arg

arg

umf

SPc?

SP

Possible serpentine pebble

conglomerate along contact

SERPENTINE INFERRED 

BASED ON MAGNETIC HIGH

UPPER SHEAR ZONE (projected)

?

?

?

? ?

?

?

?

?

GALLAGHER FAULT (EAST BRANCH)

SP

GALLAGHER FAULT

(MIDDLE BRANCH)

SPc?

Gallagher Creek

SPc?

SSS

UPPER SHEAR ZONE (projected)

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Lower Shear Zone could

possibly be the sheared

lower limb of a major early

(F2?) syncline

GSS

BX

BX

SGS

SSS

?

?

WEST BENCH 

ORE ZONE 

SP

SP

SP

BX

BX

BX

arg

LOWER SHEAR ZONE

LANDSLIDE

ANCIENT LANDSLIDE

argillite?

Stratigraphic top suggested by

graded bedding 600 feet south

of section

UPPER SHEAR ZONE (location estimated from drill holes to north and south) 

?

altered, shear-foliated umf 

SPc

Conodonts: late Carnian to 

middle Norian (early to middle 

Late Triassic) 

SP

SP

LOWER SOUTHWEST

ORE ZONE

(north end)

LITTLE MAKI FAULT

GSS

GSS

argillite? 

umf?

umf?

Projected from drill 

holes to north and 

south 

5250 ORE ZONE 

umf

umf

arg

arg

arg

arg

SP

SP

SP SP

SP arg

arg

arg

arg

arg

9A ORE ZONES 

CENTRAL 

WEST ORE 

ZONE (south end) 

Orientation and depth of Lower 

Shear Zone is not well known 

Phyllite/argillite contact could be 

displaced to east in lower plate of 

Lower Shear Zone 

Fold closure interpreted, 

not observed here 

GSS

GSS

GSS

SGS SGS

GSS

GSS

SSS

qsc

qsc

UPPER SHEAR ZONE

qsc

shear-foliated

GSS

sheared breccia 

SPc

shear-foliated breccia

with shear-foliated

qsc fragments

shear-foliated carbonatetalc-q±marip (altered umf)

interlayered with qsc

possible shear-foliated

Retreat Group(?) or qsc

carbonate-talcleucoxene 

SP? (shear foliated?)

SP

SP?

SR

umf SP

CR

CR SP

SR

SP

SR

ZONE 6A 

ZONE 9 

ZONE 8

KLAUS SHEAR

Stratigraphic top suggested by 

alteration and veining in phyllites 

in structural hanging wall of ore 

EAST ORE ZONES 

Likely truncation of mineralized 

contact by Upper Shear Zone 

?

BIG

SORE

SR

SP MFB &

MP

arg

Stratigraphic top suggested by 

alteration and veining in phyllites 

in structural hanging wall of ore 

arg

Approximate stratigraphic 

location of Conodont sample 

JMP131, 1250 feet N of section: 

Carnian-Norian boundary (early 

to middle Late Triassic) 

GSS?

2,000 feet 

?

SPc

SSS

Big Sore Creek

GC2287, end of hole at

3255 feet projected from

870 feet behind

CG1058

CG753

CG1342

GC2287, 1136'

GC2287, collar projected

from 448' in front

900', 100' in front

1370', 100' behind

Massive fine-grained pyrite intercepts

?

PS48 (projected 36 feet from back)

CG1280

36 Decl.

37 Ramp

460

640

720

780

344N

524N

660N2 31 Decline

760 STOPE

33

Dev.

Drift

MAKI FAULT

45

Decl.

920

33

Decl.

30 Decline

1350

PS1

PS8

PS48 (projected 148 feet from front)

Massive fine-grained base-metal

sulfides and massive pyrite

Sea level

00 feet mine elevation

−1,000 feet

−1,000 feet mine elevation 1000LS 1000LS

2000LS

3000LS

1,000 feet

1,000 feet mine elevation 1000LS

2,000 feet

2,000 feet mine elevation 1000LS 1000LS

2000LS

3000LS

17000N

3,000 feet 3,000 feet

3,000 feet mine elevation 3,000 feet mine elevation 20000E

5000LS

6000LS

3,000 feet

3,000 feet mine elevation

7000LS

2,000 feet

2,000 feet mine elevation

3,000 feet

3,000 feet mine elevation

8,000LS 8000LS

19000N

9000LS

1,000 feet

1,000 feet mine elevation

9000LS 9000 LS

1,000 feet

1,000 feet mine elevation

Sea level

00 feet mine elevation

8000LS

−1,000 feet

−1,000 feet mine elevation

5000LS

6000LS

7000LS

−1,000 feet

−1,000 feet mine elevation

20000E

4000LS

19000N

2,000 feet mine elevation

Juneau

Mansfield

Peninsula

Admiralty

Island

Chatham

Strait

Young Bay

Stephens

Passage

Douglas

Island

Hawk

Inlet

135°00’ 134°45’ 134°30’ 134°15’

58°00’

58°15’

Inset map: Approximate location of cross-section 3000, 

depicted as a black bar, relative to Plate 7–1, which is 

shown as a yellow box.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1763

PLATE 7–2A

Vertical lines labeled with northings and eastings are projections of a

local surface grid that is oriented north-south and measured in feet with

origin located at lat 58.0234985°N., long 134.7311267°W.

