Quaternary Stratigraphic 

Nomenclature in 

U nglaciated Central Alaska 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 862 

Quaternary Stratigraphic 

Nomenclature in 

U nglaciated Central Alaska 

By TROY L. PEWE 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 862 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1975 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

V. E. McKelvey, Director 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Pewe, Troy Lewis, 1918--

Quaternary stratigraphic nomenclature in unglaciated central Alaska. 

(Geological Survey Professional Paper 862) 

Bibliography: p. 22 - 24. 

Supt. of Docs. No.: I 19.16:862 

1. Geology, stratigraphic-Quaternary. 2. Geology, stratigraphic-nomenclature-Alaska. I. Title. II. Series: United 

States Geological Survey Professi!>nal Paper 862. 

QE696.P44 557.3'0& [551.7'9'014] 74-26639 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.25 (paper cover) 

Stock Number 2401-02574 
CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction ---------------------------------------------- 1 

Physical setting________________________________________ 1 

Radiocarbon dating ------------------------------------ 1 

Acknowledgments______________________________________ 2 

Stratigraphy ---------------------------------------------- 2 

Cripple Gravel ---------------------------------------- 2 

FoxGravel____________________________________________ 6 

Tanana Formation ------------------------------------ 7 

Dawson Cut Formation -------------------------------- 8 

Fairbanks Loess -------------------------------------- 10 

Gold Hill Loess----------------------------.------------ 10 

Ester Ash Bed ---------------------------------------- 12 

Page 

Stratigraphy-Continued 

Dome Ash Bed ---------------------------------------- 12 

Eva Formation ---------------------------------------- 14 

Goldstream Formation -------------------------------- 14 

Chatanika Ash Bed------------------------------------ 17 

Engineer Loess ---------------------------------------- 17 

Wilber Ash Bed~--------------------------------------- 18 

Jarvis Ash Bed---------------------------------------- 18 

White River Ash Bed ---------------------------------- 19 

Ready Bullion Formation ------------------------------ 19 

Chena Alluvium -------------------------------------- 21 

References cited ------------------------------------------ 22 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

FIGURE 1. Index map of east-central Alaska----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 

2. Photograph showing low oblique air view looking southeast near junction of Engineer and Goldstream Creeks, 

Fairbanks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 

3. ~ap of the Fairbanks area---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 

4. Diagram of schematic composite cross section of a creek valley-------------------------------------- ---------------- 5 

5. Diagram of Tanana Formation, a solifluction deposit, and ice-wedge casts of sand exposed in excavation for Duckering 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

8 

9 

Building, University of Alaska, Fairbanks --------------------------------------------------------------------

Photograph and diagram showing section of perennially frozen sediments --------------------------------------------

Photograph showing west wall of Eva Creek mining excavation ---------------------------------------------------- 11 

Photograph showing type section of Ester Ash Bed exposed in mining cut ---------------------------- ---------------- 13 

Photograph showing ice wedge in section on the left limit oflower Engineer Creek ------------------ ---------------- 16 

Diagram of section in bank of Chatanika River ---------------------------------------------------- ---------------- 17 

Isopach map of White River Ash Bed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20 

Diagram of section on Ready Bullion bench placer mining cut -------------------------------------- ---------------- 21 

TABLES 

Page 

TABLE 1. Quaternary stratigraphic nomenclature of unglaciated central Alaska ---------------------------------------------- 4 

2. Chemical analysis of volcanic ash from the Ester Ash Bed, 16 km west of Fairbanks ---------------- ---------------- 12 

3. Radiocarbon dates from type section of the Ready Bullion Formation, Ready Bullion bench placer mining cut, Fairbanks ____ 22 

4. Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska ------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------- 26 

III 

QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE IN 

UNGLACIATED CENTRAL ALASKA 

By TROY L. PEWE 

ABSTRACT 

Fifteen long-recognized stratigraphic units of Quaternary age in 

unglaciated central Alaska are here defined and given formal names. 

A systematic classification is proposed under which the Quaternary 

sand, gravel, volcanic ash, loess, retransported loess, and organic 

deposits can be readily identified. The loess deposits and retransported loess stratigraphic units can be correlated widely in central 

Alaska and recognized from the Canadian border to the Bering Sea; 

however, the stratigraphy of underlying creek gravel deposits can be 

correlated only locally. All sediments perhaps originated in a periglacial climate and are in large part perennially frozen today. The 

stratigraphic sequence reveals both glacial and interglacial times. 

More than 150 radiocarbon dates that are applicable to the late 

Quaternary stratigraphy are presented and arranged by geological 

formation and locality. 

INTRODUCTION 

Detailed geologic mapping, floral and faunal studies, 

sedimentation analyses, and landform studies in central Alaska, mainly in the mining exposures near Fairbanks, since 19401 provide the bases for establishing a 

Quaternary stratigraphic sequence in unglaciated central Alaska. Three geologic names have previously been 

formalized, but 15 names have been only used informally by the writer, some for as long as 25 years. The 

long recognized units are here formally defined. 

The Quaternary rocks consist entirely of unconsolidated (except most ofthem are perennially frozen) sand, 

gravel, volcanic ash, loess, retransported loess, and organic deposits. This report introduces new stratigraphic 

units, describes their geologic relations, and formulates 

a systematic classification under which they can be 

readily identified. Like all classification systems, the 

one presented here should be modified and expanded as 

the need develops. The typical lithology and location of 

the units are described briefly here. Detailed descriptions are found in published reports. 

'Taber (1943); Pew€ (1948, 1952, 1954, 1955a, 1958a, b, 1965a, b, c, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1975); 

Pew€ and Rivard (1961); Pewe and others (1966); Pew€ and Sellmann (1971); Williams and 

others (1959); Sellmann (1967, 1968); Guthrie (1968a, b); Matthews (1968, 1970). (In 1940 J. 

B. Metcalfe and Ralph Tuck compiled an extensive unpublished report entitled "The Fair· 

banks Placer Gold Deposits." It is in the filesofthe U.S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co. in 

New York City. It is referred to in this paper asJ. B. Metcalfe and Ralph Tuck, unpub. rept., 

1940 and is not listed in "References Cited.") 

PHYSICAL SETTING 

The area of central Alaska that has not been glaciated 

is mainly confined to the Yukon-Tanana Upland, aregion of rolling hills lying between the Yukon River on 

the north and the Tanana River on the south, but also 

includes the foothills of the eastern Alaska Range to the 

south (fig. 1). Lying south of the Brooks Range and 

north of the towering Alaska Range, the area was encircled by glaciers on the north, south, and east in Pleistocene time. Small glaciers existed on high peaks in the 

Yukon-Tanana Upland at this time. 

The Quaternary sediments are mainly limited to low 

hills, lower slopes, and valley bottoms and consist of 

loess, some of it retransported, and alluvial deposits (fig. 

2). Deposits of coarse angular creek gravel of local 

origin underlie the eolian sediments in valley bottoms, 

and solifluction debris underlies the eolian deposits on 

the lower and middle slopes. Some outwash gravel is 

present in major valleys. All the sediments perhaps 

originated in a periglacial climate and are in large part 

perennially frozen today. The stratigraphic sequence 

reveals both glacial and interglacial times. 

The loess and retransported loess formations can be 

correlated widely in central Alaska, but not the underlying creek gravel deposits, whose stratigraphy is well 

established only in the Fairbanks area. 

RADIOCARBON DATING 

Unglaciated central Alaska is an excellent locality 

for radiocarbon dating because of the wonderful preservation of organic specimens. The stratigraphic sequence consists mainly of valley-bottom sediments, sediments that have been washed slowly from the hillsides 

to accumulate with a great deal of organic material in 

the form offorest beds, fine particles, and even carcasses 

of extinct animals. Much of the organic material has 

been frozen for thousands of years and is well preserved. 

The writer began radiocarbon dating samples from 

central Alaska in 1949, and over the last 26 years many 

samples have been dated directly or indirectly in connection with his projects. A total of 155 dates are avail1 
2 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

0 50 100 MI L ES 

0 50 100 K ILOMETRES 

146° 

FIGURE 1.-Index map of east-central Alaska. 

able that are applicable to the stratigraphic sequence 

described here, all but a few from the Fairbanks region. 

They are given in table 4, arranged first by geologic 

formation and then by locality. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The author is indebted to David M. Hopkins, Helen L. 

Foster, and Lawrence R. Mayo ofthe Geological Survey 

and to Robert K. Merrill for a careful review of the 

manuscript. Mr. Merrill aided in determining details of 

the volcanic ash and preparation of some of the illustrations. Randall G. Updike also aided in examining some 

of the volcanic ash samples, and Deborah G. Robinson 

carefully handled the many details of bibliography 

compilation. Both Mrs. Robinson and John W. Bell deserve many thanks for their aid in the compilation of the 

table involving radiocarbon dates. Deep appreciation is 

expressed to members of the staff of the U.S. Smelting, 

Refining, and Mining Co., especially to James D. Crawford and the late John B. Metcalfe, for continued cooperation over the many years of association in Alaska. 

STRATIGRAPHY 

CRIPPLE GRAVEL 

At least two placer gold-bearing gravel formations 

are exposed by large-scale gold-dredging operations in 

the Fairbanks area. Although studied, mapped, and 

mined for 75 years or more, these formations have never 

been formally named. The older is here named the Cripple Gravel (table 1) from exposures on Cripple Creek 15 

km west of Fairbanks (fig. 3). 

The Cripple Gravel is everywhere buried by younger 

formations except where exposed by mining operations 

or, rarely, by a river. It occurs only in discontinuous 

stretches on buried bedrock benches 25-50 m above the 

younger valley-bottom gravel (Pewe, 1965a, fig. 1- 9), 

especially in the many creek valleys draining Ester, 

Pedro, and Gilmore Domes near Fairbanks. Its spatial 

relations are shown diagrammatically in figure 4. 

The type locality is designated the mining excavation 

in the valley of Cripple Creek adjacent to "Ester Island" 

(fig. 3), a hillock of loess that lies between Ester and 
CRIPPLE GRAVEL 3 

FIGURE 2.-Low oblique air view looking southeast near junction of Engineer and Goldstream Creeks, Fairbanks. Gravel dredge tailings 

in foreground and to left are on Goldstream Creek. Frozen silt removed from creek-valley bottom by hydraulic stripping is exhibited on 

Engineer Creek in middle ground. (Photograph 2414 by Bradford Washburn, September 1936.) 

Cripple Creeks in the SW% sec. 8, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., 

Fairbanks D-3 quadrangle. At this locality the unit is 

25m thick. 

The Cripple Gravel consists of poorly to 

well-stratified coarse angular sandy gravel with lenses 

of silt and sand as much as 1 m thick and 2 m long. The 

gravel clasts are imbricate in some places and consist 

almost entirely of quartz-mica shist, chlorite schist, 

phyllite, slate, gneiss, quartz, quartzite, and igneous 

rocks. The gravel has been transported only short distances, and the composition varies depending on the 

bedrock source.. The gravel fragments are generally 

2-15 em in diameter; cobbles 25 em or larger are not 

uncommon in certain areas. Mechanical analyses of 

much of the gravel from two 15-cm-diameter wells at 

the type locality reveal that the sediment is poorly 

sorted and consists of as much as 50 percent sand (Pewe, 

1952, p. 36). The composition of the auriferous gravel 

was described in detail many years ago (Prindle, 1906, 

1908a, 1908b, 1913; Mertie, 1937). 

In mine tailings, iron oxide stain on the pebbles, cobbles, and boulders imparts a brown color to the formation, in contrast to the tan color of the younger, auriferous Fox Gravel (Pewe, 1965a, p. 16-18). In mining 
4 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

TABLE !.-Quaternary stratigraphic nomenclature of unglaciated central Alaska 

Name A fa"' (B.P. x be ore present) 

Chena Alluvium ____________ Pleistocene and Holocene 

(Illinoian(?) to Holocene). 

Engineer Loess ------------ Holocene 

(< 10,500 yr B.P. ±500). 

White River Ash Bed ___ _ Holocene 

(1,400 yr B.P.). 

Jarvis Ash Bed -------- Holocene 

(< 4,600 yr B.P., > 2,000 yr B.P.). 

Wilber Ash Bed -------- Holocene 

( < 4,260 yr B.P.). 

Ready Bullion Formation ____ Holocene 

(< 10,000 yr B. P.). 

Goldstream Formation ___ ___ Pleistocene (Wisconsinan, > 10,000 yr B. P., 

Chatanika Ash Bed > 39,000 yr B.P.). Pleistocene (Wisconsinan, < 14,860 yr B. P. ±840). 

Eva Formation ------------ Pleistocene (Sangamon, > 56,900 yr B. P.). 

Gold Hill Loess ------------ Pleistocene (Illinoian) __ __ 

Dome Ash Bed __________ Pleistocene (Illinoian) ___ _ 

Ester Ash Bed __________ Pleistocene (Illinoian) ___ _ 

Fairbanks Loess ------------ Pleistocene and Holocene 

(Illinoian through 

Holocene). 

Dawson Cut Formation______ Pleistocene (Yarmouth?) __ 

Tanana Formation---------- Early or middle 

Pleistocene. 

Fox Gravel ---------------- Early or middle 

Pleistocene. 

Cripple GraveL _____________ Late Pliocene and (or) 

early Pleistocene. 

1Radiocarbon dating. 

'Quadrangle (quad.) is U.S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangle map. 

Lithologic Source of 

description name 

Fluvial sand Chena River 

and gravel, some outwash. Loess __ _______ __ _ Engineer 

Creek. 

Ash ------------ White River ______ 

____ __ do ___ __ _ Jarvis Creek ----

____ __ do ______ Wilber Creek ----

Colluvial Ready Bullion 

retransported Creek. 

loess and 

forest beds. 

Colluvial Goldstream 

retransported Creek. loess. 

Ash ------------ Chatanika 

River. 

Organic silt and Eva Creek 

forest beds. 

Loess __ __________ Gold Hill --------

Ash ------------ Dome Creek __ ___ _ 

________ do _____ ___ Ester Creek _____ _ 

Loess ____ ___ __ ___ City of 

Fairbanks. 

Organic silt and 

forest beds. 

Solifluction 

deposits. 

Tan auriferous 

gravel. 

Brown auriferous 

gravel and 

solifluction 

deposits. 

Dawson mining 

cut. 

Yukon-Tanana 

Upland. 

Village of Fox ___ _ 

Cripple Creek ___ _ 

Type section (TS) or type locality' (TL) 

TS: Well B, U.S. Smelting, Refining, 

and Mining Co., SEV.. sec. 3, T. 1 

S., R. 1 W., Fairbanks D-2 quad. 

TL: Dawson mining cut, mouth of 

Engineer Creek, SWV.. sec. 6, T. 1 

N., R. 1 E., Fairbanks D-2 quad. TS: North side ofWhite River 13 km 

downstream from its source, 

McCarthy D-2 quad. 

TS: Right bank of Delta River 40 km 

south of Delta Junction, SW14 sec. 19, T. 14 S., R. 10 E., Mt. Hayes 

C-4 quad. 

TS: West wall of Wilber Creek 

mining cut, 10 km south of 

Livengood, Livengood B-3 quad. 

TS: East wall of Ready Bullion 

bench mining cut, SWV.. sec. 6, T. 1 

S., R. 2 W., Fairbanks D-3 quad. 

TL: Goldstream Creek mining cut, 

NW14 sec. 32, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., Fairbanks D-2 quad. TS: Right limit ofChatanika River, 

NW14 sec. 15, T. 3 N., R. 1 W., 

Livengood A-2 quad. 

TS: North wall of Eva Creek mining 

cut, SW14 sec. 5, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., 

Fairbanks D-3 quad. 

TS: North wall of Gold Hill mining 

cut, SWV.. sec. 3, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., 

Fairbanks D-2 quad. 

TL: Dome Creek mining cut, NWV.. sec. 5, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., Livengood 

A-2 quad. 

TS: "Ester Island" mining cut, SWV.. sec. 8, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., Fairbanks 

D-3 quad. TS: "Ester Island" mining cut, SWV.. sec. 8, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., Fairbanks 

D-3 quad. 

TS: Dawson mining cut, SWV.. sec. 6, 

T. 1 N., R. 1 W., Fairbanks D-2 

quad. TL: South valley wall ofPedro Creek 

at junction with Twin Creek, SEV.. sec. 11, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., Livengood 

D-3 quad. TL: Mining cut near Fox in 

Goldstream valley, SEV.. sec. 31, T. 

2 N., R. 1 E., Fairbanks D-2 quad. 

TL: Mining cut at Cripple Creek near "Ester Island," SW1

4 sec. 8, 

T. 1 S., R. 2 W., Fairbanks D-3 

quad. 

shafts in the perennially frozen ground, the older bench 

gravel appears red (Prindle, 1908b, p. 45). In great contrast to the common brownish gravel dominantly composed of metamorphic rocks is a white gravel facies of 

the Cripple Gravel exposed only on bench workings at 

the mouth of Engineer Creek. The gravel is composed of 

fairly well rounded quartz and quartzite boulders in a 

gray sandy matrix with mica flakes. 

downslope on hillsides during a time of periglacial conditions. This would account for the angularity, poor 

sorting, and poor stratification. Stream action has carried the debris short distances and winnowed out some 

of the fine fraction. 

