Regional Crustal and Lithospheric Thickness Model for Alaska, the
Chukchi Shelf, and the Inner and Outer Bering Shelves
Abstract
We present an integrated image of the lithosphere of Alaska and its
western Chukchi and Bering seas shelves based on joint modeling of
potential field data constrained by thermal analysis and seismic data.
We also perform 3D forward modelling and inversion of Bouguer anomalies
to analyze crustal density heterogeneities. The obtained crustal model
shows NW regional thickening (32 to 36 km), with localized trends of
thicker crust in the Brooks Range (40 km) and in the Alaska and St.
Elias ranges (50 km). Offshore, 28–30 km thick crust is obtained near
the Bearing slope break and 36–38 km in the northern Chukchi Shelf. In
interior Alaska, the crustal thickness changes abruptly across the
Denali fault, from 34-36 to the N to above 30 km to the S, that agrees
with the presence of a crustal tectonic buttress guiding block motion W
and S to the subduction zone. The average crustal density is 2810
kg∙m-3. Denser crust (2910 kg∙m-3) is found S of the Denali Fault
related to the oceanic nature of the Wrangellia Composite Terrane rocks.
Offshore, less dense crust (< 2800 kg∙m-3) is found along the
basins of the Chukchi and Beaufort shelves. At LAB levels, there is a
regional SE–NW trend that coincides with the Pacific plate motion, with
a lithospheric root beneath the Brooks Range, Northern Slope, and
Chuckchi Sea, that may be a relic of the Chukotka-Artic Alaska
microplate. The lithospheric root (> 180 km) agrees with
the presence of a boundary of cold, strong lithosphere that deflects the
strain to the south. South of the Denali Fault the LAB topography is
quite complex. East of 150 °W, below Wrangellia and the eastern side of
Chugach terranes, the LAB is much shallower than it is west of this
meridian. The NW trending limit separating thinner lithosphere in the
East and thicker in the West agrees with the two–tiered slab shape of
the subducting Pacific Plate. This research has been funded by the
We–Me project (PIE–CSIC–201330E111), AGUR 2017–SGR–847, Alpimed
(PIE-CSIC-201530E082), Subtetis (PIE-CSIC-201830E039) and funds from the
University of Houston. This is a contribution within the PolarCSIC
platform. Ref: M. Torne, I. Jiménez–Munt, J. Vergés, M. Fernàndez, A.
Carballo, M. Jadamec. Geophysical Journal International, Volume 220,
Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 522–540,
https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggz424.