Professional Paper No. 2 S enes .. . {A, Economic Geology, 19 

B, Descnphve Geology, 21 

DEPARTMENT O.F THE INTERIOR 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DIRECTOR 

A 

RECONNAISSANCE . 

OF THE 

NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENlNSULA,ALASKA 

BY 

ARTHUR J. OC)LLIER 

\V ASHINGTON 

GOVERNl\1ENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1902 

CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Introduction................... . ................... ; . .................. ____ . _ .. ·.......... 7 

Geography ~ ................................. _ .. . .•................ ___ .................... 11 

General outline ............................................. _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

Shore line . . ........ . .............................. _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

Harbors .......... : ................ . ___ .. ___ ....... _ .. . ... _ .. __ .. _ . . . . . . . . . . . . ] 2 

Drainage . _ ... _____ ....... ______ . ____ ...... _ ..... _ .... _ . _ .. __ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Relief ____ . _ . _ . _ .... _ . _ . . ...... ___ ..... _____ . __ .. _ . ___ .. _ . _ .... __ ......... _ . _ _ 13 

General geology _______ . _ . ___ .. __ ...... ____ .. _ . _. _ .. __ . ____ .. ____ . _ ...................... _ 14 

Outline .•..........•......... _ ...... _ ...... _. _ . _ . . . . ...... . .. __ .......... _ .......... _ _ 14 

Stratigraphic succession __ .... __ . . __ ... __ . _ . . ....... . .. _ .... _ ..... _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

Kigluaik series ...... __ ............................. _ ... _ ............ _ ........... _ 16 

Kuzitrin series_ .. _ ..... _ .. _ ................. __ . __ ..... _ .. _ .................•... _.. 16 

N orne series ... _ . _ . ___ ................... _ ............ ·_. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 

Introduction_ ........... ___ .... _ ... _. _ .... _. __ .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 

Port Clarence limestone _ ................. _ .................. . ............. _ . . 18 

Kugruk group_ ....................... _. _ ... _ .... _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

Surficial deposits ........... ___ ~.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

General description .... . .......... . ... _ .. _ . _ .................................... _ . 24 

Coastal plain deposits ................. _........... . ............................... 25 

Arctic coastal plain ............ ~ ............... ~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 

Port. Clarence coastal plain ............. __ ..................................... 25 

Inland basins ......... . .. · ....... _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 

Agiapuk lowland _ ...... _ ..... _______ c •••••••••••••••••••• ............ ...... 26 

Imuruk lowland .............. . _ .. __ ........................... : ............. . 26 

Kuzitrin low land. _..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 

Mammoth remains .. _ ....... · .......... _ ............... _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 

' Alluvial sands and gravels ... . ......... __ "........................................ 28 

Elevated surficial deposits .. _...................................................... 28 

Glaciation . ........................................................ .............. 28 

Igneous rocks ...... _ ............................................... · .... ·. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 

Introduction ... _ ......... . ...... . ................ · ................. : ............... 29 

Greenstones ... . .. _... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 29 

Granitic and rhyolitic intrusives ............................................. _..... 29 

Basalts....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 

Dynamic history .....•• , •.. •• , ....•••. •....•...•.. •• •••...•... •• .................... _ . 31 

3 
4 CONTENTS. 

General geology-Conti:qued. Page. 

Physiography _____________________________________________ -. __ • _. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 34 

Introduction _________________ . _. __________________________________________ .... _ _ _ _ 34 

N uluk Plateau. ____ .. _ . _ . _____ . __ .. _ . __ . ___________ .. _______________ . __ . _ . _ ... _ . . . 35 

Kugruk Plateau _ ..... _______ .... _____________________________ . _____ . ___ . _· _ _._. _ _ _ _ 35 

York Plateau. __ . ___ . __ ... ________ •.. _________ ~ ____ 7 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 36 

Low land plains . _ ...... _ .. _ ...... ___ .. __ . _ . _ . _______ . ~ ____ ... _ . __ . __ . _ .· _ . _ •.... _ . _ 40 

Valley l'ow lands _ ....... __ ............. _ .... ·- _____ . ____________ .... ___ .. _. _ .. _ . _ _ _ 40 

Drainage . __ ... _ .. _ . ____ . __ .. __ . ___ .. ______ . ________ . _ . ________ . __ . _______ ....... _ 42 

Summary . __ . __ . _· _ ....... __ .. ·- _. _ ... _ .... __ . __ .... _________ . _. _ . ____ .- __ . _ ....... _ 42 

Eeono1nic geology ___ ....... _____ ... __ . __ .. __ ..... __ . ___ .. __ . _ ... ___ ..... _ .. _. _ .. _ ..... _ . . 43 

Introduction __ . __ .. _ .. _. _. _. ________ ..... _ .. ___ . ________________ . __ . _ ... __ . ____ ...... 43 

Distribution and source t>f placer gold . _____ . _. _. ___ .. _ .. _. _ . _ .............. _ ... _ .. _ .. _ _ 43 

Description of localities ___ . _____ . ________________ .. _. _ .. _ ... __________ . _ ~ __ .. _ .... _... 44 

Introduction. ____ ... ____ .. _ ... _ ............ __ ._. _________________ ...... _ .. __ .. ___ _ 44 

Grantley Harbor region . _________ ... _. _______________________ . _ ... _ .. ~. __ ...... _... 44 

Port Clarence and York Mountain region .. ___________ . ___ .......... _ ..... _ .... __ ._. 46 

York region _____________________________________________________ .... _ . _ ....... _ _ _ 4 7 

Gold . ~ _________________ . ________ · ____________________________ .. _____ . ___ ..... _ 48 

Tin ... _ . ______ ..... _ .. _ ...... _______ : ...... _ .. __ . ____ . ___ .... _ ............ _ . . 49 

Arctic region _ ......... _. _________________ ' _______ . __ ... _ ........ _ .. __ .. __ .. _ ... _ _ _ 51 

Pinguk River ____ . ___________ ~_. _____________________ ._._ ..... _._ .. __ ._._._____ 52 

Nuluk River. __ .... _. _____ .. __________ ..... _ ...... _____ .............. _ ... _.... 52 

Kugruk River ____ .. ____ . ____________________ ~ ___ . __ ........ __ . __ .... ~ ..... _.. 52 

Other streams ____ ....... _ . _ .... __ ..... _ . _ .. ________ . _ . _ ... __ .. ___ ..... _ . . . . . . 53 

Quartz veins __ . __ . _______________ ... _ . _ . _ ........ _ . ___ . ___ .. ___ .... _ . . . . . . . . . 53 

Shishmaref region . _____ . _ ....... _ ... __ .... _ . __________ .. _ .. _ ..................... · 53 

Arctic River ___ . _ ... __ . _. _ ....... ___ ...... __ ... _. _______ . _ ......... _ ..... _..... 54 

Serpentine River ___ . _ ....... _ .. ___ ....... ____ .... ___ ........... _ ...... _...... 55 

Agiapuk region _ ... _ . _ .. __ . ____ . _________ ......... _ . __ . ____ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 

Ameriean River _ . ______ .... _. -'- .. __ . ____ ................ _...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 

Kuzitrin Basin _ .. _ .. _ .. __ .. __ . _______ ...... _. _ .... _ ................... _.......... 59 

Southern tributaries of the Kuzitrin .... _ .... _ .... _ ......... __ .................. 68 

Index _ ........ ~ ... __ . _ . : ___ ......... _ . _ ........•• _ .. __ . -.•.•..••••....•.........•.... ---- 69 
.. 

IIJL USTRATJ ONS. 

Page. 

PLATE I. Outline map of Seward Peninsula and adjacent region, Alaska, showing area of larger- scale map _____________ . __________________________________________________ - - - - - 8 

II. A, Teller, from the .point of sand spit; B, Valley of Quartz Cr~ek cut in high gravel bench_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ . 10 

III. Geologic reconnaissance map and section of the north western portion of Seward 

Peninsula, Alaska ___________________ ~ ________________ . ________________________ - 14 

IV. A, Crumpled limestone, Brooks Mountain; B, Port Clarence limestone, Nuluk River-_ 18 

V. A, Schistose limestone, Kugruk group, head of Portage Creek; B, Schistose limestone, Kugruk group, Budd Creek. _______________ . __________________ . ____ . __ .. _____ --_-- 20 

VI. A, Bedding and cleavage in Kugruk limestone south of Igloo Creek; B, Frozen silts 

containing spruce logs on Quartz Creek. __________ . ______ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 22 

VII. A, Ear Mountain, from bench at 1,000 feet elevation; B, The Ears, granite pinnacles 

on Ear Mountain._____________________________________________________________ 28 

VIII. A, Platy structure in granite near hot springs; B, _Platy structure in granite, Ear 

Mountain ____________________________________________________________ ~ ____ .. _ _ 30 

IX. Granite outcrops near hot springs _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 32 

X. A, South side of York Mountain and beach; B, Cape :Mountain from York .. --.-.--- 38 

XI. Economic map of northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska-.--------_.- .. - 44 

XII. Topographic map of northern portion of Seward Peninsula.------. _____________ In pocket. 

5 
• 
A RECONNAISSANCE OF THE NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD 

PENINSULA, ALASKA. 

By ARTHUR J. CoLLIER. 

IN-TRODUCTION. 

In response to an urgent demand by the public, the Geological Survey, in 1900, 

undertook a topographic and geologic reconnaissance of the southern half of the 

Seward Peninsula. a The area mapped embraced the more importan_t gold fields of 1 

the peninsula. The topographic map made in 1900 included the drainage of Bering 

Sea from Cape Darby to Port Clarence, the southern drainage of Grantley Harbor 

and Imuruk Basin, and the nortihern drainage of Norton Sound. A geologic 

reconnaissance was also made of the York mining district and of part of the Kuzitrin 

drainage. 

In view of the northern extension of these gold fields it was deemed desirable 

that the northern part of the peninsula should be investigated, and a party was 

organized for this purpose in 1901. This party, to which the writer was detailed 

as geologist, was placed under the leadership of Mr. T. G. Gerdine, topographer; 

Mr. D. C. "\Vitherspoon acted af; assistant topographer, and Ed. Brown, Robert 

Baskins, Samuel Conrad, J. G. De Forest, and E. Goodall were engaged as camp 

hands. Twelve horses were provided for the transportation of the camp outfit 

in the field. It was thought that a party thus organized and equipped would be 

able to cover a larger area than any one party of the previous season, when 

canoes and men were used for transportation. This expectation was reaHzed, 

although a backward and unusua1ly stormy 'season made the work difficult and 

prevented the accomplishment of the entire plan, b which contemplated the completion of the survey of the peninsula. 

a See Preliminary Report on the Cape Nqme Gold Region, Alaska, by F . C. Schrader and Alfred H. Brooks; U.S. Geol. 

Survey, 1900. Also Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, by Alfred H. Brooks, 

George B. Richardson, Arthur J. Collier, and Walter C. Mendenhall ; U. S. Geol. Survey, 1901. 

b The average temperature as observed in 1!)01 was 44° in July, 43*0 in Augqst, and 40° in September. The mean 

temperature at Port Clarence, as obtained from observations covering four years, is 51° for July, 49° for August, 41° 

for September. The number of rainy days in July, August, and September, 1901, as observed by the United States 

Geological Survey party, was 36. The mean number of rainy days at Port Clarence for these months is 29. Cf. 

"Climatic notes" in Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. 

7 
8 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

The party assembled in Seattle and on ~lay 30 embarked on the steamship 

Senator, bound for Nome and Port Clarence. On June 9 the Aleutian Islands 

were passed, and about midnight of that day floe ice was encountered in Bering 

Sea. Several attempts were made to navigate through the ice, but it was found 

impossible, and for six days the ship lay to in the vicinity of St. Paul Island 

surrounded by the ice pack. 

The ship finally dropped anchor at N orne on J u~e 16. It was the first of the 

fleet of large steamers t9 arrive, and it was almost immediately surrounded by a 

multitude of small boats from the shore, crowded with men who had spent the long 

winter in the Arctic region and were anxious to greet the new arrivals from the 

outside world. The winter of 1900-01 had been an unusually severe one, and had 

begun to break only a few days before our arrival. There were still snow drifts 

in the streets of Nome and blocks of ice along the shore, while the hills back of 

the t?wn were yet white with snow. As Port Clarence was still frozen in, the 

steamer could not make a landing there, and as it was impossible to travel overland 

with horses, owing to the ice in the creek beds and to the absence of grass or 

other forage, it wa8 decided to land the outfit at Nome, which was accomplished 

on June 20. 

Five days later the party started from Nome for Port Clarence; two men 

went by land with the horses and the remainder in a whaleboat with most of the 

supplies. Stormy weather delayed the boat, so that the entire party was not 

assembed in Teller until July 12. At this point work was begun. The signals 

erected the year before by the Coast and Geodetic Survey w~re repaired and 

used as a base for the control of the topographic work. The party left Teller 

on July 14 and moved westward along the coast toward Cape York. Progress 

was slow, owing to rainy and foggy weather, which greatly interfered with the 

work of both the topographers and the geologist, and to the necessity of carrying 

a supply of grain for the horses, the grass being very poor. A week later the 

larger section of the party had .to be sent back from the forks of the Don River 

for more horse feed. The remainder spent the time in exploring and mapping 

the southern face of the York Mountains and the head of the Don River. 

On July 24 Mr. Gerdine, Mr. Witherspoon, and the writer, with two men and a 

light camp outfit carried on three horses, le£t the main party, which was instructed 

to move northward by double-tripping with the heavier part of the supplies, and 

proceeded around the north side of the York :M-ountains to the head of the Anikovik 

River in the York mining district. From this point Mr. Gerdine went northward to 

the main camp near the forks of the Mint River, 'while Mr. Witherspoon and the 

writer spent several days in mapping the western border of the York Mountains. 

During the season of 1900 Mr. Alfred H. Brooks had spent a few days in this region, 
U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURV~Y PROFESSIONA1

L PAPER N0.2 PL. I. 

631r-----+-----1-----~--/'J 

OUTLINE MAP OF SEWARD PENINSULA 

SHOWING AREA OF LARGER SCALE MAPS 

Scale 

6cO=========:i:::=========:::::J50 MILES 

,./~:: _y~-~!-'' 

A ) 
I. 
INTRODUCTION. ! 9 

and had discovered stream tin in the placers on the Anikovik River.a The geologic 

work at York was, therefore, largely directed to 1an effort to locate the source of 

the tin. 

In the York region generally fuel, consisting bf small green willows, often not 

over half an inch in diameter, was found to belvery scarce. As the weather was 

often rainy and foggy, the conditions of camp life were far from pleasant. 

The entire party were reunited on the Nul k River on August 3. Messrs. 

Witherspoon and Goodall, with two horses, were ~hen detailed to traverse the north 

coast of the penin~ula, while Messrs. Gerdine, De Forest, and the writer, with three 

horses, made a trip to the head of the river. During this time the remainder of the 

party moved the heavier part of the supplies to the base of Ear Mountain. On 

August 16 the party was again reunited in a carp-p on a tributary of the Kugruk 

River near the base of Ear Mountain. Here it w~s detained several days by severe, 

stormy weather, and the provisions having run short, they were replenished from 

the stores of some prospectors on Tuttle Creek who were leaving the district. 

Grass for the horses was abundant and of good quality, and the unfavorable weather 

gave them a much needed rest. On August 20 the heavy fog which bad hung over 

Ear Mountain lifted, and the day was spent on its summit. This mountain rises 

abruptly 2,000 feet above the plateau on which it t tarids. Near its summit are two 

la~ge pinnacles of granite which from a distance resemble the ears of some great 

animal whose head is hidden behind the hill. T e mountain was first located and 

named ''Ears" on a chart :tnade by Captain Beechey in 1826. The Eskimos know 

it by the name '' Enigarok," which translated into English is said to mean ears, so 

that it is probable that this same na~e has been applied to this mountain since it 

was first known to man. Ear Mountain occupies [a• commanding position, and from 

its summit, below the low-hanging clouds, sights r ere taken to the Siberian coast, 

Diomede Island, Cape Mountain, Mukacharni 1\'Iountain, Midnight Mountain, DevH 

Mountain, and Shishmaref Inlet, besides numerouk minor points. 

From Ear Mountain the party moved as rapidly as possible southeastward, 

crossing the headwaters of the several rivers and creeks which together make up the 

American River, as the left fork of the Agiapukl River is called, and also crossing 

the Mary River about 10 miles above its mouth. [' j he weather during this trip was 

more favorable than it had been earlier in the sewson. On the morning of August 

22, however, while in · camp on Igloo Creek, an iJch of snow fell, and several days 

were lost because of bad weather. When approaching Marys Igloo, which lies in a 

bend of the Kuzitrin River, well down in the Kuzitrin Flats, a short cut was made 

across the tundra. In places it was so marshy that the horses would have been lost 

but for the solid ice which was found to underlie the moss at a depth of about 2t 

aRecouuaissauces in the Cape Nome and No.rtou Bay egions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 136. 
10 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

feet. Marys Igloo was reached on September 3. This place,, the former winter 

' home of .~well-known Eskimo woman, is at the head of steamboat navigation on the 

Kuzitrin River, and has within a year or two become a settlem·ent of some importance. Here the stock of provisions was ;·eplenished from supplies shipped to this 

point from Nome and kept in storage by :Mr. A. D. Nash, who was doing a general 

freighting business on the Kuzitrin River. The horses here rapidly recuperated 

from the privations of the long trip, as forage was abundant. At Marys Igloo the 

party was again divided, Mr. TNitherspoon with two men going westward to map 

the lower basin of the Agiapuk and to return to N orne by way ·of Teller and the 

beach, while the remainder of the party made a hasty trip northward. 

lYir. Witherspoon's party sucqessfu Uy crossed the Agiapuk River at a point where 

its bro~d alluvial basin narrowed down between low bluffs, examined the mines on 

Allene Creek, and arrived at N~me about September 23, having accomplished its 

task. 

The remainder of the party proceeded up the Kuzitrin River to Lanes Landing~ 

where there is a small settlement, and thence took the wagon road to Quartz Creek. 

Near this point a halt of two days was made to examine the placers in the vicinity 

and to occupy Coffee Dome, a low mountain which is one of the prominent 

landmarks of the Kugruk district. Thence the party proceeded northward to the 

junction of Vfindy Creek with the Kugruk River and up the Kugruk River to the 

mouth of Taylor Creek, making a side trip . to the summit of Baldy Mountain. On 

September 14 camp was made about 3 miles from Midnight Mountain on Schlitz 

Creek, tributary to Shishmaref :Lnlet. Here, during a halt of two days, the writer, 

with Mr. De Forest, visited the hot springs, about 7 miles to the north; and Mr. 

Gerdine occupied Midnight Mountain, ·which commands a view of the whole 

northern coast of the peninsula from Ear Mountain to Goodhope Bay. On 

September 17 the party proceeded south 'Yard by a long march to the North Fork of 

the Kugruk, crossing Taylor and Harris creeks. Here a halt of one day was made 

while the writer visited the mines on Boulder Creek, about 8 miles to the ::50uth. 

On September 19 the camp outfit was sent by way of Baldy Mountain and Dahl 

Creek to Lanes Landing. The plan was for Mr. Gerdine and the writer to secure 

some kind of transportation down the N oxapaga. and Kuzitrin rivers, and thus to 

complete the mapping of those rivers, and then to rejoin the party at Lanes 

Landing. After a delay of three days at Noxapaga, during which time hasty 

trips were made to Garfield Creek and to the edge of some lava beds on the 

Kuzitrin, transportation was secured down the river through the courtesy of Mr. 

A. D. Nash, and during the journey the numerous bends were mapped. On 

September 23, at 11 p. m., Lanes Landing was reached, over 100 miles by' river · 

having been traversed to gain an air-line distance of abop.t 25 miles. Here the rest 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 2 PL. II 

GEOGRAPHY. 11 

' 

of our party was found; and, since the season was nearly spent and the hard frosts 

occurring nearly every night were rapidly destroying the grass, it was decided to 

return to the coast. After a halt of one day to readjust the loads and to dispose of 

all surplus weight, the start southward was made on September 25. The route lay" 

by way of t~e Kruzgamepa River, Salmon Lake, and the Nome-Snake divide to 

Nome. This journey took five days, three of which were pleasant, but during two 

days rain and snow fell in torrents, and was accompanied by strong winds. 

. Nome was reached on September 30. There Mr. Witherspoon and the parties 

of Peters and Mendenhall, which had arrived from the north a few days before, 

were found. On October 6 all these. parties embarked on the ~:;teamship St. Pa,ul 

for Seattle, which was reached October 17 after a pleasant voyage. 

A distance of about 700 miles was traversed by the party between July 14 

and September 26. Data had been secured for topographic., geologic, and 

economic reconnaissance maps covering an area of nearly 5,000 square miles. 

Triangulation was cari·ied eastward from Port Clarence to 'Mount Bendeleben, 

which proved the accuracy of the work done by Messrs. Bai·nard, Hefty, and 

Rea burn of the United States Geological Survey during the previous field season. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

General mttline. -Seward Peninsula is an irregular land mass, compr1smg 

apprqximately 20,000 square miles, . and extending from the western coast of 

Alaska westward to within 60 miles of the Asiatic coast, from which it is separated 

by Bering Strait. It separates Bering Sea £rom the Arctic Ocean, a~d is itself 

cut. off from the mass of the continent on the south by Norton Bay, a deep 

indentation of Bering Sea, and on the north by Kotzebue .Sound, an inlet from 

the Arctic Ocean. A mountain axis, represented m the Kigluaik and Bendeleben 

ranges, divides the peninsula naturally into a southern and a northern part . 

. This axis has an area of depression, partly occupied by · the sea, on its northern 

side. The southern part of the peninsula was investigated by the United States 

Geological Survey in the season of 1900, and is the subject of a report entitled 

Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. 

The p1:esent report deals with the !lorthwestern part of the peninsula, comprising 

an area of approximately 5,000 square miles lying west of the one hundred 

and sixty-fourth meridian and nort)l of Port Clarence and Imuruk .Bay. 

Shore Zine.-Along the southern edge of this area the series of bays and sounds 

known as Port Clarence, Grantley Harbor, Tuksuk Channel, and Imuruk Basin 

form an inl~nd extension of the sea. In it,::; eastern half tbe southern shore line 

is characterized by broad, low) coastal plains, often fringed with lagoons shut in 

by wave-built beaches, but where it is open to Bering Sea, from the entrance 
12 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA • 

. to Port Clarence northwestward to Cape Prince of Wales, the coa_st line is marked 

by sea cliffs and generally ,more abrupt relief. Where coastal plains or lagoons 

exist they are of limited extent. In the vicinity of Cape York the sea cliffs, 

rising in some instances to an elevation of 600 feet, extend for a distance of 

about 15 miles, making navigation dangerous for small boats, since no landings 

c.an be made. On the southern side of Cape Mountain the cliffs rise 100 feet 

or more, while above them Cape Mountain attains an elevation of 2,500 feet. 

Northeastward from Cape Prince of Wales the coast line is marked by barrier 

beaches which protect the mainland from the force of the waves. Back of this 

barrier there are large lagoons. From Cape Prince of Wales eastward the outer 

coast line forms a series of .broad, concave curves, a tangent to which would fall 

into an almost straight line extending from· Uape Prince of Wales to an unnamed 

cape 20 miles west of Cape Espenberg, the most northerly point on the peninsula. 

Along this stretch where the inner or mainland coast line, as represented by the . 

shores of the lagoons, is very irregular, there are e':'idences that the land has 

recently been elevated. 