A characteristic feature of the Cripple Gravel is the 

presence of placer gold at and near the base of the 

formation. The gold in the Fairbanks area occurs in the 

formation from the upper part of small valleys, near the 

bedrock source, downstream generally 4 to 6 km, alThe Cripple Gravel appears to be a valley-bottom 

accumulation of solifluction material that was carried 
CRIPPLE GRAVEL 

~ 

~ ~ v 1/ \ ~ 

1'\. t .. l..,eh ~ 

?~ ~ ~ ~ ( 

..,d.V.0, tr--- 1"- \ ~ ~~ 

~ w F\ ---v-v ~ ~ I' 

iv\ ~~~ ~~ \ \ 1\ / 

~ 1"'-.....l ~~ ( \ +-- -~~~ ~ t\ .~ \ He.. Vv. ~ 

LF pV r ~h \ ~ v(~ 1--/V }\( \ ~alrban' 

~ J~ 2 ~ l.J ~ I_ 1 

<:reek *\ / _liedro 1----i v r--.._ ,..---~c_:mll 

\ \( .z___ 77.< 

( / 7 0 1 2 3 4 6 MILES I-'-v y~· 

--- l j I I I I , .. I I I l =(\ 1\{ I\ )11 ~ l-1----- '---... "" 0 1 2 3 4 6 KILOMETRES 

/ "' '------._ 

\ \ ~ 

( ) I \v II ~ v ~ -f \ 

.I ) / 

1\/v "~ \ 

~~ ~ [Y 

1\ l.""«!!!. v lJ G~:::• ....., 

v '[L ~--)/ ,; i ~ --..: 

(J'-... ~ ~~~ v 

I--V 1/ r [Fa; I~ tl f ~ J /; II ~ ( ) ' 7eek. V ""'- """'-\ v R.3 E. 

' / \ ~ / v 

h. ~ ~ 

"' ~ ~ I ~~~ ~ K ............ ""'- II ~j\_ 

~ ~~ ~ :t \ / ) ,.. 

,.....r ~ ~ 1\ 1\~ '"' T IN. v 

··" :\ £J .._ 

~ \ ........ '14 v ~ 

~ 1:-: / \ 

~ v ~ ~v-l/ [i u! \1\ ~~r· N 

~ ~r ..... ~ ~ 

>::! ~ ~ ./r ~ r~ r I B-;;;;: 1\ \ ~! F"' ~ Univtlrs ·rvof -- Hill 

~\ \~ 9 

~ ''E. Alas ~ ) vv ""#\., ~ ~ G~dHill -

_c-. le!. li'i JV1 AC,.. 

~ "' 1 ...._,___ \. 

~~ ( 

~ ~ a ~ N l ~~ tif ~ l'=J" v \5L.I 

·~.:::.~ J> I 

-~ IC"~I I R.Z W. 

EXPLANATION 

Orb, Ready Bullion Formation 

Qan, Engineer Loess. Includes: 

Qenj, Jarvis Ash Bad 

Oanwi, Wilber Ash Bad 

!( 

N 

Qgs, Goldstream Formation. Includes: 

gsc, Chatanlka Ash Bad 

Qav, Eva Formation 

Qgh, Gold Hill Loess. Includes: 

Oghd, Dome Ash Bad 

Oghe, Ester Ash Bad 

Qfd, Fairbanks Loess 

Qdc, Dawson Cut Formation; forest bad 

Q ta, Tenana Formation 

Qfx, Fox Gravel 

QTc, Cripple Gravel 

Bedrock 

<,AID •..ru.!. 

R.IW. 

QUATERNARY 

} QUATERNARY 

AND TERTIARY 

h ~"=""" ~ ~ lLR.l E. 

FIGURE 3.-The Fairbanks area. 

0 

I 

c 

l-IC 

R.Z E. 

I 

0 

'i\. 

~ 1-w/ T.IS. 

I 

500FEET 

I 

tOO METRES 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X4 

5 

\ 

1/ T.3 N. 

t::;r----

\ 

\ 

T.Z N. 

FIGURE 4.-Schematic composite cross section of a creek valley in central Alaska in the vicinity of Fairbanks illustrating stratigraphic 

relations of the Quaternary deposits. 
6 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

though a distance of 15 km is not uncommon (Prindle 

and Katz, 1913, pl. 11). The placer gold in the Fairbanks 

area is fine to medium; if all the small flakes are considered, the average size of all grains is between 0.4 and 

0.58 mm in diameter. Pieces larger than 1 em are rare. 

Particle size decreases downstream. 

The fineness of placer gold in the gravel formations in 

the Fairbanks area ranges from a high of 950 to a low of 

800, depending on the fineness of the source lode and 

subsequent weathering and erosion. Smith's (1913, 

1941) careful work in the Fairbanks area supports the 

long-held idea that placer gold increases in fineness the 

farther it is removed from the parent vein (Devereux, 

1882; Browne, 1895; McConnell, 1907; Lindgren, 1911; 

Gardner and Johnson, 1934; Tuck, 1968). Mertie (1940) 

disagreed with this idea on the basis of his Alaskan 

work. Smith (1913) believed that the fineness of placer 

gold in the Fairbanks area increases with age by weathering processes, but was unable to prove it. Now, with a 

better understanding of age and distribution of the 

gravel formations in the Fairbanks area, it can be demonstrated that the gold of the older channels (Cripple 

Gravel) is usually finer than gold of the younger Fox 

Gravel. This explains the anomalous fineness records 

cited by Smith (1941, p. 195). 

The Cripple Gravel ranges in thickness from 1m on 

benches in the upper reaches of small creeks to at least 

25 m in the lower reaches. 

The Cripple Gravel overlies bedrock and is overlain 

by the Fox Gravel and Tanana Formation. In some 

localities it is overlain by the Dawson Cut, Fairbanks, 

Gold Hill, or Goldstream Formations (fig. 4). In most 

creeks in the Fairbanks area, the Cripple lies on an 

auriferous clay layer, ¥2-2m thick, that is thought to be 

the result of decomposition of the underlying bedrock. 

The clay could have resulted from pre-Pleistocene 

weathering or formed during Pleistocene interglacial 

times by percolation of ground water. 

Although fragments of wood and bones of Pleistocene 

animals occur in the auriferous gravel in the Fairbanks 

area (Prindle, 1906, p. 114; 1908b, p. 32; Prindle and 

Katz, 1913, p. 94), no fossils have been reported in the 

Cripple Gravel, and the writer has seen none. 

The Cripple Gravel was deposited in erosional valleys 

that cut through basalt deposits at Fourth of July Hill 

on Fairbanks Creek and elsewhere near Fairbanks. 

Mertie (1937, p. 228) considered the basalts to be late 

Tertiary. In the basalt on Birch Hill and Lakloey Hill at 

Fairbanks (Pewe, 1952, 1955b, 1958b; Furst, 1968), the 

writer discovered petrified coniferous wood !!related to 

Metasequoia, Sequoia, or Taxodium" (R. W. Brown, 

written commun., 1958). This indicates that the basalt 

is early or middle Tertiary in age. MacNeil, Wolfe, Miller, and Hopkins listed (1961) the basalt as early Tertiary. 

The Cripple Gravel seems to consist mostly of reworked solifluction debris; thus, it may have been deposited after a frost climate had begun to affect central 

Alaska. Although glaciers were present in Alaska as 

much as 10 million years ago (Pewe, 1975, table 1), the 

climate in late Tertiary time is believed to have been 

relatively equable and not intensely cold. Glacial ice did 

push into the interior from the Wrangell and St. Elias 

Mountains (Denton and Armstrong, 1969), and ice 

reached the sea to the south (Gulf of Alaska) at least 10 

million years ago. In the Arctic Basin evidence of glaciation and cooling 4--6 million years ago, at least in the 

adjacent highlands, is indicated by ice-rafted pebbles on 

the ocean floor (Herman, 1970; Herman and others 

1971). Until at least 5. 7 million years ago, forest vegetation on the Seward Peninsula was similar to that in 

southeastern Alaska, rather than to that which grows 

in the Arctic climate of today (Hopkins and others, 

1971). The tundra cover and associated cooler climate of 

the north and cooler climate of the interior probably 

were well established no earlier than late Pliocene time. 

The Cripple Gravel is definitely older than Illinoian 

because it underlies the Gold Hill Loess (discussed 

later). It is probably much older because it is stratigraphically under the Dawson Cut Formation, the 

Tanana Formation, and the Fox Gravel, all of which are 

pre-Illinoian but otherwise undated. It is therefore believed the Cripple Gravel represents deposits formed 

during a period of rigorous climate at the end of the 

Pliocene and beginning of the Pleistocene. 

FOX GRAVEL 

The Fox Gravel, a placer gold-bearing gravel deposit 

in the Fairbanks area, is here named for exposures near 

the village of Fox in Goldstream valley (fig. 3). It is 

exposed only by mining excavations or, rarely, by a 

river, but occurs in valley bottoms of most modern 

creeks. Its spatial relations are shown diagrammatically in figure 4. It does not include the modern angular 

creek gravel in the high-altitude areas above the thick 

loess deposits. 

The type locality is designated the mining excavations in Goldstream valley in the SEI4 sec. 31, T. 2 N., R. 

1 E., Fairbanks D-2 quadrangle near the village of Fox. 

Here, the Fox Gravel, about 15m thick, unconformably 

overlies Precambrian bedrock and underlies the Goldstream Formation. 

The Fox Gravel consists of poorly to fairly well 

stratified coarse angular sandy gravel with lenses of silt 

and sand as much as 1 m thick and 2 m long. The gravel 

clasts are imbricate in some places and consist almost 

entirely of quartz mica schist, chlorite schist, phyllite, 

slate, gneiss, quartz, quartzite and igneous rocks. The 

composition varies depending upon the composition of 

the bedrock source. The angular slightly transported 
TANANA FORMATION 7 

gravel fragments are 2-15 em in diameter, with cobbles 

25 em or larger not uncommon in certain areas. The 

composition of the auriferous gravel has been described 

in detail (Prindle, 1906, 1908a, 1908b, 1913; Mertie, 

1937). The tan color of the formation in mine tailings 

and walls of pits is caused by iron oxide stain on the 

clasts. 

The Fox Gravel is a valley-bottom accumulation of 

solifluction material that was carried downslope on 

hillsides in a periglacial environment. It grades upslope 

into stabilized solifluction deposits-the Tanana Formation. The solifluction deposit was reworked by 

stream action, and most of the fine fraction removed to 

leave a poorly sorted angular local gravel. The origin of 

the deposit was probably first recognized by J. B. Metcalfe and Ralph Tuck (unpub. rept., 1940), although 

they concluded that it formed during a ~~preglacial" 

period. 

The Fox Gravel contains placer gold at and near its 

base and has yielded most of the placer gold in the 

Yukon-Tanana Upland. It is unusually rich in gold 

where it crosses high-level older auriferous deposits 

-the Cripple Gravel (Prindle and Katz, 1913, p. 104; 

Pewe, 1965a, p. 19). Most of the gold is in the upper parts 

of the valleys, but the gold-rich zone may extend downstream 6-15 km (Prindle and Katz, 1913, pl. 11). The 

gold varies in fineness, but generally is less pure than 

the gold of the Cripple Gravel (J. B. Metcalfe and Ralph 

Tuck, unpub. rept., 1940). 

The Fox Gravel ranges in thickness from 1 m or less in 

the upper reaches of small creeks to at least 30 m in the 

lower reaches. The formation lies unconformably on 

bedrock and is conformably overlain by the Dawson Cut 

Formation, Fairbanks Loess, Gold Hill Loess, or Goldstream Formations (fig. 4). In most creeks the gravel 

lies on an auriferous yellowish to bluish clay layer, %-2 

m thick, that is thought to be the result of decomposition 

of the underlying bedrock during interglacial times 

(Bell, 197 4). 

The writer has collected bones of Pleistocene mammoth and bison from the Fox Gravel in the Fairbanks 

district. The bones of other Pleistocene animals reported by earlier workers from underground gold workings (Prindle, 1906, p. 114, 1908b, p. 32; Prindle and 

Katz, 1913, p. 94) may have also been from the Fox 

Gravel. 

The Fox Gravel may be distinguished from the older 

Cripple Gravel in several ways. Topographically the 

Cripple always lies on bedrock benches above the modern valley bottoms which contain the Fox Gravel (fig. 4). 

On the average, gold in the Cripple is finer than that in 

the Fox (if samples are taken in the same creek and the 

same distance from the lode). The most common difference between the angular sandy gravel of the Fox and 

the older Cripple is that the cobbles, pebbles, and sand 

of the Cripple are stained by iron oxide a dark brown to 

~~red" but those of the Fox are less stained and tan. 

Fieldwork in the Fairbanks area reveals that a few 

bones of Pleistocene animals (bison and mammoth) 

occur in the Fox, but no bones have ever been reported 

from the Cripple Gravel. 

The Fox Gravel formed during glacial times in a 

rigorous climate that produced solifluction deposits on 

hillsides and an accumulation of stream-washed 

solifluction debris in the valley bottoms. It is assigned 

an early or middle Pleistocene age as it is significantly 

younger than the Cripple Gravel. The Fox occupies new 

bedrock channels cut below the level of the older Cripple 

Gravel. It contains a sparse fauna of Pleistocene taxa. 

Mammoth are known in North America only from early 

Pleistocene time. However, the bison finds in central 

and western Alaska in pre-Illinoian sediments are 

perhaps the earliest record in North America (Pewe, 

1975; Pewe and Hopkins, 1967). These finds are consistent with the idea that Asian immigrants established 

themselves in Alaska much earlier than in the southern 

part of the United States and with Flerow's (1967) idea 

that Bison priscus crassicornis migrated from Asia to 

America before the Riss Glaciation. 

It is older than Illinoian because it underlies the 

Dawson Cut Formation, which is pre-Illinoian but 

otherwise undated. It considerably predates Illinoian 

sediments, which at one locality contain the primitive 

musk-ox, Praovibos, known from central and eastern 

Siberia in deposits of pre-Illinoian age (Vangengeim 

and Sher, 1970; Sher, 1969, 1971). 

TANANA FORMATION 

The Tanana Formation is here named for a widespread inactive solifluction layer in the Yukon-Tanana 

Upland of central Alaska (fig. 1). The deposit occurs on 

almost all lower slopes in unglaciated central Alaska 

from the valley margins to elevations of 500 m or more 

and has been referred to as slide rock by the placer gold 

miners (Prindle, 1908b, p. 181; J. B. Metcalfe and Ralph 

Tuck, unpub. rept., 1940) and well drillers. It is overlain 

by 1-30 m of Fairbanks or Gold Hill Loess. 

The formation crops out in roadcuts and gravel pits on 

slopes, but does not crop out on the surface. Its spatial 

relations are shown diagrammatically in figure 4. 

The type locality is designated the borrow pit on the 

south valley wall of Pedro Creek at its junction with 

Twin Creek in theSE% sec. 11, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., Livengood D-3 quadrangle. At this locality the Tanana Formation is 1 m thick, grades laterally into ~he Fox Gravel 

in the valley bottom, and is overlain by the Fairbanks 

Loess. 

The Tanana Formation is poorly stratified and consists of unsorted and angular fractured and weathered 

bedrock fragments in a silty-sandy matrix. Elongate or 
8 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

platy fragments are oriented parallel to the surface and 

give evidence of transportation short distances 

downslope. 

The composition of the Tanana varies depending on 

the local bedrock and may range from grus to greasy 

clay to the most common type, platy rock fragments in a 

silty matrix. Special rock types may, in many places, be 

traced upslope to their bedrock source. Minor amounts 

of gold are locally present. 

The formation is 1-25 m thick; the greatest thicknesses occur at the base of slopes. A thickness of 25 m 

was measured at the west side of the mouth of Engineer 

Creek valley (J. B. Metcalfe and Ralph Tuck, unpub. 

rept., 1940), and the surface of the deposit is reported to 

have a wavelike configuration. 

In multiple exposures on the lower campus of the 

University of Alaska (Pewe, 1965a, fig. 1-5) (fig. 5) and 

near Shaw Creek Flats (Pewe, 1965b, fig. 4-22), excellent ice-wedge casts of eolian sand occur in the Tanana 

Formation. Exposures at the University of Alaska show 

two solifluction layers of early or middle Pleistocene 

age; both are lumped into the Tanana Formation. Future work may show need to separate them. 

No flora or fauna are known from the Tanana Formation. The solifluction deposits originated in large part 

from cutting of altiplanation terraces (fig. 4) (Pewe, 

1970) before Illinoian loess was deposited. Because the 

Tanana Formation underlies Illinoian and pre-Illinoian 

deposits and, elsewhere, grades into the early or middle 

Pleistocene Fox Formation in valley bottoms, it is also 

thought to be early or middle Pleistocene in age. 

The Tanana Formation overlies bedrock and underlies loess and retransported loess of Illinoian and preIllinoian ages; it is iron stained in most places. It is not 

to be confused with pods of angular rock fragments and 

sand that occur locally at creek junctions in the Goldstream Formation, nor with younger solifluction deposits at high altitudes in the Yukon-Tanana Upland 

that were formed during later cold periods or may be 

Surf.c:e of ground 

I 

0 

0 

I 

forming today and are not overlain by loess of Illinoian 

age or older. 

DAWSON CUT FORMATION 

A 1-3-m-thick silt rich in plant material is here 

named the Dawson Cut Formation for its exposure in 

the Dawson Cut placer mine 10 km north of Fairbanks. 

The writer has informally used the term Dawson muck 

for this mappable unit since the late forties; the term 

Dawson Formation is preempted, and so it here is formally named the Dawson Cut Formation. 

The formation crops out at the base of mining exposures in valley bottoms on Eva Creek (fig. 6) (Pewe, 

1952, fig. 40), Engineer Creek, Dawson Cut, Sheep 

Creek, and Ready Bullion bench cut and is perennially 

frozen. It also has been tentatively identified from mining exposures near Livengood. It does not crop out on 

the surface; its spatial relations are shown diagrammatically in figure 4. 

The type section is designated the northeast wall of 

the Dawson Cut placer mine, SW 14 sec. 6, T. 1 N., R. 1 

W., Fairbanks D-2 quadrangle, on the right limit of 

Engineer Creek near its junction with Goldstream 

Creek 10 km north of Fairbanks. At this locality the 

Dawson Cut Formation is 1 m thick and is underlain by 

the Cripple Gravel and overlain by the Gold Hill Loess. 

The Dawson Cut Formation consists of peat lenses, 

logs, and forest beds in a dark gray to black (when 

frozen) silt, rich in minute carbonized plant fragments. 

