ICAM 1992: Conference Proceedings, Anchorage Alaska

ICAM 1992: Preface 

There is perhaps no other place on Earth that is as little understood as the Arctic. Fundamental scientific questions remain unanswered, and its vast and diverse natural resources are not adequately assessed. The 1992 International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM), which convened in Anchorage, Alaska, on September 2-4, 1992, is the first of what we hope will be a series of meetings to be held in a different northern city every 2 years. The goals of the first meeting, and the underlying theme for all subsequent meetings, were to (1) understand the Arctic and (2) foster international cooperation in Arctic research.

Over the last century, systematic scientific study of the Arctic has been hampered by the natural elements, the extreme financial costs of collecting data, and limitations in technology. In addition, the world political situation has represented an imposing roadblock to studies in the Arctic. The recent changes occurring in this last area finally have made it possible for scientists of all nations to exchange ideas and data to make the study of the Arctic truly circumpolar. However, a change for the better in one realm of barriers often is met with a change for the worse in another.

Funding for research and exploration in the Arctic is becoming more scarce. For this reason, many Russian authors, who for political reasons previously were unable to present their works to the world scientific community, were not able to present their papers at the 1992 ICAM. Travel funds and money for research is almost nonexis- tent in Russia. The impact on the free exchange of information and ideas is essentially the same, whether the impediment is from politics or from economics. The lack of funding for research has placed the future of Russian science in jeopardy. But the Russians are not alone. Arctic science also is in jeopardy in the West because of budget deficits and the removal of a political rationale to support Arctic research.

The new challenge facing Arctic researchers and explorers is to cooperate, both on the intranational and international level. Today, this kind of cooperation not only is more possible, it is imperative.

The papers published in this volume were submitted for the 1992 ICAM. They are presented here in the spirit of cooperation in Arctic research and in the hope for a better understanding of the complexities of Arctic geosciences. Although the papers are all in English, they come from many of the circum-Arctic countries and cover diverse fields: from regional tectonics to Arctic dinosaur paleontology. To the Arctic Earth scientist, the language is universal. We invite you to read and enjoy these papers and to feel free to contact the authors.

In the spirit of the new openness for data exchange, the editors made the decision to accept all papers from Russian authors so that their ideas, no matter how controversial, could be presented to a western audience that they could not previously reach. In addition, to celebrate the opening of the arbitrary political line along the International Date Line, the papers have been arranged counterclockwise around the Arctic-­from Norway to Russia to Alaska to Canada. The opening of this barrier also is reflected in the location of the second ICAM: Magadan, Russia, in September 1994.

The editors also made an effort, probably not wholly successful, to edit manuscripts by non­English-speaking authors to make them easier to understand. In this process, we hope we have not changed any meanings and that both the letter and the spirit of the original papers have been maintained. We thank the many scientists who gave freely of their time to review these manuscripts; they are listed on page iv. Thanks also are extended to the Minerals Management Service (MMS) support staff who made this volume possible--especially to Ida Menge, who redrafted several figures; to Bill Chambers for his work on the cover; and to the MMS technical editors who worked on this project.

The Editors:

