Geological Society of America Bulletin, Published Online on 5 April 2013 As Doi:10.1130/B30738.1
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 5 April 2013 as doi:10.1130/B30738.1 Geological Society of America Bulletin Focused exhumation in the syntaxis of the western Chugach Mountains and Prince William Sound, Alaska Jeanette C. Arkle, Phillip A. Armstrong, Peter J. Haeussler, Michael G. Prior, Sean Hartman, Kassandra L. Sendziak and Jade A. Brush Geological Society of America Bulletin published online 5 April 2013; doi: 10.1130/B30738.1 Email alerting services click www.gsapubs.org/cgi/alerts to receive free e-mail alerts when new articles cite this article Subscribe click www.gsapubs.org/subscriptions/ to subscribe to Geological Society of America Bulletin Permission request click http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/copyrt.htm#gsa to contact GSA Copyright not claimed on content prepared wholly by U.S. government employees within scope of their employment. Individual scientists are hereby granted permission, without fees or further requests to GSA, to use a single figure, a single table, and/or a brief paragraph of text in subsequent works and to make unlimited copies of items in GSA's journals for noncommercial use in classrooms to further education and science. This file may not be posted to any Web site, but authors may post the abstracts only of their articles on their own or their organization's Web site providing the posting includes a reference to the article's full citation. GSA provides this and other forums for the presentation of diverse opinions and positions by scientists worldwide, regardless of their race, citizenship, gender, religion, or political viewpoint. Opinions presented in this publication do not reflect official positions of the Society. Notes Advance online articles have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication but have not yet appeared in the paper journal (edited, typeset versions may be posted when available prior to final publication). Advance online articles are citable and establish publication priority; they are indexed by GeoRef from initial publication. Citations to Advance online articles must include the digital object identifier (DOIs) and date of initial publication. Copyright © 2013 Geological Society of America Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 5 April 2013 as doi:10.1130/B30738.1 Focused exhumation in the syntaxis of the western Chugach Mountains and Prince William Sound, Alaska Jeanette C. Arkle1,†, Phillip A. Armstrong1,§, Peter J. Haeussler2, Michael G. Prior1, Sean Hartman1, Kassandra L. Sendziak1, and Jade A. Brush1 1Geological Sciences, California State University–Fullerton, 800 N. State College Boulevard, Fullerton, California 92834, USA 2U.S. Geological Survey, 4210 University Drive, Anchorage, Alaska 99508, USA ABSTRACT ~11 km of rock uplift north of the Contact fi ned by the maximum curvature of major fault fault and ~4–5 km of rock uplift in Prince systems and topographic trends (Figs. 1 and The western Chugach Mountains and William Sound to the south. These data are 2A), and thus it is a critical region for a more Prince William Sound are located in a syn- consistent with a deformation model where complete understanding of the effects of plate- taxial bend, which lies above fl at-slab subduc- the western Chugach core has approached boundary deformation in southern Alaska. tion of the Yakutat microplate and inboard of long-term exhumational steady state, though Long-term deformation in the western the Yakutat collision zone of southern Alaska. exhumation rates have probably increased Chugach Mountains is evident by high peaks The syntaxis is characterized by arcuate fault in the last ~5 m.y. We interpret that rock up- that reach elevations of ~4 km and rugged topog- systems and steep, high topography, which lift in the overriding wedge has been driven raphy, constituting the greatest topographic re- suggest focused uplift and exhumation of the dominantly by underplating, with long-term lief of any emergent accretionary prism in the accretionary prism. We examined the exhu- vertical displacement concentrated at the world. Much of the topography is infl uenced by mation history with low-temperature thermo- southern edge of the Chugach Mountains and glacial erosion, as this area retains one third of chronometry of 42 samples collected across centered on the Contact fault system. Though the present glaciated area of Alaska and is situ- the region. These new apatite (U-Th)/He, our data do not unequivocally differentiate ated along the southern Alaska coast exposed to apatite fi ssion-track, zircon (U-Th)/He, and between Pliocene tectonic- or climate-related high coastal precipitation. The western Chugach zircon fi ssion-track ages, combined with ages causes for increased exhumation in the last syntaxis as defi ned in this study is the area lo- from surrounding regions, show a bull’s- ~5 m.y., we interpret the increased rates to be cated south of the Border Ranges fault system eye pattern, with the youngest