Nature and timing of movement on Hines Creek strand of Denali fault system, Alaska

Abstract

The Hines Creek strand of the Denali fault system in the central Alaska Range juxtaposes continental basement rocks on the north with younger Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks more characteristic of an oceanic environment on the south. A pluton that intrudes the Hines Creek strand has a 95-m.y. cooling age indicated by K-Ar dating and establishes a maximum age for strata that overlie the pluton unconformably. The Hines Creek fault may have been the locus of major strike-slip movement prior to 95 m.y. ago. Subsequently, strike-slip movement along the Denali system has taken place on the McKinley strand 32 km to the south.