40Ar/39Ar data from rocks collected in the 2015 Wrangellia mineral assessment project area, Mount Hayes A-5, Mount Hayes B-6, and Talkeetna Mountains D-2 quadrangles, Alaska

Abstract

This report presents 40Ar/39Ar step-heating geochronology results for igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys' (DGGS) Wrangellia Mineral Assessment project, part of a multi-year effort focusing on improving the publicly available geoscientific information for the western Wrangellia terrane. The samples described in this report were selected and analyzed to improve our understanding of the geology and structural history of the Wrangellia Mineral Assessment project area. A metagabbro rock sample returned a Late Triassic crystallization age consistent with regional ages for Nikolai Greenstone-related magmatism; however, the two amphibole separates ages do not overlap, and have larger errors than expected due to alteration. An Early Cretaceous age obtained on a syenogranite pluton could correspond to similar ages of an Early Cretaceous porphyry event within the Grubstake Cu-Au porphyry system, Slana Region. Finally, we obtained Oligocene ages for a dacitic dike and a schist; the schist age constrains the timing of displacement on a thrust fault in the area. Analyses were performed by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Geochronology Laboratory, and results were reported by Jeff Benowitz and Paul Layer. Products included in this data release are a summary of sample collection methods, the laboratory report, analytical data tables and associated metadata, and plots of the 40Ar/39Ar age spectra and Ca/K and Cl/K ratios.