ages focused due to increased infl ux of underplated sedi- and includes northern Prince William Sound, on the western Chugach syntaxis. The ages ments that are derived from erosion in the where the topographic grain and the general have ranges of ca. 10–4 Ma, ca. 35–11 Ma, ca. Saint Elias orogen collision zone. strike of bedding, cleavage, and major fault 33–25 Ma, and ca. 44–27 Ma, respectively. The systems display the greatest curvature between youngest ages are located on the south (wind- INTRODUCTION the Kenai Mountains to the west and the eastern ward) side of the Chugach Mountains and Chugach–Saint Elias Mountains region to the just north of the Contact fault. Sequentially Many mechanisms have been proposed east (Figs. 1 and 2). The western Chugach syn- higher closure temperature systems are nested for driving rock uplift and mountain building taxis is part of the long-lived Alaskan orocline across Prince William Sound in the south, throughout Alaska, but most have been related (Carey, 1958; Glen, 2004), which is thought to the Chugach Mountains, and the Talkeetna to the collision and fl at-slab subduction of the have developed during the Late Cretaceous and Mountains to the north. Computed exhu- Yakutat microplate, which began subducting in Paleocene (Coe et al., 1985; Plafker, 1987). We mation rates typically are 0.2 mm/yr across the Cenozoic (Plafker, 1987; Bruhn et al., 2004; refer to the region roughly surrounding Mount Prince William Sound, increase abruptly to Haeussler, 2008) and possibly as early as the late Marcus Baker in the western Chugach Moun- ~0.7 mm/yr across and adjacent to the Con- Eocene–early Oligocene (Finzel et al., 2011). tains and northern Prince William Sound, where tact fault system, and decrease to ~0.4 mm/yr The subducted Yakutat microplate has been geo- rock uplift and exhumation rates are highest, as north of the core of the Chugach Mountains. physically imaged (Eberhart-Phillips et al., 2006; the Chugach core (Fig. 1). High rock uplift and The abrupt age and exhumation rate changes Fuis et al., 2008), and these images show that the exhumation within structural syntaxes is com- centered on the Contact fault system suggest subducted Yakutat microplate extends from the mon in orogenic belts throughout Alaska (e.g., that it may be a critical structural system for Saint Elias Mountains region in the southeast to Fitzgerald et al., 1995; O’Sullivan and Cur- facilitating rock uplift. Our data are most the Alaska Range in the northwest (Fig. 1). The rie, 1996; Enkelmann et al., 2009; Spotila and consistent with Yakutat fl at-slab subduc- Yakutat collision is driving deformation into Berger, 2010) and elsewhere (e.g., Zeitler et al., tion starting in the Oligocene, and since then central interior Alaska (e.g., Haeussler, 2008); 2001; Koons et al., 2002; Finnegan et al., 2008), however, the timing of mountain building in the and thus it is important to understand the causes western Chugach Mountains and Prince Wil- and mechanisms of deformation in different †Current address: Department of Geology, Univer- sity of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 0013, Cincinnati, Ohio liam Sound region and its relationship to Yakutat types of orogenic systems. 45221, USA. collision and subduction remain unclear. This The purpose of this study is to quantify ex- §E-mail: [email protected] region is composed of a major syntaxis, as de- humation in the western Chugach syntaxis and GSA Bulletin; Month/Month 2013; v. 1xx; no. X/X; p. 1–18; doi: 10.1130/B30738.1; 9 fi gures; 2 tables; Data Repository item 2013172. For permission to copy, contact [email protected] 1 © 2013 Geological Society of America Geological Society of America Bulletin, published online on 5 April 2013 as doi:10.1130/B30738.1 Arkle et al. 64°N 150°W 140°W Much of the permanent Yakutat-related defor- Mt. Hayes eastern C A mation in southern Alaska is accommodated in Alaska Range U N . A S. D the Saint Elias orogen, located southeast of the A Chugach core, and many studies have addressed Mt.McKinley Denali Fault Denali Fault central deformation and exhumation in this orogenic Alaska Range belt (e.g., O’Sullivan and Currie, 1996; Bruhn Talkeetna Wrangell Kilometers et al., 2004; Pavlis et al., 2004; Spotila et al., Mountains Mountains 100 61°N 2004; Meigs et al., 2008; Berger et al., 2008a, 2008b; Berger and Spotila, 2008; Enkelmann Tordrillo Mt.Marcus Borde et al., 2008, 2009; Spotila and Berger, 2010). Mountains Chugach r Ranges Fault Denali F Baker Mountains stle Mountain Fault Mt. Logan Thermochronology data from the Saint Elias Ca ault Anchorage Contact Fault St. Elias Mountains Mountains and eastern Chugach Mountains, es- Kenai Prince CSEF pecially around the Bering and Malaspina Gla- Mountains William Sound BG MG ciers, document the highest exhumation rates Mt. 59°N in Alaska of ~4 mm/yr (Spotila et al., 2004; SAB Fairweather PZ 50 mm/yr Berger et al., 2008a, 2008b; Berger and Spotila, Cook Inlet pole KIZ YAKUTAT 2008; Enkelmann et al., 2008, 2009; Spotila and MICROPLATE DRZ Fairwea order Ranges Fault Berger, 2010).