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nmive b d t and minor ulttamafic rocks. The ultramalic rocks are an ollvine and clinapyroxene-rich differentiate of gabbro. Posibly as much as 80 to 90 percent bf the exposed rock is Igneous, and so the amount of sedimentary rock present in the Rampart Group is very small. Pillow basalt in the Rampart Group ls also rare, althougb weU-developed pillows were observed at several places (pb, fig. 24). The relations of the basalt to nearby red argillite and chert could not be established. The Rampart Croup, including the voluminous rnafic intrusive rocks, structurally overlies undated mica schist, marble, end metachert of the Ruby terrane, as suggested by Patton and others (1977). The contact between these two assemblages is interp~ted as a nearly flat fault, marked by an extensive zone of mylonite, above which the lower part of the Rampart Croup is intensely sheered and disrupted. None of the mafic Intrusive rocks that cut the Rampart Group occur in the metamorphic rocks of the Ruby terrane beneath this basal fault, and so faulting clearly postdetes intrusion of the mafic rocks. Chert sampled from the Rampart Group occurs in three Lithic associations (fig. 24; table 6): (1) Red and black chert and red argillite without volcaniclastic rockg In which the chert is Late Mississippian to Early Pennsylvanityd?) (locs. 2, 4, 5, 6, fig, 24); (2) red chert, red ~gilute, find green to gray tuff and volcaniclastie graywacke, In which the chert is Pennsylvanian(?) to Permian (fig. 24, locs. 1, 3, 7); and (3) finewed gmywacke, argillite, and minor chert, undated (fig. 24, loc. 8). In addltfon to these occurrences, loose blocks of red and green chert, as much as 0.5 m long, occur along the north bank of the Yukon River near Point No Point (lot. 12, fig. 24); these blocks contain wdpreserved Late Triassic radiol&ans. The source of the blocks has not yet been determined. MESOZOIC FLYSCH BELT A complexly deformed assemblage of graywacke, quartzite, argillite, and minor conglomerate forms an extensive belt trending more then 200 km northeast from the Tanana River (fig. 24). Although hte Mesosoic fossils have long been known from this belt near Quail Creek in the Rampart distrbt, radiolarim chert had not previously been reported from these pre- dominantly clastic rocks. During our reconnalssance studies, two exposures of radiolarim chert of Late Triassic age were discovered. Locality 10 (fig. 24) consbts of several tens of meters of black chert inter- bedded(?) with black siltstone and graywacke, and locality 11 (fig. 24) is a small rubbly exposure of chert In a fault zone separating vitreous quartzite from graywauke. In addition, chert clasts h conglomerate at loeallty 9 (fig. 24) yielded Late Triassla radio- larlans. CONCLUSIONS Sedimentary rocks of the Rampart Group are dominantly deep water chert, argillite, andesitic volcaniclastlc rocks, and very mlnor tuffaceous bio- clastic limeslone. Dated rocks range in age from Late Mksissippian to Perminn, and float blocks suggest the presence of Upper Triassic strata. The volcaniclastic rocks appear to be mainly Permien. All these sedi- mentary rock are Intruded by large sill-like bodles of rnafic igneous rock, apparently largely sills, of probable latest 'hiastic age that may be feeders to scarce piUow flows. None of these rocks appears to be genetically related to ophiolite, And the presence of oceanic crust within the Rampart Group in the Rarn- part district is unsllbstmtiated. The Rampart Group structurally overlies rnelaroorphosed sedimentary and igneous rock of the Ruby terrane along a major thrust Table 6.--Ages of radiolarlans from chert local itlcs in the Rampart district Chert locality F1 (fig. 241 eld M. Age Remarks 4 81-JTN-37 Late Misstsslppt an to Rampart Group Lower Pennsylvanl an. (nonvolcdnic 6 HI-JTN-40 do. assemhl age). - 2 81-Ach-5A do. 5 79-Ach-89 do. 7 81-JTN-3 Pennsylvanian to Permian--- Rampart Group 1 81-JTN-23 do. (volcaniclastic 1 $1-JTN-24 Pennl'an -assemblage). . 1 81-JTN-25 do. 3 81-JTH-27 (lo. 8 81-jf&13 Unknown-------------------- Rampart Groap (graywecke-argill i te assemblage). 12 81-~~~-10 ate Tritrslc-------------- Float, presunably from the Rampart Group but source unknown. LO 81-JTH-18 Late TrYarslc-------------- Mesozoic tlysch belt 11 131-51-1-19 do. (clasts in conglanerate). 9 81-JTN-26 do.

