The process of flat-slab subduction results in complex deformation of overlying forearcs, yet how this deformation decays with distance away from the zone of underthrusting is not well understood. In south central Alaska, flat-slab subduction of the Yakutat microplate drives shortening and rock uplift in a broad coastal orogenic belt. Defined limits of the zone of underthrusting allow testing how orogenesis responds to the transition from flat slab to normal subduction. To better understand forearc deformation across this transition, apatite (U-Th)/He low temperature thermochronometry is used to quantify the exhumation history of the Kenai Mountains that are within this transition zone. Measured ages in the northern Kenai Mountains vary from 10-20 Ma and merge with the exhumation pattern in the Chugach Mountains to the northeast, where high exhumation occurs due to flat-slab-related deformation. In the southern Kenai Mountains, however, ages increase to 30-50 Ma across a transition near Seward, Alaska, above the zone from flat-slab to normal subduction. These ages are relatively old in comparison to ages determined in other studies in southern Alaska and suggest minimal exhumation. Furthermore, transitions in topographic expression of the coastal orogen also occur at the margin of Yakutat underthrusting. These observations suggest that either deformation associated with flat-slab subduction requires tens of kilometers to decay with distance away from the zone of underthrusting, or that orogenesis in the Kenai Mountains is driven by a distinct tectonic cause. A potential driver of deformation is underplating of thick sediments, specifically the Surveyor Submarine Fan, along the Aleutian Megathrust, analogous to the tectonic mechanism responsible for the emergence of the Kodiak Island forearc. If correct, this may represent a recent tectonic transition in the region, given the minimal exhumation of the rugged Kenai Mountains despite the presence of an erosion-conducive glacial climate.National Science Foundation EAR-1123688/112364

No abstract

The nexus of plate-boundary deformation at the northern end of the Coachella Valley in southern California (USA) is complex on multiple levels, including rupture dynamics, slip transfer, and three-dimensional strain partitioning on nonvertical faults (including the San Andreas fault). We quantify uplift of mountain blocks in this region using geomorphology and low-temperature thermo chronometry to constrain the role of longterm vertical deformation in this tectonic system. New apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) ages confirm that the rugged San Jacinto Mountains (SJM) do not exhibit a record of rapid Neogene exhumation. In contrast, in the Little San Bernardino Mountains (LSBM), rapid exhumation over the past 5 m.y. is apparent beneath a tilted AHe partial retention zone, based on new and previously published data. Both ranges tilt away from the Coachella Valley and have experienced minimal denudation from their upper surface, based on preservation of weathered granitic erosion surfaces. We interpret rapid exhumation at 5 Ma and the gentle tilt of the erosion surface and AHe isochrons in the LSBM to have resulted from rift shoulder uplift associated with extension prior to onset of transpression in the Coachella Valley. We hypothesize that the SJM have experienced similar rift shoulder uplift, but an additional mechanism must be called upon to explain the pinnacle-like form, rugged escarpment, and topographic disequilibrium of the northernmost SJM massif. We propose that this form stems from erosional resistance of the Peninsular Ranges batholith relative to more-erodible foliated metamorphic rocks that wrap around it. Our interpretations suggest that neither the LSBM nor SJM have been significantly uplifted under the present transpressive configuration of the San Andreas fault system, but instead represent relict highs due to previous tectonic and erosional forcing.GEOSPHERE GEOSPHERE, v. 16, no. 3

Geomorphic mapping, landform and sediment analysis, and cosmogenic 10Be and 36Cl ages from erratics, moraine boulders, and glacially polished bedrock help define the timing of the Wisconsinan glaciations in the Chugach Mountains of south-central Alaska. The maximum extent of glaciation in the Chugach Mountains during the last glacial period (marine isotope stages [MIS] 5d through 2) occurred at ~50 ka during MIS 3. In the Williwaw Lakes valley and Thompson Pass areas of the Chugach Mountains, moraines date to ~26.7 ± 2.4, 25.4 ± 2.4, 18.8 ± 1.6, 19.3 ± 1.7, and 17.3 ± 1.5 ka, representing times of glacial retreat. These data suggest that glaciers retreated later in the Chugach Mountain than in other regions of Alaska. Reconstructed equilibrium-line altitude depressions range from 400 to 430 m for late Wisconsinan glacial advances in the Chugach Mountains, representing a possible temperature depression of 2.1–2.3°C. These reconstructed temperature depressions suggest that climate was warmer in this part of Alaska than in many other regions throughout Alaska and elsewhere in the world during the global last glacial maximum.

No abstract