Harbors.-The coast line of Seward Peninsula affords but few sheltered 

anchorages. Port Clarence is a deep indentation of. the coast line, which is in part 

cut off from the open sea by ~ long sand spit. It is connected with Grantley 

Harbor, an almost landlocked bay, by a channel 12 or 14 feet deep. The town 

of Teller is located on a sand spit which separates the two bodies of water. 

Imuruk Basin is an arm of the sea which is connected by. a narrow inlet, 

named Tuksuk Channel, with Grantley Harbor. This channel is used by river 

steamers which are bound for the Kugruk gold field. linuruk Basin is bounded 

on the south by the rugged Kigluaik Range, and is a very treacherous body of 

water. The north side of the basin is shallow, but on the south side it has 

considerable depth. 

At the entrance to Shishmaref Inlet, Kotzebue in 1816 reported 8 fathoms o~ 

water; and C. W. Mashburn, deputy recorder of the district, reports that small 

coasting vessels can find sufficient depth of water and good harbor facilities behind 

Sarichef Island. Shishmaref post-office and the recording office of Goodhope 

district are located on this island. From this point supplies can be easily 

transported in row boats or small steamers to within a few miles of the mines 

about the head of the Kugruk and Serpentine rivers. The inlet is practically 

filled w'th mud flats, through which the stream channels have very sinuous 

courses, making navigation difficult. 

Goodhope Bay and Kotzebue Sound are large inlets containiqg much shallow 

water. They afford safe anchorage and good harbor facilities, protected from all 

winds except the northwest. At the eastern end of Kotzebue Sound a safe 
GEOGRAPHY. 13 

anchorage, protected from practically all winds, Is found near Chamisso Island. 

The town of Deering, the principal supply point of the mines of this region, 

is located on Kotzebue Sound at the mouth ~f the Imnuchuk River. 

Dntinage.-The watershed of the northwestern part of the Seward Peninsula 

lies close to the Arctic coast, and the major part of the drainage is carried southward 

through rivers which flow into Port Clarence .and its connecting bodies of water, or 

into Bering Sea. 

The Kuzitrin and Agiapuk are the largest rivers within the region under 

discussion. Their northern tributaries head within a few miles of the inlets from 

the Arctic Ocean on the north, and they flow south ward. and, approaching the 

highest mountain mass of the peninsula, find outlet to the sea through lmuruk 

Basin. Their valleys are broad and gravel floored. 

A number of small rivers, none over 20 miles in length, empty into Bering Sea 

and Port Clarence. These are the California, Don, Lost Rapid, Kanauguk, and 

Anikovik. These rivers generally occupy comparatively narrow valleys, cut in the 

upland that borders the coast. 

A number of large rivers which cross the coastal plain in tortuous channels 

flow into the lagoons which characterize the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The more 

important are the :1\'lint, the Pinguk, the Nuluk, and the Kugruk.a A number of 

small streams empty into Shishmaref Inlet, the largest of which is ealled the 

Serpentine River, so named from the tortuous character of its lower course. Little 

is known of the drainage of the peninsula between Shishmaref Inlet and Goodhope 

Bay. This region was. only seen from a distance by our party, and but little could 

be determined in regard to its detail. The Goodhope, Kugruk, Kiwalik, and 

Buckland rivers, flowing into Goodhope Bay, are good-sized streams. They lie 

beyond the area covered by the topographers in surveys, and their courses indicated 

on the maps are only approximately correct. All of the rivers noted are navigable 

to some extent for small boats. Extensive freighting is done with large flatbottomed boats along the Kuzitrin and Noxapaga for about 100 miles of their 

courses. The Kuzitrin is ascended by steamers to Marys Igloo. Some of the 

rivers flowing into the northern lagoons and into Shishmaref Inlet are reported to be 

navigable for small steamers near their mouths. 

R elief.:._ The highest mountains of the peninsula, rising to an elevation of 4, 700 

feet, are the Kigluaik, lying immediately south of Imuruk Basin. , This system is 

extended to the east and southeast by the Bendele ben and Darby mountains, of lesser 

altitude. North of these mountains the topography is characterized by broad 

lowland plains which surround a centr'al upland mass. The lowlands occur both 

a There are three rivers of this name in Seward Peninsula. They flow into the Arctic Ocean, Goodhope ~ay, and 

the Kuzitrin River. 
14 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN POR.TION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

as coastal plains and as inland basins, and are built up from gravels derived from 

the upland portion. 

The central upland portion is characterized by broad benches and fiat-topped 

hills, representing remnants of uplifted and dissected plains. The maximum elevation in the northern portion of the peninsula is found in Brooks Mountain at 

2,900 feet. 

These features will be further discussed under physiography. Some small 

mountain masses and isolated buttes, with relief of from 500 to 1,5QO ~eet, are 

scattered over the upland plateaus with no definite system of arrangement. In most 

instances these represent harder members of the bed rock, which have resisted 

erosion. The York Mountains, covering an area of about 100 sqaare' miles, are 

a rugged mountain mass, attaining at their highest point, in Brooks Mountain, an 

elevation of 2,900 feet; while the buttes are represented by Mukachnrni, Cape 

1\'lountain, Cone Hill, Ear Mountain, Midnight Mountain, and others, all of which 

will be considered in more detail in other parts of this report. 

Between the· drainage basins of the Agiapuk and Kugruk riv·ers a 'series of· 

high hills and ridges bearing in a north-south direction culminates in Kugruk 

Mountain, which has an elevation of 2, 767 feet. 

GENERAL GEOLOGY. 

OUTLINE. 

The areal distribution of the various formations and their stratigraphic 

rela~ions are indicated vn the accompanying geologic map and section (Pl. III). As 

the map embraces an area of nearly 4,000 square miles, a~d as only seventy days 

were spent in the field work, and most of these were stormy, the conclusions 

reached must be regarded as only tentative and the boundaries indicated as only 

approximate. The scarcity of outcrops in some parts of the region added to the 

difficulties of the work. The classification of the stratigraphic successiOn m 

general is the same as that adopted by Mr. Brooks a in 1900. It has been 

possible, however, because of the additional stratigraphic and paleontologic 

evidence obtained, to subdivide the terranes which were grouped together py 

Brooks under the name Nome series. The following table shows the stratigraphic equ~valents of the various subdivisions made by B.rooks, Mendenhall/ 

and the writer: 

a Reconnaissances in Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, inl900, pp. 27-31. 

bldem, pp. 27-31, 199-207. 
U. S . GEOLOG ICAL SURVEY 

..o· 

----------r------------.-------------r--

~ RTHY TER 

"' 3 2 l 0 

PO OF THE 

TI 

AL 

0 

SK 

ontour interval ? 

JJatum 's mra11 sea levd 

I 

~ I 

I 

~-

;::;_;:i/. ';;,'!rf!,.7:tJ~';u';,/''Q!'"tf 'and c-Icuc 'ur•-ey Wid RlJ.RobnfSOfl ~ Shorr ll eoi ri lai~J= runllryflarbflrtuullm<JrtJ klia.Jt ln•l ttll d 

, IOUJ('.()ll.r(O.Jid (!to<fdiL'SWYt!)' . 

yraphy Cm~'::,:! f;.~~~~;~Jr" arod A II.Brooks 

- ______ ! ____ ·__ --j- - --

JC8 0 zo · 

2\l ' •o· 165. 

---,---- 1 

---, ----

~::; 

~ 1 

~ I ---'i-------

Devil Mt 

, .... ----.--

I 

ooCh uik MI. 

\ I 

\ 

I 

\ 

I 

I H<'''r 

-- ---

I 

-l~ 

\ I 

\ I 

\ 

LEG EN 0 

SEDIMENTARY 

PLEISTOCE E 

S tlls sc ul~ 

and,QIYl ! 'PIS 

UPPER PALEOZOIC 

C l 

Ku!!r11 l c:mup 

"~lusf., /un:o\Jt~Jt . 1111d 

tlllnldnl !lr'll ltl111' > 

LOWER SILURIA 

Port('larl'IH't> 

Iiili ' S lOill 

OLDER TH A 

SILURIAN 

IG N OUS 

/Jn .<<~lf,, a nd 

{t/ >'OS 

lnlrlls/•r 

.f/l't" t,ll f tlll' ' 
GENERAL GEOLOGY. 15 

Correlation of geologic formations in Seward Peninsula. 

Collier, northwest portion, Brooks, southern portion, Mendenhall, eastern portion, 

1901. 1900. 1900. 

a5 a5 a5 $:1 $:1 $:1 <1) <1) <1) 

<:,) <:,) <:,) 

Muds, sands, and gravels . 0 Sands and gravels. 0 Sands and gravels. .8 _...., 

""""' rn rn 

I 

.~ ·~ ·~ <1) 

0::: c::: c::: 

I I 

<:'-· 

..... . ... 

·2 Unaltered sediments . ... 

<1) 

H 

d 

.~ ... 

E 

w Kugruk group. - 0 

·a ;..., N <1) 0 0. <1) 

p 

0. ~ 

A., 

'"0 

c N orne series. ~ 

d 0 ,_; 

·a <1) ~ '0 ] N 

0 0 rn 

w Port Clarence limestone. <1) '0 

~ c ;..., ~ Metamorphic series. <ll 0 ~ ·c; 0 N H 0 

rn 

<1) 

~ 

d ,_; 

~ <1) 

·;:::: Kuzitrin series. '0 Kuzitrin series. 

E 0 

w '"0 

$:1 

$:1 ~ 

til 0 ..c: ·a 

""""' N ;..., 0 <1) Kigluaik series. ~ Kigluaik seri ~. '"0 

0 ~ 

A., 

. 

The above table shows that four subdivisions have been made of the sedimentary 

bed rocks of the northern portion of the Seward Peninsula. The Kigluaik series 

is the oldest, and is made up of white crystalline limestones and mica-schists. 

Succeeding this, apparently conformably, is the Kuzitrin series, made up of 

arenaceous and argillaceous sediments. These two series are identical with those 

described by Brooks. The Kuzitrin series is overlain by the Nome series, 

probably unconformably, as suggested by Brooks. The Nome series has been 

here subdivided into two conformable groups, the lower named the Port Clarence 

9415-No. 2-02--2 
16 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORJHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

limestone and the upper called the Kugruk group. The Port Clarence limestone, 

which is blue and almost unaltered, was found to contain · Lower Silurian fossils. 

The Kugruk group is made up of limestones and calcareous bed3, with some 

argillites, which are locally considerably altered. The unconsolidated sediments 

which have been assigned to the Pleistocene include sands, gravels, and alluvium, 

and need no special mention here . 

. Three classes of igneous rocks have been recognized in the region and indicated 

on the map. The oldest are intrusives of various types, which are usually schistose, 

and these have been grouped together under the field term greenstone. The 

granites fo~m a second group, and probably represent Mesozoic intrusions. These 

two classes were recognized by Brooks~ but the third, which comprises Pleistocene 

lavas, was not represented in the region mapped in 1901. 

In the northern part of the peninsula the earliest crustal movements produced 

a series of folds whose axes run approximately north and south. This deformation probably took place in Paleozoic times, and was accompanied by extensive 

intrusions of gr_eenstone. A later period of disturbance, probably during the 

Mesozoic, produced folds whose axes are transverse to the earlier system. This 

was accompanied by the inti·usion of some large masses of granite. 

STRATIGRAPHIC SUCCESSION. 

KIGLUAIK SERIES. 

The Kigluaik series was named and described In the report cited, and the 

investigations made by the wi·iter have not added much information concerning it. 

Its type section is in the Kigluaik 1\'Iountains, where it consists of white crystalline 

limestones with some interbedded mica-schists. This series occupies a considerable 

belt · in the southeastern part of the area under consideration, where it, together 

with the associated granite, forms the main mass of the Bendeleben Mountains. 

On the eastern flank of Cape Mountain, near Cape Prince of Wales, it is again 

exposed by the erosion of an anticlinal fold. This occurrence was not examined 

by the writer, but was described by Mr. Brooks as a belt of crystalline limestone, 

often beautifully banded and containing intercalated ·beds of mica-schist, and 

intruded by a large granite batholith. This limestone is the oldest rock in the 

York region, and it and the ·granite of Cape Mountain have the same relation 

as the limestones and granites in the Kigluaik Mountains. It was therefore 

tentatively correlated by Mr. Brooki:i with the Kigluaik series. 

KUZITRIN SERIES. 

The type rock of this series is a graphitic quartzite, or quartz-schist, sometimes 

passing into a graphitic flag, or even a slate. The Kuzitrin series forms a well-
KUZITRIN SERIES-NOME SERIES. 17 

defined stratigraphic unit, which is recognized and named in the previous report. 

The relation of these rocks to the underlying Kigluaik series was not definitely 

estahlished, but such evidence as there is indicates that they are conformable. 

On the sou-th side of the Kigluaik Mountains they were found standing at a 

high angle and forming a belt 1 to 2 miles wide flanking the mountains. At 

this place the thickness of the series was estimated at approximately 2,000 feet. 

Two considerable belts and a number of small areas of these rocks have 

been jdentified in the northern part of the peninsula. The southern belt, extending eastward from Port Clarence to the Kugruk ~iver, forms a part of the 

northern limit of the great anticlinal uplift of the Kigluaik and Bendeleben 

mountains. On the accompanying map it is interrupted by the Pleistocene 

deposits, and by unmapped areas which have not been colored. 

The slates which are found covering a large area in the vicinity of York 

are less highly metamorphosed than those in the above localities, but on stratigraphic and lithologic grounds they were tentatively correlated with the Kuzitrin 

series. a All the evidence collected during the season of 1901 tends to confirm 

that opinion. 

The Kuzitrin series is exposed in three other smaller areas, wher~ it is 

associated with granitic intrusions, and probably occurs in dv_me-shaped uplifts 

accompanied by more or less faulting. These areas were not examined in detail, . 

and it seems pos~::;ible that beds belonging to the underlying Kigluaik series may 

be exposed in the central portions of the domes. In the Kuzitrin series of the 

York region there are a number of intrusive masses of greenstone, believed to 

be altered gabbros, apparently occurring as dikes and sills. Similar rocks, though 

of a more diabasic character, were found in the Bluestone region southeast of 

Port Clarence, and in . general it can be said that greenstone intrusives are not 

uncommon in the Kuzitrin series. 

It will be shown below that the succeeding beds; which are Lower Ordivician, 

probably bear an unconformable relation to the Kuzitrin series. This would make 

the Kigluaik and the Kuzitrin series Cambrian or pre-Cambrian. 

NOME SERIES. 

11-droduction.-In the report of 1900 a great thickness of limestones, graphitic 

and cabareous schists, with some intrusive greenstones and chloritic schists of 

undetermined origin, were grouped together under the name Nome series.b The 

stratigraphic relation of the N orne series to the underlying Kuzitrin senes has not 

been definitely established, though from the evidence collected in 1900 on the south 

aReconnai~sances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 29. 

bibid. 
1 S RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

slope of the Kigluaik Mountains, near the head of the Kruzgamepa, it appear::;. to be 

one of unconformity. In the York region, as will be shown, a similar relation of 

the two series seems to obtain. Where originally described, in the southern part 

of the peninsula, the basal member of the Nome series is a :flaggy limestone or 

calcareous schist, probably less than 1,000 feet in thickness. Above this terrane a 

few hundred feet of graphitic limestones and phyllites were found, succeeded by 

heavily bedded limestones aggregating 1,000 or 2,000 feet in thickness. The upper 

part of the Nome series, of which no measure of thickness was obtained, · is 

made up of thin-bedded limestones, calcareous schists, and mica-schists. A few 

fragmentary fossils were found in the lower part of the series, which were 

determined as Ordovician. It was recognized by Brooks a a~d his associates that 

the Nome series included terranes of widely different ages, but the character of the 

field work did not permit of any subdivisions at that time. Attention was called to 

the large number of greenstones occur.ring in the series, and also to the comparatively 

local character of its metamorphism. The investigation of the last season has 

enabled the writer to subdivide the Nome series into the Port Clarence limestone 

and the Kugruk group. 

Pqrt Clarence limestone.-North of Port Clarence the basal member of the 

N orne series was found to be a gray, earthy limestone, which over large areas 

exhibits but little evidence of metamorphism. This limestone occupies a large 

area, incfudiiig the York Mountains, near the western extremity of the peninsula. 

Within this belt are a few small areas of Kuzitrin rocks which have been exposed 

by dome-like uplifts. 

A short distance north of Grantley Harbor some quartz-schists which belong 

to the Kuzitrin series are found outcropping near the exposures of the Port 

Clarence limestone. The quartz-schists have steep dips, and are considerably 

indurated, . while the Port Clarence limestone consists of blue limestone which has 

been but little altered. There· can be but little doubt that the relation. of the two 

terranes is one of unconformity, the limestone being the younger . 

. Along the western margin of the Port Clarence limestone belt the contact 

relations with the Kuzitrin series also point toward unconformity. The contact, 

which was traced for several miles, there follows the western face of the York 

Mountains; and while the evidence was not decisive, it all pointed toward a 

structural break between the two formations. The arenaceous rocks of the 

Kuzitrin series along this line of contact are indurated and have a highly developed 

cleavage, while the Port Clarence limestone, which forms the mass of the mountains 

to the east, is little altered and has low .dips. The relations are more or less 

obscured by the large intrusion of greenstone which occurs near the contact of 

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 31, 
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 2 PL. IV 

B . PORT CLARENCE LIMESTONE, NULUK RIVER, 

POR'i' CLARENCE LIMESTONE. 

the two series. All this evidence leads to the conclusion that the deposition of the 

arenaceous beds of the Kuzitrin series was followed by crustal movements by which 

the beds were indurated and a well-marked cleavage was developed. After this 

period of disturbance the Port Clarence limestone was deposited unconformably 

on the older series. 

The York Mountains are largely made up of the Port Clarence limestones, 

which, as stated above, are usually but little altered. They are plainly bedded, and 

have been folded in a broad way only. This formation comprises a thickness of at 

least 2,000 feet of almost pure limestone. The basal beds are flaggy and slightly 

schistose, but the strata become more massive in ascending the senes. They 

contain invertebrate fossils and impressions of fucoid stems. 

The Port Clarence limestone was positively identified over an area 35 by 45 

miles. Within this area dips vary from horizontal to 45° , and the axes · of the 

folds follow no well-defined system. During the hasty reconnaissance no dominant structural features were recognized. Reference has already been made to 

some small areas of older rocks which occur within this belt, and with which are 

associated granite dikes. As has been stated, these rocks are regarded by the 

writer as belonging to the Kuzitrin series. If this view is correct, they represent 

either residual hills in York slates which antedate the deposition of the Port 

Clarence limestones, or they have been brought up by faulting or folding since its 

deposition. 

On the south and west the Port Clarence limestone, as has already been shown, 

is well defined by contact with the underlying strata; to the north it is bounded by 

the Pleistocene gravel. To the northeast, where it passes under the Kugruk group, 

the limits of the formation are obscured by what seems to be local metamorphism. 

For this reason it has not been thought best to represent this boundary on th~ 

geologic map by a sharp line of demarcation. This part of the map has been left 

uncolored, but the following description shows the character and general relations 

of the bed rock. 

Along the Nuluk River the Port Clarence limestone dips to the north and 

passes under calcareous schists, probably belonging to the Kugruk group, which 

outcrop along the ereek near the southern margin of the eoastal gravel. Near the 

eontact at this plaee the Port Clarence limestones are flaggy and show rather intense 

folding. In following the divide northward from the head of the Nuluk River 

toward Ear 1\):ountain the line between the Port Clarence limestone and the schistose 

limestone was very noticeable, but the age of the schistose limestone was not determinable. Eastward from the head of the Nuluk River the Port Clarence limestone 

was found to extend to the low divide between the headwaters of the Agiapuk and 

American rivers. At this place these limestones dip northeast~ard at a high angle. 
~0 RECON:N.AISSANOE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEW .ARD P:ENINSULA; 

About to miles east of this locality, and along the east side of the American River 

Basin, the bed rock was found to consist of highly altered limestones and graphiteschists and mica-schists, dipping toward the west. These rocks were of the type 

common in the Nome series of the southern half of the peninsula. The stratigraphic evidence · is not sufficient to justify any conclusions in regard to their 

relations with the Port Clarence limestone. 

Between the head of the Nuluk River and Ear Mountain very few exposures 

of bed rock were seen. The region is to a large extent covered by gravel and 

tundra. Some depressions were seen on the broad ridge, which indicate limestone 

sinks beneath the gravel. 

Ear Mountain consists of rocks which probably belong with the Kuzitrin 

series. · The relation of these rocks to the schistose limestones found to the southeast of Ear Mountain was not determined. These latter limestones are highly 

crystalline and often schistose, but are practically homogeneous and represent 

a great thickness of strata. The bedding is often obscured by jointing and 

cleavage. The dips, where they can ·be determined, are high. Above these 

highly altered limestones there is a bed of graphitic schist, above which the bed 

rock consis~ of alternating beds of schist and limestone common in the N orne 

series, in which the limestones predominates. If these highly altered limestones 

which lie to the south and east of Ear Mountain are correlated with the Port 

Clarence limestone, then the graphitic, micaceous, and calcareous schists and 

limestones overlying it belong · to the Kugruk group. 

The age of the Port Clarenee .limestone was . definitely determined by the 

fossils from several loealities. These were submitted to Mr. Charles Schuchert, 

of the National Museum, who reports as follows: 

'' Loc. 26. July 20. Two mile::; southwest of forks of the Don River. 

Porambonites, probably P. intercedens Pander; Oolumnaria with large corallites, 

and Bytlwtrypa? sp. undet. 

"Loc. 28. July 21. Mountain 4 miles north of Rapid River. IllEEnus near 

L tau'ricor·nis but much smaller; IllEEnus sp. undet.; and a lithistid sponge on the 

order of Oalathium. 

'' Loe. 45. July 23-24. Don River 4 miles north of Tozier Creek. 

Maclttrina, probably M. manitobensis Whiteaves; Oolumnaria with small corralites; 

Halysites catenularia Linne; Syr'ingopora sp. undet.; Streptelasma?; and an undetermined L.ophospira. · 

"Loc. 77. August 9. Bluff above Nuluk River, latitude 65°. 41', longitude 

166° 20'. Orthis, probably 0. parva of European Russia. 

"Loc. 78. August 10. Foot of talus slope, Nuluk River. A large section · 

of an undetermined gasteropod. 

"Loc. 76. August 10. Bowlder from gravel of Nuluk River. Fragments 

of a large trilobite. Undeterminable. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 2 PL. V 

A. SCHISTOSE LIMESTONE, KUGRUK GROUP, HEAD OF PORTAGE CREEK.' 

B. SCHISTOSE LIMESTONE, KUGRUK GROUP, BUDD CREEK. 

KUGRUK GROUP. 21 

"Loc. 185. Pebble from sand spit 1 mile north from Teller. Girvanella and 

Rapkistom.a ? 

"The above localities represent the middle of the Lower Silurian system. This 

is the first proof of the occurrence of rocks of this age in Alaska. Localities 26, 28, 

and 77 are particularly interesting, as species found there were first described from 

European Russia about St. Petersburg. This fauna has not before been ascertained 

to occur in America, nor has Porarnbonites been noted in any American Arctic region. 

• • Locality 45 is also very interesting and perplexing-perplexing in that the 

association of I£alysites with Syringopora would under ordinary circumstances be 

accepted as proof for Upper Silurian age. However, since both are here associated 

with such unmistakable Lower Silurian forms as .. Maclur£na man£tobensis and 

Oolumnaria, the latter outweighs the evidence of the corals. On the other hand 

I£alysites is often found in the Lower Silurian, and while I know of no Syringopora 

in this system, yet I learn from Mr. Ulrich that this genus has been noticed by him 

twice in association with Lower Silurian species." 

