USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
USGS Professional Paper 1697 - Alaska Resources Library
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
with high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphism, (2)<br />
a slightly younger period of extension associated with lower<br />
greenschist facies metamorphism, and (3) intrusion of anatectic<br />
granitoid plutons and relatively younger Au quartz veins. The<br />
mid-Cretaceous granitoid rocks and relatively younger quartz<br />
veins intrude and crosscut both the relatively older, highergrade,<br />
and relatively younger, lower grade metamorphic fabrics<br />
in the region (Dusel Bacon and others, 1993; Pavlis and others,<br />
1993). These relations suggest that the granitoid-related Au<br />
deposits of the older part of the East-Central <strong>Alaska</strong> metallogenic<br />
belt, and the Tombstone belt to the east, formed in the<br />
waning stages of this complex deformational event (Nokleberg,<br />
1997e, 2000). Alternatively, McCoy and others (1997) interpret<br />
the mid-Cretaceous granitoid-related Au deposits as forming in<br />
a continental-margin arc related to subduction.<br />
Misused Name: Tintina Gold Belt<br />
In recent years, the name Tintina Gold Belt (as described<br />
and interpreted in a series of papers by by Goldfarb and others<br />
(2000), Flanigan and others (2000), Hart and others (2000),<br />
Mortensen and others (2000), Newberry (2000), O’Dea and<br />
others (2000), and Smith (2000) in the volume edited by<br />
Tucker and Smith (2000) has been used for granitoid-related<br />
Au deposits and occurrences in the East-Central <strong>Alaska</strong> metallogenic<br />
belt of Nokleberg and others (1995a, 1996, 1997a)<br />
and in the correlative Tombstone metallogenic belt (described<br />
below) of Nokleberg and others (1995a, 1996, 1997a) that<br />
occurs to the east in the central Yukon Territory. Because the<br />
Tintina Gold Belt actually includes a number of belts of differing<br />
ages and tectonic origins, the term is not used in this study.<br />
Bundtzen and others (2000) have introduced the term<br />
Tintia Gold Province to denote Cretaceous and early Tertiary<br />
intrusive-hosted gold deposits in East-Central <strong>Alaska</strong> and the<br />
Yukon Territory. This province includes the following metallogenic<br />
belts, which are described and interpreted in this study:<br />
East-Central <strong>Alaska</strong> (older part; ECA), Kuskokwim Mountains<br />
(KM), Tombstone (TS), and metallogenic belts (table 3). These<br />
distinct belts are separately described and interpreted herein<br />
because they (1) formed over a relatively long time span, (2)<br />
are hosted in a diverse array of host rocks, and (3) formed at<br />
different times in strongly contrasting tectonic environments,<br />
either collisional or subduction-related environments.<br />
Yukon-Tanana Upland Metallogenic Belt of Au-<br />
Quartz Vein Deposits (Belt WT),<br />
East-Central <strong>Alaska</strong><br />
The Yukon-Tanana Upland metallogenic belt of Au-quartz<br />
vein deposits occurs in east-central <strong>Alaska</strong> (fig. 80; tables 3, 4)<br />
(Nokleberg and others, 1997b, 1998). The metallogenic belt is<br />
hosted in the Devonian and Mississippian metasedimentary and<br />
lesser metavolcanic rocks of the southern Yukon-Tanana displaced-continental-margin<br />
terrane, and in the Stikinia(?) islandarc<br />
terrane (Nokleberg and others, 1994c, 1997c). The known<br />
deposits occur in parts of these terranes that display greenschist<br />
Early Late Cretaceous Metallogenic Belts (100 to 84 Ma; figs. 79, 80) 213<br />
facies and associated major metamorphism that ended in the<br />
mid-Cretaceous. The significant deposit is at Purdy.<br />
Purdy Au Quartz Vein Deposit<br />
The small Purdy Au quartz vein deposit (H.L. Foster,<br />
written commun., 1984; W.D. Menzie, written commun., 1985)<br />
contains a large quartz-calcite fissure vein and smaller veinlets<br />
that contain spectacular lace gold. The deposit consists mainly<br />
of this one large vein , which extends for about 2 m and is terminated<br />
by a fault. The large vein and smaller veinlets intrude<br />
mid-Paleozoic or older metasedimentary schist of the Stikinia(?)<br />
terrane. The large vein was mined out by 1960. Small<br />
veins and veinlets were mined in 1969 and early 1970’s.<br />
Origin of and Tectonic Controls for Yukon-Tanana Upland<br />
Metallogenic Belt<br />
The Yukon-Tanana Upland metallogenic belt is associated<br />
with a major, low-grade regional metamorphism and<br />
intense deformation of the Stikinia(?) and structurally subjacent<br />
Yukon-Tanana terranes in east-central <strong>Alaska</strong> (Dusel-<br />
Bacon and others, 1993; Pavlis and others, 1993; Nokleberg<br />
and others, 1994c, 1997c). As with the East-Central <strong>Alaska</strong><br />
metallogenic belt describe and interpreted above, the Yukon-<br />
Tanana belt is interpreted as forming during the third stage<br />
of a mid- to Late Cretaceous complex deformational event<br />
that ended with intrusion of anatectic granitoid plutons and<br />
relatively younger Au quartz veins. The quartz veins crosscut<br />
a subhorizontal, schistose fabric that exhibits the younger<br />
stage of greenschist facies metamorphism. This complex event<br />
occurred during final accretion of the Wrangellia superterrane<br />
to the active margin of the North American continental margin<br />
(Plafker and others, 1989; Stanley and others, 1990; Pavlis and<br />
others, 1993; Nokleberg and others, 2000).<br />
Wrangell Mountains Metallogenic Belt of Cu-Ag<br />
Quartz Vein and Kennecott Cu Deposits (Belt<br />
WR), Eastern-South <strong>Alaska</strong><br />
The Wrangell Mountains metallogenic belt of Cu-Ag<br />
quartz vein and Kennecott Cu deposits (fig. 80; tables 3, 4)<br />
occurs in the eastern <strong>Alaska</strong> Range, Nutzotin Mountains, and<br />
Wrangell Mountains in eastern-southern <strong>Alaska</strong>. The metallogenic<br />
belt is hosted in the part of the Wrangellia island-arc terrane<br />
underlain by Late Cretaceous and older stratified rocks,<br />
particularly the Late Triassic Nikolai Greenstone, and older<br />
late Paleozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks (Nokleberg<br />
and others, 1994c, 1997c; MacKevett and others, 1997). The<br />
extensive suite of minor Cu-Ag quartz vein deposits occurs<br />
mainly along the northern margin of the Wrangellia sequence<br />
of Wrangellia superterrane. The major Cu-Ag quartz vein<br />
deposits are at Kathleen-Margaret, Nugget Creek, and Nikolai;<br />
the major Kennecott Cu deposits are in the Kennecott district<br />
at Kennecott and Westover; and a basaltic Cu deposit is at<br />
Erickson (table 4) (Nokleberg and others 1997a,b, 1998).