1 1 Provenance, U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology, Hf isotopic analyses, and Cr- 2 spinel geochemistry of the northeast Yukon Koyukuk Basin, AK: Implications for 3 Alaska interior basin development and sedimentation 4 5 Timothy M. O’Brien *Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, 6 CA 94305, USA [email protected] 7 Elizabeth L. Miller Department of Geological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, 8 CA 94305, USA [email protected] 9 Victoria Pease Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, 10 Stockholm, Sweden [email protected] 11 Leslie A. Hayden U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA 12 [email protected] 13 Christopher M. Fisher School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Washington State 14 University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA [email protected] 15 Jeremy K. Hourigan Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of 16 California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA [email protected] 17 Jeff D. Vervoort School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Washington State 18 University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA [email protected] 19 *Corresponding author 20 21 Abstract 22 The Yukon Koyukuk Basin is a large depression that covers ~118,000 sq. km in 23 western interior Alaska that is divided into two sub-basins by a volcanic arc assemblage. 2 24 Interpretations of the depositional setting of the northern Kobuk Koyukuk sub-basin vary 25 from a syn-collisional forearc basin to a post-orogenic successor basin formed by 26 lithospheric extension. New results from sandstones and conglomerates collected from 27 the Kobuk Koyukuk sub-basin provide evidence for the timing of basin development, 28 insight into the provenance of coarse siliciclastic sediments, and the nature of Cretaceous 29 paleogeography and paleodrainage of Arctic Alaska. 30 Early sedimentary rocks of the Kobuk Koyukuk sub-basin contain abundant 31 mafic- to ultramafic-rich volcanic and plutonic lithic fragments and mafic heavy minerals 32 (e.g., spinel, clinopyroxene, and amphibole). They also contain abundant Middle Triassic 33 to early Late Jurassic zircons (240-160 Ma; peak maximum ~200 Ma) that yield highly 34 juvenile Hf isotopic compositions. Geochemistry of chromium spinels (Cr# = 0.17 - 35 0.86) suggests crystallization in an immature arc setting that likely developed over 36 MORB-type crust. These early sediments are sourced from the mafic and ultramafic 37 rocks of the Angayucham terrane, which was once much more extensive. These results 38 suggest that the Angayucham terrane consists of a obducted Middle Triassic to early Late 39 Jurassic oceanic arc complex that is coeval with oceanic to continental margin mafic arc 40 magmatism in the Canadian Cordillera. 41 Our generalized stratigraphy, along with U-Pb ages and Lu-Hf isotope of zircons 42 from sedimentary rocks of the Kobuk Koyukuk sub-basin reflect the tectonic and/or 43 erosional unroofing of the adjacent southern Brooks Range and Ruby terrane. U-Pb ages 44 of detrital zircons collected from the lowest stratigraphic mafic- to ultramafic-rich 45 sediments yield maximum depositional ages (107 Ma) that reflect initial erosion of the 46 structurally highest Angayucham terrane and initiation of basin formation and deposition 3 47 initiated in the late Early Cretaceous. Continued uplift and erosion exposed structurally 48 deeper metamorphic rocks, as revealed by incorporation of low-grade phyllites and 49 eventually higher-grade metamorphic schistose lithic detritus and intermediate 50 composition (e.g. biotite) to metamorphic (e.g. chloritoid and xenotime) heavy mineral 51 suites into the basin sediments. Differences in detrital zircon signatures between similar 52 age strata in the Colville foreland basin to the north of the Brooks Range and the Kobuk 53 Koyukuk sub-basin indicate that the sediments within the two basins were derived from 54 two different sources and the Brooks Range orogen acted as a drainage divide during late 55 Early Cretaceous deposition. 56 57 Introduction 58 Sedimentary basins that flank orogenic belts serve as archives that record the 59 long-term deformational and uplift history of orogenic systems. When associated with a 60 topographic effect, the kinematic evolution of an orogen affects the geometry, filling 61 pattern, and provenance signature of the adjacent synorogenic sedimentary basins 62 (Bayona, et al., 2008). Processes such as tectonic uplift and surficial denudation, rainfall, 63 sediment supply, sediment transport and dispersal have direct implications on the 64 evolution of synorogenic sediment routing systems (Whitchurch et al., 2011). As 65 observed in several Cenozoic orogenic belts (e.g. Himalayas and Andes), differences in 66 sedimentary