Variations in Lithospheric Thickness Across the Denali Fault and in Northern Alaska

Abstract

AbstractWhile variations in crustal structure beneath the Denali fault in Alaska are well‐documented, the existence of fault‐correlated structures throughout the entire thickness of the continental lithosphere is not. A new model of shear‐wave velocity structure obtained through joint inversion of surface wave and converted body wave data shows a northward increase in lithospheric thickness and velocity occurring across the Denali fault system. In northern Alaska, a dramatic increase in lithospheric thickness at the southern margin of the Arctic‐Alaska terrane lies in the vicinity of the Kobuk fault system. These correlations support the view that transpressive deformation tends to localize at the margins of thicker, higher‐strength lithosphere.