Cenozoic syntectonic sedimentation and strike-slip basin development along the Denali fault system, Yukon Territory

This is a multidisciplinary study which combines sedimentology and sedimentary petrology, palynology, organic petrology and structural analysis of the middle Cenozoic Amphitheatre Formation in the St. Elias Mountains, and documents syntectonic deposition in strike-slip basins along the Denali fault system. The outcrops of the Amphitheatre Formation can be divided into two discrete basins:: the northern Burwash basin and the southern Bates Lake basin. Sedimentological analysis of the Burwash basin identified fault-controlled depocentres which allowed the development of several different types of non-marine depositional environments in close proximity. Palynology and organic petrology data indicate that the Amphitheatre Formation is diachronous and spans the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. Light-mineral provenance studies of sandstones, clast-counts in conglomerates and paleocurrent analyses suggest that the Wrangellia and Yukon Crystalline Terranes were sources for the Amphitheatre Formation in the Burwash basin. In contrast, preliminary work suggests that Wrangellia and possibly the Gravina-Nutzotin Terrane may have been important sources for the Amphitheatre Formation in the Bates…

Publisher

Government of Yukon

Resources

3

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-08-26