Regional stratigraphy of the Brooks Range and North Slope, Arctic Alaska

Handschy, James W.

doi:10.1130/0-8137-2324-8.1

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The geologic history of northern Alaska (e.g., reviews by Hubbard et al, 1987;Grantz et al, 1994;Moore et al, 1994) can be divided into four tectonostratigraphic phases corresponding to the Franklinian, Ellesmerian, Beaufortian, and Brookian megasequences. To minimize confu-sion over historical nomenclature, it is worth noting that the Franklinian megasequence in Alaska as initially defi ned by Lerand (1973) was correlated to strata of the Franklinian Basin in the Canadian Arctic Islands, but timestratigraphic correlations are problematic (e.g., Handschy, 1998). Whereas Late Devonian age strata of the foreland clastic wedge in Canada are Franklinian by defi nition, Middle Devonian age strata are the youngest Franklinian strata in northern Alaska (Grantz et al, 1994;Lane, 2007).…”

Section: The Alaskan Marginmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Closing the Canada Basin: Detrital zircon geochronology relationships between the North Slope of Arctic Alaska and the Franklinian mobile belt of Arctic Canada

et al. 2014

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Constraining the pre-opening paleogeography of the Canadian and Alaskan margins of the Canada Basin is a fi rst-order objective in resolving the plate tectonic evolution of the Amerasia Basin of the Arctic Ocean. The most widely accepted model for opening of the Canada Basin involves counterclockwise rotation of Arctic Alaska away from Arctic Canada about a pole of rotation in the Mackenzie Delta region, although numerous other kinematic models have been proposed. The rotation model is tested using detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology of 12 samples from Middle Mississippian to Early-Middle Jurassic strata (Ellesmerian and lower Beaufortian megasequences) obtained from wells and outcrop along Alaska's North Slope. These northerly-derived strata were deposited in fl uvial to nearshore marine environments along the south-facing (present-day) shelf margin of the Arctic Alaska Basin and contain 360-390 Ma, 415-470 Ma, 500-750 Ma, 0.9-2.1 Ga, and 2.4-3.2 Ga zircon populations. Detrital zircon age populations in Ellesmerian and lower Beaufortian strata are remarkably similar to detrital zircon populations from Devonian foreland clastic wedge strata in the Canadian Arctic Islands and northern Yukon Territory. A paleogeographic setting in which Arctic Alaska received sediments recycled from the Devonian foreland clastic wedge and underlying Franklinian Basin strata is most consistent with the model of Embry (1990) in which northern Alaska lay within the foreland fold and thrust belt of the Franklinian mobile belt prior to the opening of the Canada Basin.The sequences that are inferred to have been the long-lived source region for Ellesmerian and lower Beaufortian strata were uplifted by Paleozoic (predominantly Late Devonian) deformation that has been documented along the Canadian and Alaskan margins. Triassic and Jurassic strata deposited along the Arctic Canada, Arctic Alaska, and northern Yukon shelves have detrital zircon ages that are signifi cantly older than the youngest detrital zircon ages (Mesozoic) in coeval strata that were deposited west of Hanna Trough and north of the Sverdrup Basin axis, supporting continuity of these bathymetric features prior to opening of the Canada Basin.

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Section: The Alaskan Marginmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3). Thus, Late Devonian age strata of the Ellesmerian megasequence in Alaska are partially coeval with uppermost Franklinian strata of the foreland clastic wedge in Canada (Grantz et al, 1994;Moore et al, 1994;Handschy, 1998).…”

Section: The Alaskan Marginmentioning

confidence: 99%

Closing the Canada Basin: Detrital zircon geochronology relationships between the North Slope of Arctic Alaska and the Franklinian mobile belt of Arctic Canada

et al. 2014

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Pre-Mississippian stratigraphy and provenance of the North Slope subterrane of Arctic Alaska I: Platformal carbonate rocks of the northeastern Brooks Range and their signifi cance in circum-Arctic evolution

Strauss

Macdonald

McClelland

2019

Circum-Arctic Structural Events: Tectonic Evolution of the Arctic Margins and Trans-Arctic Links With Adjacent Orogens