Dennis K. Thurston 
Kazuya Fujita

ICAM 1992: Stratigraphy And Paleogeography 

• The Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary in Russian Eurasia, Kirill V Simakov
• Base Olenekian and Base Anisian Sequence Boundaries Produced by Triassic Circumpolar 'Synchronous' Transgressions, Atle Mork, Alexander Y. Egorov, and Ashton F. Embry
• Mesozoic Stratigraphy of Franz Josef Land Archipelago, Arctic Russia - A Literature Review, Ashton F. Embry
• The Continental Triassic Biostratigraphy of the Timan - North Urals Region from Tetrapod Data, Igor V Novikov
• Climatic Fluctuations and Other Events in the Mesozoic for the Siberian Arctic, Viktor A. Zakharov
• Lower Triassic Vertebrates from the North of Central Siberia, Michael A. Shishkin
• The Use of Parallel Bizonal Scales for Refined Correlation in the Jurassic of the Boreal Realm, Boris L. Nikitenko and Boris N. Shurygin
• Lower Toarcian Black Shales and Pliensbachian-Toarcian Crisis of the Biota of Siberian Paleoseas, Boris L. Nikitenko and Boris N. Shurygin
• Earliest Tertiary Cenozoic Paleogeography of the Arctic Ocean, Louie Marincovich, Jr 45
• Comparative Geology of Northern Chukotka and the Northern Canadian Cordillera, Yuri M. Bychkov and M. E. Gorodinsky
• Paleokarst in the Katakturuk Dolomite (Proterzoic), Northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska James G. Clough and Mark S. Robinson
• Pre-Mississippian Rocks in the Clarence and Malcolm Rivers Area, Alaska, and the Yukon Territory, John S. Kelley, Chester T. Wrucke, and Larry S. Lane
• Correlation of Pre-Carboniferous Carbonate Successions of Northern Alaska, Julie A. Dumoulin and Anita G. Harris
• Depositional Record of a Major Tectonic Transition in Northern Alaska: Middle Devonian to Mississippian Rift-Basin Margin Deposits, Upper Kongakut River Region, Eastern Brooks Range, Alaska, Arlene V Anderson, Wesley K Wallace, and Charles G. Mull
• Deep-Water Facies of the Lisburne Group, West-Central Brooks Range, Alaska, Julie A. Dumoulin, Anita G. Harris, and Jeanine M. Schmidt
• Conodont Biostratigraphy and Biofacies of the Wahoo Limestone (Carboniferous), Eastern Sadlerochit Mountains, Brooks Range, Alaska, Andrea P. Krumhardt, Anita G. Harris, and Keith F. Watts
• Maastrichtian/Danian(?) Ostracode Assemblages from Northern Alaskan Paleoenvironments and Paleobiogeographic Relations, Elisabeth M. Brouwers and Patrick De Deckker
• Geological and Geochemical Analysis of the Aurora Well, Offshore of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 1002 Area, Arthur C. Banet
• Correlation Study of Selected Exploration Wells from the North Slope and Beaufort Sea, Alaska, Susan M. Banet and James Scherr
• Correlation of the Pennsylvanian-Lower Cretaceous Succession Between Northwest Alaska and Southwest Sverdrup Basin: Implications for Hanna Trough Stratigraphy, Ashton F. Embry, Michael B. Mickey, Hideyo Haga, and John H. Wall
• Stratigraphic and Seismic Analyses of Offshore Yakataga Formation Sections, Northeast Gulf of Alaska, Sarah D. Zellers and Martin B. Lagoe
• Stratigraphy and Correlation of the Neoproterozoic Shaler Supergroup, Amundsen Basin, Northwestern Canada, Robert H. Rainbird
• Lower Paleozoic T-R Sequence Stratigraphy, Central Canadian Arctic, Tim A. de Freitas, Ulrich Mayr, and J. Christopher Harrison
• Silurian Foredeep and Accretionary Prism in Northern Ellesmere Island: Implications for the Nature of the Ellesmerian Orogeny, Marcia G. Bjornerund and D.C. Bradley
• Uppermost Albian-Campanian Palynological Biostratigraphy of Axel Heiberg and Ellesmere Islands (Canadian Arctic), L. Koldo Nufiez-Betelu, RA. MacRae, L.V. Hills, and G.K Muecke 135

ICAM 1992: Structure And Tectonics 

• Triangle Zone Model for the Salt-Based Foldbelt in Canada's Arctic Islands, J. Christopher Harrison
• Subsidence Analysis and Tectonic Modeling of the Sverdrup Basin, Randell A. Stephenson, J. Boerstoel, A.F. Embry, and B.D. Rickerts
• Development of a Glaciated Arctic Continental Margin: Exemplified by the Western Margin of Svalbard, Espen S. Andersen, Anders Solheim, and Anders Elverhoi
• Basin Inversion and Thin-Skinned Deformation Associated with the Tertiary Transpressional West Spitsbergen Oregen, Arild Andresen, Steffen C. Burgh, and Pal Haremo
• The Geology of Franz Josef Land Archipelago, Russian Federation, Vtaly D. Dibner
• Triassic Marginal Basins of Northern and Eastern Europe and Evidence for Global Sea-Level Fluctuations, Vladlen R. Lozovsky
• Rift-and-Graben Systems of the Eurasian-Arctic Continental Margin, Edward V. Shipilov and E.V. Senin
• Accretionary History of Northeast Asia, Leonid N. Parfenov
• Paleomagnetism and the Kolyma Structural Loop, David B. Stone, Stephen G. Crumley, and Leonid M. Parfenov
• Major Tectonic Interpretation and Constraints for the New Siberian Islands Region, Russian Arctic, Mikhael K Kos'ko
• Geology of Wrangel Island Between Chukchi and East Siberian Seas, Northeastern Russia, Excerpts from The Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 461, Mikhael K Kos'ko, Michael P. Cecile, Victor G. Ganelin, Nikolai V. Khandoshkoy, and Boris G. Lopatin
• Precambrian Rocks in the Anadyr-Koryak Region, Oleg N. Ivanov
• Deep Structure of Mafic - Ultramafic Complexes in the Anadyr, Koryak Region, Yuri Ya. Vashchilov
• Accreted Mesozoic Oceanic Complexes of Koryak Superterrane, Northeastern Russia, Vladimir N. Grigoriev, Kirill A. Krylov, and Sergey D. Sokolov
• Reconnaissance Paleomagnetism of the Olyutorsky Superterrane, NE Russia, Alexander Heiphetz, William Harbert, and Leonid Savostin
• Preliminary Reconniassance Paleomagnetism of Some Late Mesozoic Ophiolites, Kuyul Region, Northern Koyak Superterrane, Russia, Alexander Heiphetz, William Harbert, and Paul Layer
• The Gankuvayam Section, Kuyul Ophiolitic Terrane, as a Type Ophiolitic Section on the Arctic Margin of the Russian Far East, Ivan V. Panchenko
• Tectono-Magmatic Environments Within Continent-to-Ocean Transition Zone of the Northwestern Pacific, Oleg N. Ivanov
• Stratigraphy, Structure, and Origin of the Franklinian, Northeast Chukchi Basin, Arctic Alaska Plate, Kirk W Sherwood
• Early Tertiary Wrench Faulting in the North Chukchi Basin, Chukchi Sea, Alaska, Richard T. Lothamer
• Apatite Fission-Track Evidence of Episodic Early Cretaceous to Late Tertiary Cooling and Uplift Events, Central Brooks Range, Alaska, John M. Murphy, Paul B. O'Sullivan, and Andrew J.W. Gleadow
• The Cenozoic Structural Evolution of the Northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska, Catherine L. Hanks, Wesley K. Wallace, and Paul O'Sullivan
• Timing of Tertiary Episodes of Cooling in Response to Uplift and Erosion, Northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska, Paul B. O'Sullivan

