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#           Tectonic and Metallogenic Evolution of the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska      

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      By Alaska Science Center      May 22, 2018    

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The Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern interior Alaska is a geologically complex block containing deposits of base-metal, platinum-group-element, and gold-silver-copper mineralization. It also hosts numerous mineral systems that are known or suspected to contain critical minerals.

**Return to Geology**

View Media Details

This multi-year study focuses on the geologic, metallogenic, and geophysical framework of the broader Yukon-Tanana upland in east-central Alaska. The project builds on a strong legacy of previous and recent USGS work in eastern Alaska and involves close collaboration with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and Canadian counterparts in the Yukon Geological Survey and Geological Survey of Canada. The area of interest extends from the western Tanacross and Eagle quadrangles to the Fairbanks area. The area includes two producing gold mines, multiple mineral districts, and numerous deposits and prospects that are the focus of active mineral resource exploration. All known or suspected mineral systems in the region have the potential for associated critical mineral enrichments. This project coordinates with systematic geological mapping and geophysical surveys conducted by DGGS under the USGS Earth Mapping Resource Initiative so that we fully capitalize on all available resources and thoroughly characterize the tectonic, magmatic, structural, geochemical, isotopic, and metallogenic evolution of one of Alaska’s important mineral belts.

 

**Current Activities**

### Geologic Framework

Contact: James V. Jones III, jvjones@usgs.gov

Geologic framework studies involve regional geological mapping, bedrock exhumation and landscape evolution studies, and associated analytical work (for example, geochronology, thermochronology, petrology, geochemistry) across the entire Yukon-Tanana upland. Research includes igneous, metamorphic, structural, and thermochronologic studies. This work is integrated with geophysical and metallogenic tasks described below to provide comprehensive constraints on the tectonic evolution of the region and framework geological controls on its mineral endowment.

View Media Details

### Metallogenic Framework

Contact: Douglas C. Kreiner, dkreiner@usgs.gov 

Metallogenic framework studies involve delineation of prospective mineral systems across the region and geological mapping of key mineral occurrences and deposits in the study area.  Comprehensive analytical methods (for example, geochronology, geochemistry, radiogenic and stable isotopes) are combined with geological observations to characterize mineralization and to relate it to the geological context and tectonic environment(s) in which it formed.

### Exploration Geochemistry

Contact: Karen Kelley, kkelley@usgs.gov

Use of indicator mineral and hydrogeochemistry exploration techniques to explore for concealed or hidden mineral systems beneath the extensive alluvial/colluvial cover in the region. This research also involves placer gold fingerprinting studies to assess how distinct mineralogical, mineral chemistry, and geochemical signatures in sediment, placer gold (heavy mineral concentrates), and water reflect different deposit types in the upland.

 

### Geophysical Framework

Contact: Ben Drenth, bdrenth@usgs.gov

Geophysical framework studies involve strategic planning of new, high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys throughout the region together with synthesis and modeling of existing geophysical data. Processing, interpretation, and integration of new data with existing data compiled across the international border will inform geological and metallogenic mapping and modeling throughout the region.

 

**Completed Activities**

**Tectonic and Metallogenic Evolution of the Eastern Yukon-Tanana upland, Alaska**

**Alaska/Yukon Geophysical/Geological Reconciliation of the Pericratonic Yukon-Tanana Terrane**

These two previous projects focused on the easternmost part of the Yukon-Tanana upland adjacent to the Alaska-Yukon border. This research involved integration of geological, metallogenic, and geophysical data in the Tanacross and Eagle quadrangles of eastern Alaska to address cross-border correlation of geologic units, litho-tectonic assemblages, and metallogenic domains.

### Yukon-Tanana Upland Study Area

### Contacts

#### Jamey Jones

##### Acting Earth MRI Coordinator and Associate Center Director for Geology

Alaska Science Center

jvjones@usgs.gov

907-786-7442

#### Douglas C Kreiner

##### Research Economic Geologist

Alaska Science Center

dkreiner@usgs.gov

907-786-7190

### Explore Search

                      - Mineral Resources
                      - Airborne Surveys
                      - Alaska Geology and Mineral Resources
                      - Economic Geology
                      - Geochronology
                      - Geologic Mapping
                      - Geologic Models
                      - Indicator Minerals
                      - Mineral Resources
                      - Ore Deposit Genesis
                      - Structural Geology
                      - Tectonics
                      - Undiscovered Resources
                      - Airborne Surveys
                      - Alaska Geology and Mineral Resources
                      - Critical Minerals
                      - Economic Geology
                      - Framework Studies
                      - Geochemical Data
                      - Geophysics
                      - Mineral Resource Formation
                      - Regional Assessment
                      - Geology
                      - Geology
                      - Regional Studies and Mineral Resources
                      - Information Systems
                      - Maps and Mapping
                      - Minerals
                      - Mineral Resources Program (MRP)

View All **

Below are data or web applications associated with this project.

