"To the end of 1930 Alaska, according to the records of the Geological Survey, had produced placer gold to the value of $258,962,000 from mines widely scattered throughout its length and breadth. The distribution of the placers from which the gold was recovered has been stated in more or less detail in the annual summaries published by the Geological Survey on the mineral industry of Alaska and also in its more complete reports on many of the individual mining districts. Although these summaries and reports have furnished information regarding the larger regions, they have not always given specific details regarding the smaller districts. Furthermore, there has been no recent attempt to assemble and publish in one place the scattered statistics regarding the placer-gold production by years and by regions and districts. The purpose of the present report is to set forth in condensed but comprehensive form a summary of the placer-gold production of Alaska so far as it can be determined from the available official records."

From abstract: The Curry district lies on the south flank of the Alaska Range, on the southeast side of Mount McKinley. Most of it is west of the Alaska Railroad. The eastern portion can be easily reached from several points along the railroad route, but the western portion is much more difficult of access, owing to the numerous glacial streams and the rugged topography. The relief of the area is great, the elevation ranging from 500 feet along the Chulitna River to 20,300 feet at Mount McKinley. The Chulitna River, a tributary of the Susitna River, drains the larger part of the area described. It flows in a broad valley in the eastern part of the district, and here the maximum relief is about 3,000 feet. The western part of the district is very rugged, with numerous peaks over 6,000 feet in elevation which have sheer slopes and almost unscalable pinnacles. Winding down through this maze of rugged mountains are four major valley glaciers-Eldridge, Buckskin, Ruth, and Tokichitna-and many tributary and smaller glaciers. Practically the entire district, with the exception of the higher peaks and ridges, has been glaciated. Timber grows along the main streams and extends to an elevation …

Abstract: During the spring of 1932 an opportunity was offered by the United States Navy for a geologist to accompany an expedition organized to make a reconnaissance of the western part of Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. This expedition visited several localities the geology of which was little known. It was found, as had already been expected, that the islands west of Unimak Pass are composed mainly of basic volcanic lavas and fragmental materials, into which have later been injected dikes, sills, and considerable masses of intrusive rocks, some of which are of acidic types and of granitic texture. These westward islands are bordered both to the north and south by depressions 2,000 fathoms or more in depth, and the islands have apparently been built up from that depth by the ejection and extrusion of volcanic materials since early Tertiary time. No rocks of proved pre-Tertiary age were seen, and the only sedimentary materials present may well have been derived from the erosion of the volcanic islands after they were built up above sea level. On the Alaska Peninsula pre-Tertiary sediments through which the volcanic materials broke to the surface are abundantly present. There is evidence that all the …

From abstract: The Kantishna mining district is about 90 miles west of McKinley Park station on the Alaska Railroad. The part of the district covered by this report comprises an area of about 72 square miles in the form of a strip 6 miles wide and 13 miles long. The bedrock is mainly a metamorphic series of rocks which within the area has been differentiated into a quartz-muscovite schist and a calcareous faces that ranges from limestone to chlorite schist. A few small dikes of quartz porphyry and diabase intrude the schist. The general structure trends N. 700 E., and from an axis that extends from Eldorado Creek northeastward to Spruce Peak the schistosity dips to the northwest and southeast. It is along this axis that the heaviest mineralization has occurred.

From abstract: Radioactive material in apparently significant amounts was recognized in heavy-mineral concentrates from the gravels of four streams that head in Ear Mountain, Alaska, when collections of the United States Geological Survey were examined for radioactivity in the winter of 1944-45. This area, on the north side of the Seward Peninsula, attracted attention in 1901-02 when cassiterite was discovered in the streams. Subsequent attempts were made to develop copper- and tin-bearing lode deposits.

From abstract: A gold-bearing area of about 7% square miles near the head of Glacier Bay between Reid and Lamplugh Glaciers was first discovered by Mr. Joseph Ibach in 1924. The dominant rock type in the area is granodiorite, which is intruded into bedded rocks that may be of Paleozoic age. The bedded rocks consist of conglomerate, limestone, and black graphitic schist. A light-colored quartz diorite younger than the granodiorite crops out south of the mapped area.

From abstract: The Geikie Inlet area is in the Glacier Bay region of southeastern Alaska, about 100 miles northwest of the city of Juneau. The area is mountainous with relief of slightly more than 5,000 feet, and the coastline is deeply indented by fiords and inlets. Most of the western half of the area is covered by glaciers.

From abstract: The area mapped is on the east coast of Prince of Wales Island, southeastern Alaska, about 35 miles northwest of the town of Ketchikan. Deposits of magnetite and copper in the mapped area and on Kasaan Peninsula, which adjoins it on the southeast, have been mined for copper and have produced more than 600,000 tons of ore valued at more than $6 million.

From abstract: Buried placer deposits in a belt about 8 miles long by 1 mile wide at Tofty, near Manley Hot Springs, Alaska, have yielded a few hundred tons of cassiterite as a byproduct to the recovery of several million dollars in placer gold.