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The Neoproterozoic–Early Devonian platformal succession of the North Slope subterrane, northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska, represents a carbonate-dominated peri-Laurentian continental fragment within the composite Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate. The basal ca. 760–720 Ma Mount Weller Group consists of an ~400 m thick mixed siliciclastic and carbonate succession that records the onset of regional extensional tectonism associated with the separation of southeastern Siberia from northern Laurentia during the break-up of Rodinia. These strata are overlain by ca. 720 Ma continental flood basalts of the Kikiktat volcanic rocks, which provide a link between the northeast Brooks Range platformal succession and the ca. 723–717 Ma Franklin large igneous province (LIP) of northern Laurentia. The overlying Sturtian Hula Hula diamictite and Cryogenian–Ediacaran Katakturuk Dolomite record abbreviated thermal subsidence of the northeast Brooks Range platformal succession prior to renewed Ediacaran–early Cambrian extensional tectonism and deposition of the overlying lower Paleozoic Nanook Group (new name). Equivalent strata of the deep-water Cryogenian–lower Cambrian(?) Ikiakpuk Group (new name) are identified herein with new δ13Ccarb and 87Sr/86Sr isotopic data from the Fourth Range of the northeastern Brooks Range. The Nanook Group is formally divided herein into the Black Dog and Sunset Pass formations, which record isolated peri-Laurentian platformal carbonate sedimentation along the northern margin of Laurentia, in an analogous tectonic position to the modern Bahama Banks. A profound Late Ordovician(?)-Early Devonian unconformity within the platformal succession is marked by subaerial exposure, paleokarst development, and tilting of the northeast Brooks Range peri-Laurentian platformal fragment prior to deposition of the overlying Lower Devonian Mount Copleston Limestone.

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Pre-Mississippian stratigraphy and provenance of the North Slope of Arctic Alaska II: Basinal rocks of the northeastern Brooks Range and their significance in circum-Arctic evolution

Strauss

Johnson

Colpron

et al. 2019

Circum-Arctic Structural Events: Tectonic Evolution of the Arctic Margins and Trans-Arctic Links With Adjacent Orogens

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The Neoproterozoic–Early Devonian(?) northeast Brooks Range basinal succession of northern Alaska and Yukon represents a peri-Laurentian deep-marine carbonate and siliciclastic succession within the composite Arctic Alaska–Chukotka microplate. The basal Firth River Group consists of a mixed siliciclastic and carbonate succession that is divided into the informal Redwacke Creek, Malcolm River, and Fish Creek formations. New U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology and δ13Ccarb and 87Sr/86Sr isotopic data from these strata, in combination with previously reported and new trace fossil discoveries, suggest the Firth River Group is Cryogenian(?)–middle(?) Cambrian in age. These strata interfinger with or are depositionally overlain by the siliciclastic-dominated lower Cambrian–Middle Ordovician(?) Neruokpuk and Leffingwell (new name) formations, which potentially record a distal expression of Cambrian extension and condensed passive margin sedimentation along the northern margin of Laurentia. All of these units are unconformably overlain by the synorogenic Clarence River Group, which is divided into the informal Aichilik and Buckland Hills formations. New U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology and previous macrofossil collections suggest the Clarence River Group is Late Ordovician-Early Devonian(?) in age. Here, we present new sedimentological observations, stratigraphic subdivisions, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotope geochemistry, detrital muscovite 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, and carbonate δ13Ccarb and 87Sr/86Sr isotope geochemistry from the basinal succession that revise previous tectono-stratigraphic models for this part of Arctic Alaska and support correlations with age-equivalent strata in the Franklinian basin of the Canadian Arctic Islands and Greenland.

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Regional stratigraphy of the Brooks Range and North Slope, Arctic Alaska

Cited by 5 publications

References 25 publications

Closing the Canada Basin: Detrital zircon geochronology relationships between the North Slope of Arctic Alaska and the Franklinian mobile belt of Arctic Canada

Closing the Canada Basin: Detrital zircon geochronology relationships between the North Slope of Arctic Alaska and the Franklinian mobile belt of Arctic Canada

Pre-Mississippian stratigraphy and provenance of the North Slope subterrane of Arctic Alaska I: Platformal carbonate rocks of the northeastern Brooks Range and their signifi cance in circum-Arctic evolution

Pre-Mississippian stratigraphy and provenance of the North Slope of Arctic Alaska II: Basinal rocks of the northeastern Brooks Range and their significance in circum-Arctic evolution

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