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Helen L. Foster

Publications and source records attributed to Helen L. Foster.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2010

Mid‐Cretaceous extensional tectonics of the Yukon‐Tanana Terrane, Trans‐Alaska Crustal Transect (TACT), east‐central Alaska

Mid‐Cretaceous crustal extension played a fundamental role in the structural evolution of the Yukon‐Tanana terrane (YTT) in the northern Cordilleran interior. In the central portion of the YTT northwest of Delta Junction, Alaska, a mylonitic shear zone juxtaposes greenschist facies rocks in the upper plate against middle to upper amphibolite facies metamorphic rocks in the lower plate, a juxtaposition suggesting elimination of as much as 10 km of crustal section. The mylonites form a partial sheath enveloping a domal footwall structure and kinematic analysis of the mylonite zone yields a uniform transport direction of hanging wall to ESE. These relations suggest analogies to the metamorphic core complexes of the southern Cordillera. However, the YTT structures are entirely ductile, suggesting either a relatively deep erosional level or relatively high geothermal gradients during extension. In the study area remnants of an older preextensional thrusting event are preserved at the highest structural levels at the base of the Seventymile terrane and the leading edge of YTT in the Wickersham terrane. However, most areas display a regional, subhorizontal fabric that is superimposed on older fabrics, and in the study area this latest fabric is subparallel to the mylonitic sheath of the apparent extensional structure. Thus the conventional viewpoint that this latest fabric is related to thrusting needs to be reevaluated and this fabric may be entirely extensional in origin. Further evidence for extension is provided by clear similarities between YTT and characteristic features of other extensional terranes. Thus we suggest that the YTT is a deeply eroded view of highly extended continental crust. The tectonic mechanism for the extensional event and the magnitude of the extension is uncertain because of complications in regional timing relationships and in alternative interpretations of the reconstruction of the crustal section. Three end‐member models based on analogies with Neogene extensional systems are presented as working models to accommodate the alternative interpretations: (1) a Jurassic collision and Cretaceous extension model based on comparisons with the Neogene history of the Mediterranean region; (2) an Early to mid‐Cretaceous syncollisional model analogous to the Carpathian Mountains of eastern Europe; and (3) a syncollisional plateau uplift model with extension driven by gravity spreading.

Alaska↗
USGS1993

Distribution, facies, ages, and proposed tectonic associations of regionally metamorphosed rocks in east- and south-central Alaska

