Geology of Annette, Gravina, and Duke islands, southeastern Alaska

Abstract

Geologic mapping, U–Pb (zircon) geochronometry, and conodont studies indicate that the major pre-Jurassic assemblages on Annette, Gravina, Duke, and adjacent smaller islands include pre-Middle Ordovician metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks (Wales metamorphic suite); Cambrian metaplutonic rocks; Ordovician – Early Silurian volcanic (Descon Formation), dioritic, and gabbroic rocks; Silurian trondhjemitic plutons; Early Devonian sedimentary (Karheen Formation) and volcanic rocks; Late Triassic sedimentary and volcanic rocks (Hyd Group); and a large body of Late Triassic pyroxene gabbro.Stratigraphic, structural, and intrusive relations record episodes of regional deformation, metamorphism, and uplift during Middle Cambrian – Early Ordovician time (Wales orogeny) and during middle Silurian – earliest Devonian time (Klakas orogeny). Upper Triassic strata were apparently deposited during a latest Paleozoic(?) – Triassic rifting event.Comparison with the geology of Prince of Wales Island indicates that the Annette and Craig subterranes of the Alexander terrane belong to the same tectonic fragment and that the Clarence Strait fault has ~15 km of right-lateral displacement at this latitude. Our geochronologic data indicate that the pyroxene gabbro on Duke Island is Triassic in age and therefore probably unrelated to nearby Cretaceous(?) zoned ultramafic bodies.

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