Mèlange, Glaciers & Bears, Oh My!
That pretty much sums up recent field work along the Kenai Peninsula in southern Alaska, USA, where I spent 16 days in July with UT Austin colleague Mark Helper and former UT M.S. student Kory Kirchner. Our aim was a reconnaissance study of the Chugach accretionary complex, both along Turnagain Arm near Anchorage and along the southern Kenai Peninsula across Kachemak Bay from the town of Homer. The Chugach represents one of the longest along-strike exposures of a shallow accretionary wedge in the world and coastal and glacially polished exposures of cherts, greywackes, basalts and ultramafic rocks are superb. Check out the photos and captions below for some of the highlights!
The view of the Kachemak Mountains across the Bay from Homer Spit on Day 1
Folded cherts with bedding perpendicular fractures that predate folding
Getting ready for our first geology-by-kayak day
Low-angle fault slicing through argillites and grewackes of the McHugh Complex near Grewingk Glacier
A long kayak to the trailhead, then a long hike brought us to the tip of Grewingk Glacier with spectacular views and rocks.
The view from China Poot Peak, stiff climb, only to find all massive greywacke, but the view was worth it.
Coalition loop ‘trail’ overgrown with Devil’s Club
Right Beach Yurt, pretty swanky acommodations
Drone video of the Valdez Formation in Turnagain Arm
Folded cherts on Right Beach, Chugach Complex, Alaska
What an amazing place to work, those chevron folds are stunning! Interesting how the chert folds on Right Beach are so similar, in lithology and scale, to those seen in the Narooma Accretionary Complex on the other side of the world.