Most of the exposed bedrock in east- and south-central Alaska has been regionally metamorphosed and deformed during Mesozoic and early Cenozoic time. All the regionally metamorphosed rocks are assigned to metamorphic-facies units on the basis of their temperature and pressure conditions and metamorphic age. North of the McKinley and Denali faults, the crystalline rocks of the Yukon- Tanana upland and central Alaska Range compose a sequence of dynamothermally metamorphosed Paleozoic and older(?) metasedimentary rocks and metamorphosed products of a Devonian and Mississippian continental-margin magmatic arc. This sequence was extensively intruded by postmetamorphic mid-Cretaceous and younger granitoids. Many metamorphic-unit boundaries in the Yukon-Tanana upland are low-angle faults that juxtapose units of differing metamorphic grade, which indicates that metamorphism predated final emplacement of the fault-bounded units. In some places, the relation of metamorphic grade across a fault is best explained by contractional faulting; in other places, it is suggestive of extensional faulting. Near the United States-Canadian border in the central Yukon- Tanana upland, metamorphism, plutonism, and thrusting occurred during a latest Triassic and Early Jurassic event that presumably resulted from the accretion of a terrane that had affinities to the Stikinia terrane onto the continental margin of North America. Elsewhere in the Yukon-Tanana upland, metamorphic rocks give predominantly late Early Cretaceous isotopic ages. These ages are interpreted to date either the timing of a subsequent Early Cretaceous episode of crustal thickening and metamorphism or, assuming that these other areas were also originally heated during the latest Triassic to Early Jurassic and remained buried, the timing of their uplift and cooling. This uplift and cooling may have resulted from extension. South of the McKinley and Denali faults and north of the Border Ranges fault system, medium-grade metamorphism across much of the southern Peninsular and Wrangellia terranes was early to synkinematic with the intrusion of tonalitic and granodioritic plutons of primarily Early and Middle Jurassic age in the Peninsular terrane and Late Jurassic age in the Wrangellia terrane. Areas metamorphosed during the Jurassic episode that crop out near the Border Ranges fault system were subsequently retrograded and deformed in Cretaceous and early Tertiary time during accretion of younger units to the south. North of the Jurassic metamorphic and plutonic complex, low-grade metamorphism affected the rest of the Wrangellia terrane sometime during Jurassic and (or) Cretaceous time. North of the Wrangellia terrane and immediately south of the McKinley and Denali faults, flyschoid rocks, which were deposited within a basin that separated the Wrangellia terrane from the western margin of North America, form a northeastward-tapering wedge. Within the western half of the wedge, flysch and structurally interleaved tectonic fragments were highly deformed and weakly metamorphosed; much of the metamorphism and deformation probably occurred sometime during mid- to Late Cretaceous time. In the eastern half of the wedge, flyschoid rocks form an intermediate-pressure Barrovian sequence (Maclaren metamorphic belt). Metamorphism of the Maclaren metamorphic belt was synkinematic with the Late Cretaceous to earliest Tertiary intrusion of foliated plutons of intermediate composition. Isotopic data suggest metamorphism extended into the early Tertiary and was accompanied by rapid uplift and cooling. Low- to medium-grade metamorphism throughout the wedge was probably associated with the accretion of the outboard Wrangellia terrane, as has been proposed for the Maclaren metamorphic belt. South of the Border Ranges fault system lie variably metamorphosed sequences of oceanic rocks that comprise the successively accreted Chugach, Yakutat, Ghost Rocks, and Prince William terranes. The Chugach terrane consists of three successively accreted sequences of differing metamorphic histories. Metamorphism in all the sequences was associated with north-directed underthrusting beneath either the combined Peninsular-Wrangellia terrane or the older and inner parts of the Chugach terrane. These sequences, from innermost to outermost are: (1) intermediate- to highpressure, transitional greenschist- to blueschist-facies metabasalt and metasedimentary rocks that were metamorphosed during the Early and Middle Jurassic; (2) prehnite-pumpellyite-facies melange that was metamorphosed sometime during the Jurassic and Cretaceous; and (3) low-pressure prehnite-pumpellyite- or greenschist- facies flysch and metavolcanic rocks that were initially metamorphosed during latest Cretaceous to early Tertiary time and, in the eastern Chugach Mountains, were subsequently overprinted by low-pressure amphibolite-facies metamorphism that accompanied widespread intrusion during Eocene time. A similar low-pressure-facies series also developed within melange and flysch of the Yakutat terrane; these rocks are also intruded by Eocene plutons and are correlated with similar rocks of the Chugach terrane. Seaward of the Chugach terrane are the strongly deformed but weakly metamorphosed (prehnite-pumpellyite-facies) deep-sea metasedimentary rocks and oceanic metavolcanic rocks of the Ghost Rocks and Prince William terranes. Metamorphism and deformation occurred during underthrusting of these terranes beneath the Chugach terrane in early Tertiary time and predated, perhaps by very little, intrusion by early Tertiary granitoids.