To recapitulate briefly, the Port Clarence limestone is typically a gray, slightly 

indurated rock of Lo.wer Silurian age. The formation has a thickness of probably 

2,000 feet, and it oecupies a considerable area in the western part of the Seward 

Peninsula. .It probably overlies the Kuzitrin rocks uncomformably. Usually it 

is only gently folded, but near its northeastern boundary it has been considerably 

disturbed and somewhat metamorphosed. 

Kugruk group.-Much of the region mapped during last season is occupied 

by interstrati:fied limestones, mica-schists, and graphitic schists, which have been 

classed together undel' the name Kugruk group. This group constitutes the upper 

member of the Nome series, and in lithologic character has a close resemblance to 

the rocks in the portion of that series which ~s found in the southern part of the 

peninsula, between the coast and the Kigluaik :Mountains. Like them, the Kugruk 

rocks include many schists a.nd intrusive masses of schistose greenstone. Reference 

to the map will show that the Kugruk group covers a ~arge area extending eastward 

from the American River. The rocks of ·this group differ from the older Port 

Clarence limestone in that they do not include any great thickness of pure 

limestone strata, such as are found in the older formations. The limestones 

included in the group frequently grade off into calcareous and micaceous schistsa characteristic which was not ob erved .in the Port Clarence limestone. As has 

been shown, the contact with thd ol~er formation is obscure, and did not yield 

definite evidence of ~he stratigraphic relations of the two terranes. The dominant 

structures are a series of open folds whose axes stretch in a north-south direction. 

The dips of the strata are variable; they are usually low, but sometimes reach 80°. 

The Kugruk group yielded fossils at only one locality. Some imperfect fossils 

were obtained from the summit of Baldy Mountain, on which Mr. Schuchert makes 

the following report: 
22 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

'" Locality 163 indicates a second formation younger than any of the abovedescribed lots. · The rock has undergone considerable alteration, so that the fossils 

are mostly undeterminable. However, the presence of a coral like Oladopora or 

Striatopora indicates either Upper Silurian or Devonian. No coral of this nature is 

known to me in the Lower Silurian." 

This evidence, as far as it goes, shows that the group is in part of Upper 

Silurian or of Devonian age. As the Kugruk group includes all of that portion of 

the Nome series as originally defined which lies above the Port Clarence limestone, 

it may be in part Mesozoic, for in the earlier report evidence is presented which 

goes to show that the upper beds of the Nome series are in part Mesozoic. a No 

additional facts bearing on this point were observed during last season'-s work. 

The rocks which make up the Kugruk group are, as a rule, more altered than 

the Port Clarence limestone, whieh is believed to be the older formation. This 

anomaly is rather difficult to explain, but can perhaps be assigned to the progressive 

increase in degree of metamorphism which is found in passing from west to east in 

this province. In the York Mountains the str~ta are usually only gently folded 

and little indurated, while to the east of the American River, where the Kugruk 

beds are developed, the dips are often steep and the rocks considerably altered. As 

a concomitant to the more disturbed condition in the eastern province the greenstone 

intrusives are more abundant and have themselves produced more or less metamorphism. · These facts bear out the statement made in the previous report, b that 

in the Seward Peninsula- the forces which produced metamorphism acted very 

locally. 

As the limited field work done in the region did not permit of working out the 

structure of the Kugruk rocks in detail, it has been thought best to add the following 

more or less detailed but fragmentary descriptions. 

On the east side of the . American· River, Budd and Igloo creeks cut across the 

strike of a series of limestones interbedded with graphitic and calcareous schists, 

with some small sills of greenstone. The dips measured vary from horizontal to 

70°. The topography is determined by the bed-rock structure, the principal 

features being a series of north-south ridges parallel to the prevailing strikes. 

Between the drainage basins of the American and Kugruk rivers these strike 

ridges form a sharp divide. Kugruk Mountain, at the northern end of this divide, 

is composed of a great thickness of highly metamorphosed quartz-mica-schist, probably an altered sediment. It is surrounded by crystalline limestones, which on the 

west side dip toward the west, away from the axis of the ridge. In this mountain 

the bedding is wholly obscured by the secondary foliation or schistosity. . The 

limestones at the east base of the mountain were seen only from a distance, so that 

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 31. 

b Idem, pp. 34-26. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 2 PL. VI 

.A. BEDDING AND CLEAVAGE IN KUGRUK LIMESTONE, SOUTH OF IGLOO CREEK. 

B. FROZEN SILTS CONTAINING SPRUCE LOGS ON QUARTZ CREEK. 

KUGRUK GROUP. 23 

their attitude with regard to dip and strike is not known. Their position flanking 

the ridge on both the east and the west side suggests the belief that the Kugruk 

ridge is an anticline. The schist of Kugruk Mountain, as well as the surrounding 

limestone, is cut by small dikes of rhyolite. 

Southward from Igloo Creek, toward the Kuzitrin River, a low north-south 

ridge of limestone, between outcrops of schist, has sharply folded bedding planes 

standing nearly vertical, with a well-marked. nearly horizontal cleavage. On 

the broad ridge between the forks of the Mary River there are several low, 

rocky buttes of pure white crystalline limestone, in which . the bedding is 

not distinguishable from a complex system of jointing. This ridge is covered \ 

generally with waterworn gravels, and few outcrops were seen. South of this 

limestone the dark slates and quartzites of the Kuzitrin series form a broad belt 

between it and the Imuruk flats. In a hill toward the west, about 5 miles away, 

the white limestone could be seen overlying the dark slate, the line of contact 

between the two dipping northward at an angle of 10°. These limestones lying 

above the Kuzitrin slates are probably an altered form of the Port Clarence 

limestone. However, in this locality they can not be distinguished lithologically 

from the Kugruk limestone. 

Along the Kuzitrin River above Marys Igloo the Kuzitrin slates and schists 

strike to the northeast· and dip to the northwest. Above these schists, in the 

vicinity of Quartz and Coffee creeks, some very highly altered mica-schists were 

found in fragments strewn over the surface. No outcrops were seen, and their 

relation to the Kuzitrin formation could not be determined. This region is so 

deeply gravel covered that little can be learned of its bed-rock structure. 

The canyon of the Kugruk River follows in a general way the strike of the 

bed rock, which consists of highly altered mica-schists and limestones, interbedded 

with some large masses of greenstone. The greenstone is schistose, having dip 

and strike parallel to the foliation of the mica-schists and the bedding of the limestones. The angles of dip are often high, but vary from 10° to 80°. The strike 

is generally nor~h and south, parallel to the direction of the river. Dips both 

to the east and to the west were noted. The tributaries from both east and west 

sides of the river carry gravel containing limestone and schist pebbles. Near the 

head of the river dark graphitic schist,. consisting mainly of secondary quartz, 

feldspar, and calcite, forms Midnirrht Mountain, and these are regarded. as a part 

of the Kugruk group. 

In the preceding account of the Kugruk group it has been shown that the whole 

region from the east side of the Ame.rican River to the edge of the area mapped is 

characterized by bed rock showing a rather high degree of metamorphism, which 

is made up of thick beds of limestone interbedded with schists of various composi-
24 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWRS'}-'ERN PORTION OF BEW ARD PENINSULA. 

tion, including mica-, graphitic~ and quartz-chlorite-schists. These beds have been 

folded into anticlines and synclines with north-south axes. 

In general the limestone and schist of the Kugruk group east of the American 

River are more highly altered than the Port Clarence limestone, and consist of 

· beds which are variable in their lithologic character, while the Port Clarence 

limestone is nearly pure. The Port Clarence limestone is known to be of Lower 

Silurian age~ while Upper Silurian or Devonian fossils have been found in the rocks 

of the Kugruk group. 

SURFICIAL DEPOSITS. 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 

Unconsolidated material, consisting of gravels, sands, and silts, constitutes 

the most widely distributed terrane of the region. These deposits are as a rule 

plainly stratified, and while the individual exposures show no 'plication they 

have been subjected to a certain amount of deformation, as will be shown in 

the discussion of the physiography. A bed of black silt, varying from a few 

inches to 20 feet in thickness, in many places forms the topmost layer of the 

unconsolidated terrane. Remains of both mammoth and horse have been found in 

this silt, showing it to be of Pleistocene age. As this Pleistocene silt bed and 

the underlying sands and gravels make up a conformable series, they are 

probably all of Pleistocene. age, and have been so represented on the accompanying map. 

On the geolog·ic map only the more extensive Pleistocene deposits are shown. 

These are of two types, represented by the coastal plain and the inland basins. 

The largest areas of Pleistocene are f,mnd in the Arctic <~oastal plain, the Port 

Clarence coastal plain, and the inland basins of several of the rivers tributary to 

Port Clarence. 

In general the deposits in these large areas are similar; they consist largely of 

silts and sands, and near the margins often contain considerable gravel. The sand 

dunes and beach deposits can also properly be grouped with, the coastal plain 

Pleistocene. 

A third class of surficial deposits consists of the material forming the flood 

plains and benches of the rivers and creeks. These fluvial deposits grade mi one 

hand into the coarse gravels of the smaller tributaries, and on the other into the 

finer material which characterizes the Pleistocene beds of the inland basins and 

coastal plains. 

A fourth clas~-1 of deposits includes all those on high benches and terraces which 

are not assignable to the action of existing streams. In addition to distinctly 

waterworn material, there ~re extensive deposits of bowlders, pebbles, and clay, 
SURFICIAL DEPOSITS. 25 

which mantle many of the plateau surfaces, and are in part produced by weathering, but in many instances include some waterworn material. 

COASTAL PLAIN DEPOSITS. 

Arctic coastal plctin.-This is a broad low Ian~ bordering the Arctic coa8t from 

Cape Prince of Wales to Cape Espenberg. Along its southern margin it is 

composed of gravels derived from the adjacent bed rock. Near the coast the material 

becomes finer, and is made up of beach sand, sand dunes forming an important part 

of the deposits. A series of lagoons fringes the coast, which is separated from the 

Arctic Ocean by barrier beaches. Sand dunes are being built on these barrier 

beaches, which are encroaching on the lagoons from the seaward side, and the rivers 

and streams are filling up the lagoons .from the landward side. The southern edge 

of the gravel deposits is serrate, since the gravels extend up the rivers and creeks 

and merge with the fluvial deposits of the flood plains. Their southern limit can be 

drawn approximately on topographic evidence, since the gravels are seldom found 

above the 200-foot contour. 

The width of the coastal plain varies from about 5 miles near Cape Prince of 

Wales to 30 miles at Shishmaref Inlet. The depth of the Pleistocene deposits is not 

great along the southern edge, but it probably increases toward the coast. On 

the Mint, N uluk, and Kugruk rivers isolated outcrops of the underlying bed 

rock we~ seen in the river banks several miles north of the southern edge of 

the gravels. Between the Pinguk and Nuluk rivers an island-like mass of bed rock 

is wholly surrounded by these deposits. South of Ear Mountain the Pleistocene 

extends over the divide between the Kugruk and Arctic rivers, almost cutting off 

the Ear Mountain area of bed rock from the hard formations adjacent on the south. 

In the silts which overlie the gravels and quite generally form the upper layer of 

these deposits mammoth bones are common. Mr. Charles A. Ruddy, who spent a 

part of the season of 1901 on Tuttle Creek, a tributary of the Kugruk, reports that 

they are abundant along that river. One large tusk in the silt, 15 feet below the 

::;urface, was partly exposed by the river cutting its bank. Mammoth teeth were 

seen by the writer on the Nuluk River, and they are reported to oceur on other 

streams of the coastal plain region. 

Port Clarence coastal plain.-This second coastal plain embraces a small 

lowland lying north of Port Clarence. It has a maximum width of about 5 miles, 

and extends from the mouth of the Rapid River to Grantley Harbor, a distance 

of about 24 miles. Along its southern edge the plain has a gravel escarpment 

about 20 feet high. The gravel is composed principally of pebbles derived from 

the Port Clarence limestones. The plain rises gradually toward the north, and 

along the base of the hills the gravel covering is only a few feet in thickness, 
26 RECONN .AISS:ANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEW .ARD FENINSUL.A. 

and rests on the upturned and truncated edges of Port Clarence· limestones. 

Below the gravel escarpment, at the southern edge, the present beach has been 

formed. The beach is composed of sand and gravel derived from the escarpment. 

A large lagoon cuts it off from the mainland. This beach and lagoon have been 

formed since the elevation of the coastal plain. 

INLAND BASINS. 

There are three extensive lowland basins in the province under consideration, 

which will be called the Agiapuk, lmuruk, and Kuzitrin lowlands. Except for 

the fact that they are inclosed by uplands, they resemble the coastal plains. 

They occupy broad basins, probably produced in · part by deformation, and 

represent either lakes or estuaries whieh have been filled with gravel and 

silt deposits. The Agiapuk lowland is connected along the flood plain of the 

Agia.puk River with the lowland of the Imuruk Basin. A short canyon cut in 

bed rock intervenes between the · Imuruk Basin and the Kuzitrin lowland. All 

three of these basins probably have the same history. They were formed at 

nearly the same time and their silt and gravel deposits are of Pleistocene age. 

Agiapuk lowland.-This lowland, having an area of about 60 square miles, is 

located in the valley of the Agiapuk River, 25 miles above its mouth. It is 

dotted over with many lakes, and from the surrounding hills it has the appearance 

of a filled . lake or estuary. As they approach the plain the tributaries of the 

Agiapuk River have broad valleys and :flood plains. A mining shaft has been 

sunk on Allene Creek, one of the tributaries from the south, and is said to have 

failed to reach bed rock at a depth of 65 feet. Below a surface layer of gravel, 

blue clay containing bark and other driftwood was found. Mammoth bones are 

reported to be common within this basin. 

Imuruk lowland.-:-This is a broad tundra-covered plain which . surrounds 

Imuruk Basin and extends up the Kuzitrin and Kruzgamepa rivers, and has an 

area of about 200--square miles. The tundra is underlain by frozen silts of varyjng 

thickness, below which gravel and sand are exposed along the rivers. Along · the 

northern edge of this plain, near the Mary River, there are some gravel mesas, 

about 50 to 100 feet high, which are regarded as remnants of an upper gravel 

plain that has been eroded away by_ the meandering of the river. 

Kuzitrin lowland.--This is an area of lowland covering approximately 200 

square miles on the north side of the Bendeleben Mountains and drained by the 

Kuzitrin River. The lowland is tundra covered, and underlain by silts, sand, and 

gravels, probably- of no great depth. · It is dotted over with many small lakes, 

probably formed by oxbows of the meandering creeks and rivers. Around the 

lowland area on the west, north, and east sides there is a higher gravel plain, 

from 50 to 150 feet above the lowland. A well-marked escarpment usually 
SURFICIAL DEPOSITS. 

separates this upper plain from the lowland. On the lowland surface, away from 

the margins, there are occasional gravel buttes, 50 feet or more in height, which 

at a distance resemble haystacks. These are regarded as remnants of the upper 

plain which have been left by erosion. At the edge of the upper plain transition 

phases between the plateau and · the isolated buttes were noted in a few instances. 

On Quartz Creek the gravels of the upper plain are overlain by frozen silts, 

in which bones of mammoth and horse have been found associated with the trunks 

of large spruce trees. A spruce log, said by the miners to be 5 feet in diameter 

and 80 feet long, was uncovered at this place. 

Near · the mouth of Turner Creek an isolated butte, known as Coal Hill, is 

composed largely of black peat containing many pieces of bark and branches of 

spruce trees. At the present time there is no spruce timber within the drainage 

of the Kuzitrin River. In Coal Hill there are seams of white sand interbedded 

with the peat, suggesting driftwood origin. However, the abundance of small 

twigs and some spruce cones would seem to indicate that the material has not 

drifted far. Associated with a spruce log which was found in the frozen silt on 

Quartz Creek, and which was followed by a tunnel for a distance of 80 feet, a 

part of the jaw and some teeth of a horse were found by Mr. A. H. ~Jose, who 

gave them to the writer to be placed in the National Museum. The specimens 

were submitted to Mr. F. A. Lucas, who reports in regard to them as follows: 

" It is difficult-almost impossible-to identify horses from their teeth alone, 

but the teeth collected by you resemble those of Eq·uus complicatus, which occurs 

throughout a large portion of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. The 

extension of this species to Alaska would seem to give it an extraordinary range; 

still, this would not be greater than that of the bison in modern times and the elephant 

and mastodon in the Pleistocene. In the absence of more material this identification 

should be considered a~ provisional." 

Teeth and tusks of the mammoth (Elephas primigenius), together with bones 

of other animals, are reported by the miners to be common in the placers along 

Quartz Creek. 

MAMMOTH REMAINS. 

~lephant remains have been found in the silts of the Arctic coastal plain, in 

_the Agiapuk Valley, and in the Kuzitrin Valley. In theKuzitrin Valley they were 

associated with spruce logs and horse remains. Similar bones have been known 

from other parts of Alaska for many years, the most noted locality being at 

Elephant Point, on the south shore of Kotzebue Sound, about 50 miles northeast of 

the Kuzitrin Basin. At this point the remains of the horse, elephant, and bison 

were associated with those of the reindeer and musk ox. a This association of 

a Dall, Bull. U.S. Geol. Survey No. 84,1892, p. 264. 

I 

y / 
28 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

animals known to require such diverse climate~ would seem to indicate very unusual 

climatic and physical conditions. 

Dr. Dawson a states that mammoth remains are fo~nd only. in the nonglaciated 

·portions of Alaska and the Yukon district of Canada. He also finds evidence that 

during the time of the mammoth there was a land connection between Alaska and 

the coast of Siberia. Whatever may have been the relation of the mammoth to the 

Glacial epoch, it seems certain, on account of the association of the remains with the 

evidence of forest growth, that a milder climate prevailed during at least a part of 

the mammoth period, and while these extensive gravel depoRits were accumulating. 

ALL UVIAL SANDS AND GRAVELS. 

Sand and gravel deposits, usually too small to be represented on the geologic 

map, occur to a greater or less extent in all the valleys. They are the product 

of stream action, and occur not only in the beds and flood plains of streams, but 

also as benches and terranes along· the sides of the valleys above the present stream 

beds. The coarse gold of the placer mines is usually found in gravel deposits 

of this kind, which are described in more detail in the section on ''Economic 

geology." 

ELEVATED SURFICIAL DEPOSITS. 

Extensive gravel deposits at great elevations in places far removed from present 

stream beds have been noticed less frequently than in the southern part of the 

peninsula. In the neighborhood of Nome deposits of this kind have been exten-. 

sively explored ·by prospectors, since they often carry placer gold. No search for 

them in the northern portions of the peninsula has yet been made by prospectors. 

Rounded pebbles and washed gravel at high elevations were noted in a few 

instances~ the most striking cases being on the ridge between the forks of the Mary 

River, at 700 feet elevation, and in the divide between the waters of the Arctic 

and Kugruk rivers, south of Ear Mountain, at about 400 feet elevation. 

Extensive plateaus have been developed over this region by erosion in a 

previous physiographic cycle. b · These plateau surfaces are covered with semiangular 

gravels derived from ·the adjacent . bed rock or with residual clay containing 

weathered fragments of the bed rock. Where the clay is found a tundra growth 

of moss often occurs, covering the surface. 

GLACIATION. 

No evidence was found of general glaciation over the region explored. The 

surficial deposits. over the upland portions, consisting of residual soil and gravels 

a Notes on the occurrences of mammoth remains in the Yukon district of Canada and Alaska: Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc . 

. London, Vol. L, pp. 1-9. · 

bSee Physiography, pp. 34-39. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIO NAL PAPER NO. 2 PL. VII 

A . EAR MOUNTAIN , FROM BENCH AT 1,000 FEET ELEVATIO N. 

B. THE EAR S, GRAN ITE PINNA C LES ON EAR MOUNTA IN . 

IGNEOUS ROCKS. 29 

derived from the adjacent bed rock, · are regarded as evidence · of nonglaciation. 

Erratic bowlders, such as were found in the southern portion of the peninsula 

and were attributed to floating ice, have not been found in the northern portion. a 

The topography of the Bendele ben Mountains, the York Mountains, and Cape 

Mountfl,in was rioted by Brooks as indicating local glaciation. Similar indications of 

local glaciation were observed on Ear Mountain. During the season of 1901 no 

detailed examination was made of the Bendeleben Mountains. The explorations 

made last season show that the glaciers of the York Mountains were of very 

limited extent, as were also those of Cape and Ear mountains. The glacial deposits 

in no instances extend beyond the limits of the mountain valleys. Although small 

glaciers have undoubtedly existed in connection with these mountain masses, their 

deposits are of such limited extent that they can be neglected in this report. 

IGNEOUS ROCKS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

All the types of igneous rocks described by Brooks b from the southern part 

of the peninsula were found in the northern portion of the region studied by 

him. In addition to these, recent basalts, occurring both as necks and surface 

flows, were found in a few localities, indicated on the geologic map. 

GREENSTONES. 

The greenstones and greenstone-schists include a number of more or less 

altered intrusives, occurring both as sills and stocks. In the Kuzitrin slates near 

their contact with the Port Clarence limestones there are many intrusions, both 

in the form of dikes and sills, o{ greenstones which seem to be altered gabbros. 

Similar rocks were found intruded in the Kuzitrin slates at Cape Dougias. In 

the schists and limestones of the Kugruk group east of the American River there 

are many small bodies of greenstone, which are often highly schistose and composed chiefly of secondary minerals. In general they have been derived from 

basic igneous rocks, either diabase or gabbro, though in some cases the minerals 

present indicate that they were derived from more acid roeks. These greenstoneschists· re&.ch their greatest development along the Kugruk River, where they 

often contain phenocrysts of hornblende, and are designated "porphyry" by the 

miners of the region. 

GRANITIC AND RHYOLITIC INTRUSIVES. 

In Cape Mountain, Brooks Mountain, and Ear Mountain, and near the hot 

springs north of Midnight Mountain, granites and fine-grained porphyries occur 

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 46. 

b Idem, p. 31. 
30 RECONNAISSANCE 0]' NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEW A.RD PENINSULA.. 

as large intrusive masses and small dikes. ·The granite frequently forms needles 

and pinnacles on account of weathering along a double system of joints. Ear 

Mountain derives its name from two of these granite needles which have a 

semblance to the ears of some animal. Similar "'ears" are found scattered over· 

Ear Mountain and over the granite area near the hot springs. Small dikes of 

quartz-porphyry, probably connected with these granite intrusions, were found in 

the slates outside of the larger mass of granite. 

The granite of Cape Mountain was described by Brooks as being coarsely 

crystalline, usually porphyritic, and as consisting essentially of quartz, microcline, 

and biotite. It has had considerable metamorphic effect on the adjacent limestones. 

The granite in Brooks Mou~tain has not been _ examined microscopically. A 

small dike from this locality showed quartz and orthoclase phenocrysts in a 

groundmass composed of quartz and feldspar. In this mountain the limestones 

which lie adjacent to this intrusive are considerably altered. 

The granites of Ear Mountain consist essentially of quartz, orthoclase, and 

biotite. A smaller body of pegmatite-granite is made up of quartz and orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars, while a small dike from the same region consists 

essentially of quartz and orthoclase phenocrysts in a ground mass of quartz and 

f~ldspar, with muscovite, largely secondary, and a secondary ,gr9wth of feldspar 

surrounding the larger orthoclase phenocrysts. In the Ear Mountain granites a 

platy structure, brought out by the weathering, gives the rock a stratified 

appearance. . 

The g·ranites of the hot springs region were not examined microsco~ically, 

but are similar in general type to those of Ear Mountain. 

