"Fractures form in foreland basin rocks during their progressive incorporation into fold-and-thrust deformation and subsequent uplift. This study investigates the relationship between fracture distribution and the evolution of the fold-and-thrust belt. This study identifies four fracture sets in pre-orogenic carbonates of the Brooks Range northward into foreland basin. Fracture distribution, structural style, and apatite fission-track (AFT) data define four structural domains. Domain I consists of strongly deformed Mississippian through Triassic rocks. Fracture sets 1, 2 and 4 are present in domain I, reflecting Valanginian through early Tertiary deformation. Domains II-IV consist of clastic basin deposits hosting fracture sets 2-4. Domains II and IV share fracture set distributions (sets 3 and 4), AFT cooling ages (70-60 Ma) and deformational style of open ~symmetric detachment folds. Domain III includes fracture sets 2-4, AFT cooling ages of ~100 Ma, reflecting thermal immaturity and south-vergent structures consistent with back thrusting. Restoration of early Tertiary deformation is constrained by surface, seismic and thermal data. Reconstruction shows the importance of back thrusting within domain III during the early Tertiary, the northern extent of the orogenic wedge, and the relationship between fold-and-thrust deformation and the relative timing and distribution of fracture sets in the Brooks Range foothills"--Leaf iii.

The 17 papers presented here introduce results on geological and geophysical research centred largely along a North-South transect through the central Brooks Range of Arctic Alaska. Investigations centre on a descripton of the rocks and their tectonic evolution from the foreland to the hinterland of the orogen, the geometry and kinematics of contractional and extensional structures, regional and local stratigraphic relations, thermochronology, and the deep crustal structure of the Brooks Range and parts of the North Slope, and descriptions of the major lithotectonic assemblages, composing the orogenic belt.

"Fracture networks can enhance permeability in a reservoir, creating pathways for fluid migration. This study uses detailed surface and subsurface mapping, new and existing thermal and geochronologic data as well as observations of fractures in outcrop provide a framework for fracture development in the range front region along a surface to subsurface transect in the western part of the northeastern Brooks Range. Set 1 fractures formed prior to 45 Ma at >6 km depth, ahead of the Brooks Range mountain front in response to elevated pore fluid pressure and low differential stress. Set 2 fractures developed during the early stages of folding at a depth of ~7 km. Both Sets 1 and 2 developed synchronously with hydrocarbon generation and may have been early migration pathways, but were likely destroyed during advancement of the thrust belt. Late fracture Sets 3 and 4 formed at shallow depths in the absence of fluids and are probably related to the onset of uplift at ~25 Ma. These late sets postdate regional generation and migration, but may enhance reservoir permeability"--Leaf iii.

Naturally occurring fractures can play a key role in the evolution and producibility of a hydrocarbon accumulation. Understanding the evolution of fractures in the Brooks Range/Colville basin system of northern Alaska is critical to developing a better working model of the hydrocarbon potential of the region. This study addressed this problem by collecting detailed and regional data on fracture distribution and character, structural geometry, temperature, the timing of deformation along the Brooks Range rangefront and adjacent parts of the Colville basin, and the in situ stress distribution within the Colville basin. This new and existing data then were used to develop a model of how fractures evolved in northern Alaska, both spatially and temporally. The results of the study indicate that fractures formed episodically throughout the evolution of northern Alaska, due to a variety of mechanisms. Four distinct fracture sets were observed. The earliest fractures formed in deep parts of the Colville basin and in the underlying Ellesmerian sequence rocks as these rocks experienced compression associated with the growing Brooks Range fold-and-thrust belt. The orientation of these deep basin fractures was controlled by the maximum in situ horizontal stress in the basin at the time of their formation, which was perpendicular to the active Brooks Range thrust front. This orientation stayed consistently NS-striking for most of the early history of the Brooks Range and Colville basin, but changed to NW-striking with the development of the northeastern Brooks Range during the early Tertiary. Subsequent incorporation of these rocks into the fold-and-thrust belt resulted in overprinting of these deep basin fractures by fractures caused by thrusting and related folding. The youngest fractures developed as rocks were uplifted and exposed. While this general order of fracturing remains consistent across the Brooks Range and adjacent Colville basin, the absolute age at any one location varies. Fracturing started in the southwest deep in the stratigraphic section during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, moving northeastward and upsection as the Colville basin filled from the west. Active fracturing is occurring today in the northeastern parts of the Colville basin, north of the northeastern Brooks thrust front. Across northern Alaska, the early deep basin fractures were probably synchronous with hydrocarbon generation. Initially, these early fractures would have been good migration pathways, but would have been destroyed where subsequently overridden by the advancing Brooks Range fold-and-thrust belt. However, at these locations younger fracture sets related to folding and thrusting could have enhanced reservoir permeability and/or served as vertical migration pathways to overlying structural traps.

"The character of structures in the Gilead Creek region is influenced by the mechanical stratigraphy in the area. Shortening is distributed throughout the mechanical stratigraphy along detachments in the incompetent Kayak, Kavik, Kingak, and Hue Shales. Detachment intervals separate competent Lisburne Group, Echooka Formation, Ledge Sandstone/Shublik Formation, Gilead sandstone, and moderately competent Seabee Formation from each other and allow the competent units to fold at distinct wavelengths according to their mechanical properties. Thick, competent units tend to form long-wavelength folds. Thin, competent units form relatively short-wavelength folds. Thin, competent units that are structurally bound to a thicker, structurally more dominant unit, adhere to the structural style of the dominant unit unless there is some detachment between them. Strain is distributed through shale intervals in the moderately competent units, allowing short-wavelength folds in the thin competent beds. The dominant trend of structures in the area is northeast overprinted on east. East-trending structures formed during the ~60 Ma event that formed the main axis of the Brooks Range and its foothills. Northeast-trending structures formed during the formation of the northeastern Brooks Range dated at ~45 Ma, ~35 Ma, and ~27 Ma, manifest locally by the compressional uplift of the Echooka anticlinorium southeast of Gilead Creek"--Leaf iii.