filling patterns are recognizable by variations in large-scale axial and 67 transverse river systems and smaller transverse rivers observed draining into and within 68 the foreland and hinterland basins separated by an orogenic high (Burbank et al., 1996; 69 Clark et al., 2004; DeCelles, 2012; Dietze et al., 2014; Hessler and Fildani, 2015). This 4 70 variation in drainage systems leads to differences in provenance signatures recorded 71 within the basin sediments (Lease et al., 2007; Bayona, et al., 2008; Cina, et al., 2009; 72 DeCelles et al., 2014). Therefore, the provenance signature of the sediments that occupy 73 these basins should help in understanding the evolution of the synorogenic sediment 74 routing systems on either side of the orogen. 75 In northern Alaska, the latest Jurassic – Early Cretaceous Brooks Range orogen is 76 flanked by two synorogenic sedimentary basins, the northern Colville foreland basin and 77 southern Yukon Koyukuk Basin (Fig. 1). Renewed deposition of thick successions of 78 clastic rocks in the Colville Basin occurred coincidently with the formation of Yukon 79 Koyukuk Basin, which led authors to conclude that these events were the result of 80 orogenic uplift of the Brooks Range (Molenaar et al., 1984, 1986; Miller and Hudson, 81 1991; Till, 1992). Seismic reflection data collected within the Colville Basin delineate a 82 series of turbidite-dominated sedimentary packages that longitudinally filled the basin 83 from west to northeast from the late Early Cretaceous to the Cenozoic (Houseknecht et 84 al., 2009; Houseknecht and Wartes, 2013). Despite all the work performed in 85 characterizing the clastic rocks of the Colville Basin, little emphasis has been paid to 86 understanding the formation and sedimentary evolution of the southern Yukon Koyukuk 87 Basin. 88 The Yukon Koyukuk Basin is a large wedge-shaped physiographic depression, 89 underlain by volcanic and marine sedimentary rock units, that covers ~118,000 sq. km 90 (Fig. 1). Regional tectonic interpretations of the basin have been influenced by the 91 occurrence of arc-affinity volcanic rocks that form the base of the Yukon Koyukuk 92 sedimentary succession within the interior of the Yukon-Koyukuk Basin (Figs. 1 and 2) 5 93 (Patton and Box, 1989). Tectonic interpretations of the observed distribution of rocks 94 across the basin vary widely, from the Yukon-Koyukuk province representing a basin 95 formed in a syn-collisional forearc setting (Till et al., 1993) to its formation during post- 96 accretion lithospheric extension of the hinterland (Miller and Hudson, 1991). The driving 97 force for these interpretations is a disagreement on the duration of convergent 98 deformation in the Brooks Range and the tectonic setting in which Early Cretaceous arc 99 sequences were deposited in the early stages of the development of the Yukon Koyukuk 100 Basin. Proponents for the forearc model propose that these volcanic units were deposited 101 coincident with convergence and crustal thickening in the northern Brooks Range (Box, 102 1985; Till et al., 1993). Advocates for the lithospheric extension model suggest that the 103 timing of volcanism is too young to be related to early thrust faulting in the Brooks 104 Range. 105 The aim of this study is to: (1) evaluate the age, provenance, and geochemical 106 nature of the sedimentary rocks in the northeast Yukon Koyukuk Basin; (2) establish 107 their relationship to potential source terranes exposed in the surrounding Cretaceous 108 metamorphic orogenic highlands that rim the basin; and (3) compare these new results to 109 provenance signatures of the Colville basin to understand the Cretaceous paleodrainage 110 adjacent to the active Brooks Range highland. To help answer these questions, we 111 analyzed sediments for compositional variation and nature of heavy minerals suites, 112 chemistry of chrome spinel, as well as U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotopic composition 113 of detrital zircons and neighboring granitic plutons. 114 115 6 116 Geologic Setting 117 The Early to Late Cretaceous Yukon Koyukuk Basin is one of several Cretaceous 118 basinal terranes that underlie interior Alaska. In south-central Alaska, these basinal 119 terranes are characterized by thick sequences of marine volcaniclastic sandstone and 120 mudstone, locally overlain by marine shelf sandstones and shales with thick coal-bearing 121 sequences (Fig. 1; Kirschner, 1994). In north-central Alaska, the Yukon Koyukuk Basin 122 consists largely of sandstones derived from mafic volcanic-plutonic sources followed by 123 deposition of thick sections of clastic strata derived from the metamorphic rocks of 124 continental-margin affinity (Patton and Miller, 1973; Patton et al., 1994, 2009; Nilsen, 125 1989; Dillon and Smiley, 1984). 126 The Yukon Koyukuk Basin is bordered