In Kugruk.Mountain and in the limestone west of that mountain there are 

small dikes of rill "te, which under the microscope show phenocrysts of quartz 

and feldspar. 'n the dikes which cut the schists the feldspar phenocrysts are 

'replaced by chlorite, while in the dikes which occur in limestone the feldspar 

is replaced by calcite. These dikes are not _associated with any granite mass 

which reach~s the surface, and are the only cases of the kind seen in the area 

explored. 

From the above description it will be seen that the acid intrusives have a 

wide distribution in the region, though they form no considerable masses such 

as occur in the Kigluaik and Bendeleben mountains farther gouth. The age of 

these intrusives has not been established,' but they were probably injected during 

the last period of disturbance, which is believed to have been in Mesozoic time. 

BASALTS. 

Basalts occur as small flows and volcanic necks at a number of localities. 

Mukacharni Mountain and the two small buttes to the east of this mountain, a 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 2 PL. VIII 

A. PLATY STRUCTURE IN GRAN ITE NEAR HOT SPRINGS. 

R PLATY STRUCTURE IN GRANITE, EAR MOUNTAIN. 

IGNEOUS ROOKS. 31 

smail area on the east side of the California River, all north of Grantley Harbor, 

and a small hill about 2 miles east of the forks of the Don River are compot;ed of 

unaltered basalts. These basalts are both compact and vesicular, and vary in 

color from gray to black. The vesicles are unfilled, and are often confused 

in weathered specimens with the cavities ·from which olivine phenocrysts have 

weathered. Under the microscope the rock is seen to consist of many olivine 

phenocrysts in a groundmass consisting of plagioclase feldspar, probably labradorite, and a more or less opaque aggregate in which augite and magnetite can 

sometimes be recognized, the former in :::;hort prisms. 

Mukacharni Mountain and the two buttel'3 to the east of it and the small hill 

to the east of Tozier Creek are volcanic necks cutting the schists and slates. The 

basalt areas west of Mukacharni Mountain and east of the California River are 

remnants of surface flows or sills, ·which have probably been erupted at the 

same time as the necks. The amount of erosion since these eruptions indicates 

that they took place in pre-Pleistocene time. 

Between the Kuzitrin and the Noxapaga rivers extensive lava beds are reported 

by prospectors. These lava beds are reported to extend across the divide between 

the headwaters of the Kuzitrin and Koyuk rivers and down the Koyuk Valley. 

Similar lavas were described in the Koyuk Valley by Mendenhall. a In the 

Noxapaga River many fragments of basalt were found in the gravels on river bars. 

At a point on the Noxapaga River 2 miles above Noxapaga these lavas extend 

across the river, and their relation to the other rock was seen in a bluff above 

the river. Here the Pleistocene gravels filling the N oxapaga Valley rest on the 

upturned edges of the schists. The basalts lie upon these gravels, and near the 

contact the gravels are cemented by indurated clay. In the upper part of this 

gravel a few pebbles derived from basalt were found, mixed with quartz pebbles 

derived from the schist. This lava flow probably occurred in Pleistocene time, 

while the upper gravel plain of the Kuzitrin Basin was being formed. In the 

Koyuk Valley Mendenhall found evidence that the basalt is of Pleistocene o.r late 

Pliocene time.b The evidence obtained in the Kuzitrin Basin indicates a similar 

age for the basalts found there. 

These basalts show phases from gray to black. They are more often vesicular 

than compact, the vesicles unfilled. Under the microscope they show large olivine 

phenocrysts and srp.aller phenocrysts of feldspar, probably labradorite, set in an 

almost opaque groundmass. 

DYNAMIC HISTORY. 

The dynamic history of the province is complex, and, m spite of the two 

seasons of field work, still presents many un:::;olved problems. In the southern part 

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 206. 

bldem, p. 207. 

9415___.:_No. 2- 02- - 3 
3 2 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION Olf BEW ARD PENINSULA. 

of the peninsulaa four distinct pe.riods of dynamic activity were recognized, and 

some evidence was obtained of a fifth, which antedated all the others. The facts 

which suggested this oldest period of disturbance were those which indicate a 

deformation of the K:uzitrin series previous to the deposition of the N orne series. 

This unconformity wa:s, however, not definitely established by independent evidence. 

The record of the oldest of the four periods of revolution which were definitely 

recognized in the southern belt is found in the broad, often dome-like, folds which 

affected all the rocks up to and including the Nome series. The crustal movement 

resulting in this doming was accompanied by large injections of greenstones, and it 

probably occurred. in pre-Silurian time. The next disturbance was one which rendered these greenstones schistose, and locally produced considerable shearing and 

jointing. Its effects are exhibited by local deformation and metamorphism in the 

· Nome series, and its date was probably Mesozoic. The third crustal movement was 

more widespread in its effect, and was accompanied by the intrusion of large granite 

masses along the axes of the Kigluaik, Bendeleben, and Darby mountains. The age 

of this dynamic revolution can be definitely assigned to the late Mesozoic or preTertiary. The evidence of a still later epoch of crustal movement was found in the 

sheared and jointed character of some of these granite masses. 

The investigations of the past seaso~ in a general way corroborate this 

statement of the dynamic history of the province. More definite evidence of the 

unconformable relation of the basal member of the· Nome series to the Kuzitrin 

series was obtained (see p. 17). The Kuzitrin series, as has been shown, suffered 

some metamorphism previous to the deposition of the Port Clarence ljmestone, 

which is the lower member of the Nome series. As the Port Clarence limestone 

is of Lower Silurian age, this crustal movement can be definitely a.ssig~ed to the 

pre-Silurian. 

The first . well-established epoch of dynamic activity in the Nome region 

proper was the period of the intrusion of the greenstones, and this is also recognized .in the northern province. The writer is, however, unable to present any 

evidence of the presence of dome structures similar to those which were described 

by Brooks b and assigned to this period. 

The next epoch of disturbance which was recognized in the southern part of 

the province was the post-Nome revolution. In the northern region this epoch 

bas also been recognized, but was proved to be rather local in its effect. In the 

York Mountains the beds belonging to the older member of the N orne series 

were found to be but little affected by this movement, while in the eastern part 

of the province the upper member of the same series is sharply folded and cona Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 39. 

b Idem, p. 31. 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 2 PL. IX 

GRANITE OUTCROPS NEAR HOT SPRINGS. 
101 

bn :..: 11 

:a .· 
DYNAMIC HISTORY. 33 

siderably metamorphosed. This is in accordance with the fact, pointed out by 

Brooks,a that the disturbances were of a local character. As in the southern 

belt, both the sediments and the igneous rocks were rendered schistose by this 

movement. This disturbance was provisionally assigned to the Mesozoic, and is 

shown by the work of the past season to be at least post-Devonian. 

The third period recognized by Brooks has been the last one of extensive deformation. Deformation and alteration were accompanied by the intrusion of the 

granites of the Kigluaik and Bendeleben mountains. In the southern province this 

disturbance is shown by structural lines which run parallel to the axes of the mountains and have a general east-west trend. In the northern belt no large intrusions 

of granite occur, but there are ·structural lines. running east and west, which may 

have been produced by this crustal movement, as noted more especially in the York 

Mountains. The evidence, briefly summarized, is as follows: In the York Mountains, 

where the bed rock is chiefly the Port Clarence limestone, broad, open folds were 

observed whose axes run nearly east and west. These are transverse to the lines 

of more intense disturbance in the eastern part of the belt. As is shown by the 

character of the rocks in the eastern belt, the western belt must have remained 

practically undisturbed during the early Mesozoic evolution which has been 

described. These in the York Mountains must therefore be of a later date than 

the north-south structures, and are here provisionally correlated with the epoch 

during which, in the southern part of the peninsula, the Kigluaik and Bendeleben 

mountains were uplifted. 

No evidence of the fourth dynamic evolution described by Brooks was optained 

by the writer, though it may exist. The extrusion of the lavas which have been 

assigned to the Pleistocene is the latest evidenee of dynamic activity. 

We have thus four definite periods· of crustal movements, with accompanying 

injections, in the northern province. The first, which was probably regional, 

occurred in pre-Silurian times. The second was a period of intrusion, and can 

be provisionally assigned to the close of the Paleozoic, or the beginning of the 

Mesozoic. The third was a period of folding, which was rather local in its effect. 

The last was an epoch of extensive lavas, which, though rather widespread, was 

not great in the amount of material hich was ejected. b 

Since the injecti 'l of the granites and the uplift of the Kigluaik Mountains, 

which is assigned , the Mesozoic era, the northern portion of the peninsula has 

been base-leve? uplifted and in the uplift has suffered more or less deformation. 'T'J..-

ography. 

"'"~res are described in some detail under the heading '"PhysiaReconnaissances in ·· '1e Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 35. 

bMr. Henry S. Washi11gton has recently described some effusive rocks from adjacent portions of the Siberian coast. 

See Am. Jour. Sci.. 4th series, Vol. XIII, pp. 175-184. 
34: RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

PHYSIOGRAPHY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

A general statement with regard to shore line, drainage, and relief of the region 

under discussion has been given in the chapter on geography. A general discussion 

of the physiography of the Seward Peninsula, by Alfred H. Brooks, is also to be 

found in Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, 1900, 

pages 48-64 and pages 163-198. Mr. Brookt:!a has called attention to the fact that the 

Seward Peninsula may be divided, by a line from Cape Espenberg to Rocky Point, 

into two regions, of which the eastern has been depressed and the western uplifted. 

The region under discussion is . a part of this uplifted portion. In the northern 

part of the peninsula many new facts bearing on physiographic development were 

collected. However, owing to the hasty nature of the work and the small scale 

of the map, and in view also of the fact that further exploration in an adjacent 

region is contemplated at an early date, the writer will only attempt to describe 

in a preliminary way some of the more important topographic .features, and to 

suggest their possible history. 

The northern portion of the Seward Peninsula is characterized by broad 

lowland plains surrounding a central upland. These lowlands are built up of silts, 

sands, and gravels derived from the upland, and deposited in shallow waters, 

probably both marine and lacustrine, which surrounded it. The lowlands to the 

southeast occupy inland basins extending parallel with the axes of the Bendeleben 

and Kigluaik _mountains, which rise abruptly from their southern edge. 

The relief of the upland is considerable, but its summits are flattened at 

elevations varying from 1,600 to 2,900 feet in different parts of the region. Between 

the summit level and the lowland plain there is a series of broad benches surrounding the central mass, two of which are particularly prominent. The 

different plateau benches and plains represent distinct epochs of erosion, and in 

the case of the lower gravels have been quite generally deposited since its formation. The existence of these features is regarded as indicating repeated uplifts, 

which affect~d the whole region. 

In the case of the latest uplift there is unmistakable evidence that the 

movement was of a differential nature. Similar differential movements have 

probably oocurred in connection with· older uplifts, but definite evidence of them is 

wanting. Although the general movement has been one of uplift there is also 

evidence of local depressions of minor importance during the latest period. The 

four epochs of erosion indicated will be discussed further under the headings 

Nuluk Plateau, Kugruk Plateau, York Plateau, and Lowland plains. 

a Op. cit., p. 56. 
. . 

PHYSIOGRAPHY. 35 

NUL UK PLATEAU. 

This is the highest as well as the oldest erosion feature of the region. It is 

repr~sented by the flattened tops of the most elevated portions of the central upland. 

Remnants of this plateau were found on Ear Mountain at 2,300 feet, on Kugruk 

Mountain at 2, 700 feet, and on Midnight Mountain at 2,000 feet. It is most 

extensively represented, however, in the mountain mass surrounding the headwaters 

of the Nuluk River, from which it takes its name. From this point it extends 

westward continuously to the York Mountains, while to the east and north it 

is represented by a few bro(td, flat-topped mountaim;, which must be regarded as 

remnants of a more extensive plain. This plateau has an elevation of from 1,300 

to 1,800 feet. Seen from a distance its profile is continuous with the general sky 

line of the York Mountains. It is largely dissected, and is now represented by the 

flat tops of the ridges, along which the greater inequalities in elevation are probably 

due to differential uplift. It is impossible from the evidence in hand to determine 

positively the nature of the erosion by which this plain was produced. In the 

vicinity of the Nuluk River the surface is rounded from north to south, while it 

rises gradually to the westward. Since its formation it has been subjected more or 

less both to subaerial wasting and to deformation. 

KUGRUK PLATEAU. 

A second epoch of erosion is represented by a well-marked plateau surface 

extending from the eastern limits of the area mapped westward across the Kugruk 

River and continuing in a system of benches and table-topped hills to Cape Prince 

of Wales, the westernmost point of the American continent. Its relation to the 

Nuluk Plateau is best seen a few miles east of the Nuluk River, where a 

prominent bench, at 1,000 feet elevation, extends for several miles and encircles 

one of the mountains on which the Nuluk plain is well marked at 1,600 feet. 

Southward from this point this 1,000-foot plaJn is extensively developed over 

several hills. The interval between the Kugruk and N uluk plateaus varies in 

different parts of the region. At Midnight and Baldy mountains . in the east it 

is about 400 feet, while at the west side of the York l\'Iountains it is upward 

of 1,000 feet. In the eastern part the Kugruk River . and its tributaries have 

cut deep canyons in a well-marked plateau surface, which is continuous to !he 

eastern limit of the area mapped. While these canyons are deeply cut, they are 

somewhat rounded and terraced, and are of an older type than those of the York 

region to be described later. West of the divide between the Kugruk and 

Agiapuk rivers, this plateau has suffered more dissection, but extensive tables 

and benches persist, showing its continuity northwestward to Ear Mountain. At 

this place it forms a platform at an elevation of 1,000 feet, from which the 
3(5 RECONNAlSSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

mountain rises abruptly. Westward, along the north face of the York Mountains, it is represented by well-marked benches and the flat tops of a few isolated 

buttes. In the region west of the Y otk Mountains the isolated buttes are flattopped at 1,000 to .1,200 feet, and Cape Mountain has a well-marked bench at 

1,200 feet. South of the Agiapuk River this platform, on which Mukacharni 

Mountain stands, is correlated with this plateau. In the eastern area,. where this 

plateau is best developed, it is dotted over with scattering residuary buttes and 

mountains, of which Midnight, Baldy, and Harris mountains are types. The 

system of buttes and ridges extending southward from Kugruk Mountain rises 

above it, as do also Ear Mountain, Cape Mountain, and the York Mountains. It 

is impossible to state with certainty the nature of the erosion by which this 

feature was produced. In the vicinity of the Kugruk River the plateau surface 

is characterized by rounded hills and ridges, which often vary considerably in 

elevation, and rise gradually toward the bases of residual hills and mountains. 

The erosion of the Kugruk surface was probably subaerial, and it is proper to 

call the plateau a peneplain. 

Since its formation this peneplain has suffered some deformation, the details of 

which are only imperfectly known. Southeast . of Midnight Mountain, at latitude 

64° 40', the plateau has an elevation of 1,600 feet, while to the northward it 

appears to slope gradually down to the level of the Arctic coastal plain in a distance 

of 20 miles. To the southward it slopes toward the Kuzitrin Basin and has suffered 

erosion, so that it is only preserved in a few remnants. Coffee Dome, with an 

elevation of 1,000 feet, is such a remnant of the old plateau surface. In 1900 the 

writer, with Mr. Brooks, observed a broad bench with washed gravel on the west 

en<l of the Bendeleben Mountains. A further examination of the benches in this 

vicinity was made the past season. It seems probable that they are to be correlated 

with the Kugruk Plateau. These benches stand at an elevation of from 1,000 to 

1,200 feet. _This feature seems to indicate the formation by warping of a trough 

parallel with the Bendele ben Mountains· since the development . of the Kugruk 

Plateau surface. 

YORK PLATEAU. 

The third important erosion epoch is represented by the York Plateau. It is 

well developed about the mass of the York Mountains, though its equivalents may 

be traced with a fair degree of certainty along the northern flank of the Kugruk 

upland to the Serpentine River, and along the southern flank to the Kuzitrin 

River. The breadth of this bench, wh,ere it has been observed, varies from 100 

yards to 15 miles. It slopes from the mountains toward the sea both to nQrth and 

south. Its general altitude varies from 100 to 700 feet above the sea. Notable 

variations which occur along a line parallel to the southern shore are undoubtedly 

traceable to warping. 
PHYSIOGRAPHY. 37 

The interval between the York and Kugruk plateaus is usually about 700 feet. 

Between the York Mountains and Cape Prince of Wales the York Plateau is 

represented by a well-marked plateau-surface at an elevation of from 500 to 700 

feet. This was described by Brooks in 1900. It is a striking feature and has been 

noted by a number of early explorers. The top of the plateau is smooth and 

perfectly hard, affording excellent footing.a To the northward it slopes rather 

gradually to the level of the Arctic coastal plain, while at its southern m·argin it 

terminates rather abruptly in a steep slope or escarpment toward Bering Sea. 

Eastward around the north side of the York Mountains the York .Plateau is 

apparently continuous with an imperfect plain surface developed over the hilltops 

at an elevation of 300 to 500 feet above sea level. Around the north side of the 

York Mountains this plain extends into the mountains in a system of broad benches 

along the rivers which emerge from them. On the Nuluk River this feature is 

developed in a broad valley floor about 400 feet above the present stream bed. 

At this place the plain extends through the upland in a broad pass between the 

waters of the Nuluk and Agiapuk rivers at about 500 feet elevation. 

Surrounding Ear Mountain there is an extensive upland compos d of 

rounded ridges which attain an elevation of 500 to 600 feet, and which seem to 

be continuous with the York P lateau as developed farther west. From these 

levels there is a gradual rise of the land toward · Ear Mountain~ at whose base is a 

.well-marked platform having an elevation of 1,000 feet, from which the mountain 

rises abruptly for 1,300 feet. _ 

From Ear Mountain to the SerpeJ?tine River this benc}1 was not traced, and the 

topographic map affords no evidence of its existence.- However, on Spring Creek, 

a tributary of the Serpentine River, benches at about 600 feet were observed, 

which may be tentatively correlated with this plateau. 

South of the York Mountains a broad marine bench from 1 to 3 miles wide 

is cut on the Port Clarence limestones, of which the mountains are composed. 

This has been elevated from 100 to 600 feet above the sea and is bounded on 

the south side by a steep escarpment to the Port Clarence coastal plain or by 

a cliff to the sea. On the north it is bounded by the abrupt slopes of t~e 

York Mountains. The surface of this bench is an almost perfect plain swept 

bare of gravel or other detrital material, but is covered in many places with 

yellow clay derived from the solution of the limestone. A study of the topographic 

map shows with certainty that this bench is a continuation of the York Plateau 

above described. 

Between the 'California and the Agiapuk there is a broad plateau surface 

having an elevation of about 500 feet. This plain extends up the Agiapuk River 

as a broad bench and is continuous over the. divide with the benches along the 

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 132. 
38 RECONN"A!SS.ANC~ OF NORTHWES'l'ERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

Nuluk River, which, as has been shown, are connected around the northern side 

of the York Mountains with the York Plateau. Eastward from the great bend 

of the Agiapuk River this plateau has not been traced with certainty. The 

plateau between Grantley Harbor and Imuruk Basin, in which Tuksuk Channel 

is cut to a depth of about 200 feet, and the plateaus and benches along the 

Kuzitrin River between the lmuruk and Kuzitrin ba.sins ~re tentatively correlated 

with it. 

The York Plateau, since its elevation, has been dissected · to a base-level by the 

larger streams which cut across it. The smaller of these streams flow in sharply cut 

new V -shaped canyons, while the larger streams flow in comparatively broad 

valleys. An example of the larger valley is shown in the Anikovik River, which 

has a width of several miles (see topographic .map), while its smaller tributaries, 

such as Deer Creek and Buhner Creek, are still in sharply cut canyons. In the 

northern and eastern extensions of the York Plateau the valleys are broader and 

generally appear to be older. The sharply cut V -shaped valleys are only seen near 

the foothills of the mountains. Along the northern margin of the. plateau the 

gravels of the Arctic coastal plain extend up the valleys, making it often difficult to 

draw the boundary between the lowland region and the upland. 

In the eastern extension of the York Plateau, south of the York Mountains, the 

s~aller streams flow in very abrupt canyons, with almost perpendicular walls, which 

interrupt the continuity of the plain, and are discovered only when the traveler 

stands on their immediate edge. However, Rapi~ River, the largest stream which 

crosses this bench, has a broad valley quite similar to that of the Anikovik 

River. The California River and Tuksuk Channel both occupy sharply cut canyons 

in plateaus which have been correlated with the York Plateau. 

On that portion of the York Plateau which has been called the Cape York bench 

the plain surface appears to be perfectly developed, but elsewhere there are a number 

of residual hills, usually at places where the slates are intruded by stocks or sills of 

· igneous rock. Cape Mountain, the largest of these hills, is of this type. It rises in 

a sharp peak 2,000 feet above the plateau level. It is composed of harder rocks of 

an older series than the slates to the eastward, raised up and intruded by a large 

mass of granite. Conical Hill, rising about 1,000 feet above the plain, is composed 

of ·slates similar to those of the surrounding plateau region. Other smaller buttes 

have been found, when examined, to be composed, in part at least, of greenstone, 

. which seems to be an altered gabbro. On the northeastern extension of this plain 

there are a few residual . hills near the southern margin which were not examined in 

detail. 

Concerning the manner in which the York Plateau was produced it may be said 

that the Cape York bench, which is an alm-ost perfect plain, was undoubtedly 

/ 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESS IONAL PAPER · NO. 2 PL. X 

A. SOUTH SIDE OF YORK MOUNTAIN AND B EACH. 

JJ. CAPE MOUNTA I N, FROM YORK. 
\ 
PHYSIOGRAPHY. 39 

produced principally by marine erosion. It was cut in the southern side of the 

York Mountains by wave action. The main portion of the York Plateau has been 

regarded by Brooks a as of similar origin. Some· slight irregularities on the surface 

of this plateau, which are apparent on more detailed topographic examination of the 

region, would seem to throw some doubt on this statement. It seems probable that 

this is in part of subaerial origin. In the northeastern extension of the plateau 

these irregularities increase, and it seems probable that the plain here was to a 

greater extent produced by subai3rial agencies. 

In its elevation to the present level, this plateau has suffered marked deformation, and the proof of differential movement which is afforded has been 

sufficient to throw doubt upon correlations in the case of widely separated plain 

surfaces within the region. But it has also . confirmed the opinion that many of 

the inland basins of the region owe their origin to such warping. The deformation is most strikingly shown in the marine bench south of the York Mountains, 

above referred to as the Cape York bench. · This bench, which must have been 

horizontal at the time of its formation, has an elevation of 200 fp,et at Don 

River, while 12 miles to the westward the same plain has an elevation of 600 

feet. Near the Kanauguk River the York Plateau has an elevation of 800 feet, 

while at the east base of Cape Mountain the elevation is below 500 feet. The 

plateau between the California and Agiapuk dvers has an elevation of 500 feet. 

This plain is located about 10 miles east of the depressed portion of the York 

Plateau, near the Don River. The benches and plateaus ahout Imuruk Basin, 

which have also been correlated with this plateau, have elevations of from 200 

to 300 feet. I 

If these correlations are correct, the York Plateau along its southern edge 

shows the following variations in lever, due to warping: Near Cape Prince of 

Wales its elevation is 500 feet; 8 miles eastward, near the Kanauguk River, 

its elevation is 700 feet; 20 miles eastward, at the Don River, it stands at 200 feet; 

10 miles eastward, at the California River, it stands at 500, and 20 miles farther 

east, at Tuksuk Channel, it stands at 200 feet. It has been noted that the plateau 

surface seems to slope to sea level and merge with · the· coastal plain. It is 

impossible to tell, in the present state of information, to what extent this may 

be due to deformation. The great accumulation of gravel in this region was 

probably largely derived from the region of the York Plateau, and the fluviatile 

agencies have here acted more strongly and for a longer time, making the valleys · 

wider and rounding <_>ff the upland between them. ----------------------------------------- aReconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, A1aska, iulOOO, p. 59. 
40 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

LOWLAND PLAINS. 