August 16, 2023

####                 Central Alaska Cosmogenic Isotope Burial Age Data Collected 2020-2022              

Alaska Science Center

June 29, 2023

####                 U-Pb Ages, Hafnium Isotope Ratios, and Trace Element Concentrations by Laser-ablation Split Stream (LASS) Analysis of Igneous and Metamorphic Zircons from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Eastern Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

March 21, 2023

####                 Data for Uranium-Lead Geochronology, Carbon and Sulfur Stable Isotopes, and Raman Spectroscopy from Graphite Creek, Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

February 15, 2023

####                 U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from Southwestern Alaska and the Yukon-Tanana Upland and Environs of Eastern Interior Alaska and Eastern Yukon, Canada              

Alaska Science Center

February 13, 2023

####                 U-Pb Ages, Hafnium Isotope Ratios, and Trace Element Concentrations by Laser-Ablation Split Stream (LASS) Analysis of Igneous Zircons from the Western Alaska Range              

Alaska Science Center

January 24, 2023

####                 U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from northern Yukon, Canada              

Alaska Science Center

October 6, 2022

####                 Totatlanika River Terrace Luminescence Age Data Collected 2020-2022              

Alaska Science Center

August 1, 2022

####                 Whole Rock Major and Trace Element Chemistry for Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

July 8, 2022

####                 Charley River Cosmogenic Isotope Data Collected 2019-2021              

Alaska Science Center

July 1, 2022

####                 U-Pb zircon data for igneous units related to mineralization in the eastern Yukon-Tanana upland, eastern Alaska              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

May 20, 2022

####                 Zircon Trace Element Data for Igneous Units Related to Mineralization in the Eastern Yukon-Tanana Upland and nearby areas, Eastern Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

February 22, 2022

####                 Re-Os Geochronologic Data for Porphyry Deposits in the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Eastern Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

#### Pagination

-                Current page            1 
-                Page            2 
-  Next page›› 
-  Last pageLast » 

Below are publications associated with this project.

July 14, 2022

####                 Results of automated scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses of rock and stream sediment samples from the Taurus porphyry copper deposit area, Tanacross quadrangle, eastern Alaska              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

July 12, 2019

####                 Thermotectonic history of the Kluane Ranges and evolution of the eastern Denali Fault Zone in southwestern Yukon, Canada              

Exhumation and landscape evolution along strike‐slip fault systems reflect tectonic processes that accommodate and partition deformation in orogenic settings. We present 17 new apatite (U‐Th)/He (He), zircon He, apatite fission‐track (FT), and zircon FT dates from the eastern Denali fault zone (EDFZ) that bounds the Kluane Ranges in Yukon, Canada. The dates elucidate patterns of deformation along

Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program

December 20, 2017

####                 Alaska and Yukon magnetic compilation, residual total magnetic field              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

December 1, 2017

####                 Detrital zircon geochronology of quartzose metasedimentary rocks from parautochthonous North America, east-central Alaska              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

January 27, 2016

####                 Apatite fission-track evidence for regional exhumation in the subtropical Eocene, block faulting, and localized fluid flow in east-central Alaska              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Subduction Zone Science

May 13, 2015

####                 Mesozoic magmatism and timing of epigenetic Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization in the western Fortymile mining district, east-central Alaska: Zircon U-Pb geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry, and Pb isotopes              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

November 12, 2014

####                 The Late Cretaceous Middle Fork caldera, its resurgent intrusion, and enduring landscape stability in east-central Alaska              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

November 1, 2013

####                 Tackling “boundary faults” across the Alaska-Yukon border: a report from the field              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

April 1, 2013

####                 Geochemistry, petrography, and zircon U-Pb geochronology of Paleozoic metaigneous rocks in the Mount Veta area of east-central Alaska: implications for the evolution of the westernmost part of the Yukon-Tanana terrane              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

**Geological Survey of CanadaYukon Geological Survey**

#### The University of British Columbia

The Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern interior Alaska is a geologically complex block containing deposits of base-metal, platinum-group-element, and gold-silver-copper mineralization. It also hosts numerous mineral systems that are known or suspected to contain critical minerals.