fault, and Its depositional basement is absent. Radio- larlan chert, structurally asociated wlth graywacke and argillite of the Mesozotc flysch belt south of Ram- part, is Triassic; its presence may indicate that clastfc sedimentation withln this belt commenced much earlier than hitherto suspected, although .definite depositional relations of the ohert and elastic rocks are not yet proved. REPEREN CES CVED Brosg6,~. P., Lanphere, M. A., ReReiser, H. N., md Chapman, R M., 1869, Probable Permian age of the Rampart group, central Alaska: U.S. Geo- logical Survey Bulletin 1294-B, p. B1-818. Bberlein, a. D., Gassaway, J. S., and Beikrnen, LI. M, compUers, 1977, Pwlirnlnary geologic map of central Alaskaz US. Geological Survey Open- File Report 77-168-A, scale 1;1,000,000. 1 Mertie, J. B., Jr., 1957, The Yukon-Tanana region, I Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 872, 276 P. Patton, W. W., Jr., Tailleur, I. L., BrosgC, W. P., and Lanphere, M. A., 1977, Preliminary report on the ! ophlolltes of northern and western Alaska, & 1 Coleman, R G., and Irwin, W. P., eds., North American ophiolites: Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries Bulletin 95, p. 51- I Isotapic evidence h m &Ma1 zimzona for Early Pmte~ic cntgCal matadal, eastcentral Ahska By Job N. Alehikoff, Helen 1. Foster, Warren J. NokIebeg, and Cynthia r)rreel-Batwra The ages of metarnorphio r6cks in east+entral AIaska, especially in the Yukon-Tanma Upland, have been the subject of much conjecture for many years. MertIe (1937) concluded, on the bash of now-dlsproven stratigraphic relations, that all the crystalline schist with sedimentary protoliths (Birch Creek Schist of former usage) is Precambrian. Although the sedlmentary history of those rocks has yet to be.complete- $ deciphered, there has been some progress both in determining the we of the parent material (provenance) and in bracketing the subsequent age(s) of metamorphism. 'his study (area 2, fig. 23) reports new isotopic analyses of detrital zircona that show evidence for Early Proteroeolc sources of the sediment composing rocks in and adjacent to the UpMd. Zircons were extracted from four distinct qumtzite units in three quadrangles, the Circle, Blg DeAta and Mount Hyes (fig. '251, encomg&ssing an area of about 18,500 km , or approximately a fourth of the total area of the Upland. The zlrcon separates contain rounded, pitted, and frosted grains that are unequivocally detrital. Within each separate ere several digtinct populations, distinguishable primarily by color and shape. Because sedi~nentary rocks commonly are composed of material derived from several sources, it is llkely that these sepmates contain zircons of different ages. We have endeavored to obtain, by careful handpicking, small samples Oess than 5 mg) that probably are composed of zircons from a aingle source and thus, within eech group, are of the same age. 65' . 810 DELTA Figure 25.--Sketch map showing sample locallties and numbem In the Circle, Big Delta, and Mount Hayes quadrangle., Aleska. Table 7 Zists sample data. Sample 80AFr 253 (table 7) is a weakly foliated grit characterized .by rounded silt- to sand+ize quartz grains In a sericitic matrix., Rocks of this type are found Ln the eastern and western Crazy Mountains and In the northwestern part of the Circle quadrangle on both sides of the Tintina fault zone, where they are interbedded locally with green and meroon @Ute. the grlt Is tentatively considered to be Cambrian(?{ because of the occurrence of the trace fosil Oldhamia (Churkln and Brebb, 1985). Sample 80APr 255, from a strongly follated w tzite and schist unlt, L composed of flne-gralned quartz, minor biotite, and rn uscovite containing scattered large (2-5 mrn) gray, blue, and whlte quartz grains. This quartzltic unit, which ranges from greenschiat- to epidote-amphlbolite facies, is extensive in the central part of the Circle quadrangle south of the Tlnth fault zone. Although these rocks could be higher grade equivalents of grits almllar to sample BOAR 253, the foliated quartzites have a more complex deformational and metamorphic history than the grit. Sample 79AFr 2017, from the southeatern' pert of the Big Delte quadrangle, is a foliated gray quartzite lnterbedded with qntutz-mica schist and con- tainlng minor muscovite, biotite, and garnet. This rock tentatively has been interpreted as a wallrock for a Large orthoau en gneiss body of Rarly Mississippian (350 m.y.1 age fueinikolf and others, 1BBI). Sample BDAAP 057A Is a well-foliated pinkish qumtzite con- taining minor muscovite end garnet, collected in the central part of the Mount Hayes quadrangle north of the Hlnes Creek strand of the Den& feult. Within the largest size fraction of three of the samples (80AFr 255 excepted), two zlrcon populations

