Paleogene sequence on the Alaska Peninsula

Paleogene strata are exposed nearly the entire length of the Alaska Peninsula. They include continental and marine volcaniclastic rocks and a thick volcanic sequence. The strata are divided into the Tolstoi, Stepovak, Meshik, and Belkofski (in part) Formations in the southern part of the peninsula, and into the nonmarine clastic West Foreland Formation and the Hemlock Conglomerate in the northern part. The Tolstoi Formation (Paleocene and Eocene), 670-1380 m thick, consists mainly of continental quartz- and chert-rich sandstone and conglomerate, siltstone, and coal. Volcanic clasts and tuffaceous detritus increase in abundance upward. Neritic strata are present as interbeds in the type area. The formation overlies, with a major unconformity, strata ranging in age from Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous. Partly coeval strata at the north end of the peninsula (West Foreland Formation) are mainly volcanic sandstone and conglomerate. The Stepovak Formation, 1800-2000 m thick, represents two contrasting depositional environments - a lower dark siltstone and sandstone turbidite, about 975 m thick, and a shallow neritic sandstone and siltstone, rich in volcanic material, about 1000 m thick. Locally, the upper part is deltaic sandstone, siltstone, and coal. An abundant metafauna of Eocene and Oligocene age is found in the neritic deposits.more » A thick coeval volcanic unit, the Meshik Formation, is present in the central part of the peninsula. Andesitic to basaltic lava, breccia, tuff, and lahars, as much as 1500 m thick, have been K-Ar dated at 27-38 m.y. Similar rocks with interbedded sediment at the end of the peninsula are included with the Belkofski Formation.« less