**Return to Geology**

View Media Details

This multi-year study focuses on the geologic, metallogenic, and geophysical framework of the broader Yukon-Tanana upland in east-central Alaska. The project builds on a strong legacy of previous and recent USGS work in eastern Alaska and involves close collaboration with the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and Canadian counterparts in the Yukon Geological Survey and Geological Survey of Canada. The area of interest extends from the western Tanacross and Eagle quadrangles to the Fairbanks area. The area includes two producing gold mines, multiple mineral districts, and numerous deposits and prospects that are the focus of active mineral resource exploration. All known or suspected mineral systems in the region have the potential for associated critical mineral enrichments. This project coordinates with systematic geological mapping and geophysical surveys conducted by DGGS under the USGS Earth Mapping Resource Initiative so that we fully capitalize on all available resources and thoroughly characterize the tectonic, magmatic, structural, geochemical, isotopic, and metallogenic evolution of one of Alaska’s important mineral belts.

 

**Current Activities**

### Geologic Framework

Contact: James V. Jones III, jvjones@usgs.gov

Geologic framework studies involve regional geological mapping, bedrock exhumation and landscape evolution studies, and associated analytical work (for example, geochronology, thermochronology, petrology, geochemistry) across the entire Yukon-Tanana upland. Research includes igneous, metamorphic, structural, and thermochronologic studies. This work is integrated with geophysical and metallogenic tasks described below to provide comprehensive constraints on the tectonic evolution of the region and framework geological controls on its mineral endowment.

View Media Details

### Metallogenic Framework

Contact: Douglas C. Kreiner, dkreiner@usgs.gov 

Metallogenic framework studies involve delineation of prospective mineral systems across the region and geological mapping of key mineral occurrences and deposits in the study area.  Comprehensive analytical methods (for example, geochronology, geochemistry, radiogenic and stable isotopes) are combined with geological observations to characterize mineralization and to relate it to the geological context and tectonic environment(s) in which it formed.

### Exploration Geochemistry

Contact: Karen Kelley, kkelley@usgs.gov

Use of indicator mineral and hydrogeochemistry exploration techniques to explore for concealed or hidden mineral systems beneath the extensive alluvial/colluvial cover in the region. This research also involves placer gold fingerprinting studies to assess how distinct mineralogical, mineral chemistry, and geochemical signatures in sediment, placer gold (heavy mineral concentrates), and water reflect different deposit types in the upland.

 

### Geophysical Framework

Contact: Ben Drenth, bdrenth@usgs.gov

Geophysical framework studies involve strategic planning of new, high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys throughout the region together with synthesis and modeling of existing geophysical data. Processing, interpretation, and integration of new data with existing data compiled across the international border will inform geological and metallogenic mapping and modeling throughout the region.

 

**Completed Activities**

**Tectonic and Metallogenic Evolution of the Eastern Yukon-Tanana upland, Alaska**

**Alaska/Yukon Geophysical/Geological Reconciliation of the Pericratonic Yukon-Tanana Terrane**

These two previous projects focused on the easternmost part of the Yukon-Tanana upland adjacent to the Alaska-Yukon border. This research involved integration of geological, metallogenic, and geophysical data in the Tanacross and Eagle quadrangles of eastern Alaska to address cross-border correlation of geologic units, litho-tectonic assemblages, and metallogenic domains.

### Yukon-Tanana Upland Study Area

### Contacts

#### Jamey Jones

##### Acting Earth MRI Coordinator and Associate Center Director for Geology

Alaska Science Center

jvjones@usgs.gov

907-786-7442

#### Douglas C Kreiner

##### Research Economic Geologist

Alaska Science Center

dkreiner@usgs.gov

907-786-7190

### Explore Search

                      - Mineral Resources
                      - Airborne Surveys
                      - Alaska Geology and Mineral Resources
                      - Economic Geology
                      - Geochronology
                      - Geologic Mapping
                      - Geologic Models
                      - Indicator Minerals
                      - Mineral Resources
                      - Ore Deposit Genesis
                      - Structural Geology
                      - Tectonics
                      - Undiscovered Resources
                      - Airborne Surveys
                      - Alaska Geology and Mineral Resources
                      - Critical Minerals
                      - Economic Geology
                      - Framework Studies
                      - Geochemical Data
                      - Geophysics
                      - Mineral Resource Formation
                      - Regional Assessment
                      - Geology
                      - Geology
                      - Regional Studies and Mineral Resources
                      - Information Systems
                      - Maps and Mapping
                      - Minerals
                      - Mineral Resources Program (MRP)

View All **

Below are data or web applications associated with this project.