ICAM 1992: Geophysics Of The Arctic Ocean Basins And Margins 

• A New Crustal Model of the Lincoln Sea Polar Margin, Malcolm Argyle, David A. Forsyth, Andrew V. Okulitch, and Del Huston
• A New Plate Kinematic Model of Canada Basin Evolution, Larry S. Lane
• The Age of the Amerasia Basin, Ashton F. Embry and James Dixon
• Implications for Canada Basin Development from the Crustal Structure of the Southern Beaufort Sea-MacKenzie Delta Area, Randell A. Stephenson, KC. Coflin, L.S. Lane, and J.R. Dietrich
• A Preliminary Analysis of Potential Field Data in the Southern Chukchi Sea, Bruce M. Herman and Susan A. Zerwick
• Seismicity of the Amerasian Arctic Shelf and its Relationship to Tectonic Features, Kazuya Fujita and Boris M. Koz'min
• Generalized Rheological Model of the Lithosphere and Plate Tectonics, Vladimir P. Pan and Y.P. Zmiyensky
• The Arctic Geodynamic System: Its Boundaries, Deep Geology and Structural Evolution, Igor S. Gramberg and Y.E. Pogrebitsky

ICAM 1992: Quaternary And Marine Geology 

• The Quaternary Deposits of the Barents Sea and Valdai Glaciation of the Arctic Shelf, Lev R. Merklin, N.N. Dunaev, O. V. Levchenko, and Yu. A. Pavlidis
• Deep Ice Scour and Mass Wasting Features on the Northern Svalbard Insular Shelf and Slope, Norman Z. Cherkis, M.D. Max, A. Midthassel, K Crane, E. Sundvor, and P.R. Vogt
• Paleogeography of Late Pleistocene Glaciation of North-Eastern Asia, Olga Yu. Glushkova
• Neogene Paleoclimate of the Gulf of Alaska and Regional Correlations to the Bering Sea Region, Martin B. Lagoe
• Origin of Gravels from the Southern Coast and Continental Shelf of the Beaufort Sea, Arctic Alaska, A. Sathy Naidu and Thomas C. Mowaa
• TEM Microfabric of Alaska's Bootlegger Cove Formation, Paffy J. Burkeff, R.H. Bennett, H.W Olsen, and H.R. Schmoll
• Late Quaternary Changes in Sediment Composition in the Central Arctic Ocean: Preliminary Results of the Arctic '91 Expedition, Ruediger Stein, Carsten Schubert, Hannes Grobe, and Dieter Futterer

ICAM 1992: Economic Geology 

• Conditions of Formation and Oil-Gas Potential of Permian and Triassic Deposits in the Northern Timan-Pechora Basin, Anatonia V. Stupakova
• Cenozoic History of Sedimentary Basins Along the Western Margin of the Bering Sea and Petroleum-Resource Potential, Yuri K. Burlin
• Tectonics and Petroleum Potential of the Bering Sea Bottom, Vadim M. Golubev
• Vocational and Technical Education in Geoscience with Emphasis on Geochemical Exploration Skills, James A. Madonna

