Geology topics

David A. Brew

Publications and source records attributed to David A. Brew.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2014

Geochronology of plutonic rocks and their tectonic terranes in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, southeast Alaska

We have identified six major belts and two nonbelt occurrences of plutonic rocks in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve and characterized them on the basis of geologic mapping, igneous petrology, geochemistry, and isotopic dating. The six plutonic belts and two other occurrences are, from oldest to youngest: (1) Jurassic (201.6–145.5 Ma) diorite and gabbro of the Lituya belt; (2) Late Jurassic (161.0–145.5 Ma) leucotonalite in Johns Hopkins Inlet; (3) Early Cretaceous (145.5–99.6 Ma) granodiorite and tonalite of the Muir-Chichagof belt; (4) Paleocene tonalite in Johns Hopkins Inlet (65.5–55.8 Ma); (5) Eocene granodiorite of the Sanak-Baranof belt; (6) Eocene and Oligocene (55.8–23.0 Ma) granodiorite, quartz diorite, and granite of the Muir-Fairweather felsic-intermediate belt; (7) Eocene and Oligocene (55.8–23.0 Ma) layered gabbros of the Crillon-La Perouse mafic belt; and (8) Oligocene (33.9–23.0 Ma) quartz monzonite and quartz syenite of the Tkope belt. The rocks are further classified into 17 different combination age-compositional units; some younger belts are superimposed on older ones. Almost all these plutonic rocks are related to Cretaceous and Tertiary subduction events. The six major plutonic belts intrude the three southeast Alaska geographic subregions in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, from west to east: (1) the Coastal Islands, (2) the Tarr Inlet Suture Zone (which contains the Border Ranges Fault Zone), and (3) the Central Alexander Archipelago. Each subregion includes rocks assigned to one or more tectonic terranes. The various plutonic belts intrude different terranes in different subregions. In general, the Early Cretaceous plutons intrude rocks of the Alexander and Wrangellia terranes in the Central Alexander Archipelago subregion, and the Paleogene plutons intrude rocks of the Chugach, Alexander, and Wrangellia terranes in the Coastal Islands, Tarr Inlet Suture Zone, and Central Alexander Archipelago subregions.

Alaska↗

USGS2009

Geologic Map of the Atlin Quadrangle, Southeastern Alaska

This map presents the results of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) geologic bedrock mapping studies in the mostly glacier covered Atlin 1:250,000-scale quadrangle, northern southeastern Alaska. These studies are part of a long-term systematic effort by the USGS to provide bedrock geologic and mineral-resource information for all of southeastern Alaska, covering all of the Tongass National Forest (including Wilderness Areas) and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Some contributions to this effort are those concerned with southwesternmost part of the region, the Craig and Dixon Entrance quadrangles (Brew, 1994; 1996) and with the Wrangell-Petersburg area (Brew, 1997a-m; Brew and Grybeck, 1997; Brew and Koch, 1997). As shown on the index map (fig. 1), the study area is almost entirely in the northern Coast Mountains adjacent to British Columbia, Canada. No previous geologic map has been published for the area, although Brew and Ford (1985) included a small part of it in a preliminary compilation of the adjoining Juneau quadrangle; and Brew and others (1991a) showed the geology at 1:500,000 scale. Areas mapped nearby in British Columbia and the United States are also shown on figure 1. All of the map area is in the Coast Mountains Complex as defined by Brew and others (1995a). A comprehensive bibliography is available for this and adjacent areas (Brew, 1997n).

Scientific Investigations Map↗

USGS2008

Delineation of landform and lithologic units for Ecological Landtype-Association analysis in Glacier Bay National Park, Southeast Alaska

Landform and generalized bedrock lithologic units have been delineated for ecological landtype association analysis in Glacier Bay National Park in southeast Alaska (as the Park boundaries were defined before the 1971 Alaska National Interest Lands expansion). Related U.S. Forest Service efforts have covered (1) the whole region at coarse ecological- unit scale, including domains, divisions, provinces, sections, and subsections; and (2) small parts the region at subsection scale. These small parts are generally forest-covered shoreline to timberline areas with relatively subdued topography, extensive bedrock exposures, and no active glaciers. The detailed studies established that the combination of landform and bedrock-lithologic information was a good indicator of ecosystem productivity and types of plant communities. This study of Glacier Bay National Park covers areas similar to those of the detailed studies but also includes a large proportion of high (15,300 feet), glacier-clad alpine terrain and large, active-valley glacier systems. This terrain reflects (1) the orographic and microclimatic effects associated with the high-altitude barrier that is the Fairweather Range part of the St. Elias Mountains and its rapidly retreating glaciers, and (2) the geologic, tectonic, and erosional history of this range. In this study, landforms were classified-by using topographic maps and personal experience-into eight categories similar to those used by the U.S. Forest Service. The 90 bedrock-lithologic units on the current Glacier Bay geologic map were classified into 13 generalized lithologic units corresponding exactly to those used by the U.S. Forest Service. Incomplete storm-track, storm-intensity, and limited climatic information have also been compiled.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2005

Thermobarometric constraints on mid-Cretaceous to late Cretaceous metamorphic events in the western metamorphic belt of the Coast Mountains complex near Petersburg, southeastern Alaska

The western metamorphic belt is part of the Coast Mountains Complex of southeastern Alaska and western Canada. This complex formed as a result of mid-Cretaceous through middle Eocene crustal shortening between the previously amalgamated Wrangellia and Alexander terranes (Insular superterrane) and previously accreted terranes of the North American continental margin (Intermontane superterrane). The western metamorphic belt, which ranges from a few kilometers to several tens of kilometers in width, records a complex sequence of contact-metamorphic and regional metamorphic events, the most significant of which are designated M1R, M2C-R, and M3R. The M1R regional metamorphic event ranged in grade from subgreenschist to greenschist facies and was overprinted by the M2C-R and M3R metamorphic events. The M2C-R metamorphic event is recorded in discrete contact-metamorphic aureoles and regional metamorphic-mineral assemblages related to tonalite-granodiorite plutons of the Admiralty-Revillagigedo plutonic belt. The M3R metamorphic belt, which is adjacent to the M2C-R belt, is characterized by regional Barrovian isograds of garnet, staurolite, kyanite, and sillimanite. Using the THERMOCALC program, pressure-temperature (P-T) conditions for the M2C-R metamorphic event are estimated to be in the ranges 5.3-7.5 kbars and 525-640 deg.C and for the M3R metamorphic event in the ranges 9.4-12.6 kbars and 730-895 deg.C. The M2C-R metamorphic event occurred at approximately 90 Ma, but the timing of the M3R metamorphic event is poorly documented and uncertain. On the basis of an 40Ar/39Ar age on actinolitic amphibole and a Sm-Nd age on garnet core, the timing of metamorphism might be constrained between 90+/-1 and 80+/-9 Ma, although the Sm-Nd age of 80+/-9 m.y. possibly reflects postpeak growth. Thermobarometric data suggest that the two events occurred at different crustal levels and followed different P-T paths. No evidence exists that M2C-R metamorphic-mineral assemblages were overprinted by the M3R metamorphic event, as proposed by some workers. Juxtaposition of the two belts of rocks probably occurred along the Coast shear zone during uplift and exhumation of the Coast Mountains.

Professional Paper↗

USGS2001