When dried, the silt is light gray to tan. The silt is well 

sorted and probably is in part reworked loess and soil. 

Some fine angular gravel derived from the underlying 

Fox Formation occurs in thin layers and lenses a few 

centimetres thick. The gravel and some basal silt are 

cemented by an iron oxide compound. 

The Dawson Cut Formation overlies the Fox Gravel 

in valley bottoms. It is overlain in most localities by the 

Gold Hill Loess; however, on the east wall ofEva Creek 

the loess has been removed and the Goldstream Forma6 

I 

10 

I 16FEET I 

I 

6METFIES 

HOFIIZONTAL AND VERTICAL SCALE 

FIGURE 5.-Tanana Formation, a solifluction deposit, and ice-wedge casts of sand exposed in excavation for Duckering Building, University of Alaska, Fairbanks (drawn by L. Burbank and R. D. Reger). 
DAWSON CUT FORMATION 9 

Ready Bullion 

Formation 

Goldstr•am 

Formetion 

Gold Hill LOHI 

Age 

Holocene 

. 

c 

c 

·;;; 

c 

0 

~ 

~ 

c • ·c; 

~ 

FIGURE 6.-Late Quaternary perennially frozen sediments with radiocarbon dates and vertebrate occurrences. Eva Creek mining cut 16 

km west of Fairbanks. (Photograph, 2540 by T. L. Pewe, July 2, 1967.) 

'The permafrost table was lowered throughout central Alaska 1-5 m about 10,000 years 

ago and has since risen to its present position. All sediments in the deep thaw layer were 

unfrozen for hundreds if not thousands of years. Flat-top ice wedges and collapse of sediments 

over ice wedges remain as evidence of this thawing episode. 2The age of the Ready Bullion Formation in the Fairbanks area is well documented (Pewe, 

1952, 1958b, 1965a, 1975). More than a dozen samples have been dated from this formation 

and the Engineer Loess in many different mining exposures; the dates range from about 3,000 

to 10,000 years, with most of them in the neighborhood of 5,000-7,000 years. A date of 

3,750±200 years (L-117H) was obtained on a sample of wood collected 2m below the surface 

by the writer in 1951 from the Ready Bullion Formation on Eva Creek. A data of 10,000±500 

years (L- 137S) was obtained on a sample of wood collected by the writer in 1951 from the base 

of the Engineer Loess on Eva Bench mining exposure 3 m below the surface. 

3 ln 1967 the writer collected for dating samples of ice, wood, and carbonaceous silt that 

were adjacent. All were dated by the radiocarbon laboratory at the University of Arizona as 

more than 25,000 years old. More detailed dating probably would have indicated an age 

between 25,000 and 30,000 years. A wood sample collected in 1954 by the writer 2.5 m below 

the top of the Goldstream Formation on Eva Creek was dated at 23,300± 1,000 years (W- 435). 

Wood samples collected by the writer in 1952 at the base of the Goldstream Formation and 

near the middle were dated as greater than 23,000 years old (L-157A) and greater than 

30,000 years (L-163J). 

'A radiocarbon date of24,400±650 years (l- 2116) was obtained on wood collected at the 

base of the ice wedges (Matthews, 1968, p. 207). 

tion lies directly on the Dawson Cut Formation (Pewe, 

1952, p. 108). 

The flora of the Dawson Cut Formation is characterized by peat layers, sticks, horizontal logs as much as 

3 m long and 30 em in diameter (but mostly smaller), 

and white spruce stumps as much as 20 em in diameter 

rooted in peaty soil (Pewe, 1975, fig. 40). The wood is 

more weathered, smashed, flattened, and iron stained 

than similar specimens in the Wisconsinan and 

Holocene deposits near Fairbanks. Bones of bison 

~Matthews (1968) examined fossil beetles from the Goldstream Formation. Beetles, plus a 

pollen study by Matthews and by the writer. indicate a treeless tundra environment during 

the Wisconsinan. ln 1949 Pewe also collected bones of mammoth andCitellus undulatus from 

the Goldstream Formation here. Guthrie (1968b) recovered Microtus gregalis, Lemmus 

sibericus. Dicrostonyx torquatus, and Citellus undulatus from both the Goldstream Formation and the Gold Hill Loess. 

ope we (1952) has reported a forest bed at this stratigraphic horizon from many exposures in 

the Fairbanks area. The oldest date obtained on the Eva !<"'ormation was reported by Matthews (1968) as more than 56,900 years <Hv-1328). This carbonaceous silt layer with tree 

stumps and logs unconformably overlies the deformed loess. 

7 ln innumerable exposuresofthe contact between the Goldstream Formation and Gold Hill 

Loess in the Fairbanks area, a 1-cm-thick white vitric volcanic ash bed occurs at the top of the 

Illinoian loess and is truncated by an unconformity. This ash bed, the Dome Ash Bed, is 

defOrmed by faulting and solifluction. 

8The writer collected (1949--67) mammoth tusks and various bones of bison from the Gold 

Hi ll Loess on Eva Creek. 

9At Dawson mining cut and others a well-developed organic silt crops out (Pewe, 1952). 

This unit contains large stumps and logs that are partly flattened and deformed; it is thought 

to represent an interstadial or interglacial forest bed. One particularly fine white spruce 

stump from the Dawson Cut Formation of the Eva Creek section, with roots in the underlying 

gravel, is more than 28,000 years old (L-137X). 

(probably Bison priscus) are relatively common, compared with the overlying loess and gravel. Guthrie 

(1968b) reported microtines present. 

The Dawson Cut Formation is a pre-Illinoian interglacial deposit possibly Yarmouth in age because of its 

close relation to the overlying Illinoian Gold Hill Loess. 

Some of the silt in the formation may be the result of 

reworking and penetration of the earliest loess of the 

Gold Hill Formation, which represents a more rigorous 

glacial climate. 
10 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

FAIRBANKS LOESS 

The Fairbanks Loess, named by Pewe (1958b) for the 

city of Fairbanks, is the most widespread deposit of 

Quaternary age in central Alaska. The loess blankets 

the hills of central Alaska, especially below the elevation of 600 m. The term Fairbanks Loess was defined to 

include all loess on hilltops and upper hillslopes (fig. 4) 

(generally not perennially frozen). When traced laterally to lower slopes and valley bottoms, the loess can be 

divided into the Gold Hill Loess (Illinoian), the retransported silt ofthe Goldstream Formation (Wisconsinan), 

and the Engineer Loess (Holocene). Their spatial relations are shown diagrammatically in figure 4. Good 

exposures are numerous in roadcuts, mining cuts, and 

quarries in central Alaska, especially near Fairbanks 

(Pewe, 1958b). 

No type locality has previously been designated for 

the Fairbanks Loess, although it was mentioned (Pewe, 

1958b) that excellent exposures occur in the placer excavations near Fairbanks, especially on Gold Hill and 

"Ester Island" (fig. 3). The type section is here established as the section on the east side of the "Ester Island" mining cut in the SWV<J sec. 8, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., 

Fairbanks D-3 quadrangle, where loess 60 m thick 

overlies the Cripple Gravel (Pewe, 1952, fig. 33). This 

section has been described in detail (Pewe, 1952, p. 

49-52), and although there are slight color variations, 

the texture of this sediment is the same throughout. 

Lindholm, Thomas, Davidson, Handy, and Roy (1957) 

have examined in detail the engineering properties of 

the silt of this section. 

The Fairbanks Loess is thickest near major rivers 

draining glaciated areas. It is thin or absent on the 

highest hilltops, but thickens downslope to almost 30m. 

The valley-bottom loess and retransported silt deposits, 

which are equivalent to the Fairbanks Loess (fig. 4), 

reach thicknesses of as much as 150m. Near Fairbanks 

a thickness of 68 m of Fairbanks Loess caps Gold Hill 

(fig. 3). 

The Fairbanks Loess is generally tan to grayish tan. 

The silt is well sorted: 75-85 per cent of the particles are 

between 0.005 mm and 0.05 mm in diameter. (For 

cumulative frequency curves ofloess from various parts 

of central Alaska, see Pewe, 1955a.) The loess is massive, showing little jointing or stratification, although 

in many localities thin dark carbonaceous layers and 

iron oxide-stained bands are present. Except in a few 

isolated localities, the loess is noncalcareous. At least 

two pronounced white vitric ash beds occur in the Fairbanks Loess; the lower, the Ester Ash Bed, occurs near 

its base. 

The loess overlies the auriferous Cripple Gravel and 

various types of pre-Quaternary bedrock with a sharp 

contact. It is bounded on the top by modern soil. 

One of the most widespread topographic characteristics of the loess on upper slopes is the old slightly subdued parallel gullies 10-15 m deep and 100-200 m long. 

(See Pewe, 1955a, pl. 3, fig. 1.) Since the loess is not 

undergoing active gullying today, except where human 

activity weakens the vegetation cover or concentrates 

runoff, the rounded gullys must be relicts of a past 

period with different precipitation or vegetation cover, 

or different distribution of permafrost. Although 

mammal remains are abundant in the valley-bottom 

silt formations, they are rare in the Fairbanks Loess 

because most remains have been concentrated in valley 

bottoms by slope wash and mass movement of the mantle, and also, good exposures are not as common in the 

Fairbanks Loess as in the valley bottoms. Undiagnostic 

bones of mammoth, horse, and bison occur in the Fairbanks Loess. Guthrie (1968b) reported remains of 

Citellus undulatus and Dicrostonyx torquatus from the 

Fairbanks Loess along Chena Ridge Road 10 km west of 

Fairbanks. 

The Fairbanks Loess is thought to span the Illinoian, 

Wisconsinan, and Holocene because when traced laterally to valley bottoms it grades into the Engineer Loess, 

the Goldstream Formation, and the Gold Hill Loess. 

GOLD HILL LOESS 

The Gold Hill Loess is here named for Gold Hill, 10 

km west of Fairbanks, where it is well exposed in a 

placer gold mining cut. The name was used informally 

in the late forties and early fifties for Holocene loess in 

the Fairbanks area (Pewe, 1952). Since about the middle fifties, the term has been informally used for an 

Illinoian formation in valley bottoms equivalent to the 

Fairbanks Loess, and it is here so used and formally 

adopted. 

The term Gold Hill Loess is applied to the oldest and 

thickest loess on lower slopes and in valley bottoms. 

This perennially frozen material is exposed in vertical 

cuts and does not crop out on the surface. Its spatial 

relations are shown diagrammatically in figure 4. 

The type section is designated the north wall of Gold 

Hill mining cut on Gold Hill in the SW14 sec. 3, T. 1 S., R. 

2 W., 10 km west of Fairbanks, Fairbanks D-2 quadrangle (Pewe, 1965a, fig. 1-8). At this locality approximately 55 m of the unit is exposed. Its thickness ranges 

from 55 m in valley bottoms to a few centimetres upslope. The formation consists of massive loess that has 

the same texture as the Fairbanks Loess. Thin iron 

oxide-stained and carbonaceous beds are common. The 

base of the unit locally contains marcasite concretions, 

many with vertebrate bones or fragments of frostshattered bedrock as nuclei. 

Conspicuous structural features of the Gold Hill 

Loess are folds and contortions 2-35 m across. Because 

of the uniformity in texture and composition of the silt, 

structural features are seen only when ash or carbonaceous beds are present (fig. 7) (Pewe, 1952, figs. 38, 

39, 40, 41, 42). 
FIGURE 7.-Horizontally bedded gray to black silt of the Goldstream Formation overlying with an angular unconformity tilted blocks of the Gold Hill Loess with enclosing 

minutely faulted Dome Ash Bed. West wall of Eva Creek mining excavation 14 km west of Fairbanks. Log propped against wall is modem wood. (Photograph 370 by 

T. L. Pewe, June 28, 1949). 

Q 

0 

b 

:I: 

-t"' 

t"' 

s 

tr:l 

en 

en 

I-" 

I-" 
12 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

A white rather gritty highly vitric ash, the Ester Ash 

Bed, is exposed near the base of the Gold Hill Loess in 

many exposures. The Dome Ash Bed is a ubiquitous 

thin white ash bed that crops out near the top of the Gold 

Hill Loess (fig. 4) and is folded or faulted wherever 

exposed (figs. 6, 7). 

The perennially frozen freshly exposed Gold Hill 

Loess is either brown or green. The upper part of the 

formation that directly underlies the Eva or Goldstream Formations is green because of reduction of the 

ferric iron to ferrous iron. The green facies is thickest in 

valley bottoms and ranges from 1 to 20 m in thickness. 

Weathering and thawing turn the loess tan. The Gold 

Hill Loess lies unconformably over the pre-Quaternary 

bedrock, Cripple Formation, Fox Formation, Tanana 

Formation, and, elsewhere, the Dawson Cut Formation. 

It is unconformably overlain by the Eva and Goldstream Formations of Sangamon and Wisconsinan age, 

respectively (fig. 6). 

The flora of the loess was reported by Pewe (1952; 

1975). Megafossils are rare or absent, and two small 

pollen studies (Pewe, 1975) indicate a greatly reduced 

tree cover and 450-600 m of drop in tree line. Mammal 

remains are common, mainly of horse, mammoth, and 

bison. Vertebrate fossils in the Gold Hill Loess support 

the idea that many taxa were present in North America 

earlier than previously recognized. Guthrie (1968b) reported on the small mammals in this unit. The remains 

of all known mammals in the Gold Hill Loess were 

summarized by Pewe and Hopkins (1967) and Pewe 

(1975). 

The Gold Hill Loess lies between two forest beds 

formed during interglaciations. The loess records an 

intervening long period of rigorous glacial climate with 

restricted forest cover. The upper forest bed has been 

dated as older than 57,000 years old (Matthews, 1968), 

and therefore the Gold Hill Loess is thought to be Illinoian in age. 

ESTER ASH BED 

The Ester Ash Bed occurs within the base of the 

Fairbanks Loess and is the oldest and thickest ash layer 

recognized in central Alaska. It was first described by 

Pewe (1952, p. 49-52, 55) and informally termed the 

Ester ash layer from nearby Ester Creek. Later the 

name was formalized to the Ester Ash Bed, and the unit 

was described in more detail (Pewe, 1955a, p. 713). 

The type sectionis here established near the base of 

the 60-m-thick section of Fairbanks Loess on the east 

side of"Ester Island" mining cut in the SWI;4 sec. 8, T. 1 

S., R. 2 W., Fairbanks D-3 quadrangle. Here, 4 m above 

the base ofthe Fairbanks Loess, is exposed a 15-cm-thick 

layer of white vitric unconsolidated ash (Pewe, 1955a, 

pl. 1, fig. 1) (fig. 8). The basal1-cm-thick layer ofthe ash 

bed is iron oxide stained, and the 2.5-cm-thick layer 

immediately above the basal layer is bright pink. 

The ash bed is composed mainly of glass; it also contains andesine (An37) and other minerals (R. K. Merrill, written commun., 1971). The index of the glass is 

1.517 (R. G. Updike, written commun., 1971). A chemical analysis (table 2) reveals the ash could be termed a 

rhyodacite if the water content is added to the silica 

content. 

The upper and lower contacts of the bed are sharp. 

Thickness ranges from 5 to 15 em. Near the type section 

a "pocket" of ash 1 m in diameter is present. The ash is 

exposed just above the base of the Gold Hill Loess in 

Gold Hill, Dawson, Engineer, and Cripple Sump mining 

cuts near Fairbanks (fig. 3) and near the base of the 

Fairbanks Loess in its type section. 

TABLE 2.-Chemical analysis of volcanic ash from 

the Ester Ash Bed, 16 km west of Fairbanks 

[Sample 155; analysis by W. J. Blake, U.S. Geological Survey, 1950] 

Si02 ------------- ------------------- 65.39 

AkO:J ------------------------------ 13.96 

Fe..O:J -------------- ---------------- 1.75 

FeO -------------------------------- 2.71 

MgO -------------------------------- .63 

CaO --------------------------------- 2.19 

N!120 ------------------------------ 4.19 

K.O -------------------------------- 2.54 

fuO- ------------------------------ .52 

fuO+ ------------------------------ 4.85 

TiCh ------ -------------------------- .56 

CCh -------------------------------- .01 

P20s -------------------------------- .15 

Cl ---------------------------------- .15 

MnO _ __ ___ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ __ __ _ _ __ ___ _ .15 

BaO -------------------------------- .09 

99.84 

Less 0 for Cl ------------------------ .03 

Total ------------------------ 99.81 

The Ester Ash Bed occurs near the base of the Fairbanks Loess and its valley-bottom equivalent, the Gold 

Hill Loess, and therefore is thought to be early Illinoian 

in age (fig. 4). 

DOME ASH BED 

The most persistent ash layer of Pleistocene age in 

central Alaska is the Dome Ash Bed, a thin white ash 

layer exposed within and near the top of the Gold Hill 

Loess in mining cuts and in natural exposures. In addition to the many exposures in the Fairbanks area, the 

writer has recognized the ash in the Tofty, Livengood, 

and Circle mining areas. It was first mapped in the late 

forties and recorded by Pewe (1952, p. 86, figs. 34, 38, 39, 

41, 42) in numerous sections informally as the Eva ash. 

Because the term Eva is used elsewhere in the 

stratigraphic terminology, the ash layer is here named 
FIGURE 8.-Type section of Ester Ash Bed, here within the base of the Fairbanks Loess (Illinoian), exposed near base of "Ester Island" mining cut between Ester and Cripple 

Creeks, 16 km east of Fairbanks. (Photograph 354 by T. L. Pewe, August 23, 1948.) 

tj 

~ 

~ tJj 

t<:l 

tj 

1-' 

CJ.:) 
14 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

the Dome Ash Bed from exposures in Dome Creek mining cut. The type locality is in Dome Creek mining cut in 

the NWI,4 sec. 5, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., Livengood A-2 quadrangle, where the ash is 1 em thick. 