Alaska↗
USGS1986

Geochronology of augen gneiss and related rocks, Yukon-Tanana terrane, east-central Alaska

Using several isotopic techniques, we have determined the ages of selected metamorphic rocks in the Yukon-Tanana terrane (YTT) of east-central Alaska. U-Pb zircon data from an augen gneiss body in the Big Delta quadrangle indicate that the granitoid protolith of the gneiss was intruded 341 ± 3 m.y. ago (lower intercept age). An upper intercept age of 2,136 ± 31 m.y. indicates an inherited early Proterozoic component in these zircons. This inheritance age is substantiated by a Sm-Nd whole-rock model age of 2.09 ± 0.08 b.y. from the Big Delta augen gneiss body. Detrital zircons from quartzitic wall rocks to this body were also derived from an early Proterozoic (∼2.1 to 2.3 b.y. old) crustal source(s). Zircons from three other augen gneisses occurring in an east-west belt which extends into the southern Yukon Territory, Canada, have similar Mississippian and early Proterozoic intercept ages. A Rb-Sr whole-rock isochron from widely separated bodies of augen gneiss has an age of 333 ± 26 m.y. and an initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio of 0.728 ± 0.002, confirming the Mississippian intrusive age for the protolith. The high initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio further indicates an old crustal component in these rocks. A Rb-Sr mineral isochron (115 ± 4 m.y.), K-Ar data from hornblende and micas (128 to 107 m.y.), and U-Pb data from sphene (134. m.y.) from augen gneiss and related rocks are similar to many K-Ar ages in this region and confirm the occurrence of an early Cretaceous thermal event. U-Pb ages of zircons from three metavolcanic units in the YTT suggest that extrusion of the protoliths of these rocks occurred 360–380 m.y. ago. Scatter in the data is caused by ubiquitous inheritance and multiple lead-loss events.

Alaska↗
USGS1981

Proterozoic zircon from augen gneiss, Yukon-Tanana Upland, east-central Alaska

U-Th-Pb analyses of zircons from an ortho-augen gneiss body in the Yukon-Tanana Upland of east-central Alaska yield strong evidence for the presence of early Proterozoic material in this area. U-Pb data define a chord that intersects concordia at about 2,300 and 345 m.y. We consider two interpretations: (1) the protolith was intruded during the Proterozoic and was subsequently metamorphosed in the Paleozoic or, more likely, (2) the protolith was intruded in the Paleozoic and incorporated material of Proterozoic age. An Sm-Nd model age of about 1,900 m.y. on a whole-rock sample of augen gneiss is additional evidence for the presence of Proterozoic material in the gneiss. K-Ar and U-Th-Pb dating of mica and sphene, respectively, reveal that younger thermal events occurred at least as recently as 110 m.y. ago.

Alaska↗
USGS1974

Ultramafic rocks of the Eagle quadrangle, east-central Alaska

More than 97 separate occurrences of ultramafic rocks, some of which are included in a north west-trending zone of alpine-type ultramafic rocks, have been mapped in the Eagle quadrangle, east-central Alaska. They are divided into three groups primarily on the basis of degree of serpentinization. Group I consists of lens-shaped bodies of serpentinite 1 m 2 (10 ft 2 ) to several 100 m 2 (1,000 ft 2 ) in area. Relict textures and presence of bastite indicate that the original rock was harzburgite and dunite. Group II consists of bodies composed of partially serpentinized harzburgite and dunite and includes the large Mount Sorenson and American Creek bodies. Group III is dominantly hornblendite and pyroxenite, probably intrusive and not genetically related to groups I and II. The authors believe that the ultramafic bodies of groups I and II are alpine-type peridotites and may include dismembered ophiolitc. The Tintina fault system could have provided a zone of weakness along which mantle material was tectonically emplaced or it may have been a plate boundary in late Paleozoic time. If it represents a plate boundary, the metamorphic terrane which lies between the Tintina and Denali fault systems would have to be allochthonous, perhaps originating as a northward-moving slice of continental crustal material. During the course of the movement as the two continental masses approached and perhaps collided, mantle peridotite and oceanic crustal material were squeezed up along the continental margin onto the continental slice.

