Geology of south-central Alaska

Abstract

South-central Alaska is defined as the region bounded by the Kuskokwim Mountains to the northwest, the basins north of the Alaska Range to the north, the Canadian border to the east, and the Chugach Mountains to the south (Fig. 1). This region, hereafter called the study area, includes the Alaska Range, the Wrangell, Nutzotin, and Talkeetna mountains, the Copper River and the Susitna basins, the northern flank of the Chugach Mountains, the Aleutian Range, and the Alaska Peninsula. This chapter describes and interprets the bedrock geology of the region, which consists mostly of a collage of Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonostratigraphic terranes (hereafter referred to as terranes), Mesozoic flysch basin deposits, late Paleozoic and Mesozoic plutonic rocks, and younger late Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary, volcanic, and plutonic rocks. Cited published sources and new data and interpretations of the authors are utilized for the descriptions and interpretations. The terranes, flysch basin deposits, and younger Mesozoic sedimentary, volcanic, and plutonic assemblages are described first in a general northwest to southeast order. Major faults or sutures are described second. Stratigraphic linkages and structural and tectonic relations between terranes are described last. Definitions of the various stratigraphic, structural, and tectonic terms are stated at the end of this introduction.