August 16, 2023

####                 Central Alaska Cosmogenic Isotope Burial Age Data Collected 2020-2022              

Alaska Science Center

June 29, 2023

####                 U-Pb Ages, Hafnium Isotope Ratios, and Trace Element Concentrations by Laser-ablation Split Stream (LASS) Analysis of Igneous and Metamorphic Zircons from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Eastern Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

March 21, 2023

####                 Data for Uranium-Lead Geochronology, Carbon and Sulfur Stable Isotopes, and Raman Spectroscopy from Graphite Creek, Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

February 15, 2023

####                 U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from Southwestern Alaska and the Yukon-Tanana Upland and Environs of Eastern Interior Alaska and Eastern Yukon, Canada              

Alaska Science Center

February 13, 2023

####                 U-Pb Ages, Hafnium Isotope Ratios, and Trace Element Concentrations by Laser-Ablation Split Stream (LASS) Analysis of Igneous Zircons from the Western Alaska Range              

Alaska Science Center

January 24, 2023

####                 U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from northern Yukon, Canada              

Alaska Science Center

October 6, 2022

####                 Totatlanika River Terrace Luminescence Age Data Collected 2020-2022              

Alaska Science Center

August 1, 2022

####                 Whole Rock Major and Trace Element Chemistry for Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

July 8, 2022

####                 Charley River Cosmogenic Isotope Data Collected 2019-2021              

Alaska Science Center

July 1, 2022

####                 U-Pb zircon data for igneous units related to mineralization in the eastern Yukon-Tanana upland, eastern Alaska              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

May 20, 2022

####                 Zircon Trace Element Data for Igneous Units Related to Mineralization in the Eastern Yukon-Tanana Upland and nearby areas, Eastern Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

February 22, 2022

####                 Re-Os Geochronologic Data for Porphyry Deposits in the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Eastern Alaska              

Alaska Science Center

#### Pagination

-                Current page            1 
-                Page            2 
-  Next page›› 
-  Last pageLast » 

Below are publications associated with this project.

July 14, 2022

####                 Results of automated scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses of rock and stream sediment samples from the Taurus porphyry copper deposit area, Tanacross quadrangle, eastern Alaska              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

July 12, 2019

####                 Thermotectonic history of the Kluane Ranges and evolution of the eastern Denali Fault Zone in southwestern Yukon, Canada              

Exhumation and landscape evolution along strike‐slip fault systems reflect tectonic processes that accommodate and partition deformation in orogenic settings. We present 17 new apatite (U‐Th)/He (He), zircon He, apatite fission‐track (FT), and zircon FT dates from the eastern Denali fault zone (EDFZ) that bounds the Kluane Ranges in Yukon, Canada. The dates elucidate patterns of deformation along

Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program

December 20, 2017

####                 Alaska and Yukon magnetic compilation, residual total magnetic field              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

December 1, 2017

####                 Detrital zircon geochronology of quartzose metasedimentary rocks from parautochthonous North America, east-central Alaska              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

January 27, 2016

####                 Apatite fission-track evidence for regional exhumation in the subtropical Eocene, block faulting, and localized fluid flow in east-central Alaska              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Subduction Zone Science

May 13, 2015

####                 Mesozoic magmatism and timing of epigenetic Pb-Zn-Ag mineralization in the western Fortymile mining district, east-central Alaska: Zircon U-Pb geochronology, whole-rock geochemistry, and Pb isotopes              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

November 12, 2014

####                 The Late Cretaceous Middle Fork caldera, its resurgent intrusion, and enduring landscape stability in east-central Alaska              

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Volcano Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

November 1, 2013

####                 Tackling “boundary faults” across the Alaska-Yukon border: a report from the field              

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

April 1, 2013

####                 Geochemistry, petrography, and zircon U-Pb geochronology of Paleozoic metaigneous rocks in the Mount Veta area of east-central Alaska: implications for the evolution of the westernmost part of the Yukon-Tanana terrane              

Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

**Geological Survey of CanadaYukon Geological Survey**

#### The University of British Columbia