All mining cuts in the Fairbanks area display good 

exposures of the ash on fresh faces, and in all exposures 

the ash layer is deformed and locally overlain 

unconformably by either the Eva or Goldstream 

Formations (figs. 4, 6). The Gold Hill Loess and the ash 

bed have characteristically been disturbed by block 

slumping (fig. 7) or solifluction (Pewe, 1952, figs. 40, 41) 

in all exposures. 

The Dome Ash 'Bed is a white vitric ash, and the 

refractive index of the glass is 1.517 (R. G. Updike, 

written commun., 1971). It ranges from 1 to 10 em in 

thickness and is present in all exposures of the upper 

part of the Gold Hill Loess. In one locality (Eva Creek 

mining cut) the ash bed accumulated in a "pocket" 1 m 

in diameter. The Dome is restricted to the top of the 

Gold Hill Loess and is therefore thought to be late 

Illinoian in age. 

It is almost impossible to tell the difference in the field 

between the different ash beds of central Alaska, except 

by stratigraphic position. The Ester and Dome Ash Beds 

are both in loess, but the Ester Ash Bed is thicker and 

not as deformed as the Dome Ash Bed. The Chatanika 

Ash Bed is not in loess but in bedded organic silt. The 

Holocene ash beds are all in loess and near the present 

surface. The ashes have been studied considerably, but 

ordinary chemical analysis does not separate them· nor 

does a study of bubble curvature. Indices of refraction 

differ slightly for all but the Dome and Ester Ash Beds. 

Detailed studies are now underway to investigate the 

chemical composition of the glass by microprobe 

analyses. EVA FORMATION 

The Eva Formation is here named from Eva Creek, 16 

km west of Fairbanks, where it is exposed in a placer 

mining cut (Pewe, 1952; 1975) (fig. 6). In all the miningcut exposures in the Fairbanks area, the Gold Hill Loess 

is separated from the Goldstream Formation by a poorly 

to well formed topographic bench. At Eva Creek, Dawson Cut, Gold Hill, and elsewhere, the bench is prominent because ofthe presence of a forest layer with rooted 

and unrooted stumps (Matthews, 1968, fig. 2, 1970, fig. 

5; Guthrie, 1968b, fig. 2; Pewe, 1975, fig. 30) that represents the Eva Formation (fig. 6). The Eva Formation 

crops out only in vertical cuts and does not appear on the 

surface. Its spatial relations are shown diagrammatically in figures 4 and 6. 

The type section is designated as the north wall ofEva 

Creek mining cut in the NWI,4 sec. 5, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., 16 

km west of Fairbanks (fig. 4) (Pewe, 1952, fig. 37; 1975, 

fig. 29), Fairbanks D-3 quadrangle. The formation is 

1 m thick at this locality. It consists of peat lenses, 

sticks, logs, and rooted stumps in loesslike silt rich in 

minute carbonized plant fragments. The silt is reworked loess and soil. The perennially frozen soil, silt, 

and organic clasts are tightly matted into a relatively 

resistant layer about 1 m thick. The Eva Formation 

unconformably overlies the Gold Hill Loess and is conformably overlain with a gradational contact by the 

Goldstream Formation. 

The megaflora in the Eva Formation consists mainly 

of sticks and fragments of well-preserved wood, as well 

as many rooted stumps and prostrate logs of birch and 

white spruce as much as 25 em in diameter and 3 m long. 

This concentration of large trees may represent the 

return of the forest to the area after the period when the 

Gold Hill Loess was deposited, a time of rigorous glacial 

climate with restricted forest cover. Matthews (1968, 

1970) discussed the vegetation and insects in this unit, 

and Guthrie (1968b) reported on the microtines from 

the Eva Formation at its type locality. They showed 

that the loess immediately above the forest bed and 

some that has collected perhaps around the stumps contain pollen, insects, and microtines indicative of a 

tundra environment. I believe this indicates the return 

of the lower tree line and colder conditions after the 

forest of Eva time. This would explain why spruce macrofossils are found associated with tundra type pollen, 

beetles, and microtines in the silt, as Matthews (1970, p. 

249) reported. 

A radiocarbon date of more than 59,600 years on wood 

from this formation was reported by Matthews (1968) 

from Eva Creek, and the writer reports a date of more 

than 24,000 years from a rooted stump in this formation 

from Dawson Cut. The formation consists of vegetation 

material (and soil?) of presumed Sangamon age locally 

engulfed by interspersed silt probably of very earliest 

Wisconsinan age. Pewe and Sellmann (1971, 1973) 

showed that geochemically the Eva Formation has a 

relatively low conductivity which may reflect thawing 

or slow deposition conditions during an interglacial 

period. The Eva Formation is thus thought to represent 

an interglacial time, the Sangamon Interglaciation. 

GOLDSTREAM FORMATION 

The Goldstream Formation, one of the most widespread formations in central Alaska, is perhaps also the 

most interesting. The deposit, long informally known as 

the Goldstream muck (Pewe, 1952; Rubin and Alexander, 1958, p. 1479), is here named for Goldstream Creek 

10 km north of Fairbanks, where it has been exposed by 

mining operations since the early 1900's. 

The type locality is the left limit of Goldstream Creek 

in the SWI,4 sec. 32, T. 2 N., R. 1 E., about one-half mile 

east of the village of Fox, Fairbanks D-2 quadrangle. 
GOLDSTREAM FORMATION 15 

The Goldstream Formation is 15 m thick here. Exposures of the frozen, ice-rich silt with abundant vegetation have been common here for many years. Taber 

(1943) illustrated several exposures of the muck as it 

appeared in 1935 in Goldstream Creek valley. Despite 

slumping of the mining cut walls, the formation is still 

freshly exposed in the U.S. Army tunnel in permafrost 

on the left limit of Goldstream Creek near Fox (Sellmann, 1967, 1968, 1972). 

The Goldstream Formation is a valley-bottom accumulation ofloess in almost all creek and small river 

valleys in central Alaska. It is exposed in river cuts and 

most commonly in placer mining cuts. The writer has 

examined it in hundreds of exposures in central Alaska 

from the Canadian border to the Seward Peninsula. It 

rarely crops out on the surface; however, just north of 

Fairbanks it crops out over an area of about 6 km2 where 

younger fans do not cover it. It also crops out in small 

areas in Goldstream Creek valley. These deposits were 

mapped in the Fairbanks D-2 quadrangle as perennially frozen organic silt (Pewe, 1958b). (See also Pewe, 

1952, fig. 1; Pewe and others, 1975a, 1975b.) The spatial 

relations of the Goldstream Formation are shown diagrammatically in figure 4. 

The Goldstream Formation, described in detail by 

Pewe (1952), consists of perennially frozen retransported bedded loess that contains abundant minute carbonized organic fragments and some peat lenses, sticks, 

and twigs. Vertebrate remains are common, and pond 

deposits with aquatic mollusks are known. The silt is 

poorly to fairly well stratified. The stratification is emphasized by ice seams and lenses (Taber ice) (Taber, 

1943; Pewe, 1966). Larger masses of foliated ice (ice 

wedges) are abundant, especially near the upper part of 

the formation (figs. 6, 9). Large masses ofpingo ice are 

present locally (Holmes and others, 1968, fig. 10). A thin 

white vitric volcanic ash layer, the Chatanika Ash Bed, 

occurs near the upper middle of the formation. In rare 

localities, especially near the base of the formation on 

lower hill slopes, or near junctions of tributary creeks, 

thin layers of sand and (or) angular local alluvial gravel 

%-2 m thick occur. The formation is gray to black to 

greenish black when frozen and is 10-35 m thick. It 

unconformably overlies the Fox Gravel in valley bottoms and the Tanana Formation on lower valley slopes. 

In many lower slopes it lies unconformably on the Gold 

Hill Loess. It is overlain unconformably by the Engineer Loess on middle slopes and by the Ready Bullion 

Formation on lower slopes and in valley bottoms (fig. 4). 

Silt of the Goldstream Formation has been washed to 

valley bottoms and is bedded, black to gray, rich in 

organic matter, and perennially frozen with large 

masses of ice. All this serves to distinguish the formation from the Fairbanks, Engineer, and Gold Hill I 

Loesses. Although the Goldstream and Ready Bullion 

Formations are both bedded, black, and perenniany 

frozen, the overlying Ready Bullion Formation (fig. 4) 

does not contain large ice masses or remains of extinct 

Pleistocene vertebrates, and the organic matter it contains is 10,000 years old or younger. 

The Goldstream Formation grades upslope into unbedded loess of Wisconsinan age; however, inasmuch as 

there is no break between such loess and the underlying 

Illinoian loess and overlying Holocene loess on upper 

slopes and hilltops, all the loess in such localities is 

mapped as the Fairbanks Loess. 

The flora of the Goldstream Formation is well preserved because the sediments and accumulated organic 

remains froze soon after deposition. Abundant layers, 

lenses, and pods of plant remains, mainly peat, sticks, 

twigs, ground squirrel seed caches, and isolated tree 

limbs, are present (Wilkerson, 1932; Chaney and 

Mason, 1936; Mertie, 1937; Pewe, 1952, 1975). Wood is 

not nearly as abundant, however, as in the underlying 

Eva Formation or the overlying Ready Bullion Formation. Pollen collected by the writer indicates that trees 

were scarce and the tree line was lower (E. G. Barghoorn, written commun., 1954). See also Matthews, 

1970.) Recent work by Matthews (1974) suggests that 

trees returned briefly around middle Wisconsinan time. 

The Goldstream Formation is the greatest repository 

of remains of Pleistocene vertebrates in Alaska, if not in 

North America. Various conditions favored the accumulation of vertebrate remains of Wisconsinan age in 

this deposit: (1) The Goldstream Formation is a valleybottom deposit, and most bones of the vertebrates are 

gradually transported downslope to valley bottoms; (2) 

the older valley-bottom deposits of Illinoian age have 

been mostly removed; and (3) sediments of the Goldstream Formation froze soon after deposition. The most 

abundant remains are those of bison; remains of mammoth and horse are next in abundance. The extensive 

vertebrate fauna of the formation has been discussed by 

Frick (1930), Wilkerson (1932), Mertie (1937), Taber 

(1943), Geist (1940, 1953), Skarland (1949), Skinner 

and Kaisen (194 7), Pewe (1952, 1958b, 1965a, 1966, 

1975), Repenning, Hopkins, and Rubin (1964), and 

Guthrie (1968b). The famous partial carcasses of Pleistocene mammals were found in this formation (Geist, 

1940; Pewe, 1952, p. 123-126; 1966; 1975, table 13). 

Freshwater mollusks occur locally in the formation 

and have been reported by Dorsh (1934), Mertie (1937), 

Taber (1943), and Pewe (1952, 1975). Insect remains 

have been studied by Matthews (1968). 

The Goldstream Formation is overlain by the Ready 

Bullion Formation and (or) the Engineer Loess, whose 

bases are dated at about 10,000 years. More than 60 

radiocarbon dates (table 4) from the Goldstream Forma-
FIGURE 9.-Ice wedge in retransported silt of the Goldstream Formation overlain unconformably by retransported silt of the Ready Bullion Formation, the left limit of lower Engineer Creek near Fairbanks. (Photograph 479 by T. L. Pewe, September 23, 1949.) 

...... 

m 

§ 

~ 

~ 

~ 

~ 0 

z 

~ ~ t-< 

~ 

~ 0 

t':l 

~ ~ ~ > 
ENGINEER LOESS 17 

tion record material older than 10,000 years, and many 

dates are older than 30,000 years. Wood in the underlying Eva Formation is older than 59,600 years; the Goldstream Formation is thus considered to be Wisconsinan 

in age. 

CHAT ANIKA ASH BED 

A distinctive ash bed is here named the Chatanika 

Ash Bed from exposures along the Chatanika River 40 

km north of Fairbanks. It occurs within and near the top 

of the Goldstream Formation and is exhibited in 

natural and mining exposures in the Fairbanks area. It 

was first mapped in the late forties and recorded by 

Pewe (1952, fig. 58) near Fairbanks. 

The type section is designated the 15-m-high cutbank 

of the Chatanika River 2 km downstream from the 

Elliott Highway bridge over the Chatanika River 40 km 

north of Fairbanks in the NW14 sec. 15, T. 3 N., R. 1 W., 

Livengood A-2 quadrangle. Here the Goldstream Formation is overlain by a thick deposit of retransported 

silt and buried forest beds, the Ready Bullion Formation. The Chatanika Ash Bed, a volcanic ash layer about 

1 em thick, occurs about 4 m below the top of the Goldstream Formation (fig. 10). The section was described by 

Pewe (1965a). 

The Chatanika Ash Bed is a white vitric ash. The 

refractive index of the glass is 1.503 (R. K. Merrill, 

written commun., 1971). The ash ranges in thickness 

from 1 to 10 mm and is quite persistent in the area. One 

of its most outstanding characteristics is that it is 

greatly contorted by massive ice-wedge growth; in 

many places adjacent to the ice wedges, the ash bed is 

almost vertical (fig. 10). 

At the type section a radiocarbon date of 14,760±850 

0 

0 

10 

5 

(GX- 0250) years was obtained on a Citellus nest 4 m 

below the ash layer. A date of 14,510±450 (W-2703) 

years was obtained on Citellus coprolites from silt 1 m 

above the ash layer (Meyer Rubin, oral commun., 1972). 

The ash is thus considered to be about 14,000 years old 

(Wisconsinan). 

ENGINEER LOESS 

The names "Engineer muck" and "Engineer formation" were used informally by the writer in the late 

forties and fifties (Pewe, 1952; Rubin and Alexander, 

1958, p. 1479) for Holocene retransported silt in valley 

bottoms. Since the fifties the term has been used informally for a Holocene equivalent of the Fairbanks Loess 

on middle slopes, and it is here so used and formally 

named the Engineer Loess. 

The Engineer Loess is here named for exposures on 

Engineer Creek 10 km north of Fairbanks. The type 

locality is designated the loess exposed in Dawson Cut, 

a gold placer mining excavation in the SW'l4 sec. 6, T. 1 

N., R. 1 E., Fairbanks ~2 quadrangle on the right limit 

of Engineer Creek near its confluence with Goldstream 

Creek. (See Pewe, 1952, fig. 34C.) At this locality approximately l-llf2 m of Engineer Loess disconformably 

overlies a thick section of silt of the Goldstream Formation. The Engineer consists of some masses ofunbedded 

loess and some weakly bedded slightly retransported 

loess with thin iron oxide-stained and carbonaceous 

beds. It is similar to the Fairbanks Loess in texture and 

mineralogy and is locally calcareous. In the immediate 

Fairbanks area, the formation is 1-7 m thick, but near 

glaciated regions, such as in the middle and upper 

Tanana valleys, the loess may reach thicknesses of 12m 

D Rudy Bullion Formation 

B Goldstream Formation 

20 FEET 

10 METRES 

HORIZONTAL AND V ERTICAL SCALE 

FIGURE 10.-Bank of the Chatanika River 2 km downstream from Elliot Highway bridge, 40 km north of Fairbanks. Goldstream Formation, with ice wedges and Chatanika Ash Bed, is overlain by the Ready Bullion Formation. Number with date is lab. number from 

table 4. 
18 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

near braided glacial streams (Pewe and Holmes, 1964). 

In such areas the rapid loess accumulation over Wisconsinan till and outwash enabled many Holocene forest 

layers to be preserved (Pewe, 1965c, p. 53; Reger and 

others, 1964). 

The term Engineer Loess is used for the younger and 

thinner of two loesses on middle slopes. The lower part 

of the formation is perennially frozen. The loess is exposed in vertical walls such as Eva bench cut and Gold 

Hill (Pewe, 1965a, fig. 1-8) and Wilber Creek cuts and is 

the formation upon which the modern soil is developed 

on middle slopes. Downslope it grades into the Holocene 

Ready Bullion Formation. Its spatial relations are 

shown diagrammatically in figure 4. 

This loess is widespread in central Alaska and contains three thin white volcanic ash beds: the Wilber Ash 

Bed in the Fairbanks area and to the north, the Jarvis 

Ash Bed near the junction of the Delta and Tanana 

Rivers, and the White River Ash Bed in east-central 

Alaska. 

The Engineer Loess lies disconformably over the 

Goldstream Formation, till, and outwash of Wisconsinan age and is bounded on the top by the modern soil. 

Beyond the limit of the till, outwash, or Goldstream 

Formation, it is equivalent to the upper part of the 

Fairbanks Loess. (See Pewe, 1965a, fig. 1-8.) (See fig. 4). 

No plant fossils occur at most localities near Fairbanks, but forest layers of white spruce stumps (table 4) 

are well preserved in the upper part of the Engineer 

Loess along the Delta River (Pewe and Holmes, 1964, 

sections RandS; Reger and others, 1964). No vertebrate 

fossils have been found. Land snails, however, have 

been found 70 km west of Fairbanks along the Tanana 

River, and the writer has collected three 

species-Succinea auara Say, Discus chronkhitei (Newcomb), and Euconulus fuluus alaskensis Pilsbry2-along the Delta River. 

Only a few radiocarbon dates are available on wood 

from the Engineer Loess, but several are available from 

its valley-bottom equivalent, the Ready Bullion Formation. Most dates from the Engineer Loess are between 

3,500 and 8,500 years (table 4). A critical date of 

10,500±500 (L-137S) years (Broecker and others, 1956, 

p. 137) was obtained on a 0.5 m-thick peat and forest bed 

of logs of spruce and birch at the base of a 3-m-thick 

section of massive Engineer Loess in Eva bench cut, 

where it unconformably overlies the Goldstream Formation (Pewe, 1952, fig. 58). The radiocarbon date of 

10,500±500 years (L-137S) by the Lamont Laboratory 

is a black carbon date, but the writer believes the date is 

valid. Regarding this date, W. S. Broecker of the 

Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory stated, "I suspect that the date is quite good***. Most of the early 

'Identified by T. C. Yen, U.S. Nat!. Mus. , 1953 (Pewe, 1955a, p. 714). 

black carbon dates have stood the test oftime." (written 

commun., 1973). All radiocarbon dates support a 

Holocene age for the Engineer Loess. 

