Mineralogy, Ar-40/Ar-39 dating and apatite fission track dating of rocks along the Castle Mountain fault, Alaska

The Castle Mountain fault is a 200-km-long, right-lateral fault that forms the northern boundary of the Cook Inlet basin and Matanuska Valley, Alaska. Fault gouge and fault rock at six localities contain the clay minerals ill ite, smectite, chlorite, and interstratified illite/smectite. At one locali ty, gouge contains deformed illite/smectite with very little wall rock chlo rite contamination. Fine (<0.03 mum), medium (0.03-0.2 mum), and coarse (0. 2-2.0 mum) illite/smectite from this site were dated using Ar-40/Ar-39 micr o-encapsulation and laser microprobe methods. Total gas ages for the three size fractions are 28.21 +/- 0.12, 32.42 +/- 0.11 and 36.24 +/- 0.08 Ma for fine to coarse sizes respectively. Argon retention ages obtained from Ar-4 0 and Ar-39 retained in the three size fractions of illite at room temperat ure during neutron irradiation are 37.36 +/- 0.15, 42.11 +/- 0.14 and 47.20 +/- 0.10 respectively. Apatite fission track ages were measured in arkose at a locality on the fau lt 60 km west of the gouge locality. Three samples of arkose were dated: on e within 10 rn of the fault core, one 170 m from the fault, and one 335 rn from the fault. The sample nearest to the fault yielded an age of 29.3 +/- 2.8 Ma, but it only had four track lengths at 10-13 mum. Two apatite grains from the intermediate sample yielded a pooled age of 34.3 +/- 6.1 Ma. The distant sample (25 grains counted, 101 track lengths) yielded an age of 32. 0 +/- 2.9 Ma. This sample has a broad distribution of track lengths and a b road distribution of individual grain ages ranging from 14.8 +/- 5.1 to 67. 8 +/- 8.8 Ma. Monte Carlo modeling of the apatite age and track length data is consistent with hydrothermal. mineralization at 37-39 Ma followed by ra pid uplift and cooling after 10 Ma. The Ar-40/Ar-39 total g-as ages (=K-Ar) are minimum ages, and the argon ret ention ages are maximum ages. The thermal model derived from the fission tr ack data, and the argon retention age for the finest illite fraction of sim ilar to 37 Ma date a hydrothermal mineralization event on the fault. (C) 20 01 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.