ICAM 1992: Arctic Dinosaurs 

• Continental Vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous of the North Slope, Alaska, Wlliam A. Clemens
• The Record of Cretaceous Dinosaurs in Alaska: An Overview, Roland A. Gangloff
• Physiology and Migration of North Slope Dinosaurs, Gregory S. Paul

ICAM 1992: Summary Of Conference, Anchorage, Alaska 

RESULTS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ARCTIC MARGINS

(Anchorage Alaska, September 2-4, 1992)

The 1992 International Conference on Arctic Margins (ICAM) was held during September 2-4, in Anchorage, Alaska. The conference featured six workshops, five invited symposia, eleven general oral sessions, twelve poster sessions and five geological field trips. The meeting was hosted by the Alaska Geological Society (AGS) and sponsored by the U.S. Minerals Management Service, AGS, National Science Foundation, Arco Alaska, Amerada Hess, BP Alaska, Chevron, Mobil, Phillips, Shell Canada, Texaco, Union Texas, and Unocal. This was the first of what will be a regular meeting convened every few years in a different northern city--the 1994 ICAM will be in Magadan, Russia. The theme of the first meeting and underlying focus of all subsequent meetings is two fold--(1) understanding the Arctic and (2) international cooperation in the study of Arctic geosciences. The short meeting in Anchorage went a long way toward achieving those goals. The success of this first meeting was due almost entirely to the worldwide desire of Arctic researchers to compare results and work together in understanding the Arctic.

Over four hundred scientists from twelve countries, attended the conference. One hundred ninety eight technical presentations were made; over ninety by U.S. scientists, forty from Russia, thirty two from Canada, twenty three from Scandinavian countries, eight from Europe and six from Australia. ICAM Featured Speakers included Ashton F. Embry and Michael P. Cecile of the Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, Igor S. Gramberg and Michael K. Kos'ko of VNIIOkeangeologia, St. Petersburg, Edward Shipilov of NIIMorgeophysica, Murmansk, Kazuya Fujita from Michigan State University, and Michael Churkin Jr., an Independent Geologist from Moscow and Yuba City, California. In addition to these eminent guests, we had the pleasure to see presentations by many other well known Arctic geoscience researchers. But, many of the Russian scientists were not well known in the west yet. In fact, for many this was their first scientific presentation outside of the territory of the former Soviet Union. For most, it was their first trip to the United States. Housing our Russian guests was accomplished by Anchorage volunteer host families, most of whom are in some way involved in geology or have an interest in Russian language. Some very close friendships came out of this arrangement and many scientific ties were established.

The program consisted of

Symposia:

Cretaceous Dinosaurs and Associated Terrestrial and Near-shore Records: Implications and Challenges

Reconstruction and Paleogeography of the Arctic: I and II

Geology and Resource Potential of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Regional Terrane Correlations

General oral sessions:

Resource Potential I: Minerals

Resource Potential II: Hydrocarbons

Stratigraphy

Biostratigraphy

Paleoclimate,

Quaternary and Environmental Geology and Permafrost,

Arctic Marine Geology, and

Regional Geophysics and Tectonics I, II, III, and IV;

Poster sessions covering the above general session topics.

Workshops:

The Future of Arctic Paleontology: Challenges, Cooperation and Problem Solving led by Roland Gangloff of the University of Alaska and Phillip Currie of the Royal Tyrell Museum, Calgary,

Pre-Carboniferous Stratigraphy, led by Julie Dumoulin of the U.S. Geological Survey and James Clough of the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys

Evolution of the Canada Basin: Models and Constraints, led by Lawrence Lawver of the University of Texas and Shiri Srivastava of the Geological Survey of Canada,

Proposals for Cooperative Alliances between Science, Industry, and Governments, led by Mike Churkin, Igor S. Gramberg, and William Patton of the U.S. Geological Survey.

In addition we had two special meetings of the Ad Hoc Planning Group for International Cooperation in Canada Basin Tectonic Studies, which consisted of the Canada Basin: Models and Constraints workshop participants and the Magnetic Anomaly Mapping in the Arctic Subcommittee of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy Working Group V-9, led by Lawrence Lawver and Ralph von Frese of Ohio State University.

An abstract volume containing over 250 abstracts was published in limited supply and given to all participants. The 1992 ICAM Proceedings was published in 1994 as OCS Study MMS 94-0040 and is available free of charge from the MMS Alaska office.

For more information contact:

Dennis Thurston 
Minerals Management Service 
3801 Centerpoint Drive, Suite 500
Anchorage, Alaska 99503

Email: dennis.thurston@boem.gov

Special Thanks to BOEM, Alaska Region for Hosting this Site