Complex Late Triassic-Middle Jurassic Subduction-Related Magmatic History from Detritus of Nominal Middle Jurassic Brooks Range Ophiolite, Northern Alaska

In northern Alaska, the Early Cretaceous sedimentary Yukon-Koyukuk basin documents the progressive unroofing of the adjacent Brooks Range orogen. Igneous clasts in the lower conglomerate are believed to originate from ophiolitic rocks of the two uppermost allochthons in the Brooks Range, the Brooks Range ophiolite and the Angayucham terrane. The emplacement of these oceanic terranes onto the continental margin of the Arctic Alaska terrane documents the initiation of Brookian orogenesis. While most agree that the Angayucham terrane represents a widespread distribution of Late Devonian oceanic crust and Triassic-Early Jurassic oceanic plateau(s)/island(s), the age and origin of the Brooks Range ophiolite remains controversial. We present new age, whole-rock chemistry, and isotopic data from igneous clasts as well as a few Angayucham terrane outcrop samples from the NE Yukon-Koyukuk basin. Our results show that the igneous clasts are mostly subduction-related and more likely to represent eroded material from the Brooks Range ophiolite rather than the Angayucham terrane. Our Late Triassic, and Early and Middle Jurassic zircon crystallization ages for the igneous clasts, combined with their immobile trace element compositions documenting various stages of oceanic subduction (mature arc and later rifting), suggest a long-lived subduction system that was active in the Late Triassic and throughout the Middle Jurassic. Radiogenic lead and neodymium isotopic results yield juvenile signatures for both the igneous clasts and the Angayucham terrane, pointing to their formation in an intraoceanic setting distal from the continental rocks and sediments of the Arctic Alaska terrane. These new data, combined with the published data of others, allow us to propose a revised tectonic model that integrates Late Triassic island arc formation with the tectonic development and emplacement of the Brooks Range ophiolite.

Automated summary

This study investigates the geological structure of northern Alaska and identifies the uplift process of the Brooks Range during the Early Cretaceous. By analyzing the age, chemistry, and isotopic data of igneous clasts and samples, it is concluded that the igneous clasts mainly originate from the Brooks Range ophiolite. A revised tectonic model is proposed that integrates the formation of Late Triassic island arc with the evolution of the Brooks Range ophiolite.