Fission-track evidence for apparent out-of-sequence Cenozoic deformation along the Philip Smith Mountain front, northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska

The northeastern Brooks Range (NEBR), bounded to the northwest by the Philip Smith Mountain front (PSMF), advanced northward from the east-trending main axis of the Brooks Range in Cenozoic time. The evolution of the PSMF is difficult to assess by conventional means because of a limited Cenozoic depositional record and poor exposures between the mountain front and the deformation front. 49 surface and 3 subsurface samples were collected along the northern flank of the PSMF to evaluate its thermal and tectonic history using apatite fission-track (AFT) data. Time–temperature modelling of the AFT data indicate that rocks exposed along the PSMF experienced maximum paleotemperatures in Late Cretaceous to Paleocene time and subsequently cooled during three episodes of km-scale denudation, at ∼60, ∼46, and ∼35 Ma. Apparent out-of-sequence deformation is indicated because successively younger ages are recorded to the southeast, approaching the range front from the foreland. This may reflect a hindward-propagating thrust sequence or apparent out-of-sequence deformation above a forward-propagating basal detachment due either to successive drops in the basal detachment or to deformation within the wedge. These results highlight the usefulness of fission-track data in revealing the age and distribution of tectonically driven unroofing and associated structural boundaries, particularly where they are otherwise difficult to recognize.