Alaska↗
USGS1967

Ground breakage and associated effects in the Cook Inlet area, Alaska, resulting from the March 27, 1964, earthquake

The great 1964 Alaska earthquake caused considerable ground breakage in the Cook Inlet area of south-central Alaska. The breakage occurred largely in thick deposits of unconsolidated sediments. The most important types of ground breakage were (1) fracturing or cracking and the extrusion of sand and gravel with ground water along fractures in various types of landforms, and (2) slumping and lateral extension of unconfined faces, particularly along delta fronts. The principal concentration of ground breakage within the area covered by this report was in a northeast-trending zone about 60 miles long and 6 miles wide in the northern part of the Kenai Lowland. The zone cut across diverse topography and stratigraphy. Cracks were as much as 30 feet across and 25 feet deep. Sand, gravel, and pieces of coal and lignite were extruded along many fissures. It is suggested that the disruption in this zone may be due to movement along a fault in the underlying Tertiary rocks. The outwash deltas of Tustumena and Skilak Lakes in the Kenai Lowland, of Eklutna Lake and Lake George in the Chugach Mountains, of Bradley Lake in the Kenai Mountains, and at the outlet of upper Beluga Lake at the base of the Alaska Range showed much slumping, as did the delta of the Susitna River. Parts of the flood plains of the Skilak River, Fox River, and Eagle River were extensively cracked. A few avalanches and slumps occurred along the coast of Cook Inlet in scattered localities. Some tidal flats were cracked. However, in view of the many thick sections of unconsolidated sediments and the abundance of steep slopes, the cracking was perhaps less than might have been expected. Observations along the coasts indicated changes in sea level which, although caused partly by compaction of unconsolidated sediments, may largely be attributed to crus1tal deformation accompanying the earthquake. Most of the Cook Inlet area was downwarped, although the northwest side of Cook Inlet may have been slightly unwarped. Maximum change in the Cook Inlet area was probably less than 6 feet. Little or no regional tilting was detected in the lake basins of Tustumena and Skilak Lakes.

Alaska↗
USGS1966

The Alaska earthquake, March 27, 1964: regional effects

This is the third in a series of six reports that the U.S. Geological Survey published on the results of a comprehensive geologic study that began, as a reconnaissance survey, within 24 hours after the March 27, 1964, Magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake and extended, as detailed investigations, through several field seasons. The 1964 Great Alaska earthquake was the largest earthquake in the U.S. since 1700. Professional Paper 543, in 10 parts, describes the regional geologic effects.

Alaska↗
USGS1955

1950 and 1951 eruptions of Mihara Yama, O Shima Volcano, Japan

Mihara Yama is the active central cone of O Shima Volcano on the island of O Shima, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan. The outer slopes of O Shima Volcano compose most of the island. Their crest is a somma, about 600 km in altitude and 3 km in diameter, which encloses a caldera. Mihara Yama rises from the southern part of the caldera to an altitude of 755m. It is a truncated cone with a crater 800 m in diameter. Before the eruption in 1950 the crater contained an inner pit approximately 300 m in diameter and 165 m deep. Mihara Yama erupted on July 16, 1950, after 10 years of quiescence. Activity continued until September 24. Eruption resumed on February 4, 1951, and continued until April 2, after which activity was intermittent until the eruption ceased on June 28. In 1950 molten basalt was ejected explosively accompanied at times by flows. Two successive cinder cones formed from the accumulation of ejecta, some of which were hurled as high as 500 m. Lava filled the inner pit and crater, and a small amount overflowed into the caldera. About 52,000,000 metric tons of material was erupted. In 1951 six successive small cones developed. Beginning February 21 the principal cone formed. Lava overflowing the crater rim solidified mostly as aa and covered nearly 2 square km of the caldera floor. The intermittent activity during the final 3 months consisted of nine brief periods of eruption, a few of which were relatively violent. Between eruptions and especially after the final eruption the crater floor subsided. In 1951 about 20,000,000 metric tons of material was erupted.

O Shima Volcano↗