The last epoch of erosion is represented by the extensive lowland plains 

whieh surround the upland mass. They comprise coastal and valley plains, and 

in general are covered by unconsolidated Pleistocene deposits. In each case these 

deposits are probably underlain by even rock floors, representing a period of 

erosion which preceded subsidence and deposition. It is suggested that in the 

southeastern part, previous to this deposition, wide valleys were converted into 

basins by warping. The lowland areas have been already partly described under 

the heading "Surficial deposits." They are the Arctic and Port Clarence coastal 

plains and the lowland · surrounding Imuruk Basin and occupying the broad valleys 

of the Agiapuk and Kuzitrin rivers, tributary to that basin. 

The Arctic coastal plain extends from Cape Prince of Wales to Cape Espenberg. At Cape Prince of Wales it is not over 5 miles wide, but about Shishmare{ 

Inlet it extends inland for 30 miles to the base of gently sloping hills which rise 

up to the Kugruk Plateau. To the eastward it appears to cover a large part of 

the peninsula between Shishmaref Inlet and Goodhope Bay. At its southern 

margin it is probably nowhere above 200 feet in elevation. The rivers and creeks 

which flow across it usually have intrenched their channels into the frozen deposits 

of the plain, sometimes exposing a face of gravel 20 feet high. ln being 

elevated to its present position, this tract.is not known to have suffered warping. 

All irregularities s~en by the writer may · be attributed to irregular deposition. 

The Port Clarence coastal plain ·is a small gravel-covered plain north of Port 

Clarence. It has a maximum width of 5 miles, but is usually much narrower. Th~ 

gravels thin out toward the foothills, where in river sections they are seen to rest on 

the truncated edges of the limestone bed rock. Westward this plain extends in a 

narrow strip toward Cape Y 9rk, where it is interrupted. The plain on which the 

village of York js built is regarded as belonging to the same erosion period as this 

plain. During the uplift · this plain has suffered some slight deformation.. At the 

mouth of the Don River the plain is scarcely above sea level, while at the Teller 

Mission its elevation is about 20 feet. North of the entrance to Grantley Harbor-it 

appears to dip down and pass below sea leveL 

V .ALLEY LOWLANDS. 

These are the low-lying plains which surround the Imuruk Basin and occupy the 

Agiapuk and Kuzitrin valleys. a They have a general similarity, and are probably 

to be accounted for by similar causes. The lmuruk lowland is partly occu ie b jr 

the waters of Imuruk Bay. North of the bay the low land has a width of about 6 

miles, but extends farther northward in embayments in the surrounding hills. It is 

a Reconnaissances in Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, pp. 51 and 62. 
PHYSlOG RAPHY. 41 

apparently connected along the valley of the Agiapuk River with the broad valley 

lowland about the forks of that river. It extends up the Kuzitrin River, but is not 

now connected with the extensive lowland basin of that river, a short canyon 

intervening. Along the northern margin of the Imuruk lowland an _older plain 

similar to the present lowland and standing 20 to 50 feet above it is indicated by some 

low mesas and buttes. These may, as suggested, represent a general upper plain, or 

they may be merely portions of the same plain raised by local deformation and so 

subjected to erosion. The writer is inclined to accept the latter view, although 

present information is too meager for definite conclusions. 

On the north side of Imuruk Bay the coastal plain slopes gradually into the 

water, and the shallowness of the central portion of the bay suggests that its floor 

is formed by a depressed portion of the same plairi which lies above the water in 

the surrounding country. In short, it is believed that all of these lowlands are of 

the same_ date and that their present relations have been brought about by warping. · 

In the eastern end of the Imuruk lowland there are a number of island-like buttes · 

of "bed rock surrounded by the gravels of the lowland. Birch Hill is a typical 

. example of this kind. Its flat top rises above the lowland to an elevation of about 

200 feet, and a similar level is reached by several broad hilltops in this region. At 

the west end of the Imuruk lowland, Imuruk Basin finds outlet to Grantley Harbor 

through the Tuksuk, a tidal channel which occupies a narrow canyon cut to a depth 

of 200 feet in an upper bed-rock plain or bench. This upper bench is probably the 

floor of a higher valley through which the Imuruk waters found their way to the sea 

before the present levels were established. These upper bed-rock benches about 

the Imuruk lowland have been correlated with the York Plateau. 

Of the Agiapuk lowland little is known by the writer except. what may be 

learned from the topographic map. In general appearance, from the surrounding 

hills, it resembles the lmuruk Basin with which it connects. Embayments from this 

lowland extend far up the tributary streams and merge with their flood plains. 

The Kuzitrin lowland covers an area approximately 10 by 20 miles, its longer 

axis parallel with the Bendeleben Range. The portion of this plain lying along the 

Kuzitrin and Noxapaga rivers is subject to inundation at the time of flood. North 

of the Kuzitrin River a gravel terrace of about 20 feet in height marks a higher 

portion of the lowland. The principal settlement of this region, known as 

Checkers, was formerly located at the junction of the Kugruk and Kuzitrin 

rivers. Owing to the high water, this location was abandoned and a new town, 

called Kugruk, was built on the terrace near the Kugruk River, about a mile 

above its mouth. 

Around the western, northern, and eastern sides of the lowland there are broad 

gravel benches about 100 feet above the present lowland level. Out on the lowland 
42 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

in many places there are small isolated gravel buttes and hills which are remnants 

of the same higher plain that is shown in the benches. a Whether this uppe~· plain 

represents a higher water level over the whole basin or is simply a part of the old 

plain raised up differentially, can not be determined from the evidence in hand. 

The basins in which these lowlands occur, it is believed, were first formed as 

broad erosion valleys during the epoch represented l?Y the York Plateau. In the 

process of uplift, deformation occurred, forming inland basins in which the lowland~:; 

were built up of silts and gravels and the uplifted portions of the valle~ :floor were 

dissected and are now represented by the 200-foot bench along the Tuksuk and the 

:flat-topped hill~ around the Kuzitrin Canyon. Since the formation of the lowland 

plain, a slight subsidence has allowed the sea to invade the Imuruk Basin and slight 

deformation has raised up portions of the lowland gravels, subjecting them to 

erosion and forming the gravel mesas and benche.-; above described. 

DRAINAGE. 

In the upland portions of the region, the rivers :flow in deep-cut valleys, while 

in the lowland portions they meander in shallow valleys trenc~ed to near sea level. 

In general in the upland portions no readjustment of drainage can be recognized. 

The presen·t stream courses are inherited from previous physiographic conditions. 

The few minor changes of drainage which have been noted can here be neglected. 

The Agiapuk River, at the place of its emergence upon the York Plateau from 

the Nuluk upland, presents the most interesting case of deflected drainage observed. 

Its deflection eastward toward the Agiapuk lowland, through which it flows to 

Imuruk Basin, is believed by the writer to be due to the warping of the plateau 

surface while . it was yet a lowland. Whether it has ever had an outlet directly 

southward to Port Clarence can not be certainly determined. If it did have such an 

outlet, it was perhaps obstructed by the lava :flows which occurred in the vicinity, 

probably near the time of the uplift and warping. 

The California R1ver, having a steeper gradient and a shor~er course to sea 

level, has cut a steep canyon in this plateau surface and will probably ultimately 

capture the upper part of this river and restore it to its former course to the 

sea. 

SUMMARY. 

From the a·bove facts and discussion the following conclusions are drawn. 

There have been four extensive periods of erosion in this region, separated by 

periods of elevation. These periods of erosion are evidenced by systems of 

plateaus, benches, and plains named as follows in the order of their formation: 

The Nuluk Plateau, the Kugruk Plateau, the York Plateau, and the Lowland 

a See also "Surficial deposits," p. 24 et seq., and economic description of Quartz Creek and Bowlder Creek, pp. 62, 66. 
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 43 

plains. AU of these features have been produced smce Mesozoic time, for 

rocks intruded during that period have been planed off' along with the others of 

the region. Each plateau and bench is taken to represent a distinct uplift of 

the htnd, and 'in the process of uplift warping has occurred. In the first period 

of uplift the ·warping was considerable, but its amount can not be determi.ued; 

during the second uplift the warping was insignificant; while during the third 

extensive deformation occurred~ producing basins in which silts and gravels were 

deposited, forming the valley lowlands. In · the latest uplift a small amount of 

warping occurred, in connection with· which a slig.ht local depression permitted 

the sea to invade the Imuruk Basin. The present drainage adjustment in the 

region is inherited from the physiographic conditions represented in the earlier 

erosion periods. The most noticeable case of diversion of drainage is shown by 

the Agiapuk River, the chaQge in its course being directly traceable to the 

warping of the Y drk Plateau. 

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The mineral va[ues of the northern part of the Seward Peninsula, like those of 

the southern part, lie in its placer gold deposits. ~o quartz deposits of economic 

importance have · been discove~ed. In the York region considerable placer tin has 

been found, but up to the present time has not been developed on an economic scale. 

The region under consideration lies north of the better developed and better known 

gold fields of Nome 1 In spite of the fact that many of the creeks in which gold has 

been found in paying quantities were not discovered until late in the season of 1901, 

and although the season was very unfavorable for placer· mining, this northern 

district produced about $100,000. Of this gold $20,000 came from Candle Creek, a 

which lies in the region south of Goodhope Bay and east of the area explored by 

our party. Dr. Cabel Whitehead, of the United States mint, has estimated the 

product of the placers of the region south of Goodhope Bay at $60,000. The 

greater part of the area covered in the explorations made the last season is not gold 

bearing. Of the remainder, a few small, scattered areas have produced some gold 

on a commercial scale, while colors of gold and undeveloped prospects have been 

found widely distributed. 

_DISTRIBUTION AND SOURCE OF PLACER GOLD. 

An examination of the economic map (Pl. II) shows that the regions of actual 

gold production ar 1e in creeks and rivers which are tributary to Port Clarence, 

a A portion of this regton is discussed in a report entitled Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, 

Alaska, by Walter C. Mendenhall: Prof. Paper U.S. Geol. Survey No. 10. 
44 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION Ol!' SEWARD PENINSUJ ... A. 

especially the Kugruk, Kuzitrin, and Agiapuk rivers. A little gold has also been 

found at York. 

The source of the gold is undoubtedly in the bed rock, not far distant from 

the placers . where it is found. Though no large veins of commercial impo~tance 

have been found, there are many small veins and stringers, which are often more 

or less mineralized, and £rom these the gold has been derived. 

S!lch mineralization as the rocks of the region exhibit can only occur in 

areas of deformation where the rocks have been jointed and fractured. · In the 

region under discussion the J·ocks of the Kuzitrin series and of the Kugruk 

group present conditions favorable for mineralization, and a comparison of the 

geologic and economic maps will show that gold-producing areas are in a general 

way identical with the area occupied by these two groups. 

The bed rock of most of the auriferous creeks is made up of the Kugruk 

beds, but there are some gold-bearing c.reeks whose courses cut the Kuzitrin 

serie8. The inference is that the erosion of the Kugruk rocks contributed most 

of the gold which is now found in the placers. In any event it can be definitely 

stated that the Port Clarence limestone is not gold bearing, and it will be a 

useless waste of time for prospectors to search for placers in the region occupied 

by these rocks. The placers whieh have thus far been developed are confined 

entirely to the stream beds of the smaller creeks, though the larger rivers carry 

fine gold, which may some time be worked to a profit. There is also a possibility 

that gold values may ·be found in some of the gravel terraces, which might be 

worked by hydraulic methods. 

DESCRIPTIONS OF LOCALITIES. 

INTRODUCTION. 

~ince the region promises to be of some importance in placer mmmg, and 

since much of it has been prospected, it has been thought best to add the 

following detailed descriptions of those creeks which were visited by the party. 

The writer will also include some accounts of adjacent regions, about which 

reliable information was obtained. It is hoped that these notes, incomplete as 

they are, will throw some light on the economic possibilities of this region. 

The placer tin deposits of York will also be briefly ·considered. The regions 

described coincide in a general way with . the various recording districts, but 

since the boundaries of the districts are often indefinitely located ·and are subject 

to frequent change, no attempt has been made to follow them closely. 

GRANTLEY HARBOR REGION. 

Under this heading an area will be considered which is tributary to and 

north of Grantley Harbor. In 1900, colors of gold were found in several creeks 
U . S . GEOLOG I CAL SURVEY 

1 II ' ~f 1 OF TilE 

.AL SK;._\ 

o.::-~ hy.\rthurJ. 'oilier 

.'call' 

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LEGE N 0 

D and an.d ora vet.:.· 

whu h may 'be g old 

beanng 

'andsanrl grt'll'ds known to carrr SOfllt',qOld . 

I 

·--+'---1-----.-- / 1 \ +--

I 

t l 

I 

I 

I 

j 

Sat1dsr111tf qml'f'/.,· 

ptrxlucl/l,q p/art'r gold 

0 

rin~ 

20' 

I - -- -·---.------.-

I 

PROFESSIONAL PAPER N0.2 

-,'.:0 

I 

\ 

.o 

·• Ch uik Mt . 

20' 

JUliUS 81EN A CO L.ITH "( 
GRANTLEY HARBOR REGION. 45 

which flow into the harbor from the north, but no mining proper was done.a 

The Blu~stone region, which was described in the report cited, and lies to the 

south of Grantley Harbor, in 1900 produced considerable gold, but during 1901 

hardly realized the expectations. The Bluestone Basin lies outside of the region 

considered in this report. 

More or less successful mining has been done on Sunset and Igloo creeks, 

flowing into Grantley Harbor, and Allene Creek, flowing into the Agiapuk. When 

the writer visited Sunset Creek on July 14, sluice boxes had just been set up on 

one claim. Assessment work, represented by drain ditches, crosscuts, etc., had 

been done at several places, but little could be learned regarding the probable 

value of the creek for mining purpose~. Sunset Creek is about 5 miles in length. 

In its upper part it occupies a rather deep canyon, while in the lower 2 miles of 

its. course it is only slightly incised in the rolling, moss-covered l~wland which 

borders Grantley Harbor. The bed rock, where it has been seen, consists of finegrained chloritic mica-schists and very highly altered greenstones, composed 

almost wholly of secondary minerals, but probably representing basic intrusions 

in the schists. The schists contain many small veins of quartz. About 4 miles 

from the coast the creek forks, the larger branch rising on the east side of 

Mukacharni Mountain, while the west fork rises west of that mountain. This 

mountain is composed of unaltered basalt, which extends practically to the forks 

of the creek. At the head of the west fork calcareous schists and limestones, 

which probably overlie the mica-schists, were found. The relation of these micaschists and limestones to tQ.e Port Clarence limestones, which are well represented 

a few miles west, was not determined, although all the evidence obtained seems 

to indicate that they underlie them. If this is true, these rocks should be correlated 

with the Kuzitrin slates. 1 At the forks of the creek, where sluicing had just 

begun at the time of the writer's visit, there was still a great deal of snow in 

the creek bed and the ground was still frozen to within a few inches of the 

surface. No exposure of bed rock at this place was seen. It was reported, 

however, by the miners, that prospect holes made the year before showed 4 feet 

of gravel . carrying pay above a yellow clay bed rock. 

Allene Creek heads a. few miles southeast of Mukacharni Mountain, about 5 

miles :from Port Clarence, and flows northward to the Agiapuk River. The creek 

was visited by Mr. Witherspoon late in September. At the time of his visit one 

claim only was in operation. All the other claims were shut down :for the season, 

although some mining had been done on several of the claims. The pay dirt was 

confined to the creek bed and rested on a elay :foundation, below which the true 

bed rock had not been reached. About 3 miles down the creek a prospect hole is 

reported to have been sunk 65 feet without reaching bed rock. This shaft showed 

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 126. 
\ 

46 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTE.RN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

_ gravel at the top, below which there was blue clay containing bark and driftwood. 

The gold in Allene Creek is bi'ight and flaky, not much waterworn. One small 

nugget was found during the season. The bed rock, consisting of mica-schist and 

greenstone, which was seen on the north shore of Grantley Harbor, probably 

extends northward at this place into the Agiapuk drainage, passing underneath the 

basalts of Mukacharni Mountain. 

Sluicing was also done during the season on Igloo Creek, which enters 

Grantley Harbor a few miles east of Sunset Creek. 

Bay Creek marks the eastern boundary of the Port Clarence limestones, 

which extend to the westward practically all the way· to the Kanauguk River. 

None of the streams which enter Bering Sea from this limestone area are known 

to the writer to yield placer gold. On the north side of the Agiapuk the Port 

. Clarence limestones, resembling those near Teller Mission, are well developed 

over a large area, and are probably not gold bearing. The gold-bearing gravels 

north of Grantley Harbor then will probably be found to be confined to the 

high land between Grantley Harbor and · the Agiapuk, west of Bay Creek. The 

Agiapuk Valley itself is filled with Pleistocene clays and gravels, probably old 

lake-bed deposits, in which placer gold is probably not sufficiently concentrated 

to be of economic importance. The whole of this area is easily accessible from 

Grantley Harbor, and is entirely within a radius of 20 miles from Teller. On 

account of its-location, mining can probably be done here at small expense. 

Sunset Creek at its forks, 4 miles from the coast, carries sufficient water 

for sluicing, probably during the whole season. This is probably also true of 

Allene and Igloo creeks. If hydraulic mining should be attempted, water would 

probably have to be brought from the California River or the Agiapuk, which 

would require a long ditch. 

PORT CLARENCE AND YORK MOUNTAIN REGION. 

Under this heading a region will be discussed which lies adjacent to and drains 

into Bering Sea, and embraces the southern drainage of the York Mountains 

and the streams tributary to Port Clarence from the north. With the exception 

of a few small areas the region as a whole is underl!tin by the Port Clarence 

limestone, whic.Q. has never been found to be gold bearing. The more important 

streams which have received attention at the hands of prospectors are Mission 

Creek, and the California, Don, Lost, and Rapid rivers, besides a number of 

smaller streams whose names were not learned. Of these, as far as known, one 

of the forks of the Don River alone yielded colors of gold. 

About 5 miles from its mouth the Don River forks, the eastern fork lieing 

known as Tozier Creek. This creek flows along the western base of a mountain 

composed of dark slates of the Kuzitrin series. These slates are cut by dikes 
YORK REGION. 47 

of .granite, and are often considerably mineralized. They appear in the bed of the 

creek and in a number of tributaries from the east side. The main creek at this 

point and several of the tributaries have been extensively staked, and it is probable 

that colors of gold have been found here, although no development work ·has been 

done and no miners were seen. Prospectors seen along the Don River above Tozier 

Creek reported a failure to find in the gravels either colors of gold or black sand. 

This is probably also true of all the rivers and creeks named above, with the 

possible exception of Tozier Creek. 

YORK REGION. 

That part of th_e Seward Peninsula lying west of the York Mountains, and 

including all streams :flowing southward into Bering Sea and northward into the 

Arctic Ocean, is comprised . in the York mining district, and was described by 

Brooks in 1900 a under the heading ''York region." The writer visited the region 

during July, 1901, but was able to add little .of economic importance to the information already in hand. The following description of the topography is quoted from 

Brooks's report: 

"The York region extends westward from the York :Mountains to the extremity 

of Seward Peninsula, an area of about 120 square miles. Its general topography 

has already been described. It is a plateau about 600 feet in height, bounded on 

the east by the York Mountains, which rise rather abruptly from the plateau lev·el to 

elevations of 2,600-feet. Cape Mountain, a sharp pinnacle of like elevation, marks 

its western margin. A shelving shingle beaeh, usually not more than 100 or 200 

yards wide, lies between the escarpment of the plateau and the ocean. To the north 

the plateau seems to slope more gently toward Lopp Lagoon. A number of isolated 

hills rise above the plateau level, which mmally have :fiat tops or are benched at 

elevations of 1,000 feet. The southward drainage of the region is by a number of 

streams which have trenched sharply into the plateau surface; those :flowing to the 

north have broader valleys with more gently rising slopes. The smaller tributaries 

of the main drainage system :flow jn small but typical canyons. The remarkable 

evenness and level character of the plateau is very striking; by avoiding the large 

waterways and making detours around the smaller canyons, a horse and wagon can 

be driven anywhere on the plateau surfaee as on a good roadway. 

''This plateau surface is probably due to denudation by wave action during a 

period ~hen the land stood at a lower elevation than it does now. Since its . 

elevation some minor stream adjustments have taken place. A drainage 

channel once existed whieh carried the drainage at the head of Kigezruk and Baituk 

creeks into Anakovik River by way of Deer Creek Valley. The causes of this 

change in drainage are difficult to discover." 

The larger part of the plateau is made up of jointed slates, which have been 

correlated with the Kuzitrin series. To the west, near Cape J\tiountain, is a belt 

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, AlaskB", in 1900, p. 132. 

9415-No. 2- 02-4 
48 RECONNAISSANCE 01!' NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

of white , limestone, which probably belongs to the Kigluaik series." Cape 

Mountain is itself made up of an intrusive granite stock, which is much jointed. 

The Kuzitrin . rocks are overlain to the east by the Port Clarence limestone, 

which makes up York Mountain. Near the west end of the . two series there 

are some large intrusive masses of greenstone. 

The bed rock ·of the Anikovik River consists of slates in which the original 

bedding is lost, and jointing and cleavage lead to the breaking up of the rock 

into pencils and rhombohedral forms.a These slates contain a number of massive 

greenstone bodies, which are clearly diabasic in their origin. There are also 

interbedded some smaller schistose, greenstone sills, whose origin could not be 

determined. . The mineralized portions of these slates were found to carry some 

gold, which is disseminated in quartz belts. Slates of this type were found 

extending northward along Grouse Creek and the Mint River to within a few 

miles of the lagoon, where they pass under the heavy gravel deposits which 

border the Arctic Ocean. 

Buck Creek heads in Conical Hill, a sharp peak rising about 1,000 feet above 

the general level of the York Plateau, and is composed of slates which do not 

differ essentially from the slates of the surrounding country. A number of 

quartz veins, much decomposed and stained with iron, were seen in the slates at its 

base on the head of Buck Creek. An assay of a sample of this quartz, however, 

showed no trace of gold. 

The Yankee River, a large tributary of · the Mint River, heads near Brooks 

Mountain, the highest of the York group. T~is mountain is composed, in part 

at least, of slates similar to those at York, and in part of highly altered crystallized 

limestones, cut by granite and porphyry dikes. The mountain is almost wholly 

surrounded by Port Clarence limestones, which form hills on both sides of Mint 

River Valley several miles below ·the head of the river. The river occupies a 

broad, gravel-filled valley, in which there are no exposures of bed rock until, 

near the junction with the Mint River, the Kuzitrin slates are again exposed. The 

western branch of the Pinguk River, known as theY ork River, also heads in the 

slates of Brooks ~Iountain, and has cut down to the slates through nearly all its 

length until it enters the gravel-covered area near the Arctic Ocean. 