Vertical lines labeled with XS or LS are a local grid of cross section and

long section coordinates that are used for Greens Creek mine workings.

The grid is rotated 26.5651 degrees counterclockwise from due north

Drill hole and underground elevations are relative to mine system; 

60 feet must be subtracted from these to give elevations 

relative to sea level. 

Interpretation by John M. Proffett, 2000–2003

GREENS CREEK MINE, ALASKA, CROSS SECTION 3000

(ORIENTATION: N 63.43 ̊ E, LOOKING N 26.57 ̊ W)

(Below 1,000 feet mine elevation and between 3000LS and 4950LS, plane of section is 2950XS)

By

John M. Proffett

2010

200 400 600 800 1000 FEET

50 100 150 200 250 300 METERS

0

0

VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL SCALE

ALASKA

MINE LOCATION

This and other USGS information products are available at 

http://store.usgs.gov/

U.S. Geological Survey

Box 25286, Denver Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225

To learn about the USGS and its information products visit 

http://www.usgs.gov/

1-888-ASK-USGS

This report is available at:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1763

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive 

purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. 

Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, is in the 

public domain, it also contains copyrighted materials as noted in 

the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than 

personal use must be secured from the copyright owner. 

Suggested citation:

Taylor, C.D., and Johnson, C.A., editors, 2010, Geology, geochemistry, and genesis of the Greens Creek massive sulfide deposit, 

Admiralty Island, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 1763, 429 p., 7 plates on CD.

Prepared in cooperation with the

KENNECOTT GREENS CREEK MINING COMPANY

Lithologic contact—Dashed where approximately located or inferred; dotted 

where projected above present-day ground surface

Fault—Dashed where approximately located or inferred; dotted where projected 

from drill intercepts or above the present-day ground surface

Shear zone (ductile)—Dotted where projected above the present-day ground 

surface. Bold arrows indicate direction of shearing

Massive sulfide deposits

Iron oxide spring deposits

S2 form surface

S3 form surface

S4 form surface

Bedding form surface

Drill hole

Subsurface workings—Number indicates mine level or designation of ramp, 

drift, or decline

Inferred direction of stratigraphic younging

EXPLANATION

620–

2950

HYD GROUP OR YOUNGER

Sericitic slatey metasedimentary rock—Gray to greenish metasandstone and 

metasiltstone

Graphitic slatey metasedimentary rock—Weakly- to strongly-graphitic quartz mica 

phyllite and dark- to pale-gray slate. Local tan or white carbonate beds indicated 

by blue lines

Sericitic (SSS) and graphitic (GSS) rocks, thinly interlayered

HYD GROUP, LATE TRIASSIC

Mine argillite—Includes black to dark-gray slatey argillite (SA) and gray to brown 

massive argillite (MA)

Chert—Pale-gray to pinkinsh, thinly laminated

TRIASSIC OR PALEOZOIC ROCKS

Siliceous rock—Quartz-rich rock with minor pyrite and sericite

Mine phyllite—Sericite-quartz phyllite with lesser chlorite, pyrite, graphite, 

carbonate (SPcb), or tan leucoxene (SPt)

Chloritic phyllite—Chlorite-rich phyllite with lesser quartz, carbonate, sericite, 

pyrite, or leucoxene

Deformed and altered gabbro—Relict gabbroic textures are evident in less altered 

samples (DG); chlorite is abundant where alteration was stronger (CR)

PALEOZOIC ROCKS

Ultramafic rocks, undivided—Includes altered equivalents

Quartz-sericite ± carbonate phyllite—Commonly displays strong shear fabric 

(S2.5); may be mylonite. Possibly Retreat Group

Breccia—Comonly displays shear-foliation, probably fault breccia

LIST OF MAP UNITS

[The following map units are defined on the basis of lithology and may or may not correspond to geologic formations 

that have been recognized elsewhere in the region. See chapter 7 for more complete lithologic descriptions and a 

discussion of regional stratigraphic correlations.]

SSS

SGS

GSS

qsc

BX

arg

DG/CR

CHT

SR

SP

SPc

umf