nmive b d t and minor ulttamafic rocks. The<br />

ultramalic rocks are an ollvine and clinapyroxene-rich<br />

differentiate <strong>of</strong> gabbro. Posibly as much as 80 to 90<br />

percent bf the exposed rock is Igneous, and so the<br />

amount <strong>of</strong> sedimentary rock present in the Rampart<br />

Group is very small. Pillow basalt in the Rampart<br />

Group ls also rare, althougb weU-developed pillows<br />

were observed at several places (pb, fig. 24). The<br />

relations <strong>of</strong> the basalt to nearby red argillite and chert<br />

could not be established.<br />

The Rampart Croup, including the voluminous<br />

rnafic intrusive rocks, structurally overlies undated<br />

mica schist, marble, end metachert <strong>of</strong> the Ruby<br />

terrane, as suggested by Patton and others (1977). The<br />

contact between these two assemblages is interp~ted<br />

as a nearly flat fault, marked by an extensive zone <strong>of</strong><br />

mylonite, above which the lower part <strong>of</strong> the Rampart<br />

Croup is intensely sheered and disrupted. None <strong>of</strong> the<br />

mafic Intrusive rocks that cut the Rampart Group<br />

occur in the metamorphic rocks <strong>of</strong> the Ruby terrane<br />

beneath this basal fault, and so faulting clearly postdetes<br />

intrusion <strong>of</strong> the mafic rocks.<br />

Chert sampled from the Rampart Group occurs<br />

in three Lithic associations (fig. 24; table 6): (1) Red<br />

and black chert and red argillite without volcaniclastic<br />

rockg In which the chert is Late Mississippian to Early<br />

Pennsylvanityd?) (locs. 2, 4, 5, 6, fig, 24); (2) red chert,<br />

red ~gilute, find green to gray tuff and volcaniclastie<br />

graywacke, In which the chert is Pennsylvanian(?) to<br />

Permian (fig. 24, locs. 1, 3, 7); and (3) finewed<br />

gmywacke, argillite, and minor chert, undated (fig. 24,<br />

loc. 8).<br />

In addltfon to these occurrences, loose blocks <strong>of</strong><br />

red and green chert, as much as 0.5 m long, occur<br />

along the north bank <strong>of</strong> the Yukon River near Point No<br />

Point (lot. 12, fig. 24); these blocks contain wdpreserved<br />

Late Triassic radiol&ans. The source <strong>of</strong><br />

the blocks has not yet been determined.<br />

MESOZOIC FLYSCH BELT<br />

A complexly deformed assemblage <strong>of</strong> graywacke,<br />

quartzite, argillite, and minor conglomerate forms an<br />

extensive belt trending more then 200 km northeast<br />

from the Tanana River (fig. 24). Although hte<br />

Mesosoic fossils have long been known from this belt<br />

near Quail Creek in the Rampart distrbt, radiolarim<br />

chert had not previously been reported from these pre-<br />

dominantly clastic rocks. During our reconnalssance<br />

studies, two exposures <strong>of</strong> radiolarim chert <strong>of</strong> Late<br />

Triassic age were discovered. Locality 10 (fig. 24)<br />

consbts <strong>of</strong> several tens <strong>of</strong> meters <strong>of</strong> black chert inter-<br />

bedded(?) with black siltstone and graywacke, and<br />

locality 11 (fig. 24) is a small rubbly exposure <strong>of</strong> chert<br />

In a fault zone separating vitreous quartzite from<br />

graywauke. In addition, chert clasts h conglomerate<br />

at loeallty 9 (fig. 24) yielded Late Triassla radio-<br />

larlans.<br />

CONCLUSIONS<br />

Sedimentary rocks <strong>of</strong> the Rampart Group are<br />

dominantly deep water chert, argillite, andesitic<br />

volcaniclastlc rocks, and very mlnor tuffaceous bio-<br />

clastic limeslone. Dated rocks range in age from Late<br />

Mksissippian to Perminn, and float blocks suggest the<br />

presence <strong>of</strong> Upper Triassic strata. The volcaniclastic<br />

rocks appear to be mainly Permien. All these sedi-<br />

mentary rock are Intruded by large sill-like bodles <strong>of</strong><br />

rnafic igneous rock, apparently largely sills, <strong>of</strong><br />

probable latest 'hiastic age that may be feeders to<br />

scarce piUow flows. None <strong>of</strong> these rocks appears to be<br />

genetically related to ophiolite, And the presence <strong>of</strong><br />

oceanic crust within the Rampart Group in the Rarn-<br />

part district is unsllbstmtiated. The Rampart Group<br />

structurally overlies rnelaroorphosed sedimentary and<br />

igneous rock <strong>of</strong> the Ruby terrane along a major thrust<br />

Table 6.--Ages <strong>of</strong> radiolarlans from chert local itlcs in the Rampart district<br />

Chert locality F1<br />

(fig. 241<br />

eld M. Age Remarks<br />

4 81-JTN-37 Late Misstsslppt an to Rampart Group<br />

Lower Pennsylvanl an. (nonvolcdnic<br />

6 HI-JTN-40 do. assemhl age). -<br />

2 81-Ach-5A do.<br />

5 79-Ach-89 do.<br />

7 81-JTN-3 Pennsylvanian to Permian--- Rampart Group<br />

1 81-JTN-23 do. (volcaniclastic<br />

1 $1-JTN-24 Pennl'an -assemblage). .<br />

1 81-JTN-25 do.<br />

3 81-JTH-27 (lo.<br />

8 81-jf&13 Unknown-------------------- Rampart Groap<br />

(graywecke-argill i te<br />

assemblage).<br />

12 81-~~~-10 ate Tritrslc-------------- Float, presunably from<br />

the Rampart Group but<br />

source unknown.<br />

LO 81-JTH-18 Late TrYarslc-------------- Mesozoic tlysch belt<br />

11 131-51-1-19 do. (clasts in conglanerate).<br />

9 81-JTN-26 do.

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