Laurentian origin for the North Slope of Alaska; implications for the tectonic evolution of the Arctic

Justin V Strauss; Francis A Macdonald; John F Taylor; John E Repetski; William C McClelland

doi:10.1130/L284.1

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Laurentian origin for the North Slope of Alaska; implications for the tectonic evolution of the Arctic

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Laurentian origin for the North Slope of Alaska; implications for the tectonic evolution of the Arctic

Justin V Strauss, Francis A Macdonald, John F Taylor, John E Repetski and William C McClelland

Lithosphere, Vol.5(5), pp.477-482

06/18/2013

DOI: 10.1130/L284.1

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Abstract

The composite Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane plays a central role in tectonic reconstructions of the Arctic. An exotic, non-Laurentian origin of Arctic Alaska-Chukotka has been proposed based on paleobiogeographic faunal affinities and various geochronological constraints from the southwestern portions of the terrane. Here, we report early Paleozoic trilobite and conodont taxa that support a Laurentian origin for the North Slope subterrane of Arctic Alaska, as well as new Neoproterozoic-Cambrian detrital zircon geochronological data, which are both consistent with a Laurentian origin and profoundly different from those derived from similar-aged strata in the southwestern subterranes of Arctic Alaska-Chukotka. The North Slope subterrane is accordingly interpreted as allochthonous with respect to northwestern Laurentia, but it most likely originated further east along the Canadian Arctic or Atlantic margins. These data demonstrate that construction of the composite Arctic Alaska-Chukotka terrane resulted from juxtaposition of the exotic southwestern fragments of the terrane against the northern margin of Laurentia during protracted Devonian(?)-Carboniferous tectonism.

absolute age

Alaska

Arctic Alaska-Chukotka Terrane

Arctic Ocean

Arctic region

Arthropoda

Atlantic Ocean

biostratigraphy

Brooks Range

Cambrian

Canada

Conodonta

dates

ICP mass spectra

Invertebrata

Laurentia

lower Paleozoic

mass spectra

microfossils

Neoproterozoic

nesosilicates

North America

North Atlantic

North Slope

orthosilicates

paleoecology

paleogeography

Paleozoic

Precambrian

Proterozoic

reconstruction

silicates

spectra

Stratigraphy

Structural geology

tectonics

terranes

Trilobita

Trilobitomorpha

U/Pb

United States

upper Precambrian

zircon

zircon group

Details

Title: Subtitle: Laurentian origin for the North Slope of Alaska; implications for the tectonic evolution of the Arctic
Creators: Justin V Strauss - Harvard University
Francis A Macdonald - Harvard University
John F Taylor - Indiana University of Pennsylvania
John E Repetski - United States Geological Survey
William C McClelland - University of Iowa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Lithosphere, Vol.5(5), pp.477-482
Publisher: Geological Society of America
DOI: 10.1130/L284.1
ISSN: 1941-8264
eISSN: 1947-4253
Language: English
Date published: 06/18/2013
Academic Unit: Earth and Environmental Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984229170202771

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