Gold.-The discoveries of more promising deposits in other parts of the 

peninsula bad drawn away many of the prospectors whom Brooks found at York 

in 1900, and the backwardness of the seasori ~ad delayed mining operations~ In 

the whole district sluicing was in progress on only one claim . . The entire district 

during the summer of 1901 probably produced less 'than $200 in gold. Several 

creeks flowing into the Arctic Ocean, which were not visited by Brooks in 1900,. 

were found to carry colors of gold, but no sluicing was done. 

a See also Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay-Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 133. 
YORK REGION. 49 

Grouse Creek, a tributary of the Mint River, is the most important stream 

flowing north ward in the district. This creek is trenched in the plateau surface to a 

depth of from 100 to 300 feet,, but for a great part of its course flows over gravel bars 

which occupy its bed, and at the present time the creek is broadening rather than 

deepening its valley. The eastern tributaries of Grouse Creek generally head in the 

York Mountains, and are largely filled with gravels composed of limestone, with 

some greenstone, the latter derived from the .intrusives in slates near the base of the 

mountains. The western tributaries of Grouse C1 eek flow wholly within the slates, 

and offer more inducement to the prospector. Colors of gold have been found in 

Buck and Gold creeks, and prospectors were doing assessment work on the former 

at the time of our visit. A drain ditch 100 feet long had been cut near the mouth 

of the creek, and other developments were being made on some of the tributaries. 

In this ditch good prospects bad been found. The gold was in rounded grains 

identical in character to the gold of the Anikovik River and Buhner Creek, which 

flow southward in the region. Well-rounded fragments of magnetite were found 

associated with the gold. 

. Tin.-During his examination of the York region Brooks's attention was 

called to stream tin a (cassiterite), which the miners had found in their sluice boxes 

but had not identified. This mineral was associated with garnets, magnetite, gold, 

and other heavy minerals in the sluice bo:xes. The source of the tin placer he was 

not able to determine, but believed that it was in the bed rock of the immediate 

vicinity of the placers. At the time of the writer's visit to this district mining 

operations had scarcely begun. There were, however, a number of prospectors 

who had only learned a few days before, from a bulletin sent in by Mr. Brooks, 

that the heavy mineral found in the sluice boxes was of possible economic value. · 

Considerable prospecting for tin was done after this time, the details of which are 

not definitely known. It is reported that stream tin baR been found by prospectors 

in nearly all the streams northeast from York for a distance of about 20 miles. 

The streams mentioned as carrying placer tin are the Anikovik River and all of 

its tributaries, the Kanauguk River, Baituk Creek, Kinzuk qreek, and Lagoon 

Creek, flowing into Bering Sea, and Grouse, Buck, Yankee, Mint, and York 

creeks, flowing into the Arctic Ocean. The York River, the western branch of the 

Pinguk, is said to be very rich in placer tin. b Gravel deposits, yielding from an 

ounce to a pound of tin to the pan, are reported to have been found. Pebbles of 

magnetite, worn smooth and having a luster resembling that of the tin, occur 

associated with and are often not easily distinguishef from the darker forms· of 

the cassiterite. This iron, being quite generally distributed through the placers I 

a Reconnaissan ces in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 136; and An occurrence of stream 

tin in the York region, Alaska: Mineral Resources U. 8. 1900, pp. 267-270. 

bFor this information the writer is indebted toT. B. Fish, of York. 
50 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

of the region, may have been in some instances mistaken for cassiterite by the 

prospectors. 

Tin veins, where found in other parts of the world, are usually associated with 

intrusions of granite or other acid igneous rocks. However, in Cornwall they 

are sometimes found in the slates adjacent to the granite. Wherever. found the 

wall rocks are altered by mineralizing solutions, and are often impregnated with 

cassiterite. Where such veins occur in granite the important ore bodies are often 

found to consist of thi:s altered wall rock, the feldspar of the granite being replaced 

by cassiterite. a 

No acid eruptive rocks have yet been found within the drainage area of the 

Anikovik River. There are large intrusive masses of greenstone, which are 

probably gabbros, at the head of this river and also on some of its eastern 

tributaries. Sills of schistose greenstone, whose origin is obscure, but which are 

probably altered basic intrusives, occur distributed through the slates of the York 

region. The stream tin may be associated in the bed rock with these basic 

intrusives, though such an occurrence would be unusual. Tin-bearing veins of a 

type similar to ordinary silver and copper-bearing veins may occur . in the slates 

of the York district, and so account for the distribution of the placer tin. · 

The region about York in which the Anikovik River and other tin-bearing 

streams are located has, in recent geologic time, been reduced to a plain, possibly in 

part by wave action and in part by subrerial erosion. b At this time a considerable 

thickness of rock strata was undoubtedly removed by erosive agencies, and the 

heavier constituents of these rock masses must have been more or less concentrated 

upon the plain surface. Subsequent to this base-leveling the York plain has been 

elevated to a plateau, which has been dissected by the creeks and rivers of the 

region. That the elevation of this plateau is an occurrence of comparatively recent 

geologic time is shown by the fact that the smaller creeks flow in sharply cut 

V -~haped canyons, and have scarcely begun to broaden their valleys. As these 

valleys and canyons are developed, the heavier materials of the surface are 

naturally reconcentrated in them. If during the base-leveling period the heavier 

concentrates of the erosive agencies were transported to any extent from their 

original sources, and if they are again concentrated in subsequent creek beds, they 

may be found removed some distance from their original sources. It is possible 

that the rocks from which they came may in some instances have been wholly 

removed, leaving no evidence in the present bed rock to show what they may 

have been. 

": atm·worn pebbles and bowlders of gabbroic greenstone of the type which 

forms large masses about the head of the Anikovik River are common in the 

a Genesis of ore-deposits, by F. Posepny: Am. In.st. Min. Eng., 1902, p. 139. 

b Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 132. 
ARCTIC REGION. 51 

beds of the Anikovik River'- and Grouse Creek. These bowlders are frequent 

along Buhner Creek, where the tin was :first found No rock .of this character 

has been found in the bed rock within the Buhner I reek Basin, or indeed within 

5 miles of Buhner Creek. There is no evidencb that these bowlders were 

transported to their present place otherwise than by bei.ng rolled along with 

currents of water. The possibility of their being · floated on shore ice at some 

time of submergence must be considered. The wid distribution of the stream 

tin in this region, together with the fact that pef bles and bowlders of known 

origin have been widely distributed independently of the present drainage, 

suggest at least that . the original source of th. e .strl l m tin may. be some distance 

from the present deposits, and is not necessarily to be found within the present 

drainage of the streams where it occurs. . Acid igneous intrusions, such as 

cassiterite veins, are usually associated with, ar found in Cape Mountain 

and Brooks Mountain. The slates of Brooks ~ountain have suffered great 

metamorphism. The York River, which is reporte~ to be very rich in tin, heads 

in this mountain and carries granite pebbles and bpwlders, which suggests that 

the tin had its origin near the granite contact. The wide distribution of this 

mineral in the creeks of the York district justifies t he belief that the veins f_rom 

which it is derived will yet be discovered. 

ARCTIC REGION. 

The Arctic recording district includes the drainagf of the Arctic Ocean between 

t.he Mint River and Shishmaref Inlet. The old rebording office of the district, 

which was located a few miles west o£ Ear Moun in, at the junction of Tuttle 

Creek with the Kugruk River, has been abandoned. The general area included 

in the Arctic district. will, however, be described in rl his report under the heading 

"Arctic region." It includes a number of rivers and creeks which flow northwestward into the lagoons bordering the Arctic Ocean. The three largest of these 

rivers are gesignated on the map by the native names, Pinguk, Nuluk, and 

Kugruk. a All of these rivers have ·received attention from prospectors, and 

during the early part of the season of 1901, at thJ time of our visit, a mining 

camp was located on Tuttle Creek, one of the tribu aries of the Kugruk. . So far 

as is known to the writer, however, no discoveries of valuable placer deposits were 

made. Adjacent to the shore is a belt of low-lying coastal plain which is dotted 

over with small lakes and underlain by thick laye s of gravel, but in which no 

b-ed rock is exposed. Back of this coastal plain th re is . a gently rolling plateau 

standing 400 to 500 feet above the sea, and more or less dissected by streams 

and river valleys. This upland plain is the continuation of the York Plateau. 

It is . terminat~d to the south by more abrupt slopeJ rising to higher hills. 

aThere are two other rivers of this name in the northern p lrt of the Seward Peninsula. 
52 RECONN .A.ISS.ANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEW .A.RD PENINSULA. 

Pinguk River.-This river flows into a lagoon about 30 miles northeast of 

Cape Prince of Wales, and has a serpentine course over the gravel of the 

coastal plain in its lower stretch. About 10 miles from the sea the river forks, the 

western fork being called the York River, the eastern being known as the McKillop 

River. The York River heads at the eastern end of Brooks Mountain, and flows 

northeastward to its junction with the McKillop River. In crossing the plateau 

above mentioned it occupies a valley from 200 · to 300 feet deep. Along this 

valley slate bed rock is exposed through part of the distance, at least, and the 

stream gravels eontain pebbles of slate derived from the Kuzitrin series as well 

as limestone derived from the Port Clarence limestones. It is reported that 

stream tin . has been, found in . this river, with but little, if any, gold. No 

development work had been done 6n this river at the time of the writer's visit 

early in August. 

McKillop River rises in the limestone hills which forin the eastern extension 

of the York Mountains. Its valley is cut almost wholly in limestones of the 

Port Clarence formation, and it is not known to have yielded colors of gold. 

Nuluk R ,iver.-'-This river enters the lagoon 40 miles northeast of Cape Prince 

of Wales. It heads in the high mountains made up of the Port Clarence limestone 

about 35 miles south of the Arctic Ocean. For 15 miles from its head the river 

occupies a canyon, varying from 100 to 1,000 feet in depth, cut in these Silurian 

limestones. Fossils of the same age as those north of Port Clarence were found 

about the head of the river. Northward along its course the character of the 

bed rock changes, and calcareous mica-schists are found. The Silurian limestones 

dip toward the schists, and near the contact with them are very highly folded. 

These schists are believed to overlie the limestones. 

The coastal plain gravel extends inland farther along the Nuluk River than 

it does ori the other rivers of this region. No colors of. gold are known to have 

been found "" in the gravels of the Nuluk River or of its tributaries. The 

unaltered limestones through which it flows do nQt contain mineralized veins, and 

are not promising as sources of placer gold. 

Kugruk River.a-This river enters the lagoon about 45 miles northeast of 

Cape Prince of Wales, and lies almost wholly within the coastal plain gravels 

and the York Plateau. Its source is about 25 miles from the sea, but it has 

a number of tributaries from the northeast side, which give it a comparatively 

large drainage area. 

The bed rock about the river's head is 1imestone and calcareous schist, with 

some intrusive greenstones. The river and its tributaries have cut valleys from 200 

to 400 feet deep in this bed rock. These limestones are probably in part Silurian, 

a It should be noted that there are two other rivers of this name in the region. 
SHISHMAREF REGION] . ' 53 

but they are more highly crystalline than the Port Clarence limestone, and their 

exact relation to that formation was not determine . 

The bed rock along the Kugruk River seems pro~ising for placer gold. Many 

claims were found staked along it and its tributaries, ~lthough very few prospectors 

were seen in the region. It is not known to the wl iter that gold has been found 

along the river. · · . 

Tuttle Creek is a northern tributary of the KugTk River, about 10 miles from 

the mouth. The creek heads on the north side ofl Ear Mountain, and has cut a 

rather narrow valley in the plateau which surroun1s the mountain. During the 

summer of 1901 Tuttle Creek was the scene of a small excitement caused by reports 

brought out the year before. About 50 men visitetl the creek during the course 

of the summer. Colors of gold and small nuggets af e reported to have been found 

in. the gravels, but the creek was practically abaddoned before the end of the 

season. Through much of its length the creek meahders over gravel flats with no 

bed-rock exposures, but about 5 miles from its he d dark quartzite or slate bed 

rock outcrops. This quartzite extends to the head f f the creek at Ear Mountain, 

contains large intrusions of granite, and is more orj less metamorphosed by them. 

The stratigraphic relations of these slates could nof be definitely determined. In 

lithologic character they resemble Kuzitrin rocks, a~d are regarded by the writer 

as belonging to that formation. I 

Other streams.-Between the Kugruk River a~d Shishmaref Inlet there are 

several small streams, none of which were visited y members of the Geological 

Survey party. It is not known. that any of these have yielded colors of gold. 

Quartz veins.-The dark slates in which the gran te of Ear Mountain is intruded 

are often cut by small veins of quartz more or less mineralized. A specimen taken 

from a slide in the bank of Crosby Creek, about 3 iles south of Ear Mountain, 

consisted of glassy quartz and large crystals of pyrit . It was assayed by Dr. E. T. 

Allen, of the U nit d States Geological Survey, and s owed a trace of gold. 

SHISHMAREF REGION. 

The Arctic drainage of the region lying east ofl the Arctic district will be considered under this heading. The name is taken from Shishmaref Inlet, which is the 

deepest embayment on the northern coast lin~ of th1 peninsula. The region all lies 

in the Goodhope recording district, which also embraces a considerable area to the 

east, outside of the region surveyed by our party. t 

This district includes the drainage of Shishmare · Inlet and the western ·drainage 

of Goodhope Bay, together with the peninsula lyin between them on which Devil 

Mountain is situated. As far as known to the write 1 

no gold has been. found in this 

district east of Shishmaref Inlet. 
54 REOONN AISS.ANOE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

V\'ith the exception of Devil Mountain, the region between Shishmaref and 

Goodhope Bay is ]ow and flat. It was not explored by members of the Geological 

Survey party, and little is definitely kpown of it. The surface, as viewed from 

Ear Mountain and Midnight ~ountain, appears to be an erosion plain slightly 

elevated above sea level, above which rise a few low dome-shaped buttes. The 

topography of these buttes suggests that the bed rock is composed of schist and 

limestone. Devil Mountain rises about 600 feet above the general level, and is a 

ridge with a northwest trend, and has on its summit a num her of ja.gged crags. 

Kotzebue, who named the mountain, compared its irregular creRt to a ruined castle. 

These rocks are probably outcrops of granite similar to that of Ear Mountain. 

-- 'rhe rivers flowing into Shishmaref Inlet have received considerable attention 

from prospectors. A recording office· and Shishmaref post-office are located on 

Sarichef Island, at the northeastern entrance to ,Shishmaref Inlet. The writer 

was informed by Charles W. Mashburn, the deputy recorder of the district, that 

there is a good harbor for small coasting vessels at this place, and that the 

Serpentine, the largest river of the district, is navigable for small steamers for 

at least 20 miles inland. Kotzebue reported ~ fathoms of water at this entrance. 

Shishmaref Inlet is bordered by a wide coastal plain, made up of gravel, from the 

margin of which a disse.cted erosion plain slopes upward to an elevation of 500 

to 1,000 feet. Ear 1\'lountain, Kugruk Mountain, Midnight Mountain, and Devil 

Mountain, rising above this plateau, mark the limits of the Shishmaref drainage. 

The Serpentine and Arctic rivers are the two most important streams of . the 

basin. 

Arctic River.-The Arctic River rises south of Ear Mountain, has a length of 

about 25 miles, and flows into the west side of Shishmaref Inlet. Southeast of Ear 

Mountain the course of this river is in a broad basin containing a number of 

small lakes. Below this basin the river has cut a well-defined canyon. Viewed 

from the surrounding hills the basin appears to be an old lake bed. A broad, 

flat divide, which has what appears to be an abandoned river channel across it, 

separates this basin from the drainage of the Kugruk River of the Arctic region. 

The bed rock is highly crystalline limestone and calcareous schists, with 

occasional highly altered greenstones. Veins and stringers of quartz are frequent. 

These limestones and calcareous schists were found within a short distance of the 

slates of Ear Mountain. If, as seems probable, they overlie these slates, they 

are to be correlated in part with the Port Clarence limestones. Their highly 

altered condition, however, in the absence of definite stratigraphic evidence, makes 

this correlation doubtful, and they have therefore been mapped with the more 

indefinite Kugruk group of schists and limestones. a 

a See description of the Nome series, pp. 21-24. 
SHISHMAREF REG ION 55 

Many of the tril u,taries of Arctic River have be n staked, and colors of gold are 

reported to have been found. At the time of the wr' er's visit, in August, ·aU of the 

prospectors had left the river. 

Serpentlne River.-This is the largest river of t~e district. Heading near Midnight M<?untain, about 35 miles from Shishmaref Il let, it flows into that inlet by a 

very sinuo:.::s course, from which character it receiver: its name. The river was first 

explored aJ?d named by Charles McLennan, who, with dog team and Eskimo asFJistants, 

made a trip into the region from Shishmaref Inlet in May, 1900. McLennan was 

, probably the first white man to reach the hot springt on Spring Creek, a tributa-ry 

of this river. He staked a number of claims along t1 i~ creek, and prepared a map 

of the region, a copy of which was received in W 3!shington in March, 1901. In 

September, 1901, the writer found a small settlement \at the hot springs, but no trac~ . 

of the claim stakes set up by McLennan the year be1ore. remained. A small garden 

had been made on some of the ground -near one £ the springs, and vegetables, 

consisting of lettuce and radishes, had been grown w thout difficulty. 

The bed rock of the Serpentine River Basin abov~ the coastal gravel belt consists 

of dark graphitic and feldspathic mica-~chists, which! form Midnight Mountain, and 

of crystalline limestones and mica-schists of the KJgruk grou.p. The relations of 

the dark schists to the limestones were not determin, d, though they are regarded as 

belonging to the Kugruk series. In the vicinity of t~e hot springs these dark schists 

have been intruded by extensive. granite masses, foi·ming a large area of granite. 

This granite outcrops in needles and pinnacles, produced by weathering along a double 

set of joints. I 

Colors of gold are reported to have been found on a number of the tributaries of the lniddle fork of this river, and in s Jptember a number of miners 

were preparing to winter in the neighborhood, thJ principal settlement being at 

. the hot springs. In the season. of 1901 developmeJt work preparatory to mining 

was reported on Schlitz, Bella, and Bryan creeks. l No gold in commercial quantities has yet been taken fron1 any of these ere · ks, and owing to the limited 

amount of time at his disposal the writer was unai le to visit them. 

Two routes of travel are used by prospectors \entering this region overland. 

The first is from Teller to the junction of the Agiapuk and American rivers, 

thence up the American River and Portage Creek tto the divide, an.d around the 

north end of Kugruk Mountain. The second is from Nome or Teller by way 

of the Kugruk River and Macklin Creek. This c eek heads within a sho~t distance of the head of the Serpentine River. The first of these routes is used for 

travel with dog teams in the wi_nter; the second is more generally traveled in 

summer. 

Along Spring Creek for a distance of about half a mile there are hot sui-
56 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

phur springs. Two of these, the upper and lower ones, were visited by the 

writer. The upper spring is on the banks of the creek, p:robably above any 

exeept the highest floods. The spring is in the center of a broad mound, 10 

feet in diameter and perhaps 2 feet high, built up from material precipitated 

from the ~pring water. The temperature of the water is about 212°. The 

lower springs are below the high-water mark of the creek. The amount of 

water is not over 1 miners' inch. For some distance around the spring the 

ground is warm, making it an ideal place for wintering in that climate. 

AGIAPUK REGION. 

The Agiapuk, flowing into Imuruk Basin from the north, drains an area of 

from 800 to 1,000 square miles in the center of Seward Peninsula. The river forks 

about 20 miles north from Imuruk Basin, the eastern and larger branch being called 

the American River by the prospectors, while the western bran13h retains the 

name Agiapuk. Below the forks the Agiapuk River makes many meanders on a 

broad flood plain, from which the upland rises by gentle slopes to flat-topped hills 

with elevations of 600 to 800 feet. 

The western branch occupies a broad depression which for about 20 miles 

extends parallel with Grantley Harbor and Port Clarence, from which it is separat~d 

by an upland of about 1,000 feet elevation. Near its ·western end this depression . 

has an altitude of about 500 feet, and is about 5 miles wide. The California 

River drains a part of this depression through a new, deep-cut canyon. The 

depression is limited on the north by flat-topped mountains, which ris~ to elevations of 1,000 to 1,800 feet. The main part of the Agiapuk River emerges from 

a comparatively narrow valley in these mountains into this depressed area. \ 

The Agiapuk Valley below the forks is filled with flood-plain gravels. These 

gravels extend up . the river, and fill the depression above {lescribed. It is 

reported that a shaft has been sunk near the mouth of Allene Creek to a depth 

of 60 feet through gravel and clay containing driftwood, etc. These gravels 

probably occupy a depression which has been at some time either a lake or arm 

of the sea and filled with sediments. Where the upper end of the depression is 

cut by the California River bed . rock is exposed in some places. Schists and 

limestones with later basalts are exposed in the upland lying between the 

~giapuk and Grantley Harbor. These have already been described in connection 

with the Grantley Harbor region . 

. North of the Agiapuk the bed rock, as far as known, consists of Silurian 

limestones of the Port Clarence formation. These limestones are comparatively 

unaltered and are generally not mineralized to· any extent. 

It has already been shown that some of the streams flowing into Grantley 

Harbor from the north carry gold. No promising prospects of gold are known 
AGIAPUK REGION. 57 

to have been :found in the tributaries which ente · the Agiapuk from the north 

side. The unaltered and unmineralized character f the bed rock is not favorable 

for the occurrence of gold. 

American River.-Th~ American River is the eastern and larger fork of the 

Agiapuk. It joins the Agiapuk River in a broad, gravel-filled basin, and for 20 

mileR up is characterized by a wide flood plain land a meandering course. It 

receives a nur'nber of large tributaries from the j ast, which also have wide flood 

plains. developed in their lower parts. The imnortant tributaries are Portage 

Creek, Bud~ Creek, and Igloo Cr~ek, while smal er tributaries are Burke, Gold 

Run, Dome, and Camp creeks. All of these ~ributaries have received some 

attention :from prospectors. The river is easily I navigable :for small boats for 

several miles above the mouth of Portage Creek, and the region can also be 

easily reaehed by pack train from Teller. J · , 

During our brief stay in this region in the I tter part of August no mining 

was being carried on, and but few prospectors wmje seen, although gold had been 

discovered in the region in September of the p1levious year, and a number of 

the streamsa are known to be gold-bearing to some extent. Some assessment 

work, consisting of prospect holes and crosscut ditches, had been done earlier 

in the summer. 

Above Portage Creek the Am,erican River has an east-west course for about 20 

miles. This part of the river was not examined by rhe writer, and no discoveries of 

gold are known to have been made. The bed rock lat the head of the river consists 

of the limestones of the Port Clarence formation. 1j.'hese limestones are Httle altered 

and are not mineralized to any extent, and are prbbably not productive of placer 

gold. At the mo11th of Portage Creek, where this liver was examined, the bed rock 

consists of calcareous mica-schists and limestones, which are more promising as a 

source of placer gold. . The bed rock between the e points is· not known, although 

the topography suggests the extension of the Poit Clarence limestones for some 

distance down the stream. 

Portage Creek heads about 15 miles southwes of Shishmaref Inlet, and flows 

eastward for several miles in a canyon cut in the pleateau which slopes down to 

that inlet. It then turns southward and flows in a comparatively deep valley 

for 10 miles, to its junction with the American Rtver. Through the laRt 5 miles 

before entering the American River a broad flbod plain is developed, within 

which the creek has a very sinuous course. J 

Along Portage Creek limestones and calcarej us mica-schists, with occasional 

beds of graphitic schist, constitute the bed rock. Prospect holes and one 

crosscut ditch 100 feet long were seen, but no a1tive mining was in progress. · 

· a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay R ions, Alaska, in 1900, p. 125. 
58 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

Budd Creek enters the American River from the east, about 6 miles below 

Portage Creek. It is 15 to 20 miles in length. About 3 mHes from its mouth it 

receives a large tributary, Windy Creek, from the south side. . About 10 miles 

ahove its mouth it forks, the two parts coming from the north and south, their 

direction being determined by the strike of the bed rocks. 