WILBER ASH BED 

A thin bed of white ash exposed in mining cuts in the 

Engineer Loess in the Fairbanks area and northward to 

Livengood was informally termed the Wilber ash by 

Pewe (1952, p. 156). It is here named the Wilber Ash 

Bed for exposures in the Wilber Creek mining cut 10 km 

southeast of Livengood (fig. 1), Livengood B-3 quadrangle. The type section is the west wall of the gold 

placer mining cut. 

The ash is mainly glass and is exposed as a thin layer 

5-25 mm thick. It occurs 1/2--1 m beneath the modern 

soil. The outstanding distribution characteristic is that 

the essentially horizontal ash bed is disrupted, deformed, or absent over ice wedges in the underlying 

Goldstream Formation. 

The age of the Wilber Ash Bed is not exactly known 

because closely bracketed radiocarbon dates are not yet 

available. It is thought to be less than 4,200 years old 

because a date of 4,200±200 (L-117G) was obtained on 

wood 2 m below the surface in the Engineer Loess on the 

west side of Wilber Creek mining cut. The Wilber Ash 

Bed was not present in the loess at this exact locality, 

but was present a few metres away. 

The Wilber and Jarvis Ash Beds may be the same 

ashfall. Until more detailed petrologic and chemical 

work underway on the ash is reported and more 

radiocarbon work is done, this question is unanswered. 

However, stratigraphic relations and deformations of 

the ash bed suggest that they are different. 

JARVIS ASH BED 

The Jarvis Ash Bed occurs in the Engineer Loess near 

the junction ofthe Delta and Tanana Rivers. It is found 

north of the glaciated area and also occurs in loess 

overlying outwash and glacial till. The writer first sampled and studied the ash in the late forties. It was first 

mentioned by Lindholm, Thomas, Davidson, Handy, 

and Roy (1957, p. 11, 13) and later listed by Pewe and 

Holmes (1964, sections RandS) on the Delta River and 

Jarvis Creek. The name Jarvis Ash Bed first appeared 

in print in 1964 (Reger and others, 1964, p. 95) in reference to exposures at an archaeological site along the 

Delta River 13 km south of Delta Junction. 

The type section is here established as the 6-mmthick ash in a loess overlying Donnelly till on the right 

bank ofthe Delta River in the SW% sec. 19, T. 14 S., R. 

10 E., 40 km south of Delta Junction, Mount Hayes C-4 

quadrangle. This ash underlies 2 m ofloess. The section 

is described by Pewe (1965c, p. 63) and is the spot where 

bracketing radiocarbon dates were obtained. 
READY BULLION FORMATION 19 

The Jarvis Ash Bed is a white vitric ash 2--10 mm 

thick. The glass has an index of refraction of 1.555 (R. G. 

Updike, written commun., 1971). The source of the ash 

is unknown, but may be from the Wrangell Mountains 

260 km to the south. 

At the type section a radiocarbon date of 4,650±250 

(L-137Q) years was obtained on wood 27 em below the 

Jarvis Ash Bed. A date of 1,950± 150 (L-163K) years 

was obtained on wood a few millimetres above the ash 

bed (Pewe, 1968). These date the Jarvis Ash Bed as 

Holocene. 

WHITE RIVER ASH BED 

The White River Ash Bed lies within and near the top 

of the Engineer Loess. It occurs in east-central Alaska 

and is widespread in the adjacent Yukon Territory of 

Canada. It has been known for many years, and the first 

published mention of the ash was by Schwatka (1885), 

who observed it along the banks of the Lewis River in 

1883. Except for the ash of the 1912 eruption of Mount 

Katmai, this ash is probably studied in more detail than 

any other Quaternary ash in Alatka. Capps (1916b) 

made an early summary of its extent, thickness, composition, and age, but the most detailed work has been 

done by Lerbekmo, Hanson, and Campbell (1968) and 

Lerbekmo and Campbell (1969). 

Although Capps (1916b) never used the term White 

River ash, it is apparent that he was referring to this 

ash because he refers to the White River volcano (p. 62) 

and the White River eruption (p. 64) as its source. It 

thus appears that the term White River Ash was first 

published by Lerbekmo, Hanson, and Campbell (1968). 

The ash is here renamed the White River Ash Bed and 

considered a formal stratigraphic unit. 

Since no type locality nor type section has been established, it seems best to establish one at the exposures 

where Capps made his study for the estimate of its age. 

The type section is on the north side of the White River 

about 13 km downstream from the source of the river in 

Russell Glacier and about 50 km west of the AlaskaCanada border (McCarthy D--2 quadrangle). Here the 

ash is 0.75 m thick and underlies 2m of peat (Capps, 

1916b). Capps published photographs of the type section 

(1916a, fig. 2; 1916b, pl. VI-C). A similar photograph 

has been published by Denton (1974, fig. 5) from near 

the type section. 

The ash is composed mainly of glass, but it also contains plagioclase, hornblende, hypersthene, and magnetite in decreasing order of abundance and is termed a 

rhyodacite (Lerbekmo and Campbell, 1969). The glass 

is pumiceous, with a refractive index of 1.502±0.002. 

The ash bed is several tens of metres thick near its 

source near Mount N atazhat in Alaska, near the Canadian border, but rapidly thins to 1 metre and then to a 

few millimetres to the north and to the east. One of the 

common characteristics of its distribution is that it lies 

only a few centimetres below the surface in most areas; 

in fact it generally lies directly under the vegetation or 

turf mat. The ash is limited to east-central Alaska and 

western Yukon Territory (fig. 11). 

The White River Ash Bed, especially in Alaska, was 

estimated by an ingenious method to be 1,400 years old 

(Capps, 1916b, p. 64). Capps established the rate of peat 

accumulation in the area by tree-ring study and thus 

determined the age of the ash, which is buried under 

peat. 

The date has subsequently been supported by radiocarbon dating. Fernald (1962) gave radiocarbon dates of 

1,750±110 0-275) and 1,520±100 0-276) years on peat 

samples taken just below and above the ash, respectively, in eastern Alaska (Tanana valley). In western 

Canada the age of the ash is indicated by radiocarbon 

dates obtained by Stuiver, Borns, and Denton (1964) on 

peat samples taken immediately above (1,390±70 

years; Y-1364) and below (1,460±70 years; Y-1363) the 

ash. The date of approximately 1,400 years estimated 

by Capps (1916a) is the date here used for the age of the 

White River Ash Bed. It is probably as accurate as the 

radiocarbon dates or perhaps even more accurate. Recent work (Lerbekmo and others, 1973) suggest the ash 

fall may be more complex than previously realized. 

There may be three layers closely spaced in time, with 

the youngest about 1000 years old. 

READY BULLION FORMATION 

The Ready Bullion Formation is here named for 

Ready Bullion Creek, 17 km west of Fairbanks, where it 

is well exposed in a mining cut at the top of a thick silt. 

This deposit of Holocene retransported windblown silt 

in valley bottoms has been informally called ~~Engineer 

muck" since the forties (Pewe, 1952; Rubin and Alexander, 1958, p. 1479). 

The type section is the east wall of the Ready Bullion 

bench mining cut on Ready Bullion Creek 17 km west of 

Fairbanks in the SW¥.4 sec. 6, T. 1 S., R. 2 W., Fairbanks 

D--3 quadrangle. At this locality the Ready Bullion 

Formation, approximately 2 m thick, unconformably 

overlies the Goldstream Formation and is overlain by 

modern soil (fig. 12). 

The formation, a thin widespread deposit of silt rich 

in organic material, occurs in creek valley bottoms and 

lower slopes in central Alaska. It is excellently exposed 

in vertical banks on Ready Bullion, Eva, Engineer, 

Sheep, Fairbanks, and Dome Creeks, and Dawson cut; 

in river exposures in the Fairbanks area; on Wilber, 

Amy, Lillian, and other creeks in the Livengood area; 

and in mining cuts in the Tofty, Circle, and Chicken 

areas as well as near Dawson, Yukon Territory. It is the 

formation upon which the modern soil is developed in 
20 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

EXPLANATION 

• Control POint from B 

119521 ostock 

Vent •

i 

<. 134° 

FIGURE 11.-Isopach map of White River Ash Bed (from Lerbekmo and others, 1968, fig. 2). 

valley bottoms and lower slopes. Upslope, the Ready 

Bullion Formation grades into the Engineer Loess. Its 

spatial relations are shown diagrammatically in figure 

4. 

The Ready Bullion Formation consists of perennially 

frozen retransported loess that has accumulated minute 

carbonized plant fragments, peat lenses, sticks, and 

abundant logs and rooted stumps. The silt is poorly to 

well stratified and below a depth of about 1m is perennially frozen. No large foliated ice masses occur; only ice 

seams and lenses less than 1 em thick are present. Rare 

clear-ice masses of recent origin may be present (fig. 6). 

(See Pewe, 1952, fig. 55.) The silt is gray to black when 

frozen and tan when thawed. Locally, especially near 

junctions with tributary drainage lines, layers and 

lenses of sandy angular gravel %-2 m thick occur. 

The formation is 1-10 m thick in the center of the 

valleys (Pewe, 1952, p. 148; Taber, 1943, p. 1494) and 

thins upslope on either side. It unconformably overlies 

the Goldstream Formation. The underlying formation 

and ice wedges appear to have been truncated in valley 

bottoms (fig. 9) (Pewe, 1952, figs. 53, 54, 55) before the 

Ready Bullion Formation was deposited. Taber (1943, p. 

1538) recognized this unconformity when visiting the 

Fairbanks area in 1935; however, he attributed it to 

erosion during the Yarmouth Interglaciation. The 

Ready Bullion is overlain by modern soil. 

Plant remains are abundant and exceedingly well 

preserved; green leaves dated radiometrically at 

3,000--4,000 years old occur. Abundant layers, lenses, 

and pods of peat, twigs, and forest beds with rooted 

stumps of birch and spruce occur (Taber, 1943, pl. 10, 

fig. 1). Giddings (1938) described as many as three 

spruce forest layers with stumps superposed on one 
CHENA ALLUVIUM 21 

E W 

0 6 12 FEET 

4METRES 

HORIZONTAL SCALE 

VERTICAL EXAGGERATION X3 

Silt, very rich in 

organic material 

FIGURE 12.-Upper part of east wall of Ready Bullion bench placer 

mining cut on Ready Bullion Creek, 17 km west of Fairbanks. 

Numbers are radiocarbon years (see table 3 for details); those with 

an asterisk (*) are average of two or more runs by different 

laboratories. Radiocarbon years given in the type section for Ready 

Bullion Formation have been run twice or more, and in all cases the 

date has averaged younger. (See table 3.) Two asterisks (**) indicate 

date of sample is probably a few years too old, inasmuch as it was not 

run by other laboratories. 

another. Trees are much more common than in the 

underlying Goldstream Formation and mark the return 

of the forest. 

The Ready Bullion Formation contains few vertebrate remains, unlike the underlying Goldstream Formation, which is also a lower slope and valley-bottom 

perennially frozen retransported silt deposit. It contains none of the many extinct Pleistocene forms such as 

bison, horse, and mammoth present in the underlying 

Goldstream Formation (Pewe, 1952, 1965a; 1975). Also, 

animals common to the treeless areas today and present 

in the Goldstream Formation, such as Dicrostonyx, 

Citellus undulatus, andOvis, are not found in the Ready 

Bullion Formation (Pewe, 1952). Guthrie (1968b) reported Microtus gregalis andLemmus sibericus in older 

formations, but they are not found in the Ready Bullion 

Formation. The only vertebrate remains the writer collected from this formation are well-preserved perennially frozen moose coprolites. 

Because the base of the Ready Bullion Formation 

probably represents (1) the time of extinction of many 

vertebrates, (2) the return of the forest, (3) warming of 

the climate, and (4) the beginning of Holocene time, the 

age of the formation, especially the basal boundary, is 

important. Several radiocarbon dates on wood from the 

Ready Bullion Formation are available from different 

mining exposures and are from 3,500 to 10,000 years 

(fig. 12). Basal dates are available from the Ready Bullion Formation and its upvalley equivalent, the Engineer Loess. The base of the Engineer Loess is dated as 

10,500±500 (L--137S) years on Eva bench cut. 

A series of thirteen radiocarbon dates from the lower 

part of the type Ready Bullion Formation is illustrated 

in figure 12 and table 3. The dates demonstrate that 

deposition of the formation began at 10,120± 175 years,3 

or approximately 10,000 years ago (beginning of 

Holocene). 

CHENA ALLUVIUM 

The Chena Alluvium is here named for the Chena 

River at Fairbanks, which is on the flood plain of the 

river. The formation consists of deposits in the flood 

plain and channels of modern rivers and is widespread 

in central Alaska. Chena Alluvium replaces the longused term ttRecent alluvium" (Prindle and Katz, 1913; 

Pewe and others, 1966) because (1) the alluvium is a 

distinctive lithologic unit, (2) the term Recent has been 

replaced by Holocene, and (3) in many valleys only the 

upper part of the alluvium is of Holocene age. 

The type section is a 15-cm-diameter water well (U.S. 

Smelting, Refining, and Mining Co. Well B) at 510 Illinois Street in Fairbanks drilled in 1927 (SE1f4 sec. 3, T. 

1 S., R. 1 W.;·Fairbanks D-2 quadrangle) (Boring 162, · 

Pewe, 1958b). It is 120m deep, one of the deepest water 

wells on record in central Alaska and is entirely in 

unconsolidated silt, sand, and gravel. Mechanical 

analyses were made on all sediments in 115-cm increments of depth. (These analyses are on file at the Fairbanks office of the U.S. Smelting, Refining, and Mining 

Co. and the U.S. Geological Survey.) 

The alluvium consists of alternating lenses and 

layers of well-sorted river silt, sand, and gravel, including glacial outwash deposits, and has been described by 

Pewe (1952; 1958b), Williams, Pewe, and Paige (1959), 

Pewe and Rivard (1961), Pewe, Wahrhaftig, and Weber 

(1966), and Pewe, Bell, Forbes, and Weber (1975a). In 

this report the alluvial terraces of the major rivers are 

included in the formation. In the future they may be 

listed as different formations or members of the Chena 

Alluvium. The terrace alluvium is generally covered 

with loess, and the modern flood plain is not. Such 

terraces along the Tanana River upstream from Fairbanks have been delineated by Blackwell (1965). The 

Chena Alluvium is perennially frozen from 1 to 80 m 

deep, with many unfrozen zones (Pewe, 1954, fig. 72; 

Williams, 1970). 

The Chena Alluvium ranges in thickness from a few 

metres on smaller streams to more than 100 m in major 

rivers such as the Tanana and Yukon. It generally lies 

unconformably on bedrock or locally on the Cripple or 

3Average of two dates on same sample (table 3). 
22 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

TABLE 3-Radiocarbon dates from type section oft he Ready Bullion Formation, Ready Bullion bench placer mining cut, Fairbanks (see fig. 12) 

Formation Field Collector Date Lab No. C-14 age No. Material collected (years before present) 

P. 158 T.L. Pewe and June 10, 1964 PIC-11 7,530±265 9-cm-diameter spruce stem. 

>:: R. Becker. (2d run)1 7,665±220 

:3 63AMo6 L.R. Mayo2 ____ July 11, 1963 PIC-5, 8,080±165 Stick. ., TX-1573 7,740±170 § 63AMo3 ______ do ______ ______ do ______ PIC-3, 8,900±200 Peat. 0 

~ TX-159 8,970±150 >:: 

.;; 63AMo5 ______ do ______ _ _____ do ______ PIC-6 10,450±150 Tree root. 

3 TX-158a 9,500±200 ~ TX-158b 9,320±160 :>. 

"' IVIC-1514 9,470±180 ., 

~ 63AMo4 ______ do ______ _ _____ do ______ PIC-4 10,340±475 Peat. 

63AMo2 ______ do ______ _ _____ do ______ PIC-2 11,000±350 Stick. 

TX-160 9,240±400 

Uncon-

-formity 

s >:: P. 162 T .L. Pewe and June 10, 1964 PIC-12 27,580±950 Minute carbonized plant ., 0 

b:g R. Becker. fragments dispersed in 00 s soil. "' .... 8&; P. 162x ______ do ______ ______ do ______ PIC-14 35,475±3250 Do. 

1Packard Instrument Company (see Kowalski, 1965, p. 202-203; Kowalski and Schrodt, 1966, p. 388). 2Assistant toT. L. Pewe, 1963-65. 3University of Texas (see Pearson and others, 1965, p. 296). 4 Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas (see Tamers, 1966, p. 211). 

Tanana Formations, such as at the mouth of Dome 

Creek on the Chatanika River (Pewe, 1965a, p. 33), 

where 46 m of river gravel overlies older auriferous 

gravel (Prindle and Katz, 1913, pl. 15). 

Except for shallow gravel pits, information about the 

Chena Alluvium is derived from wells, and little is 

known of the flora and fauna of the formation. Well 

records indicate isolated ttlogs" at various depths. No 

remains of extinct vertebrates have been found in the 

deposits. It is important to note, however, that Bison 

(Bison) bison has been found on the flood-plain deposits 

of Holocene age oflarge streams. 0. W. Geist stated that 

such finds, reported in Skinner and Kaisen (194 7), were 

from such sediments and further mentioned (oral commun.) that a bone of Bison (Bison) bison was found in 

the Chena Alluvium during construction of the new 

railroad freight terminal at Fairbanks. 

The Chena Alluvium is in the process of formation 

and is Illinoian(?) to Holocene (Pleistocene and 

Holocene) in age. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Ager, T. A., 1972, Surficial geology and Quaternary history of the 

Healy Lake area, Alaska: Univ. Alaska, unpub. M.S. thesis, 127 

p. 

Arnold, J. R., and Libby, W. F., 1951, Radiocarbon dates: Science, v. 

