the continental rocks of the lower plate and, less commonly, near the base of the overlying oceanic thrust sheets. The direction from which the oceanic rocks were thrust and determination of which oceanic sheets were involved is unclear. Although the majority of the metamorphic episodes that affected northern Alaska occurred during the Mesozoic, older episodes have been documented or are suspected in a few areas. Late Proterozoic medium-grade metamorphism has been documented in a small area in the southwestern Brooks Range, Middle to Late Proterozoic or early Paleozoic metamorphism just south of the Ruby geanticline, and middle Paleozoic metamorphism in the eastern Brooks Range. High-temperature, high-pressure metamorphism of klippen in the Yukon-Tanana upland is tentatively considered to have occurred in early Paleozoic time. Metamorphic ages of units in several areas, particularly in the Ruby geanticline and the Yukon-Tanana upland, can be bracketed only between the probable Paleozoic age of their protoliths and the late Early Cretaceous age of postmetamorphic granitoids that intrude them.

Alaska↗
USGS1903

The mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell district, Alaska

The Tenth Census, taken in 1880, gives the number of white inhabitants of the Territory of Alaska as 430. In the decade from 1880 to 1890 this number had increased to 4,298, and in the following decade, that between 1890 and 1900, a further increase to 30,493 is recorded. The Director of the Mint in his report for 1891 gives the value of the yield of the Territory in precious metals as $772,197. By 1900 these figures were increased to $8,265,772. These statistics of the growth in population and in mineral output of Alaska serve as an index to the general increase in the importance and· commercial value of the Territory as an integral part of the domain of the United States. The larger part of this growth began with the discovery, late in the autumn of 1896, of the placer deposits of Klondike River in Canadian Yukon territory. Soon after this discovery there was a great influx of prospectors, miners, and, business men to all parts of Alaska, but particularly to the regions tributary to the Yukon, and with this increase in population came a proportional increase in transportation facilities and business interests.

Alaska↗
USGS2000

Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1998

The 14 papers that follows continue the series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports on investigations in the geologic sciences in Alaska. The series presents new and sometimes preliminary findings that are of interest to earth scientists in academia, government, and industry; to land and resource managers; and to the general public. Reports presented in Geologic Studies in Alaska cover a broad spectrum of topics from all parts of the State (fig. 1), which serves to emphasize the diversity of USGS efforts to meet the Nation’s needs for earth-science information in Alaska.

Alaska↗
USGS2003

Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2001

The collection of 14 studies that follow continues the series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigative reports in Alaska under the broad umbrella of the geologic sciences. This series presents new and sometimes-preliminary findings that are of interest to Earth scientists in academia, government, and industry; to land and resource managers; and to the general public. The reports presented in Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska cover a broad spectrum of topics from various parts of the State, serving to emphasize the diversity of USGS efforts to meet the Nation’s needs for Earth-science information in Alaska.The chapters in this volume are organized under the topics Geologic Framework, Environment and Climate, and Hazards. This organization is intended to reflect the scope and objectives of current USGS programs in Alaska.

Alaska↗
USGS2008

A major unconformity between Permian and Triassic strata at Cape Kekurnoi, Alaska Peninsula: Old and new observations on stratigraphy and hydrocarbon potential

A major angular unconformity separates carbonates and shales of the Upper Triassic Kamishak Formation from an underlying unnamed sequence of Permian agglomerate, volcaniclastic rocks (sandstone), and limestone near Puale Bay on the Alaska Peninsula. For the first time, we photographically document the angular unconformity in outcrop, as clearly exposed in a seacliff ~1.3 mi (2.1 km) west of Cape Kekurnoi in the Karluk C–4 and C–5 1:63,360-scale quadrangles. This unconformity is also documented by examination of core chips, ditch cuttings, and (or) open-hole electrical logs in two deep oil-and-gas-exploration wells (Humble Oil & Refining Co.’s Bear Creek No. 1 and Standard Oil Co. of California’s Grammer No. 1) drilled along the Alaska Peninsula southwest of Puale Bay. A third well (Richfield Oil Corp.’s Wide Bay Unit No. 1), south of and structurally on trend with the other two wells, probed deeply into the Paleozoic basement, but Triassic strata are absent, owing to either a major unconformity or a large fault. Here we briefly review current and newly acquired data on Permian and Triassic rocks of the Puale Bay-Becharof Lake-Wide Bay area on the basis of an examination of surface and subsurface materials. The resulting reinterpretation of the Permian and Triassic stratigraphy has important economic ramifications for oil and gas exploration on the Alaska Peninsula and in the Cook Inlet basin. We also present a history of petroleum exploration targeting Upper Triassic reservoirs in the region.

Alaska↗
USGS2010

Remote telemetered and time-lapse cameras at Augustine Volcano: Chapter 12 in The 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Before and during the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) installed a network of telemetered and nontelemetered cameras in Homer, Alaska, and on Augustine Island. On December 1, 2005, a network camera was installed at the Homer Field Station, a University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute (UAF/GI) facility on a bluff near Homer, where telemetered Augustine data are received. The camera placed there provides observations of the volcano from a distance of 126 km (78 miles) in daylight hours during clear sky conditions. On January 9, 2006, a radio-telemetered network camera was installed on the lower eastern flank of the volcano at 'Mound,' 4.4 km (2.7 miles) from the summit. The proximity of this camera provided for near-field images of the volcano. A nontelemetered camera with onsite recording was installed 3.8 km (2.4 miles) north of the volcano's summit near Burr Point on December 17, 2005. This camera recorded high-resolution images at a rate of 4 images per hour through much of the eruptive sequence. A low-light camera was installed on February 8, 2006, at the Homer facility to augment the extreme low-light camera installed by the UAF/GI (Sentman and others, this volume). On September 10, 2006, a second radio-telemetered network camera was installed at Lagoon camp on the west side of Augustine Island, 5.4 km (3.3 miles) west-northwest of the summit. The installation of these camera systems proved valuable for assessing volcanic activity, determining ground hazards and on-island weather for visiting field teams, and deciphering depositional history after the eruption.