The bed rock on Budd Creek is composed of crystalline limestones, calcareous 

mica-schists, and graphitic schists, usually striking in a north-south direction, and 

having dip8 varying from 0° to 70° . Kugruk Mountain, a few miles east of 

the ·forks of Budd Creek, is made up of quartz-mica-schist, which has been 

thrown up into an anticline. Below the forks the creek sinks, leaving its bed 

dry except in times of high water. After :flowing underground for about 2 

miles, the creek rises again in a number of springs. This sink occurs where a 

massive bed of limestone, dipping downstream at a small angle, cuts across 

· the creek. 

Windy Creek is tributary to Budd Creek fr.om the south about 5 miles from 

its mouth. This creek is about 5 miles long and flows nearly north, parallel to 

the strike of the bed rock, which consists of more or less :flaggy beds of limestone, 

between which there is a strata of graphitic schist that outcrops along nearly the 

whole length of the creek. Near the head of the creek its bed contains many 

bowlders of greenstone, which are derived from sills intruded in the limestone 

near its head. The valley of Windy Creek is broad .and gravel filled. Along 

the sides of the valley, back . from the creek bed, the gravel extends up the slopes, 

forming some well-marked gravel benches. · A cut bank of the creek shows 6 

feet of muck overlying 6 feet of gravel. Prospecting has not reached bed rock. 

Along the upper parts of Budd Creek many claims have been staked, and 

assessment work, consisting of prospect pits and crosscut ditches, ha,s been done 

in a number of places. Windy Creek is staked by ~ne company for about 3 

miles of its length. No prospectors were seen on Budd Creek or its tributar!es, 

and no active mining has been done. This creek carries sufficient water for 

sluicing, except at the places where it sinks in passing over limestone. The same 

is true of Windy Creek, the large southern tributary. 

Igloo Creek, also called on some maps Lewis Creek, enters the American River 

a few miles above its junction with the Agiapuk. This creek, like Budd Creek, 

flows west across the strike of the bed rock, which, as on Budd Creek, consists of 

limestones, calcareous and graphitic schists, with some intruded sills of greenstone, 

which are highly altered. Like Budd Creek, Igloo Creek sinks for about a mile 

. of its course, probably in crossing the same bed of limestone that causes the sink 

on Budd Creek. In its lower course Igloo Creek meanders over a broad flood 

plain, from which the hills rise by very gentle slopes to the flat-topped upland. 
AGIAPUK REGION AND KUZIT N BASIN. 59 

Practically all o£ Igloo Creek and its tributariks have been staked, but little 

evidence o£ prospecting or assessment work and nol active mining was being done. 

Colors o£ gold have been found on the creek, but th exact localities are not known 

to the writer. Igloo Creek, except where it sinks tf.n passing over limestone beds, 

carries a large amount o£ water, which is ample or mining the creek bed on a 

large scale at all seasons: 

The Mary River has a length o£ about 20 miljs, flows into the upper end o£ 

Imuruk Basin, ·and is included in the Agiapuk mininF district. About 5 miles fro~ 

its mouth the river forks, the two branches being o£ about equal size. The lower 

part of the course of the Mary River is within the flt ts which border Imuruk Basin. 

Above these flats the valleys o£ the two branches o:fl the Mary River are wide, and 

within them the rivers meander ov~r broad flood plfins. Between the forks o£ the 

river there is a broad, flat-topped ridge, with an el · vation of 700 feet, and partly 

covered with washed gravel. 

At the edge of the Imuruk lowlands, where the ~Iary River enters them, there 

are gravel bluffs and isolated gravel buttes. These bluffs and buttes are ren1nants 

o£ a higher gravel plain. 

On the ridge between the forks o£ the 1\Iary iver there are two low, rocky 

buttes, which, on account o£ the general low relii £ o£ the region, stand out as 

landmarks. These buttes are compased of whitEe crystalline limestone, whose 

bedding is obscured by jointing and cleavage. Ef cept £or these buttes the bed 

rock, as indicated by fragments found on the surf ce, consists o£ calcareous mica 

schists, whose horizon was not determined. The Kluzitrin slates £orn1 a broad belt 

of dark schistose quartzites between the Mary Ri,rer and the Knzitrin at Marys 

Igloo. About the heads of the two branches of the Nt ary River the bed rock consists 

o£ calcareous and graphitic schists similar to those on Igloo and Budd creeks, 

tributaries o£ the American River. Little bed roc~ is exposed on the Mary Ri~er. Gold is not known to have been found on tpis river, and but little or no 

prospecting has been done. The bed rock is of k highly altered character and 

promising for placer gold, but the great thickness I £ gravel along the stream and 

the uncertain depth to the bed rock render it do btful if gold will be found in 

paying quantitie~. 

KUZITRIN BASIN. 

The basin of the Kuzitrin River lies in the sl utheastern part of the r~gion 

under discussion. This river has a southwesterly l ourse and flows into the upper 

end of Imuruk Basin. It d'rains the northern sl(])pes of the Bendeleben Mountains, and receives a number of large tributaries from the north, of which the 

Kugruk is the largest. The Krnzgamepa, which joins the l{uzitrin about 20 miles 

£rom tide water, flows through the broad de pres! ion between the Kigluaik and 
60 . . 

RECONN AISSANOE OF NORTHWESTERN. PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

Bendeleben mountains, and receives the drainage of the southern slopes of the 

Bendeleben Mountains. 

The drainage basin of the Kuzitrin River has produced.plaeer gold in a number 

of widely scattered localities, and its placers have been more or less exploited since 

the winter of 1899.a It was originally divided into two recording districts, the one 

known as the Kugruk district including the drainage of the Kugruk River below 

the mouth of that river, while the other, known as the Kuzitrin district, includes 

~II the drainage of the Kuzitrin above the mouth of the Kugruk. From the head 

of Imuruk Basin to Marys Igloo, a distance of about 20 miles, the Kuzitrin River 

has no well-defined channel, but flows through a succession of small lakes or 

sloughs with many low islands between. This part of the river is called Kaviruk 

by the natives, and is, in fact, the delta portion of the Kuzitrin and Kruzgamepa 

rivers. Small steamers ascend the river to ·Marys Igloo, where is the first rapid 

and the limit of tidal influence. From Marys Igloo to the mouth of the Kugruk 

the river occupies a broad canyon cut in the upland. Through this canyon 

the river has long stretches of comparatively quiet w~ter with small rapids 

between. The' total fall in this distance does not exceed 100 ·feet. Above the 

mouth of the Kugruk a low, gravel-filled basin extends to the northeastward for 

a distance of 20 miles, with its longer axis parallel to the Bendeleben Mountains. 

In this basin the Kuzitrin River and its tributaries meander extensively. The 

southern tributaries of the Kuzitrin, before entering the lowland, emerge from 

deeply cut valleys in the Bendeleben Mountains, while the northern tributaries 

occupy canyons cut in a high plateau to the northward. The largest northern 

tributaries are the Kugruk and Noxapaga rivers. I 

The production of the whole drainage basin of the Kuzitrin River did not exceed 

$35,000 during the season of 1901. This amount is considerably less than the 

estimated product for 1900. The decrease in the production is due to the exhaustion, 

during the previous season, of certain shallow deposits of rich pay dirt and to the 

unusual shortness of the season of 1901, which did not permit the completion of 

systematic development work. 

Along the Kuzitrin River below. the mouth of the Kugruk the bed rock, 

wherever exposed, consists of the black slates and schists of the Kuzitrin series and 

the biotite-schists and granites of the Kigluaik series. No gold has been obtained 

in this part of the district. 

Quartz Creek was visited by Brooks in 1900 and is described in detail in the 

report of that season's work. b The creek occupies a narrow valley, cut to a depth 

· . of 50 to 100 feet in a high gravel plain west of the Kugnik River. ------- ------------------------------------~------------------------

a Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900, pp 119-125. 

b Idem, p. 121. 
KUZITRIN BASIN. 61 

Dahl Creek is an important tributary from t e south; about 6 miles above 

the mouth of Quartz Creek. The village of Quartz I reek is located at this point. 

During the summer of 1900 gold was found in the c eek bed nearly throughout its 

whole length. At t~e time of the writer's visit to fhe creek, in September, 1901, 

nearly all the workmgs, except ·those near the mouth of Dahl Creek, had been 

abando~ed or s~spended fo. r the _season. Every claif on ~ahl Creek for a distance . 

of 1 m1le from 1ts mouth was bemg worked. The e1cavatwns along the creek show 

great hregularity in the deposition of the gravel be ow the creek bed. Streaks of 

reddish gravel, showing cross bedding interbedded Lith layers of clay and muck, 

often containing vegetable matter, make up the sect"ons exposed. These irregular 

gravel ~treaks are often found to be pay streaks. In the bottoms of the pits a 

thicker layer of gray, gravelly hardpan was found to carry good values in coarse 

gold. On claim No. 2 on the left bank of Dahl Creek the section from the surface 

down was as follows: 

Section on Dahl Creek. 

Muck . _ . ________ . ____ ......... _______________ . _ . ___ . ______ _ 

Feet. 

6 

Reddish gravel, showing cross bedding . _____ ..... ~ ; __ ....... . . _ ... ____ ... _ ••••.•...• _.... 4 

Gray hardpan gravel. · l . The gray ~ravel consists almost wholly of w ite quartz pebbles, cemented 

together with a whitish clay. This layer carried grid . to a depth of 6 feet, as far 

as it had been tested. The bed rock had not been j'eached in anv of these mines, 

although excavations have been made to a depth of arout 9 feet below the creek bed. 

An upper pay streak has been found near the rpouth of Dahl Creek, about 50 

feet above the level of the creek and 100 yards ba,f.k, where a man with a rocker 

was working at the time of our visit. An excavattion, about 50 by 100 feet and 

2 to 3 feet deep, showed a gray, gravelly hard pal , similar to that in the bed of 

Dahl Creek. The gravel lying immediately ~hove this hardpan was rich enough 

in gold to pay for rocking. 

A thick layer of frozen muck generally overli!es the gravel ~long the creek. 

In this layer ma~moth and horse bones have been found together with the trunks 

of large trees. 

No bed rock is exposed within the workings o either Quartz or Dahl Creek. 

On the hill east of Dahl Creek fragments of a ighly altered mica-schist were 

found, which probably were not far from their bed- ock source. The high ground 

between Dahl and Coffee creeks has no exposures o bed rock, although fragments 

of mica-schist are often found on the surface, and it is not probable that the gravel 

in which Quartz Creek is cut mantles over this hill. 

Coffee Creek enters the Kugruk River immedia ely below the mouth of Quartz 

. Creek. It resembles Quartz Creek in In its lower course it 
62 REOONNAISS4-NOE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

flows in a ·sharply cut canyon across the same high gravel plairi. About 5 miles up, 

however, at the point where the wagon road from Lanes Landing to Quartz Creek 

crosses, the bed rock, consisting of a highly altered mica-schist, is probably near the 

surface . . Some successful mining is said to have been done along this creek during 

the summer of 1901. This work had been suspended, however, at the thne of the 

writer's visit in September. 

Quartz Creek and Coffee Creek seem ·to carry considerable gold disseminated 

through a large amount of gravel. The deposits of gravel which can be worked 

successfully by the methods of mining now in use are probably of limited extent, so 

that more refined and economical methods will have to be ultimately adopted. 

Water for hydraulic purposes can probably be brought in a ditch from the head of 

Windy Creek, a distance not exceeding 10 miles. Brooks called attention to the 

probable occurrence of gold in gravels of the bench in which these creeks have 

incised their courses. These may possibly be worked by hydraulic methods. 

During ordinary seasons these creeks all carry sufficient water for mining by the 

methods now in use. 

The Kugruk River is a large northern tributary of the Kuzitrin. It has a -

length, neglecting meanders and minor bends, of about 60 miles. Throughout the 

greater part of its course it occupies a canyon cut in a high plateau-like upland, 

which varies in elevation from 1,200 to 1,800 feet. 

About 10 miles above its mouth the Kugruk River emerges upon the Kuzitrin 

lowland from its canyon. The course of this canyon is approximately north and 

south for 30 miles, and follows in a general way the strike of the bed rock. Below 

the mouth of Coarse Gold Creek the canyon is sharply cut, and no gravel benches or 

extensive gravel bars were observed in the creek hed. Above Coarse Gold Creek 

the valley broadens. At this place there are broad benches, about 20 feet above the 

river bed, cut on the upturned edges of the schists, and covered with several feet 

of gravel. Similar gravel benches occur occasionally as far as the mouth of Taylor 

Creek, above which point the creek bed was not examined in detail. At the mouth 

of Macklin Creek the Kugruk River turns sharply, and above this place it flows in 

~n east-west direetion from its source at the east base of Kugruk Mountain. 

The bed roek along the Kugruk River is generally highly metamorphosed, 

consisting of mica-schists and calcareous schistR, with large intrusions of greenstone. 

The greenstone is schistose, but has a porphyritic texture, the phenocrysts being 

hornblende, while the ground~ass is made up essentialli of epidote, hornblende, 

quartz, and chlorite, mostly secondary minerals. 

Colors of gold are reported to have been found pretty generally distributed in 

the gravels along the Kugruk. Good prospects of placer gold and some mining are 

reported on \\7indy, Neva, North Fork, Coarse Gold, Henry, Taylor, and Macklin 
KUZITRIN BASIN. 63 

creeks, tributaries of the Kugruk River. Many smaller tributaries have been 

staked to some extent, but of them the writer has .no personal knowledge. 

Windy Creek is a large tributary of the Kugruk River from the west. Its 

source is near that of Igloo Creek, which is tributary to the Agiapuk. Windy 

Creek flows across the strike of the bed rock in a deep canyon, cut in the Kugruk 

Plateau. The gravels seen at the mouth of this creek consist of greenstone, 

limestone, and mica-schist. The · bed rock along the creek is reported to be a 

series of limestones and mica-schists. 

Sluicing is reported to have been carried on for about two weeks on No. 14 on 

this creek, and developments made on a number of claims preparatory for work next 

season. Windy Creek carries sufficient water for ordinary mining purposes. 

Neva Creek is a short tributary of the Kugruk River from the east side, about 

one-fourth of a mile above the mouth of Windy Creek. The bed rock at its mouth 

is gray mica-schist, highly metamorphosed. Sluicing was done in shallow gravels 

near the mouth of the creek during the summer. ·At the time of the writer's visit 

the camp was deserted, although the sluice boxes and canvas hose were still in 

position. 

North Fork is a large ,tributary of the Kugruk River from the east, about 10 

miles above Windy Creek. Harris Creek flows into North Fork about 4 miles from 

its mouth. The original discoveries of gold in the Kugruk region were made on 

Harris Creek, but during the season of 1900 it produced little gold. The writer was 

unable to visit the workings on this creek, but received the following information in 

regard to it from a prospector. Mining was in progress during September, 1901, 

on claims Nos. 4 to 10, inclusive. The creek cuts across the strike of the se'ries of 

limestones and schists. At claim No. 11 the creek enters a limestone belt and sinks. 

Throughout nearly all the workings water for sluicing is insufficient on account of 

this sink. In all, 14 men were engaged in rocking and sluicing on Harris Creek 

during September. In these claims the bed rock consists of red and yellow clay, on 

which the pay gravel lies to a depth of from 3 inches to 4 or 5 feet. Above the sink 

Harris Creek carries an amount of water amply sufficient for mining purposes. 

North Fork and its tributaries generally have been staked and prospected to some 

extent. No mining has been done except on Harris Creek. 

Coarse Gold Creek is a large tributary of the Kugruk River from the west 

side, about a mile above North Fork. It heads in the high divide between the 

Kugruk and Agiapuk drainages, and. flows eastward, cutting across the strike 

of the schists and limestones. At the mouth of the creek the bed rock consists 

of highly altered mica-schists . . Colors of gold have been found in the creek, but 

no mining has been done. 

Henry Creek is tributary to the Kugruk River from the west, about 10 miles 

9415-No. 2-02-5 
64 RECONNAISSANCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEW .A.RD PENINSULA. 

above the mouth of the North Fork. · It heads in the high divide south of Kugruk 

Mountain, and flows eastward in a deep canyon cut in the upland and across the 

strike of the schist and limestone bed rock. Good prospects of gold have been found 

on this creek, but no mining has been done. On the Kugruk River, immediately 

below the mouth of Henry Creek, a mining ditch has been dug and .sluice boxes_ 

set up to work the gravels near the river. The mine was not in operation in 

September. 

The KugruK River forks about 35 miles from its mouth, the branches being 

of about equal size. The eastern fork is called Taylor Creek, while the western 

retains the name Kugruk Riv~r. Taylor Creek rises to the southeast of Midnight 

Mountain, and flows west to its junction with the Kugruk River. It occupies a 

valley about 800 feet deep, ~ut in the plateau on which Midnight Mountain 

stands. · The bed rock at the month of Taylor Creek is a dark schist similar to 

· that of Midnight Mountain, while immediately south of that mountain, at a point 

about 6 miles from the mouth of · Taylor Creek, there are exposures of very 

much altered limestone. The creek probably cuts across the strike of a series 

of beds of schist and limestone. Colors of gold are known to have been found 

on this creek and some of its tributaries, but no mining has been attempted. 

:Macklin Creek is a tributary of the Kugruk River from the east side, about 

6 miles above the mouth of Taylor Creek. It heads n~ar the base of Midnight 

Mountain and flows westward about 6 miles to its junction with the Kugruk 

River. For several miles Macklin Creek flows parallel t<? Schlitz Creek, tributary . 

to the Serpentine River, and a low pass between the two creeks suggests an old 

waterway. The creek occupies a rather broad valley cut in the upland. The 

bed rock, where it has been seen, consists of dark feldspathic, graphitic mica-schist, 

similar to that of Midnight Mountain. Promising prospects of gold were discovered on Macklin Creek in the summer of 1900. There are · 29 claims on the 

creek, and considerable development work preparatory to mining was done dudng 

the summer of 1901, but by the middle of September no sluicing had been 

done. The thick vegetable growth of the hillsides also covers the creek bed, 

making a great deal of stripping necessary before mining can be begun. The 

pay gravel contains many angular fragments of graphitic schist. In the pay 

streak as high as 75 cents to the pan has been obtained, though the average is 

much less. Some sluicing was done on the creek after the time of the writer's 

visit. Though the exact results obtained are not known, they are reported to have 

been satisfactory and to justify a continuation of the work next year. Macklin 

Creek at the point where the present mines are located carries sufficient w_ater 

for sluicing in all ordinary seasons. 

A bout 15 miles northeast of the mouth of the Kugruk the Kuzitrin River forks 9 

the northern fork being called the Noxapaga, while the eastern branch retains the 
KTJZITRIN BASIN. 65 

name Kuzitrin. The Kuzitrin River receives four large tributaries from the south, 

which head in the mountains of the Bendeleben gr;oup, and the main volume of 

water comes from these mountains. 

The Noxapaga River has a very sinuous course across the valley lowland. 

About 8 miles north of its junction with the Kuzitrin the Noxapaga flows near _the 

northern edge of the valley lowland. At this point it receives a large tributary 

from the north, known as Turner Creek, where Noxapaga, the recording office 

of the district; is located. Two mil~s above Turner Creek the N oxapaga occupies a 

rather broad canyon cut to a depth of 50 feet or more in a gravel~covered plain 

above the valley :fluor. About 8 miles above Noxapaga the river~ forks, the 

branches being known as the East and West forks. Their upper waters lie in 

valleys incised in the higher plat~au. Gold has been obtained from Garfield 

Creek, Boulder Creek, and Goose Creek in ·this region. 

Garfield Creek enters the Kuzitrin River from the north side, about 5 miles 

below the mouth of the Noxapaga. For about 5 miles it has a very sinuous 

course through the lowland basin. Above this part of its course it occupies a 

valley cut in the upland for a dista~ce of about 5 miles. Gold was ·discovered 

on the creek in 1900, during which season it produced considerable gold from a 

shallow pay streak above a white clay foundation which was confined to the creek 

bed. The mining conditions during 1900 are described in a previous_ report. a In 

Septem.ber, 1901, the workings on Garfield Creek had been abandoned. The exact 

amount produced during the season of 1901 is not known, but was not great. 

The owners of claims along the creek were preparing to prospect them with 

steam thawers during the winter, with a view to locating a deeper pay streak 

near the bed roek. Garfield Creek carries sufficient water for sluicing during 

ordinary seasons. 

Turner Creek is a good-sized tributary which enters the Noxapaga where 

that river approaches the northern edge of the valley lowland. Its general 

course is about S. 20° E. In the lower 3 miles of its course it meanders 

in a broad valley cut in the upper gravel plain which borders the lowland. 

Above this point the valley becomes narrower as the inclosing upland becomes 

higher, and at the creek's head the valley is deeply and sharply incised in the 

upper plateau surface. Three ·miles above its mouth Boulder Creek, about 5 

miles in length, ·enters Turner Creek from the east. 

No bed rock is exposed on Turner Creek for 4 miles above its mouth. 

Above the mouth of Boulder Creek there are occasional outcroppings of limestones and calcareous mica-schists, the strike of which, as far ·as could be 

determined, is nearly parallel to the course of the creeks. About 5 miles above 

aReoonnai,.noe. i~ the rape Nome and No,ton Bay Rogion,, AJa.ka, in 1900, p. 122. 
66 REOONN'AISSANC~ OF N'ORT.E:WESTE"S.N' PORT10N OF SEWARD PEN1NSULA. 

the mouth of Boulder Creek Turner Creek receives a number of tributaries, 

which together form a fan-shaped basin in the plateau surface. The larger forks 

of the creek head near Baldy Mountain. No mining has been done along .Turner 

Creek, although good prospects of gold are reported to have been found and the 

whole creek is staked. 

Boulder Creek occupies a straight, rather broad valley, which is deeply cut in 

the higher upland about the creek's head, but has Jess depth in the lower country, 

where Boulder empties into Turner Creek. The bed rock is calcareous schists and 

limestones, with some beds of graphitic schists, whose relations to the other 

schists were not determined. The frocks are deeply covered with moss, muck, and 

gravel, so that _they are exposed only in mining excavations. Gold in paying 

quantities was discovered on Boulder Creek early in the summer of 1901. Twenty 

claims have been staked on the creek, all of which are reported to show colors 

of gold. Sluicing was begun on the creek about August 8, and some gold had 

been taken out with the rockers previous to that time. At the time of the 

writer's visit mining was in progress on claims between 3 and 7, and development. 

work, consisting of stripping off the moss and muck, had been done on several 

others. On a claim aJ:>out 1t miles from the mouth of the creek both sluicing 

and rocking were in progress. About 2t feet of moss and muek bad been 

removed, exposing gravel consisting of angular fragments of graphitic schist and 

limestone. The gravel is reported to carry pay at this place to a depth of 4 or 

5 feet,_ below which it has not been tested, owing to the froz.en ground. A width 

of 56 feet of pay gravel has been uncovered. Good prospects are reported to 

have been found in test pits 100 feet or more from the creek bed, indicating a 

greater widt~ for the pay streak. About three-fourths of a mile above this mine 

a prospect hole through the gravel to a depth of 11 feet failed to reach solid bed 

rock. The gravel there consisted mainly of limestone pebhles. Although the 

surface covering of moss and muck had been removed, the pay gravel below it 

was still frozen in September. A layer of pay dirt a few inches thick thawed 

each day, and was shoveled into sluice boxes and rockers. The whole area that 

has been worked on the creek if put together would not exceed 100 feet square. 

The gold is comparatively coarse, as nuggets from 25 cents up are not uncommon. 

These are usually rounded and dark colored. The largest nugget so far taken 

weighed over two ounces and was valued at $36. It was a well-rounded piece 

of gold, stained with iron. Mr. A. D. Nash, who controlled the freighting on 

the Noxapaga River and handled most of the gold from the creek, estimated that 

the creek produced $7,000 during the season of 1901. 