113, p. 111-120. 

Bell, E. K., 197 4, Origin of the auriferous clays in the Fairbanks area, 

Alaska: Ariz. State Univ.,unpub. M.S. thesis, 63 p. 

Blackwell, M. F., 1965, Surficial geology and geomorphology of the 

Harding Lake area, Big Delta quadrangle, Alaska: Univ. Alaska, 

unpub. M.S. thesis, 91 p. 

Bostock, H. S., 1952, Geology of northwest Shakwak Valley, Yukon 

Territory: Canada Geol. Survey Mem. 267, 54 p. 

Broecker, W. S., Kulp, J. L., and Tucek, C. S., 1956, Lamont natural 

radiocarbon measurements III: Science, v. 124, p. 154-165. 

Brown, Jerry, Gray, Sheldon, and Allan, R. J., 1969, Late Quaternary 

evolution of a valley-fill, Fairbanks, Alaska; Part I, Geochemistry 

and stratigraphy of the permafrost: U.S. Army Cold Regions 

Research and Eng. Lab. Tech. Note, 18 p. 

Brown, Jerry, Gray, Sheldon, and Webster, William, 1967, Chemical 

and related properties of a permafrost section from Fairbanks, 

Alaska: U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Eng. Lab. Tech. 

Note, 18 p. 

Browne, R. E., 1895, California placer gold: Eng. and Mining Jour., v. 

59, p. 101-102. 

Buckley, J. D., Trautman, M. A., and Willis, E. H., 1968, Isotopes 

radiocarbon measurements VI: Radiocarbon, v. 10, no. 2, p. 

246-294. 

Capps, S. R., 1916a, An ancient volcanic eruption in the upper Yukon 

basin: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 9~D, p. 59-64. 

--- 1916b, The Chisana-White River district, Alaska: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 630, 130 p. 

Chaney, R. W., and Mason, H. L., 1936, A Pleistocene flora from 

Fairbanks, Alaska: Am. Mus. Novitates, v. 887, 17 p. 

Crane, H. R., 1956, University of Michigan radiocarbon dates I: Science, v. 124, p. 664-672. 

Denton, G. H., 1974, Quaternary glaciations of the White River Valley, Alaska, with a regional synthesis for the northern St. Elias 

Mountains, Alaska and Yukon Territory: Geol. Soc. America 

Bull., v. 85, p. 871-892. 

Denton, G. H., and Armstrong, R. L., 1969, Miocene-Pliocene glaciations in southern Alaska: Am. Jour. Sci., v. 267, p. 1121-1142. 

Devereux, W. B., 1882, The occurrence of gold in the Black Hills: Am. 

Inst. Mining Engineers Trans., v. 10, p. 46~475. 

Dorsh, J. B., 1934, Notes on the Pleistocene and Recent geology ofthe 

Fairbanks district, Alaska: Univ. Alaska, unpub. Bachelor's 

thesis, 31 p. 

Farrand, W. R., 1961, Frozen mammoths and modern geology: Science, v. 133, p. 729-735. 

Fernald, A. T., 1962, Radiocarbon dates relating to a widespread 

volcanic ash deposit, eastern Alaska, in Short papers in geology, 

hydrology, and topography: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 450-B, 

p. B29-B30. 

Flerow, C. C., 1967, On the origin of the mammalian fauna of Canada, 

in Hopkins, D. M., ed., The Bering Land Bridge: Stanford, Stanford Univ. Press, p. 271-280. 
REFERENCES CITED 23 

Frick, Childs, 1930, Alaska's frozen fauna: Nat. History, v. 30, p. 

71-80. 

Furst, G. A., 1968, Geology and petrology of the Fairbanks basalts, 

Fairbanks, Alaska: Univ. Alaska, unpub. M.S. thesis, 53 p. 

Gardner, E. D., and Johnson, C. H., 1934, Placer mining in the western United States; Part I, General information, hand-shoveling, 

and ground sluicing: U.S. Bur. Mines Inf. Circ. 6786, 73 p. 

Geist, 0. W., 1940, Mammoth's foot found: Univ. Alaska, FarthestNorth Collegian, 1 p. 

--- 1953, Collecting Pleistocene fossils in Alaska: Alaskan Sci. 

Conf., 2d, Mt. McKinley Natl. Park 1951, Proc., p. 171-172. 

Giddings, J. L., Jr., 1938, Buried wood from Fairbanks, Alaska: Treering Bull., v. 4, p. 3-6. 

Guthrie, R. D., 1968a, Paleoecology of the large-mammal community 

in interior Alaska during the Late Pleistocene: Am. Midland 

Naturalist, v. 79, no. 2, p. 346--363. 

---1968b, Paleoecology of a late Pleistocene small-mammal community from interior Alaska: Arctic, v. 21, no. 4, p. 223-244. 

Herman, Yvonne, 1970, Arctic paleo-oceanography in late Cenozoic 

time: Science, v. 169, p. 474-477. 

Herman, Yvonne, Grazzini, C. V., and Hooper, C., 1971, Arctic 

palaeotemperatures in late Cenozoic time: Nature, v. 232, p. 

466--469. 

Holmes, G. W., Hopkins, D. M., and Foster, H. L., 1968, Pingos in 

central Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1241-H, 40 p. 

Hopkins, D. M., Matthews, J. V., Wolfe, J. A., and Silberman, M. L., 

1971, A Pliocene flora and insect fauna from the Bering Strait 

region: Palaeogeography, Paleoclimatology, Palaeoecology, v. 9, 

p. 211-231. 

Ives, P. C., Levin, Betsy, Robinson, R. D., and Rubin, Meyer, 1964, 

U.S. Geological Survey radiocarbon dates VII: Radiocarbon, v. 6, 

p. 37-76 

Kjj<lller, Annelise, and ¢dom, Stiren, 1971, Evidence for longevity of 

seeds and microorganisms in permafrost: Arctic, v. 24, no. 3, p. 

230--233. 

Kowalski, S. J., 1965, Packard Instrument Company radiocarbon 

dates I: Radiocarbon, v. 7, p. 200--204. 

Kowalski, S. J., and Schrodt, A. G., 1966, Packard Instrument Company radiocarbon dates II: Radiocarbon, v. 8, p. 386--389. 

Krueger, H. W., and Weeks, C. F., 1966, Geochron Laboratories, Inc. 

radiocarbon measurements II: Radiocarbon, v. 8, p. 142-160. 

Kulp, J. L., Tryon, L. E., Eckelman, W. R., and Snell, W. A., 1952, 

Lamont natural radiocarbon measurements, II: Science, v. 116, 

no. 3016, p. 409-414. 

Lerbekmo, J. F., and Campbell, F. A., 1969, Distribution, composition, 

and the source of the White River Ash, Yukon Territory: Canadian Jour. Earth Sci., v. 6, p. 109-116. 

Lerbekmo, J. F., Hanson, L. W., and Campbell, F. A., 1968, Application of particle size distribution to determination of source of a 

volcanic ash deposit: Internat. Geol. Cong., 23d, Prague 1968, 

Proc., v. 2, p. 283-295. 

Lerbekmo, J. F., Westgate, J. A. Smith, D. G. W., and Denton, G. H., 

1973, New data on the eruptive history ofthe White River vent, 

Alaska: Internat. Assoc. Quaternary Research, 9th Cong., New 

Zealand, 1973: Christchurch, NZ, Abst. Vol., p. 208. 

Libby, W. F., 1951, Radiocarbon dates II: Science, v. 114, p. 291-296. 

Lindgren, W., 1911, Tertiary gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 73, 226 p. 

Lindholm, G. F., Thomas, L. A., Davidson, D. T., Handy, R. L., and 

Roy, C. J., 195 7, Geologic and engineering properties of silts near 

Big Delta and Fairbanks, Alaska: Iowa State Coll. Eng. Expt. 

Sta., Iowa Univ. Sci. and Technology, Proj. 320--S, Final Rept. 1, 

113 p. 

Long, Austin, and Mielke, J. E., 1967, Smithsonian Institution 

radiocarbon measurements IV: Radiocarbon, v. 9, p. 368-381. 

McConnell, R. G., 1907, Report on gold values in the Klondike high 

level gravels: Canada Geol. Survey Rept. 979, Ottawa, 34 p. 

MacNeil, F. S., Wolfe, J. A., Miller, D. J., and Hopkins, D. M., 1961, 

Correlation of Tertiary formations of Alaska: Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 45, no. 11, p. 1801-1809. 

Matthews, J. V., Jr., 1968, A paleoenvironmental analysis of three 

late Pleistocene Coleopterous assemblages from Fairbanks, 

Alaska: Quaestiones entmologicae, v. 4, p. 241-251. 

--- 1970, Quaternary environmental history of interior Alaska; 

pollen samples from organic colluvium and peats: Arctic and 

Alpine Research, v. 2, no. 4, p. 241-251. 

--- 197 4, Wisconsin environment of interior Alaska; pollen and 

macrofossil analysis of a 27 -meter core from the Isabella Basin 

(Fairbanks, Alaska): Canadian Jour. Earth Sci., v. 11, no. 6, 

p. 828-841. 

Mertie,J. B., Jr., 1937, The Yukon-Tananaregion,Alaska: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 872, 276 p. 

--1940, Placer gold in Alaska: Washington Acad. Sci. Jour., v. 30, 

no. 3, p. 93-124. 

Mielke, J. E., and Long, Austin, 1969, Smithsonian Institution 

radiocarbon measurements V: Radiocarbon, v. 11, no. 1, p. 

163-182. 

Olson, E. A., and Broecker, W. S., 1961, Lamont natural radiocarbon 

measurements VII: Radiocarbon, v. 3, p. 141-175. 

Pearson, F. J., Jr., Davis, E. M., Tamers, M.A., and Johnstone, R. W., 

1965, University of Texas radiocarbon dates III: Radiocarbon, v. 

7, p. 296--314. 

Pewe, T. L., 1948, Terrain and permafrost of the Galena Air Base, 

Galena, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Permafrost Program Prog. 

Rept. 7' 52 p. 

--- 1952, Geomorphology of the Fairbanks area: Stanford Univ., 

unpub. Ph.D. thesis, 220 p. 

---1954, Effect of permafrost on cultivated fields, Fairbanks area, 

Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 989-F, p. 315-351. 

---1955a, Origin of the upland silt near Fairbanks, Alaska: Geol. 

Soc. America Bull., v. 66, p. 699-724. 

-- 1955b, Basalt near Fairbanks, Alaska (abs.): Geol. Soc. 

America Bull., v. 66, p. 1708. 

---1958a, Permafrost and its effect on life in the north, in Arctic 

Biology: Oregon State Coll., Ann. Biology Colloquium, 18th, Corvallis 1957, p. 12-25. 

--1958b, Geology of the Fairbanks (D-2) quadrangle, Alaska: 

U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Quad. Map GQ-110. 

-- 1965a, Fairbanks area, in Pewe, T. L., Ferrians, 0. J., Jr., 

Nichols, D. R., and Karlstrom, T. N. V., Guidebook for Field Conf. 

F, central and south-central Alaska-Internat. Assoc. Quaternary Research, 7th Cong., USA 1965: Lincoln, Nebr., Nebraska 

Acad. Sci., p. 6--36. 

---1965b, Middle Tanana River valley, in Pewe, T. L., Ferrians, 0. 

J., Jr., Nichols, D. R., and Karlstrom, T. N. V., Guidebook for 

Field Conf. F, central and south-central Alaska-Internat. Assoc. 

Quaternary Research, 7th Cong., USA 1965: Lincoln, Nebr., Nebraska Acad. Sci., p. 36--54. 

---1965c, Delta River area, Alaska Range, in Pewe, T. L., Ferrians, 0. J., Jr., Nichols, D. R., and Karlstrom, T. N. V., 

Guidebook for Field Conf. F, central and south-central Alaska-

-Internat. Assoc. Quaternary Research, 7th Cong., USA 1965: 

Lincoln, Nebr., Nebraska Acad. Sci., p. 55-93. 

---1966, Permafrost and its effect on life in the north: Corvallis, 

Oregon State Univ. Press, 40 p. 

---1968, Loess deposits of Alaska: Internat. Geol. Cong., 23d, 

Prague 1968, Proc., v. 8, p. 297-309. 

---1970, Altiplanation terraces of early Quaternary ~ge near 

Fairbanks, Alaska: Acta Geographica Lodziensia, no. 24, p. 

357-363. 
24 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

--1975, Quaternary geology of Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. 

Paper 835 (in press). 

Pewe, T. L., Bell, J. W., Forbes, R. B., Weber, F. R., 1975a, Geologic 

map of the Fairbanks D-2 SW quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geol. 

Survey Misc. Map I-829A (in press). 

--1975b, Geologic map of the Fairbanks D-2 NW quadrangle, 

Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Map Series (in press). 

Pewe, T. L., and Holmes, G. W., 1964, Geology of the Mt. Hayes D-4 

quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map 

I-394. 

Pewe, T. L., and Hopkins, D. M., 1967, Mammal remains of preWisconsinan age in Alaska, in Hopkins, D. M., ed., The Bering 

Land Bridge: Stanford, Stanford Univ. Press, p. 26&--270. 

Pewe, T. L., and Rivard, N. R., 1961, Geologic map and section of the 

Fairbanks D-3 quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. 

Geol. Inv. Map I-340. 

Pewe, T. L., and Sellmann, P. V., 1971, Geochemistry of permafrost 

and Quaternary stratigraphy: Geol. Soc. America Ann. Mtg., 

Abs. with Programs, v. 3, no. 7, p. 669. 

Pewe, T. L., and Sellmann, P. V., 1973, Geochemistry of permafrost 

and Quaternary stratigraphy: Internat. Permafrost Conf., 2d, 

Yakutsk, Proc. U.S. Natl. Acad. Sci. Pub., p. 166-170. 

Pewe, T. L., Wahrhaftig, Clyde, and Weber, F. R., 1966, Geologyofthe 

Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. 

Inv. Map I-455. 

Prindle, L. M., 1906, Yukon placer fields: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 284, 

p. 109-131. 

---1908a, The Fairbanks and Rampart quadrangles, YukonTanana region, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull., 337, p. 9-63. 

---1908b, Occurrence of gold in the Yukon-Tanana region, in 

Brooks, A. H., and others, 1908, Mineral resources of Alaska: U.S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 345, p. 179-186. 

---1913, A geologic reconnaissance of the Fairbanks quadrangle, 

Alaska, in Prindle, L. M., A geologic reconnaissance of the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 525, p. 1-58. 

Prindle, L. M., and Katz, F. J., 1913, Detailed description of the 

Fairbanks district, in Prindle, L. M., A geologic reconnaissance of 

the Fairbanks quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 525, 

p. 59-152. 

Reger, R. D., Pewe, T. L., Hadleigh-West, F., and Skarland, I., 1964, 

Geology and archeology of the Y ardang flint station: Anthropol. 

Paper, Univ. Alaska, v. 12, p. 92-100. 

Repenning, C. A., Hopkins, D. M., and Rubin, Meyer, 1964, Tundra 

rodents in a late Pleistocene fauna from the Tofty district, central 

Alaska: Arctic, v. 17, p. 177-197. 

Rubin, Meyer, and Alexander, Corrine, 1958, U.S. Geological Survey 

radiocarbon dates IV: Science, v. 127, p. 147&--1487. 

---1960, U.S. Geological Survey radiocarbon dates V: Radiocarbon Supp., v. 2, p. 129-185. 

Rubin, Meyer, and Berthold, S. M., 1961, U.S. Geological Survey 

radiocarbon dates VI: Radiocarbon, v. 3, p. 8&--98. 

Rubin, Meyer, and Seuss, H. E., 1955, U.S. Geological Survey 

radiocarbon dates II: Science, v. 121, p. 481-488. 

Schwatka, Frederick, 1885, Along Alaska's great river: New York, 

Cassell & Co., Ltd., 360 p. 

Sellmann, P. V., 1967, Geology of the USA-CRREL permafrost tunnel, Fairbanks, Alaska: U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and 

Eng. Lab. Tech. Rept. 199, 33 p. 

---1968, Geochemistry and ground ice structures; an aid in interpreting a Pleistocene section, Alaska (abs.): Geol. Soc. America 

Spec. Paper 101, p. 197-198. 

---1972, Additional information on the geology and properties 

of materials exposed in the USA-CRREL permafrost tunnel: 

U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Eng. Lab. Spec. Rept., 

16 p. 

Sher, A. V.,l969, Early Pleistocene mammals of extreme northeastern Asia and their environment (abs.): Internat. Assoc. Quaternary Research, 8th Cong., Paris 1969, p. 135. 

---1971, Mammals and stratigraphy of the Pleistocene of the 

extreme northeast of the U.S.S.R. and North America: Moscow, 

Nauka, 310 p. 

Skarland, Ivar, 1949, The geography of Alaska in Pleistocene and 

early post-glacial time; a study of the environment from an anthropological viewpoint: Harvard Univ., unpub. Ph.D. thesis. 

Skinner, M. F., and Kaisen, 0. C., 194 7, The fossil Bison of Alaska and 

preliminary revision of the genus: Am. Mus. Nat. History Bull., v. 

89, p. 123-256. 

Smith, P. S., 1913, The fineness of gold in the Fairbanks District, 

Alaska: Econ. Geology, v. 8, p. 449-454. 

---1941, Fineness of gold from Alaska placers: U.S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 910-C, 272 p. 

Stuckenrath, R., Jr., and Mielke, J. E., 1970, Smithsonian Institution 

radiocarbon measurements VI: Radiocarbon, v. 12, no. 1, p. 

193-204. 

---1973, Smithsonian Institution radiocarbon measurements 

VIII: Radiocarbon, v. 15, p. 388-424. 

Stuiver, Minze, Borns, H. W., and Denton, G. H., 1964, Age of a 

widespread layer of volcanic ash in the southwestern Yukon 

Territory: Arctic, v. 17, p. 259-260. 