Alaska↗
USGS2011

The Cannery Formation: Devonian to Early Permian arc-marginal deposits within the Alexander Terrane, southeastern Alaska

The Cannery Formation consists of green, red, and gray ribbon chert, siliceous siltstone, graywacke-chert turbidites, and volcaniclastic sandstone. Because it contains early Permian fossils at and near its type area in Cannery Cove, on Admiralty Island in southeastern Alaska, the formation was originally defined as a Permian stratigraphic unit. Similar rocks exposed in Windfall Harbor on Admiralty Island contain early Permian bryozoans and brachiopods, as well as Mississippian through Permian radiolarians. Black and green bedded chert with subordinate lenses of limestone, basalt, and graywacke near Kake on Kupreanof Island was initially correlated with the Cannery Formation on the basis of similar lithology but was later determined to contain Late Devonian conodonts. Permian conglomerate in Keku Strait contains chert cobbles inferred to be derived from the Cannery Formation that yielded Devonian and Mississippian radiolarians. On the basis of fossils recovered from a limestone lens near Kake and chert cobbles in the Keku Strait area, the age of the Cannery Formation was revised to Devonian and Mississippian, but this revision excludes rocks in the type locality, in addition to excluding bedded chert on Kupreanof Island east of Kake that contains radiolarians of Late Pennsylvanian and early Permian age. The black chert near Kake that yielded Late Devonian conodonts is nearly contemporaneous with black chert interbedded with limestone that also contains Late Devonian conodonts in the Saginaw Bay Formation on Kuiu Island. The chert cobbles in the conglomerate in Keku Strait may be derived from either the Cannery Formation or the Saginaw Bay Formation and need not restrict the age of the Cannery Formation, regardless of their source. The minimum age of the Cannery Formation on both Admiralty Island and Kupreanof Island is constrained by the stratigraphically overlying fossiliferous Pybus Formation, of late early and early late Permian age. Because bedded radiolarian cherts on both Admiralty and Kupreanof Islands contain radiolarians as young as Permian, the age of the Cannery Formation is herein extended to Late Devonian through early Permian, to include the early Permian rocks exposed in its type locality. The Cannery Formation is folded and faulted, and its stratigraphic thickness is unknown but inferred to be several hundred meters. The Cannery Formation represents an extended period of marine deposition in moderately deep water, with slow rates of deposition and limited clastic input during Devonian through Pennsylvanian time and increasing argillaceous, volcaniclastic, and bioclastic input during the Permian. The Cannery Formation comprises upper Paleozoic rocks in the Alexander terrane of southeastern Alaska. In the pre-Permian upper Paleozoic, the tectonic setting of the Alexander terrane consisted of two or more evolved oceanic arcs. The lower Permian section is represented by a distinctive suite of rocks in the Alexander terrane, which includes sedimentary and volcanic rocks containing early Permian fossils, metamorphosed rocks with early Permian cooling ages, and intrusive rocks with early Permian cooling ages, that form discrete northwest-trending belts. After restoration of 180 km of dextral displacement of the Chilkat-Chichagof block on the Chatham Strait Fault, these belts consist, from northeast to southwest, of (1) bedded chert, siliceous argillite, volcaniclastic turbidites, pillow basalt, and limestone of the Cannery Formation and the Porcupine Slate of Gilbert and others (1987); (2) greenschist-facies Paleozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks that have Permian cooling ages; (3) silty limestone and calcareous argillite interbedded with pillow basalt and volcaniclastic rocks of the Halleck Formation and the William Henry Bay area; and (4) intermediate-composition and syenitic plutons. These belts correspond to components of an accretionary complex, contemporary metamorphic rocks, forearc-basin deposits, and the roots of a volcanic arc, respectively. The similar early Permian sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous ages are inferred to represent an arc complex that resulted from juxtaposition of a structural lower plate consisting of metamorphosed Paleozoic arc rocks of the Alexander terrane exposed on Admiralty Island, and a structural upper plate consisting of stratigraphically distinct, unmetamorphosed Paleozoic arc rocks representing another component of the Alexander terrane exposed on Chichagof, Kuiu, and Prince of Wales Islands. The Cannery Formation is associated with the lower-plate package. A volcanic arc with magmatic ages ranging from 293 to 278 Ma formed during subduction of the basin between these two (or more) components of the Alexander terrane in southeastern Alaska. Metamorphic-mineral-cooling ages ranging from 273 to 260 Ma are interpreted to date an early Permian orogenic event. Both the early Permian lower- and upper-plate rocks are unconformably overlain by late early and early late Permian limestone, dolostone, and conglomerate of the Pybus Formation that provide a minimum age for this collision.

Alaska↗
USGS2015

Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Volume 15

Summary Professional Paper 1814— Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, Volume 15 —continues a long-running series of collected volumes of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientific reports on Alaska. This series presents new and sometimes preliminary findings that are of interest to Earth and biological scientists in academia, government, and industry; to land and resource managers; and to the general public. The series covers a broad spectrum of scientific topics, from various parts of Alaska, serving to emphasize the diversity of USGS efforts to meet the Nation’s needs for Earth-science information in the State. The USGS provides reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

Professional Paper↗