At the time of the writer's visit, in September, Boulder Creek carried a 

volume of water sufficient to run several sluice boxes. It will probably carry 
KUZITRIN BASIN. 67 

sufficient water for sluicing in all ordinary sea~ons. Should hydraulic methods 

be adopted on this creek, water can probably be brought from Turner Creek in 

I 

a ditch not over 5 miles in length. 

Near the Noxapaga, at the mouth of Turner Creek, a low, round hill, about 50 

feet high, rises above the level of ~he lowland. This low butte is similar in form 

to many others scattered over the lowland, and is the remnant of an upper gravel 

plain which has in part been removed by ero'3ion. The .edge of the upper plain 

·is usually marked by a sharply cut escarpment, from which partly isolated points 

often project, showing the phases of transition between the isolated butte and 

the continuous gravel plain. The butte near Noxapaga consists mainly of a dark 

deposit of impure peat mi ed with layers of white sand. The peat c~ntainA 

trunks, bark, and limbs of spruce trees. The smaller branches are flattened 

by pressure of overlying gr~vels." The layers of white sand resemble sea-beach 

deposits, and suggest a . driftwood origin for the peat. There is no spruce 

timber at present growing . within th~ drainage of the Kuzitrin and N oxapaga 

rivers. At the time of this deposition, however, the climate here was undoubtedly 

milder, as is evidenced by the remains of the elephant and horse found in gravels 

of this period. At the base bf the coal butte there is a large mineral spring from 

which carbonic acid escapes. The water is cold and resembles in taste that of 

soda springs, but no sample was taken for analysis. There is no connection 

between the spring and the coal butte, and their proximity is accidental. The 

peat has been tried with soline success as fuel for steam thawers, a1!d the butte 

is stakP-d as a coal mine. It may prove of some importance in the development 

of the mines of the vicinity ·r 

A number of ereeks enter the Noxapaga River from the north, parallel to 

Turner and Bowlder ereeks. These have been staked generally, and to some 

extent prospected. So far as is known to the writer, no mining has 1Jeen done 

on any of them, with the !exception of . Goose Creek, a small tributary of the 

Noxapaga, 4 miles above ']urner Creek. One man is reported to have mined 

continuously through the season on this creek. The writer was not able to visit 

the mines, and is indebted for his information in regard to the region to Mr. Lars 

Gunderson, reeorder of the district. There is only one claim of importance on 

the creek. This clnim was worked continuously, but the amount of gold obtained 

is not known. The bed rock is mica-schist and limestone. 

East of Goose Creek the region between the Noxapaga and Kuzitrin rivers 

is reported to be covered with lava. This lava flow extends down to the N oxapaga 

River, and is found on the north side of the river at a point about midway between 

Noxapaga and Goose Creek. At this point the lava overlies the Pleistocene gravels, 

which here overlie mica-schists exposed in the river banks. 

I 
68 RECONN AISSA_NCE OF NORTHWESTERN PORTION OF SEWARD PENINSULA. 

Southern tr1~butaries of the -?"_{uzitrin.-The creeks flowing into the Kuzitrin 

from the south side have not produced gold in commercial quantities; however, 

tl.te writer was informed by a prospector that on Birch Creek some sluicing has 

been done. The pay gravel consisted mainly of decomposed granite, and the bed 

rock was also granite. The gold is probably derived from the rocks of the 

Kigluaik series. The mountains of the Bendele ben group are less rugged . than 

the Kigluaik Mountains, and there has been little, if any, glacial erosion in them. 

If gold occurs in these rocks it is more likely to be concentrated in the gravels 

of the Bendeleben Range than in those of the Kigluaik Mountains. 
INDEX. 

· I Page. 

Agiapuk lowland, description of .............. ______ -.- 26,41 

Agiapuk region, economic geology of ____ .! ___________ 56-59 

Agiapuk River, deflection of _____ __ ... ____ [ __ .. _____ .. · 42 

Page. 

Fossils of Kugruk group _______ .----·------.-----_----- 22 

o{ Port Clarence limestone ___________ . _. _ ..... ___ . 20-21 

. Garfield Creek, economic geology of _____________ . _ .. _ 65 

Allene Creek, economic geology near _ _ _ _ _ _ _____ . _. _. 45 Geography, discussion of ____ _____ ______ ._. __ ______ --.- 11-14 

rock exposed on . _ ... _ .. . . _________ .. _ .. ____ . _ ... _ _ 26 · Gerdine, T. C., work in charge of __ .. ______ . _________ -- 7 

Alluvial sands ·and gravels, occurrence of. ____ ._._____ 28 reference to ___ .. _ .... ___ . ___ ______ .- ---- ----- -. ---- 8, 9 

American River, economic geology of ____________ . ____ 57-59 Glaciation, extent of . ___ . _. ____ ______________ .-------- 28-29 

rocks exposed near ___ .. _______________ ~ __________ . 22 

Anikovik River, bed rock near. ____ . ___ ---f _ -- ___ ---- _ 48 

physiography of region adjacent to. __ . __________ ._ 50 

Arctic coastal plain, description of ________ I _____ _____ . 25, 40 

Gold, placer, distribution and source ot. _____ _ . __ __ . __ 43-44 

Goodall, E., reference to .. ___ . ____________________ ----- 7, 9 

Granite, outcrops of, plate showing ______ . ___________ :_ 32 

platy structure in, plate showing ___ --- ___ __ _ ------ 30 

Arctic region, economic geology of. ___ . _____________ .. 51-53 

Arctic River, economic geology of ________ .l. ____ . _. _ _ _ . 54 

Barnard, E. C., reference to .. _ . _ .. ________ l _ . ___ .... _ _ 11 -

Basalts, occurrence and character of ______ l _______ . _ ._ 30-31 

Granitic and rhyolitic intrusives, occurrence and 

chari\Cter of .... __ . _____ .. __ .. ~ ____ . ___ -_.. 29-30 

Grantley Harbor, rocks exposed at ________ -- ----_ ---- - 18 

Grantley Harbor region, economic geology of. ____ __ __ 44-46 

Baskins, R., reference to ... _ .. __ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7 

Bluestone region, mining in . _ ... _ ... _____ [_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 45 

Gravels and sands, occurrence of._ .. ___ . ____ .... _ ... -. 28 

Greenstones, occurrence and character of_ . ___ . _ . ___ .. '29 

Boulder Creek, economic geology of __________ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 66 ; Grouse Creek, economic geology of ______ ._:_._._. ___ ._ _ 49 

Brooks, A. H., cited.------ __________ ._. ____ 9, 14, 34,37,39,49 

quoted ... __ ... __ ..... ____ . _______ . _____ l_. ___ __ . _ _ _ 47 

reference to __ . __ .. _________ .. _________ [ _ _ 16, 18, 29, 32, 33 

Brooks Mountain, granite of __ ._. _____ ._, _ I ___________ 30 

Harbors, description of .. _ . .... ____ __ . _____ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 12 

Harris Creek, economic geology of _____ . --- ----:- ----- 63 

Hefty. J _ G _, reference to _ ..... .. _ .. _ . _ . ___ --.. ---. ---- 11 

Henry Creek, economic geology of. ___ .. _--- __ -.------ 63 

limestone of, plate showing .. _________ i ______ . _ _ _ _ 18 

Brown, E., reference to .. ____ . ______________ . _________ _ Igloo Creek, Agiapuk region, economic geology of.--- 58-59 

limestone on, plate showing_._. ___ ._. _____ . ____ --- 22 

Buck Creek, quartz on.-- --- _________ .________________ 48 Igloo Creek, Grantley Harbor, mining on. ________ ---- 45 

Budd Creek, bed rock on__ ________ ______ ______ ______ __ 58 

limestone on, ·plate showing. __________ [ _________ ._ 20 

Candle Creek, production of _______ . _. __ . _[_ ....... _.. 43 

Igneous rock, occurrence and character of. _____ . _ _ _ _ _ 29-31 

Imuruk Basin,. description of. ... . ---_--_. __ -_ ___ ______ 12 

Imuruk lowlands, description of._. _____ . _______ . __ 2G, 40-41 

Cape Mountain, granite of. ... ___ ...... ___ .l ..... __ .... 30 Inland basins, description of .. _ .. _. ___ ._ .. __ . __ ______ . 26-27 

limestone at . _ .... _ ..... __ . __ .... _. ___ .! ... _ ..... _ _ 16 

structure of ........ __ ... _ ... _ ..... _ .... l ... _. . . . . . . 38 

view of ................................ l ...... __ . . . 38 

Coarse Gold Creek, economic geology of .. l .......... _ 63 

Coastal plain deposits, description of. ... _ .l ........... 25-26 

Coffee Creek, geology of .................... _ .. ........ 61-62 

Conical Hill, structure of .... _._. __ .. ____ . ___ . ____ .. ___ 38 

Conrad, S., reference to------------------------------- Correlation of formations, table showing_. t _____ . _. _ _ _ 15 

Dahl Creek, economic geology of .... ..... 

1

. _____ . _ _ __ 61 

~:~~::~~:~:i~r~~~: ~~::::: :: :-:::::::::: f::::::::::: !~ Dynamic history, outline of. ______ .. _____________ . ____ 31-33 

Ear Mountain, granite of. , _ ... _____ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____ . _ _ _ _ _ 30 

origin of name of _ ........ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ____ . _. _ . _ 9 

Itinerary, description of._ ........ ----:----------.----- 8-11 

Jose, A. H., aid bY----·········------------ ----------- 27 

Kigluaik series, correlation of ___ -_.- __ ----.------,---- 15 

occurrence and character of_ .. _____ --.. -. --. --- -- - 16 

Kotzebue, 0. von, reference to. ______ -.. -.-.------.--- 12, 54 

Kotzebue Sound, description of.-----------.--.----.-. 12 

Kugruk group, correlation of . ________ . __ .. --.---.---. 15 

limestone of, bedding and cleavage in, plate showing -------···-·-- -------------------------- 22 

plate showing_'····_--· __ . ______ ... · ... ---- ... - 20 

occurrence and character of _______ . ____ -.-- .. -... 21-24 

Kugruk Mounta~~; rhyolite at ___ . __________ .. _ _- ._ .- -- 30 

rocks compnsmg .... _ ..... __ . __ . ---- ... - ---- -. --- - 22 

Kugruk Plateau, description of _______ .. ---.---------- 35-36 

Kugruk River, bedrock on .. -- -. -.. --- .... -.-- .. --.-.. 52 

rocks comprising ..... __ .. __ _____ ______ . _. ____ . _ _ _ _ 20 economic geology of basin of ____ . _ .. _ . __ ..... _ _ _ _ _ 62-64 

topographic features near . ____ . ____ .. _ _ __ . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 37 greenstones on .•..... _ . _______ ---- ---- •.. --. ------ 29 

views of ... . ___ .... _ .. _ .... _. _. ___ ... _. . ___ .. _. ___ 28, 30 rocks exposed along _____________ ----------- -----. 23 

Forest, J. G. de, reference to ......................... _ 7, 9,10 Kuzitrinlowland, description of--··········------- 2(i.,..27,11 

69 
70 INDEX. 

Page. 

Kuzitrin River., economic geology of basin of. ........ 59-68 

rocks exposed near................................ 23 

southern tributaries of, character of............... 68 

Kuzitrin series, correlation of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

occurrence and character of ....................... 16-17 

Lewis Creek. See Igloo Creek. 

Lowland plains, description of........................ 40 

Lucas, F. A., quoted................................... 27 

McLen·nan, C., reference to............................ 55 

McKillop River, course and character of........ . . . . . . 52 

Macklin Creek, economic geology of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 

Mammoth remains, occurrence of ..................... 27-28 

Mary River, geology along . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 

Mashburn, C. W., information furnished by .......... 12,54 

Mendenhall, W. C., cited....... ... . ... ................ 14 

reference to • . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 31 

Metamorphic series, correlation of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Mukacharni Mountain, basalt near.................... 31 

Nash, A. D., aid by ............... ....... ·... ........... 10 

estimate by.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 

Neva Creek, economic geology of..................... 63 

Nome.series, correlation of............................ 15 

occurrence and character of ....................... 17-24 

Noxapaga River, course and character of. ............ 64-65 

lava on...................................... ... ... 31 

Nuluk Plateau, description oL........................ 35 

Nuluk River, course aud character of................. 52 

limestone on, plate showing ..... :.. .............. 18 

Port Clarence limestone near . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 

Peat on Noxapaga River.............................. 67 

Peters, W. J., reference to............................. 11 

Physiography, discussion of .............. : ....... , . . . . 34-43 

Pinguk River, economic geology of................... 52 

Placer gold, distribution and source of ................ 43-44 

Platy structure in granite, plate showing ..... '·... .. . 30 

Port Clarence, description of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

Port Clarence coastal plain, description of ..... .. .. 25-26, 40 

Port Clarence limestone, correlation of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

occurrence and character of ... ·::.: ................. 18-21 

plate showing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 

Port Clarence and York Mountain region, economic 

geology of ..... ....................... . . ... 46-47 

Portage Creek, economic geology of................... 57 

limestone on, plate showing .................. , . . . 20 

Posepny, F., cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 

Page. 

Quartz Creek, mammoth remains on.................. 27 

spruce logs in silt on, plate showing . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 22 

valley of, plate showing............ . .... . . . . . . . . . . 10 

Reaburn, D. L., reference to........................... 11 

Relief, discussion of ................................... 13-14 

Rhyolitic and granitic intrusives, occurrence and 

character of ........... . .......... , . . . . . . . . 29-30 

Route traversed, description of........................ 8-11 

Ruddy, C. A., information furnished by............... 25 

Sands and gravels, occurrence of. ... :................. 28 

Schuchert, C., fossils determined by ............ .. .. 20-21,22 

Serpentine River, economic geology of. ............... 55-56 

Seward Peninsula, economic geology of ............... 43-68 

economic map of .................. :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 

general geology of. ................ .. .............. 14-43 

geography of ..................... : ....... ..... .... 11-14 

geologic map of northwestern portion of.......... 14 

outline map of..................................... 8 

Shishmaref Inlet, description of....................... 12 

Shishmaref region, economic geology of ........... ·. . . 53-56 

Shore line, description of .. . ... : .. -: .................... 11-12 

Spring Creek, sulphur _springs on ...................... 55-56 

0 

Sunset Creek, economic geology near ................. 45, 46 

Surficial deposits, description of .... · ................... 24-29 

Taylor Creek, economic geology of. .. ................. 63 

Teller, view of, plate showing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

Tin in York region ... .. ............ .... ............... 49-51 

Tozier Creek, rocks on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46-47 

Turner Creek, course· and character of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65-66 

Tuttle Creek, economic geology of. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 

Valley lowlands, description of. ....................... 40-42 

Whitehead, C., estimate of gold production by . . . . . . . . 43 

Windy Creek, Agia,puk region, economic geology of. . . 58 

Windy Creek, Kuzitrin Basin, economic geology of.... 63 

Witherspoon, D. C., reference to ................ 8, 9, 10, 11,45 

work of............................................ 7 

York Mountain, view of............................... 38 

York Mountain and Port Clarence region, economic 

geology of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46-47 

York Mountains, rocks comprising.................... 19 

topographic features near . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 

York Plateau, description of: ....................... : .. 36-39 

York region, economic geology of ..................... 47-51 

York River, course and character of................... 52 
... 

PUBLICAT~NS OF UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAl, SURVEY. 

[Professional Paper No.2.] 

The serial publications of th~ United States Geological Survey consist of (1) Annual Reports, (2) 

Monographs, ( 3) Professional Papers, ( 4) Bulletins, ( 5) Mineral Resources, ( 6) Water-Supply and 

Irrigation Papers, (7) Topogranhic Atlas of the U~ited States-folios and separate sheets thereof, (8) 

Geologic Atlas of the United States-folios thereof. The classes numbered 2, 7, and 8 are sold at cost 

of publication; the others are dastributed free. A circular giving complete lists may be had on application. 

The Bulletins, Professional ~apers, and Water-Supply Papers treat of a variety of subjects, and the 

total number issued is large. They have therefore been classified into the following series: A, Economic geology; B, Descriptive eology; C, Systematic geology and paleontology; D, Petrography and 

mineralogy; E, Chemistry and physics; F, Geography; G, Miscellaneous; H, Forestry; I, Irrigation; 

J, Water storage; K, Pumping water; L, Quality of water; M, Methods of hydrographic investigations; N, Water power; 0, Underground waters; P, Hydrographic progress reports. This paper is the 

· nineteenth in Series A and the twenty-first inseries B, the complete lists of which follow. (B = Bulletin, PP ==Professional Paper, WS = Watt~r-Supply Paper.) 

SERIES A, ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 

B 21. Lignites of Great Sioux Reservation: Report on region between Grand and Moreau rivers, Dakota, by Bailey 

Willis. 1885. 16 pp., 5 pls. 1 

B 46. Nature and origin of deposits of phosphate of lime, by R. A. F. Penrose, jr., with introduction by N. S. Shaler. 

1888. 143 pp. 1 

.B 65. Stratigraphy of the bituminous coal field of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, by Israel C. White. 1891. 

212 pp., 11 pls. (Exhausted.) j . . 

B 111. Geology of Big Stone Gap coal field of Virginia and Kentucky, by Marins R. Campbell. 1893. 106 pp., 6 pis. 

B 132. The disseminated lead ores lj)f southeastern Missouri, by Arthur Winslow. 1896. 31 pp. 

B 138. Artesian-well prospects in Atlantic. Coastal Plain region, by N. H. Darton. 1896. 228 pp., 19 pls. 

B 139. Geology of Castle Mountain lmining district, Montana, by W. H. Weed and L. V. Pirsson. 1896. 164 pp., 17 pls. 

B 143. Bibliography of clays and t~e ceramic arts, by John C. Branner. 1896. 114 pp. 

B 164. Reconnaissance on the Riol Grande coal fields of Texas, by Thomas Wayland Vaughan, including a report on 

igneous rocks from the San Carlos coal field; by E. C. E. Lord. 1900. 100 pp., 11 pls. and maps. 

B 178. El Paso tin depo.sits, by Wallter Harvey Weed. 1901. 15 pp., 1 pl. 

B 180. Occurrence and distribution of corundum in United States, by J. H. Pratt. 1901. 98 pp., 14 pls. 

B 182. A report on the economic geology of the Silverton quadrangle, Colorado, by F. L. Ransome. 1901. 266 pp., 1fi 

pis. and maps. J 

B 184. Oil and gas fields of the we~tern Interior and northern Texas Coal Measures of the Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary of the western Gulf coast, by George I. Adams. 1901. 64 pp., 10 pls. -

B 193. 'l'he geological relations antl

1

1 distribution of platinum and associated metals, by James Furman Kemp. 1902. S5 

pp., 6 pls. 

B 198. The Berea grit oil sand in ttje Cadiz quadrangle, Ohio, by W. '1'. Griswold. 1902. 43 pp. 1 pl. 

PP 1. Preliminary report on the ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of the geology of 

southeastern Alaska, by Alfred Huls Brooks. 1902. 120 pp., 2 pls. 

B 200. Reconnaissance of the borax deposits of Death Valley and Mohave Desert, by M. R Campbell. 1902. 23 pp., 1 pl. 

B 202. Tests for gold and silver in Jhales from western Kansas, by Wuldemar Lindgren. 1902. 21 pp. 

PP 2. Reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by A. J. Collier. 1902. 70 pp., 11 pis. 

I

. SERIES B, DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY. . 

B 23. Observations on the junctio"9 between the Eastern sandston e and the Keweenaw series on Keweenaw Point, Lake 

Superior, by R. D. Irving and T. C. G:hamberlin. 1885. 124 pp., 17 pls. 

B 38. Notes on geology of northern California, by J. S. Diller. 1886. 23 pp. 

B 39. The upper beaches and deltals of Glacial Lake Agassiz, by Warren Upham. 1887. 84 pp., 1 pl. 

B 40. Changes in river courses in Jashington Territory due to glaciation, by Bailey wn;is. 1887. 10pp., 4 pls . 

. 9415-No. 2-02, 6 
II PUBLICATIONS OF UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

B 45. The present condition of knowledge of the geology of Texas, by Robert T. Hill. 1887. 94 pp. 

B 53. The geology of Nantucket, by Nathaniel Southgate Shaler. 1889. _55 pp., 10 pls. 

B 57. A geological reconnaissance in southwestern Kansas, by Robert Hay. 1890. 49 pp., 2 pls. 

B 58. The glacial boundary in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, by George Frederick 

Wright, with introduction by Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin. 1890. 1i2 pp., 8 pls. 

B 67. The relations of the traps of the Newark system in the New Jersey region, by Nelson Horatio Darton. 1890. 82 pp. 

B 104. Glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley north of the Park, by Walter Harvey Weed. 1893. 41 pp., 4 pls. 

B 108. A geological reronnaissance in central Washington, by Israel Cook Russell. 1893. 108 pp., 12 pls. 

B 119. A geological reconnaissance in northwest Wyoming, by George Romans Eldredge. 1894. .72 pp., 4 pls. 

B 137. The geology of the Fort Riley Military Reservation and vicinity, Kansas, by Robert Hay. 1896. 35 pp., 8 pls. 

B 144. The moraines of the Missouri Coteau and their attendant deposits, by James Edward Todd. 1896. 71 pp., 21 pls. 

B 158. The moraines of southeastern South Dakota and their attendant deposits, by James Edward Todd. 1899. 171 

pp., 27 pls. 

B 159. The geology of eastern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, by B. K. Emerson. 1899. 139 pp., 9 pls. 

B 165. Contributions to the geology of Maine, by HenryS. Williams and Herbert E. Gregory. 1900. 212 pp., 14 pls. 

WS 70. Geology and water resources of the Patrick and Goshen Hole quadrangles in eastern Wyoming and western 

Nebraska, by George I. Adams. 1902. 50 pp .. 11 pls. 

B 199. Geology and water resources of the Snake River Plains of Idaho, by Israel C. Russell. 1902. - pp., 25 pls. 

PP 1. Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of the geology of 

southeastern Alaska, by Alfred Hulse Brooks. 1902. 120 pp., 2 pls. 

PP 2. Reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by A,. J. Collier. 1902. 70 pp., 11 pls. 

Correspondence should be addressed to 

The DIRECTOR, 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 

WASHINGTON, D. C . 

• 

, 
LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS. 

[Take this leaf out and paste the separated titles upon three of your catalogue 

cards. The first and second titles need no addition; over the third write that 

subject under which you would place the book in your library.] 

United States. Department of the interior. ( F. S. geological survey.) 

. . {A, Economic geology, 191 ProfessiOnal Paper No. 2 Senes B, Descriptive geology, 21 Department of the interior I United States geological survey I Charles 

D. Walcott, director I - I A I reconnaissance I of the I northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska I by I Arthur J. Collier I 

[Vignette] I 

Washington I government printing office I 1902 

4°. 70 pp., 11 pls. 

Collier (Arthur .T. ). 

p f · 1 p N 2 S . {A, Econo~ic geology, 191 D ro esswna aper o. eries B, Descriptive geology, 21 epartmentof the interior I United States geological survey I Charles 

D. Walcott, director I - I A I reconnaissance I of the I northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska I by I Arthur J.Collier I 

[Vignette] I 

Washington I government printing office I 1902 

4°. 70 pp., 11 pls. 

P f · 1 p N 2 S . {A, Economic geology, 191 D ro esswna aper o. er1es B D · t" 1 21 e- ' esenp IVe geo ogy, 

partment of the interior I United States geological survey. I Charles 

D. Walcott, director I - I A I reconnaissance I of the I northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska I by I Arthur J. Collier I 

[Vignette] I 

Washington I government printing office I 1902 

4°. 70 pp., 11 pls. 

III