Taber, Stephen, 1943, Perennially frozen ground in Alaska; its origin 

and history: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 54, p. 1433-1548. 

Tamers, M. A., 1966, Instituto Venezolano de investigaciones 

cientificas natural radiocarbon measurements II: Radiocarbon, v. 

8, p. 204-212. 

Trautman, M.A., 1963, Isotopes, Inc. radiocarbon measurements III: 

Radiocarbon, v. 5, p. 62-79. 

---1964, Isotopes, Inc. radiocarbon measurements IV: Radiocarbon, v. 6, p. 269-279. 

Tuck, Ralph, 1968, Origin of the bedrock values of placer deposits: 

Econ. Geology, v. 63, p. 191-193. 

Vangengeim, E. A., and Sher, A. V., 1970, Siberian equivalents of the 

Tiraspol faunal complex: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, 

Palaeoecology, v. 8, p. 197-207. 

Wilkerson, A. S., 1932, Some frozen deposits in the gold fields of 

interior Alaska: Am. Mus. Novitates 525, 22 p. 

Williams, J. R., 1970, Ground water in the permafrost regions of 

Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 696, 83 p. 

Williams, J. R., Pewe, T. L., and Paige, R. A., 1959, Geology of the 

Fairbanks (D-1) quadrangle, Alaska: U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. 

Quad. Map GQ--124. 
TABLE 4 
26 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

TABLE 4.-Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska 

Location 

Date (year before Lab. Stratigraphic Collector Sec. T. R. or present) No. location Material and date Site Quadrangle latandlong Reference 

Engineer Loess 

2,300±180 I-647 From loess 12 em above Peat T. L. Pewe, Ruby Mt. Hayes NW¥4 Trautman (1963, p. 64); 

top of gravel fan and R. D. Reger, Creek. G-4. sec. 7, Pewe (1965c, p. 66). 1 ¥.! m below surface. and G. Bond, T. 15 S., 6/20/62. R.10 E. 5,900±250 I-646 From loess 20 em above Wood ________ T. L. Pewe, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. underlying gravel fan 5/25/60. and 2 m below surface. 2,565±295 GX-254 In loess; 60 em below Charcoal ---- T. L. Pewe, Shaw Big Delta NW'-4 Krueger and Weeks surface. 8/19/64. Creek B-5. sec. 35, (1966, p. 144); Pewe Road. T. 7 S., (1965b, fig. 4-22, p. R. 8 E. 145). 

4,020±200 W-183 Near base of formation; Stump ------ T. L. Pewe, Gold Fairbanks SW'-4 Rubin and Suess (1955, 2 m below the surface. 6/5/51. Hill. D-2. sec. 3, p. 486); Pewe (1965a, T.1 S., p. 20). R. 2 w. 

8,040±190 GX-255 Near base of loess Charcoal ---- T. L. Pewe, Shaw Big Delta NE'-4 Krueger and Weeks over sand dune. 8/19/64. Creek A-4. sec. 35, (1966, p. 145); Pewe Flats in T. 8S., (1965b, p. 53). cut bank R. 9 E. of Tanana River. 10,500±500 L--137S 3 m below surface Birch wood T. L. Pewe, Eva bench Fairbanks SW'-4 Broecker, Kulp, and in loess. Base of (not dwarf 6/5/51. mining D-3. sec. 5, Tucek (1956, p. 157). of formation. birch). cut on T.1 S., Eva Creek. R. 2W. 7,000±275 Isotopes Base of 13 m section Spruce T. L. Pewe, Delta River Mt. Hayes 63°46'N; Pewe (unpub. data). 

(no number) of loess overlying root. 8/17/55. (right limit). D-4. 145°56'W 

455±130 GX-2166 outwash gravel. In loess at a depth Plant T. A. Ager, Healy Lake Big Center Ager (1972, p. 63). of5 em. fragments. 1969. Test Pit Delta sec. 35, 

T. 20 N. A-2. T.26N., R..10 E. R.15 E. 900±455 Gak-1886 Depth of 5 em ____________ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 1,360±80 Gak-1887 Depth of 10 em __________ ______ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 905±906 GX-2160 __________ do ____________ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

1,655:±:180 GX-2168 __________ do ____________ ______ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

2,875±140 GX-2169 __________ do ____________ ______ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 3,550±140 GX-2165 Depth of 12 em __________ ______ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 2,660±100 GX-2176 DeLth of 15 em __________ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 2,150±180 GX-2161 In oess at a depth of ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 17 em. 4,010±110 GX-2163 Depth of 20 em __________ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 8,960±150 GX-1340 __________ do ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Do. 10,250±380 GX-2173 Depth of25 ~-~tb~se-~f- ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

formation overlying Wisconsinan eolian sand. 8,655±280 GX-2171 Depth of 35 em at base of ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

8,680±240 GX-2170 formation overlying 

I (split sample) Wisconsinan eolian sand. 

9,895±210 GX-2174 __________ do ____________ ______ do _____ ~ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 10,150±210 SI-737 

11,090±170 

(split sample) GX-1391 Depth of 40 em at base of ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

formation overlying 

I Wisconsinan eolian sand. 6,045±280 GX-2159 Depth of 55 em at base of ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 8,210±155" sr.:.m formation overlying 

I (split sample) Wisconsinan eolian sand. 

10,500±280 GX-1944 In loess at a depth of 55 em at base of formation 

______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Do. 

overlying Wisconsinan eolian sand. 8,465±360 GX-2175 Depth of 60 em at ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 10,040±210 SI-739 base of formation (split sample) overlying Wisconsinan eolian sand. 

White River Ash Bed 

1,520±100 I-276 Immediately over White Layered A. T. Fernald, u~~ana Tanacross 63°10'N; Fernald (1962, p. B-30). River Ash Bed. peat. 1959. A-3. 142°08'W River 

valley; right cut bank. 1,750±110 I-275 Immediately under White River Ash Bed. 

______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Do. 

2,000±250 W-978 7.5 em under White ______ do ______ ____ do ____ Tanana ____ do ____ 63°08'N; Ives, Levin, Robinson, River Ash Bed. River flood 142°06'W and Rubin (1964, p. plain. 69); Fernald (1962, p. B-30). 
TABLE 4 27 

TABLE 4.-Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska-Continued I 

Location 

Date (year before Lab. Stratigraphic Collector Sec. T. R. or present) No. location Material and date Site Quadrangle lat and long Reference 

Jarvis Ash Bed 

1,950±150 L--163K In loess just above Wood ________ T.L. Pewe, Delta Mt. Hayes swv.. Pewe (1968, p. 307). 

Jarvis Ash Bed. 9/18/51. River C-4. sec. 19, 

Bluff near T. 14 S., 

Donnelly R. 10 E. 

Dome. 4,650±250 L-137Q In loess just below ______ do ______ T.L. Pewe, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. Jarvis Ash Bed. 6/28/51. 

Wilber Ash Bed 

4,200±200 L--117G 2 m below surface in Wood ________ T.L. Pewe, Wilber Livengood 65°27'N: Kulp, Tryon, Eckelman, 

organic layer and 6/2/51. Creek. B-3. 148°22'W. and Snell, 1952, p. 

about 1 m below 412. Wilber Ash Bed. 

Ready Bullion Formation 

7,530±265 PIC-11 1 m below surface and 9-cm-diameter T.L. Pewe, Ready Fairbanks swv.. Kowalski and Schrodt 

7,665±220 2d run top of formation. spruce stem. and Bullion D-3. sec. 6, (1966, p. 388); Pewe 

R.E. Becker, bench T.1 S., (this report, fig. 12, 

6/10/64. mining cut; R. 2W. table 3). 

Ready 

Bullion 

Creek. 

8,080±165 PIC-5 2 m below surface and Stick ________ L.R. Mayo, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Kowalski (1965, p. 203); 

top of formation. 7/11163. Pewe (this report, fig. 

12, table 3). 

7,740±170 TX-157 Same sample as PlC-5 __ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Pearson, Davis, Tam- ers, and Johnstone (1965, p. 296); Pewe (this report, fig. 12, table 3). 

8,900±200 PIC-3 Within one-halfm of Peat -------- ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Kowalski (1965, p. 202); 

base of formation. Pewe (this report, fig. 

12, table 3). 

8,970±150 TX-159 Same sample as PIC-3 __ ______ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Pearson, Davis, Tam- ers, and Johnstone (1965, p. 296); Pewe (this report, fig. 12, 

9,320±160 TX-i58b Within one-halfm of Tree root------~ _____ do ____ table 3). _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

base of formation. 9,470±180 IVIC-151 Same sample as TX-158b. 

______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Tamers (1966, p. 211). 

9,500±200 TX-158a _____ do ________ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Pearson, Davis, Tam- ers, and Johnstone (1965, p. 296). 

10,450±150 PIC-6 ______ do ________ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Kowalski (1965, p. 203). 

10,340±475 PIC-4 At base of Peat -------- ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Kowalski (1965, p. 202); 

formation. Pewe (this report, fig. 

12, table 3). 

9,240±400 TX-160 Within one-half m of Stick ________ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ F. J. Pearson in Kobase of formation. walski (1965, p. 202); Pewe (this report, fig. 

12, table 3). 

11,000±350 PIC-2 Same sample as ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Kowalski (1965, p. 202); 

TX-160. Pewe (this report, fig. 

12, table 3). 

5,940±250 W-859 6 m below surface on local Root -------- T.L. Pewe, Sheep Fairbanks NWV.. Rubin and Alexander 

gravel fan interbedded 8/14/56. Creek. D-2. sec. 20, (1960, p. 173). 

in silt. Gravel overlies T.1 N., 

Goldstream Formation. R. 2 w. 360±95 I-3879 0.2 m below surface in Shreds of Jerry Brown, Isabella ____ do ____ SEV.. Brown, Gray, and Allan 

perennially frozen silt organic Sheldon Creek. sec. 24, (1969, table 1). 

of drill core. matter. Gray, and T.1 N., 

William R. 1 w. Webster, 

1967. 4,510±120 I-3627 1.5 m below surface in ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

perennially frozen silt of drill core. 

5,600±110 I-3626 2.1 m below surface in ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

perennially frozen silt of drill core. 6,910±140 I-3624 2.0 m below surface in ______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. perennially frozen silt of drill core. 7,810±160 1-3625 2.8 m below surface in ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

perennially frozen silt of drill core. 
28 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

TABLE 4.-Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska-Continued 

Location 

Date Lab. (year before Stratigraphic Collector Sec. T. R. or present) No. location Material and date Site Quadrangle lat and long Reference 

Ready Bullion Formation--Continued 

9,200±160 I-3006 3.6 m below surface in Shreds of Jerry Brown, Isabella Fairbanks SE'!.i Brown, Gray, and perennially frozen silt organic Sheldon Creek. D-2. sec. 24, Webster (1967, p. 6); of drill core. material Wiifi~d T.1 N., Brown, Gray and and twigs. R.1 w. Allan (1969, table 1). Webster, 

1967. 6,040±240 W-434 Near base of formation Birch stump __ T.L. Pewe, Fairbanks Livengood 65°03'N; Rubin and Alexander 21

h m below surface. 6/10/52. Creek. A-1. 147°10'W. (1958, p. 1479). 7,350±250 L-163I Near base of formation __ 12-cm-diameter T.L. Pewe, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ T. L. Pewe (unpub. data). 

upright 6/6/52. spruce stumps in polygonal 

pattern 10m in diameter. 6,970±135 I-2118 2 m below surface in Fine fibrous P.V. Sellmann, Goldstream Fairbanks SE'!.i Buckley, Trautman, 

ventilating shaft of organic 1966. Creek. D-2. sec. 31, and Willis (1968, p. permafrost tunnel. materiaL CRREL T.2N., 248); Sellmann (1967, 

permafrost R.1 E. p. 17). 

tunneL 8,460±250 l-2119 4 m from surface in ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. ventilating shaft of 

8,530±115 GX-251 permafrost tunneL 6 m below top of Twigs ________ T.L. Pewe, Chatanika Livengood NWV.. Krueger and Weeks formation. 5/11/62. River A-2. sec. 15, (1966, p. 145); Pewe (right T.3N., (1965a, p. 34; this limit). R.1 w. paper, fig. 10). 

3,750±200 L-117H 2 m below surface in Wood ________ T.L. Pewe, Eva Fairbanks SW'/4 Kulp, Tryon, Eckelman, 

organic layer. 6/4/51. Creek. D-3. T. 1 S., and Snell (1952, p. R.2W. 412); Pewe (this paper, fig. 6). 

3,005±75 GX-277 5.6 m below surface at ______ do ______ M.F. Black- Mouth of Big Delta SW'!.i Krueger and Weeks base of a silt fan and well, 1964. Canyon B-5. sec. 24, (1966, p. 146); Black- on top of lower terrace Creek. T. 7 S., well (1965, p. 61). 

gravel. R. 6 E. 3,920±75 GX-257 1 m below top of gravel Log---------- ____ do ____ Banner _ ___ do ____ SW'!.i Do. in gravel fan of Banner Creek. sec. 22, Creek near Tanana T. 7 S., River R. 7 E. 3,750±380 SI-356 From beaver dam near Wood ________ Collected Canyon Eagle SW% Mielke and Long (1969, base of formation. byH.L. Creek. A-1. sec. 16, p. 177). 

Foster; T.27N., submitted R. 22 E. by F.L. Whitmore, 

1965. <200 W-11.06 In channel fill of silty Log---------- D.M. Hop- Sullivan Tanana NE'4 Repenning, Hopkins sand and gravel. kins. slacer pit, A-2. sec. 18, and Rubin (1964, p. 

~a~~:~:1:s:~is ~rod ullivan T.3N., 182). Creek R.16W. Wisconsinan age near reworked from older Tofty. sediments. <200 W-1111 __________ do ____________ _ _____ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 200±200 W-937 __________ do ____________ _______ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 2,520±200 W-891 __________ do ____________ _ ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 6,730±260 W-1108 In peaty silt about 2 m Beaver- D.M. Hopkins ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Ives, Levin, Robinson, below surface. Hopkins ~awed and Bond and Rubin (1964, p. believes Jogs reworked rch log. Taber, 67); Repenning, Hop- from older sediments. 1959-61. kins, and Rubin (1964, p. 182). 

6,820±200 W-733 __________ do ____________ _ _____ do ______ D.M. Hopkins, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Rubin and Alexander 

1956. (1960, p. 17 4 l; Repenning, Hopkins, and Rubin (1964, p. 182). 

>38,000 W-1113 Wood of Wisconsinan age Wood ________ D.M. Hopkins ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Ives, Levin, Robinson, reworked into overlying and Bond and Rubin (1964, p. post-Wisconsinan Taber, 67). sediments 1959-61. (D.M. Hopkins). 

7,280±140 I-2240 Near overturned stumps. Woody, J.V. Mat- McGee Cut; Matthews (1970, p. ____ do ____ ____ do ____ 

silty peat. thews. Dalton 247). Gulch near Sullivan 

Creek. 4,100±200 W-896 In fresh gravel overlain Wood ________ D.M. Hop- Omega Tanana NWY4 Rubin and Berthold by gravelly peaty silt. kins. Creek A-1. sec. 14, (1961, p. 93). 

mining T.4N., cut. R.14 W. 515±110 GX-1970 1.2-m depth from Woody T.A. Ager, Healy Lake Mt. Hayes NW'A Ager (1972, p. 107). surface. peat. 1969. TP59. D-2. sec. 1, T. 25 N., R.15 E. 5,530±140 GX-1969 1.8-m depth ______________ Plant _ ___ do ____ 

fragments. 

Healy Lake ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. TP74. 760±80 GX-2026 1-m depth -------------- Peat -------- Anderson, ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ SE'A Ager (1972, p. 110). 1969. T~c2~~. R. 15 E. 1,685±90 GX-2025 1.8-m depth ______________ ______ do ______ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Do. 

I Healy Lake 230±120 GX-1971 1-m depth -------------- Woody T.A. Ager, ___ .':rJ~7iL ____ do ____ NW'A Ager (1972, p. 59). peat. 1969. sec. 24, T. 25 N., 

1,160±110 GX-1972 1.3-m depth ------------- ________ do ______ ____ do ____ R. 15 E. ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 
TABLE 4 29 

TABLE 4.-Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska-Continued 

Location 

Date (year before Lab. Stratigraphic Collector Sec. T. R. or present) No. location Material and date Site Quadrangle lat and long Reference 

Chatanika Ash Bed 

14,760±850 GX-0250 4 m below top of Citellus T.L. Pewe, Chatanika Livengood NW'4 Krueger and Weeks Goldstream Formation nest. 4/14/62. River A-2. sec. 15, (1966, p. 145); Pewe and about 2 m below (right T.3N., (1965a, p. 34; this re- Chatanika Ash Bed. limit). R.1 W. port, fig. 10). 

14,510±450 W-2703 3 m below top of Citellus ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Meyer Rubin (oral Goldstream Formation coprolites. commun., 1972); and one-half m above Pewe (this report, fig. Chatanika Ash Bed. 10). 

6,570±300 GX-2555 Immediately above Wood sample L.R. Mayo, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ R. H. Reesman (written Chatanika Ash Bed. probably in 11/27/71. commun., 2/29/72). 

slump material from above <T.L. Pewe). 

Goldstream Formation 

>25,000 A-921A 3 m below eroded top Organic T.L. Pewe, Ready Fairbanks SW'4 Long(writtencommun., 

of formation. residue in 6/15/66. Bullion D-3. sec. 6, 1971). 

ice wedge. Creek. T. 1 S., 

R. 2 w. 

>25,000 A-922A __________ do ____________ Organic 

material-

_ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Do. 

minute 

carbonized 

plant 

fragments 

dispersed 

in soil. >38,000 GX-0252 __________ do ____________ Sticks ________ T.L. Pewe, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Krueger and Weeks 8/11/64. (1966, p. 145). 

