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Wirth et al. 1993
Wirth, K.R., Bird, J.M., Blythe, A.E., Harding, D.J. and Heizler, M.T. (1993). Age and evolution of western Brooks Range ophiolites, Alaska: Results from 40/39Ar thermochronometry. Tectonics 12. doi: 10.1029/92TC02640. issn: 0278-7407.

Basalt, gabbro, and periodotite in the western Brooks Range structurally overlie Mississippian through Late Jurassic platform sediments that were deformed during Late Jurassic-Cretaceous time. 40Ar/39Ar step-heating experiments on hornblende, biotite, plagioclase, and potassium feldspar from gabbro, diorite, plagiogranite, and granite yielded complex release spectra. On isotope correlation diagrams, the incremental-heating data indicate that gabbro, diorite, and plagiogranite cooled below the closure-temperaure for argon in amphibole between 187 and 184 Ma. Because the closure temperature of argon retention in amphibole is relatively high, these ages are interpreted to be the time since crystallization. Biotite and hornblende from metamorphic rock exposed along faults separating peridotite and gabbro from underlying basalt yielded plateau and isochron dates of 169-163 Ma; these dates are interpreted to record postmetamorphic cooling foolowing intraoceanic detachment and transport of ''hot'' peridotite and gabbro over ''cold'' basalt and sediment. Detachment and faulting of the gabbros and peridotites is interpreted to have occured approximately 20 Ma after crystallization, and is longer than the 5-10 interval commonly observed in studies of other ophiolites. Fossils in flysch underlying the ophiolites indicate the the ophiolites were emplaced onto the continental margin during the Tithonian, approximately 15-20 Ma after initial detachment. The ages of feldspars (149-137 Ma) in the ophiolites and associated volcanic rocks are similar to the fossil ages of the underlying flysch and might record uplift during emplacement of the ophiolites onto the continental margin. A fission-track age of apatite implies that the ophilitic rocks were overlain by >4 km of rock until ~59 Ma ago, the time of regional uplift in the Brooks Range. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993

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Abstract

Keywords
Tectonophysics, Plate boundary—general, Information Related to Geographic Region, North America, Geochemistry, Geochronology
Journal
Tectonics
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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