Identification of geostructures of continental crust particularly as they relate to mineral resource evaluation

The author has identified the following significant results. Preliminary examination of ERTS-1 imagery in central and northern Alaska substantiates the existence of a conjugate set of northeast and northwest faults suggested by linears noted on Nimbus 4 images. Linears of both trends are well expressed and several have been mapped as faults, including the Shaw Creek fault. Imagery provides new data to support the interpretation that the Kobuk Trench is the northern margin of a broad west-trending fault zone bounded on the north and south by strike-slip faults. In northwestern Alaska, MSS band 5 imagery shows Mississippian limestone as white, while shale, sandstone, and chert of other ages appear dark. As the limestone is the basal formation of the numerous thrust plates stacked in the area, images of band 5 will assist significantly in depicting the distribution of the thrust plates. In south-central Alaska the newly described Totshunda fault is readily identified and extends into areas not yet mapped. Also shown is another fault parallel to the south of the Totshunda which has not yet been recognized in the field.