14,300±1,200 GX-0253 Under clear ice mass Highly ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. (river icing?) 6 m organic below eroded top mud. of formation. 27,580±950 PIC-12 Near top of eroded Minute T.L. Pewe Ready ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Long (written commun., 

formation 6 m plant and Bullion 1971); Pewe (this rebelow surface. fragments. R.E. Becker, bench cut; port, fig. 12, table 3). 

6/10/64. Ready 

Bullion 

Creek. 35,475±3,250 PIC-14 3 m below eroded top ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Kowalski and Schrodt 

of formation 6 m (1966, p. 388); Pewe 

below surface. (this report, fig. 12, table 3). 

18,250± 1,130 PIC-13 12 m below surface Twigs ________ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Kowalski and Schrodt (1966, p. 388). 

>35,000 Danish 9 m below surface ________ Wood ________ &lren Ready ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Kjbller and <Ddum 

National ~dum, Bullion (1971, p. 231). 

Museum. 7/17/68. bench cut; 

Ready 

Bullion 

Creek 

(misnamed 

Ester Creek 

in K~ller and dum). 

>35,000 ____ do ____ Base of formation near ______ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

gravel. 

25,090±1,070 SI-850 In frozen muck __________ Hornsheath O.W. Geist, Dome Livengood NW'4 Stuckenrath and 

Symbos. 1939. Creek. A-2. sec. 5, Mielke (1973). 

T.2N., 

R. 1 E. 31,400+2,040 ST-1721 In frozen silt near contact Hide and O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Pewe (1965a, p. 33). 

-1,815 with underlying gravel. hair from 1951; sub- A great concentration carcass of mitted by of mammal bones of Bison T.L. Pewe. various species occur in (S uperbison) this part of the formation. crassicornis. >28,000 L-127 __________ do ____________ Dried tissue O.W. Geist, _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Kulp, Tryon, Eckelman, 

from carcass 1951 and Snell (1952, p. 

of Bison 411). 

(S uperbison) crassicornis 

(same carcass as ST-1721). 

>25,000 L-157B In silt one-half m above Wood ________ T.L. Pewe, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Broecker, Kulp, and stump (L-158A). 6/8/52. Tucek (1956, p. 157). 

>30,000 L-158A Stump rooted on gravel Stump ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. 

surface at base of approximately formation. About 2 m one-halfm below where bison diameter. carcass (ST-1721) was said to be collected in 1951. >30,000 L-158B Adjacent to stump Silt with ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. (L-158A). many minute pieces of organic 

materials. 
30 QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

TABLE 4.-Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska-Continued 

Location 

Date (year before Lab. Stratigraphic Collector Sec. T. R. or present) No. location Material and date Site Quadrangle lat and long Reference 

Goldstream Formation--Continued 

>30,000 L-163H Near bison site Wood ________ T. L. Pewe, Dome Livengood NW'/4 Broecker, Kulp, and (ST-1721). 6/8/52. Creek. A-2. sec. 5, Tucek (1956, p. 157). 

T.2N., 

32,700±980 ST-1632 In frozen silt rich in Hair from O.W. Geist ____ do ____ ____ do ____ R. 1 E. ____ do ____ Pewe (1965a, p. 33). 

organic matter. skull of (19511; sub- mammoth. mitted by T.L. Pewe. 23,900±1,000 W-435 Rubin and Alexander 2.5 m below top of Stems and T.L. Pewe, Eva Fairbanks SW'/4 formation. twigs. 8/15/54. Creek. D-3. sec. 5, (1958, p. 1479); Pewe 

T.1 S., (this report, fi_g. 6). 

R. 2W. 24,400±650 Matthews (1970, p. l-2116 8 m above base of Wood ________ J.V. Matthews, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ 

formation. 1964. 247); Pewe (this re- port, fig. 6). 

>25,000 A-924 8 m below top of Minute T.L. Pewe, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ [ Long (written commun., formation. carbonized 7/15/66. 1971); Pewe (this re- plant port, fig. 6). 

fragments 

dispersed 

in silt. >25,000 A-923A __________ do __________ Minute ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. carbonized 

plant 

fragments 

from ice wedges. >30,000 L-163J 10m below surface near Wood ________ T.L. Pewe, ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Broecker, Kulp, and middle of the formation. 6/4/52. Tucek (1956, p. 157); Pewe (this report, fig. 

6). >23,000 L-157A 20 m below surface at ______ do ______ T.L. Pewe, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. base of formation. 6/10/52. 7,840±280 I-4774 7 m below surface in Shreds of Jerry Brown, Isabella Fairbanks SE'/4 Matthews (1974). 

perennially frozen silt organic Sheldon Creek. D-2. sec. 24, of drill core (date matter. Gray, and T.1 N., 

spurious; T.L. Pewe and William R. 1 w. J.V. Mathews). Webster, 

1967. 11,500±190 I-3007 9.9 m below surface in Shreds of ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Brown, Gray, and perennially frozen silt organic Webster (1967, p. 6); of drill core. material Brown, Gray, and and twigs. Allan (1969, table 1). >31,900 I-4775 18 m below surface in Shreds of J.V. Matthews, ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Matthews (1974). perennially frozen silt organic 1967. of drill core. material. 34,900+2,950 I-3083 25.1 m below surface in Shreds of Jerry Brown, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Brown, Gray, and -2,220 perennially frozen silt organic Sheldon Webster (1967, p. 6); of drill core. material Gray, and Brown, Gray, and and twigs. William Allan (1969, table 1). 

Webster, 

1967. 11,980±135 ST-1633 In frozen silt rich in Hide, Bison O.W. Geist, Fairbanks Livengood 65°03'N; Pewe C1965a, p. 33). 

organic matter. (Superbison) no date; Creek. A-1. 147°10'W crassicornis submitted female. c~1'Jt!d Pewe, 12,622±750 Univ. of H~-20 m below surface ____ Wood ________ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Libby (1951, p. 294). 

Chicago, by Schuman, 301 1948; 

submitted 

13,600±600 From buried beaver dam __ ______ do ______ by Oswalt. L-1171 T.L. Pewe, _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Kulp, Tryon, Eckelman, 6/6/51 and Snell (1952, p. 

15,380±30 SI-453 Frozen silt 26 m below Flesh from Osborne, 

412). ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Stuckenrath and surface. lower leg, 1940. Mielke (1970). 

Mammuthus 

17,210±500 SI-454 Frozen silt rich in primigenius. 

Hair from O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Do. organic material. hind limb 1940. 

17,170±840 SI-838 Frozen silt ______________ of Ovibos sp. Homsheath O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Stuckenrath and 

Bison. 1952; Mielke (1973). 

submitted by R.D. Guthrie. 26,445±885 SI-837 ___ _______ do ____________ _ _____ do ______ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Do. 

24,140±2,200 SI-455 Frozen silt rich in Muscle from O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ Stuckenrath and organic material. scalp Ovibos 1940. Mielke (1970). 

(same animal as SI-454). 21,300±1,300 L-601 With beaver dam. Also in Skin and O.W. Geist, Olson and Broecker ____ do ____ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ 

(hide soaked association with gravel flesh of August (1961, p. 165); Far- in glycerine "stringers." Mammuthus 1948; rand (1961). by collector- primigenius submitted date invalid?) (baby by W.R. mammoth). Farrand. 22,540±900 Sl-292 Frozen silt rich in minute Homsheath O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ ____ do ____ ____ do ____ Long and Mielke (1967, 

particles of organic of Bootherium 1935. p. 380). matter. nivicoleus. 

31,980±4,490 SI-843 Frozen silt---------------- Homsheath O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ Stuckenrath and of Bison no date; Mielke (1973). 

preoccidentalis. submitted 

by R.D. Guthrie. 
Date (year before present) 

5,340±110 

(spurious 

ri~;Pewe). 

11,000±280 

11,400±450 

13,470±472 

14,280±230 

31,400+2,900 

--,2,100 

32,300+2,000 

-1,600 

33,700+2,500 

-1,900 

33,200±1900 

33,750±2,000 

>39,900 

2,510±570 

30,71}0+2,100 

-1,600 

11,735±130 

12,460±320 

16,400±2,000 

(black 

carbon 

method) 

11,750±250 

22,680±300 

26,760±300 

>35,000 

>35,000 

>39,000 

>39,000 

Lab. 

No. 

Sl-845 

I-1370 

I-1369 

1-2196 

I-2197 

I-1842 

I-1843 

I-1841 

I-4493 

I-4494 

1-4588 

I-2120 

I-2121 

ST-1631 

SI-290 

M-38 

I-441 

SI-456 

SI-355 

W-475 

W-476 

W-895 

GX-360 

TABLE 4 

TABLE 4.-Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska-Continued 

Stratigraphic location 

Frozen silt_ ______________ _ 

Under 10m frozen silt near portal of permafrost tunnel. 

Near portal of permafrost tunnel. __________ do ___________ _ 

__________ do ___________ _ 

Flattop ice wedge below unconformity; 10 m from surface in tunnel. 

__________ do ___________ _ 

Below unconformity; 10m below surface. 

In winze in silt 40 em above contact with Fox Gravel. In winze in reworked Fox Gravel; 1-1.5 m below contact with overlying Goldstream Formation. In basal room; in Fox Gravel (reworked?). 1 m above bedrock contact. 8'h m from surface in ventilating shaft of permafrost tunnel adjacent to flattopped ice wedge (spurious date- "not e~ough,organic 

matenal ... P.V. Sellmann). 11 m from surface in ventilating shaft of permafrost tunnel. In frozen silt rich in organic matter. 

-------- __ do ___________ _ 

__________ do ___________ _ 

From silty peat underlain by weathered pebble gravel and overlain by peat, 

In s;!z!::~ift~~~· in 

organic matter. 

__________ do ___________ _ 

At unconformity between Ready Bullion Formation and Goldstream Formation (probably reworked from lower part of Goldstream Formation, T.L. Pewe). 

Woody horizon, 2m below 

unconformity at top of Goldstream Formation. Near top of sandy pebble 

gravel (could be pre- Wisconsinan, 

D.M. Hopkins, 1972). 

Near base(?) of Goldstream Formation. 

Material Collector 

and date Site 

Goldstream Formation-Continued 

Homsheath 

of Bison preoccidentalis. 

Wood log 

(conifer 

root). 

Wood (log)__ __ 

______ do _____ _ 

Bone _______ _ 

Organic 

residue 

in ice wedge. ______ do _____ _ 

Twig _________ _ 

Woody 

material. ______ do _____ _ 

Small log ______ _ 

Fine 

fibrous 

organic 

material. 

______ do _____ _ 

Internal 

~~e;:sh~ath from type 

~~~m~~s~~) preoccidentalis. ______ do _____ _ 

Homsheath 

of Bison (S uperbison) crassicornis. 

Wood twigs ___ _ 

Tendon from left tibia of Felix atrox. 

Bone (JEquus). 

Log ----------

Twigs _______ _ 

Wood (1-2-cm 

diameter). 

Wood _______ _ 

O.W. Geist, 

1939; 

submitted 

by R.D. Guthrie. G. Swinzow, 

1965. 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

Goldstream 

area. 

Goldstream 

Creek 

CRREL 

permafrost 

tunnel. ____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

P.V. Sellmann, ____ do ___ _ 

1965--66. 

____ do ___ _ ____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ ____ do ___ _ 

P.V. Sellmann, ____ do ___ _ 

1971. ____ do____ _ ___ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ ____ do ___ _ 

P.V. Sellmann, ____ do ___ _ 

1966. 

____ do ___ _ ____ do ___ _ 

O.W. Geist Upper 

(1937); Cleary submitted by Creek. T.L. Pewe. 

O.W. Geist (1937); 

submitted 

0.~.~~:· no date; submitted 

byO.W. 

Geist. D.M. Hopkins 

O.W. Geist, 

1938; 

submitted 

by C. Ray. H.L. Foster, 

1965; 

submitted 

byF.C. 

Whitmore. T.L. Pewe, 717/55. 

____ do ___ _ 

D.M. Hopkins. 

R.D. Guthrie, 1964. 

____ do ___ _ 

Creek 

near 

Fairbanks. 

Omega 

Creek 

mining 

cut. 

U)fs~r Creek. 

Lost Chicken 

Creek. 

Sheep Creek. 

____ do ___ _ 

Sullivan placer pit Sullivan 

Creek 

near Tofty. Dawson Cut at mouth of Engineer 

Creek. 

Location 

Sec. T. R. or Quadrangle lat and long 

Fairbanks 

D--2. 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

_ ___ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

Livengood 

A--1. 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

Tanana 

A-1. 

Fairbanks 

D--3. 

Eagle A-2. 

Fairbanks 

D--2. 

____ do ___ _ 

Tanana 

A-2. 

Fairbanks 

D--2. 

SE'A sec. 31, 

T.2N., 

R.1 E. 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

_ ___ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

_ ___ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

NW'A 

sec. 17, R. 2 E., T.3N. 

____ do ___ _ 

____ do ___ _ 

NW'A 

sec. 14, 

T.4N., 

R.14W. 

NW'A sec. 12, T. 1 S., R. 3 w. SE'A sec. 32, 

T. 21 N., R.18 E. 

SE'A sec. 17, T.1 N., 

R. 2 w. 

____ do ___ _ 

NE'A sec. 18, 

T.3N., 

R. 16 w. 

SE'A sec. 1, T.l N., R.l w. 

Reference 

Stuckenrath and Mielke (1973). 

31 

Buckley, Trautman, and Willis (1968, p. 246). 

Do. 

Sellmann (1967, p. 17). 

Buckley, Trautman, and Willis (1968, p. 246). 

Do. 

Do. 

Buckley, Trautman, and Willis (1968, p. 248). 

Sellmann (1972). 

Do. 

Do. 

Buckley, Trautman, and Willis (1968, p. 248); Sellman (1967, p. 17). 

Do. 

Pewe (1975). 

Mielke and Long (1969, p. 177). 

Crane (1956, p. 670). 

Trautman (1964, p. 272). 

Stuckenrath and Mielke (1970, p. 203). 

Mielke and Long (1969, p. 177). 

Rubin and Alexander (1958, p. 1479). 

Do. 

Rubin and Berthhold (1961, p. 93); Repenning, Hopkins, and Rubin (1964, p. 182). 

Krueger and Weeks (1966, p. 146). 
32 

Date (year before present) 

>39,900 

18,000±200 

>40,000 

>35,000 

21,065±1,365 

29,295±2,440 

>39,000 

>24,000 

>56,900 

<20,000 

18,300±2,000 

(black 

carbon 

date) 

>28,000 

Lab. 

No. 

I-2248 

Sl-841 

SI-291 

Sl-844 

SI-839 

Sl-842 

SI-840 

L-137P 

Hv-1328 

299, Univ. of Chicago 

M-37 

L-137X 

QUATERNARY STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE, CENTRAL ALASKA 

TABLE 4.-Radiocarbon dates from central Alaska-Continued 

Stratigraphic location 

Near base of Goldstream Formation. 

In frozen silt ____________ 

In frozen silt rich in organic material. 

In frozen silt ------------

__________ do ____________ 

____ -----_do ____________ 

__________ do ____________ 

Forest bed under 20 m of Goldstream Formation. 

Forest bed at base of formation. 

Stump rooted in underlying 

silty gravel at base of formation on Eva Creek section. 

Same sample as 299 _______ 

Same sample as 299 _______ 

Material Collector 

and date Site 

Goldstream Formation-Continued 

Silty peat ---- J.V. McGee cut, 

Matthews. Dalton 

Creek near Sullivan 

Creek. 

Hornsheath O.W. Geist Mining 

of Bison. 1948; excavation 

submitted near Manley 

by R.D. Hot Springs. 

Guthrie. Dung(?) O.W. Geist, Little ofSymbos 1939; ElDorado 

giganteus. submitted Creek. by C. Ray. 

Hornsheath O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ 

of Bison. 1938; 

submitted 

by R.D. Guthrie. ______ do ______ O.W. Geist, 

1947; Crtfr~~k. submitted 

~u~~~- ______ do ______ O.W. Geist, ____ do ____ 

1940; 

submitted 

______ do ______ ~~~~- O.W. Geist, _ ___ do ____ 

1947; 

submitted 

byR.D. 

Guthrie. 

Eva Formation 

Rooted T.L. Pewe, Dawson Cut stump. 6/4/51. placer 

mine. 

Stump from J.V. Matthews, Eva forest bed. 1964. Creek. 

Dawson Cut Formation 

20-cm-diameter Collected by Eva white spruce T.L. Pewe, Creek. stump. 9/18/49; 

submitted 

______ do ______ by Oswalt. Submitted _ ___ do ____ 

byO.W. 

Geist. 

______ do ______ ____ do ____ _ ___ do ____ 

Location 

Sec. T. R. or Quadrangle lat and long 

Tanana SE% A-2. sec. 8, 

T.3N., 

R. 16 w. 

Tanana SE% A-2. sec. 8, 

T.3N., 

R.16W. 

Livengood SE% A-2. sec. 27, 

T.3N., 

R. 1 E. ____ do ____ ____ do ____ 

Fairbanks NW% D-3. sec. 17, T. 15, R.2W. 

____ do ____ ____ do ____ 

____ do ____ ____ do ____ 

Fairbanks SW% 

D-2. sec. 6, T.1 N., R. 1 E. Fairbanks SW% 

D-3. sec. 5, T. 1 S., R.2W. 

Fairbanks SW% D-3. sec. 5, T.1 S., R. 2W. 

_ ___ do ____ ____ do ____ 

____ do ____ ____ do ____ 

Reference 

Matthews (1970, p. 247). 

Stuckenrath and Mielke (1973). 

Mielke an,d Long (1969, p. 177). 

Stuckenrath and Mielke (1973). 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Broecker, Kulp, and Tucek (1956, p. 157). 

Matthews (1970, p. 247J; Pewe (this re- port, fig. 6). 

Arnold and Libby ( 1951, p. 118); Pewe (this re- port, fig. 6). 

Crane (1956, p. 670). 

Broecker, Kulp, and Tucek (1956, p. 57). 

*u.s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1974 0-585--469( 3 2