Late Quaternary depositional history of Alaskan Beaufort Shelf

Conference · Mon Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6455608

Dinter, D

Diverse nonmarine and shallow marine deposits blanketing the coastal plain and continental shelf of northern Alaska are known collectively as the Gubik Formation. In the Beaufort coastal region between Barrow and Prudhoe Bay and along the Chukchi coastline southwest of Barrow, five distinct marine subunits have been recognized with the Gubik, ranging in age from middle Pliocene to late Pleistocene. A sixth pre-Holocene transgressive marine subunit, about a meter thick and bearing abundant ice-striated dropstones that originated in the Canadian Arctic Islands, is present along much of the Alaskan Beaufort coast. The aggregate thickness of the Gubik Formation on the coastal plain is no more than a few tens of meters. Offshore beneath the Beaufort shelf, however, the Gugik Formation is locally thicker than 100 m and includes not only deposits that probably correlate with those mapped onshore but also subunits of intermediate and younger ages. These have been studied mainly through the interpretation of a network of high-resolution seismic reflection profiles that covers most the Alaskan Beaufort shelf at 18 to 35-km intervals seaward of the 25-m isobath.

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA
• OSTI ID: 6455608
• Report Number(s): CONF-8505215-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Journal Volume: 69:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ALASKA
ARCTIC OCEAN
BEAUFORT SEA
CENOZOIC ERA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
CONTINENTAL SHELF
DEPOSITION
FEDERAL REGION X
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGY
NORTH AMERICA
OFFSHORE SITES
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
QUATERNARY PERIOD
ROCKS
SEAS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SURFACE WATERS
USA