From abstract: The Moose Creek area is in the western part of the Matanuska Valley, in south-central Alaska, about 165 miles by railroad north of the coast at Seward. Coal deposits in the valley have been known since the early 1890's, and there have been producing mines since 1916, but the annual production is only about 40,000 tons, or less than one-third of the total amount consumed in the Territory. Early in 1931 Congress authorized the investigation of mineral resources in areas tributary to the Alaska Railroad, which is Government owned and operated, for the purpose of stimulating development and hence increasing the traffic and revenue of the railroad. The technical work of carrying on these studies was entrusted by Col. O. F. Ohlson, general manager of the railroad, to the United States Geological Survey. One of the investigations undertaken was that of the Moose Creek area, where small coal mines are in operation. Difficulties have been encountered in these mines, owing to the faulted character of the formation, which causes unproductive work in mining and also produces a large percentage of fine coal, which is unsuitable for sale in distant markets. Field examination indicated that more favorable mining conditions …

From abstract: The Mount Katmai area is on the Alaska Peninsula and comprises the Mount Katmai quadrangle, the Cape Douglas area of the adjoining Afognak quadrangle, and parts of the Karluk and Naknek quadrangles. The area, which includes nearly all the Katmai National Monument, is one of high relief and is drained by streams of preglacial origin. At least two ice advances are indicated by the moraine configuration. Present-day glaciation is restricted to numerous alpine glaciers in the mountain areas. Fifteen recently active volcanoes roughly form a line from Mount Douglas to Martin Mountain.

From abstract: Kodiak Island, although the site of the earliest white settlement in Alaska and the center of a vigorous fishing industry, is still largely unexplored, except for a strip immediately adjacent to the shores. The heavy growth of vegetation makes access to the interior of the island difficult, and few trails penetrate far from the coast. Mining activity in the past has been confined to somewhat desultory exploitation of beach sands, which in places carry gold, though some gold-bearing lodes have been staked, and a few unsuccessful attempts at lode mining have been made.

From introduction: Two field parties, one topographic, the other geologic, were engaged in making surveys in the section of the Alaska Range between the Nabesna and Big Tok Rivers in 1934. Most of the area surveyed was on the northeast side of the range, within a drainage area that is tributary to the Nabesna and Tanana Rivers, but it also included a small part of the Copper River Basin.

From introduction: The present report states the results of an exploratory survey of the Kaiyuh Hills during the summer of 1934.

From abstract: The Kodiak group of islands, having an area of 4,900 square miles, lie on the Pacific Ocean side of the base of the Alaska Peninsula. Although the town of Kodiak is the oldest continuously occupied white settlement in Alaska, the interior of many of the islands is still little explored and unmapped, for the heavy growth of vegetation makes inland travel difficult, and few trails penetrate far from the coast.

From introduction: The area of this report is in the northern part of southeastern Alaska (fig. 39). It includes about 400 square miles on northwestern Chichagof Island, latitude 5747' to 58*15' N. and longitude 135 57' to 136 35' W. It is covered by U. S. Geological Survey Mount Fairweather A-1, A-2, and Sitka D--7 and D-8 topographic quadrangle maps. The writer's geologic investigation was started in 1946 as a continuation of earlier work on the west coast of Chichagof Island by J. C. Reed and R. R. Coats (1941) of the U. S. Geological Survey.

From abstract: The Homer district of the Kenai coal field is about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, in south-central Alaska. It covers an area of about 1,100 square miles on the west side of the Kenai Peninsula, between Tustumena Lake and Kachemak Bay. The principal settlement is Homer, at the southern end of the district, which is connected by the gravel-surfaced Sterling Highway with the Alaska highway system and The Alaska Railroad, and is also served by ocean transportation and one airline.

From abstract: The Girdwood district has been known for about 35 years to contain placer gold, but the source of the gold in veins was not discovered until about 1909. When the Alaska Railroad was completed through Girdwood it was hoped that the improved transportation facilities would enable the lode mines to operate at a profit and also to furnish tonnage to the railroad. Production from the quartz veins, however, has been negligible, although one placer mine has been operating steadily for several years.

From abstract: Reconnaissance for radioactive deposits in southeastern Alaska in 1952 was centered in three localities: the northern part of Prince of Wales Island and parts of adjacent islands, the Taku Harbor-Point Astley district, and the Hyder area. Significant concentrations of radioactive minerals were found only in the vicinity of Salmon Bay on the northeastern shore of Prince of Wales Island. In this area radioactive carbonate-hematite veins occur along the coast for about 8 miles. The veins are generally short, irregular, and lenticular, but a few can be traced for more than 300 feet between the low-tide line and the forest cover. The width of the veins normally ranges from less than 1 inch to 2.5 feet; several, however, are 5 to 10 feet wide.

From introduction: This report is based on preliminary surface mapping in the summer of 1952 and on subsurface exploration with a bulldozer powerauger unit in the summers of 1953 and 1954. In 1952 F. F. Barnes was assisted by Alfred Oestreich, geologist, and Lewis Ladwig and Richard Pack, field assistants. From July 2 to August 31, 1953, F. F. Barnes and Daniel Sokol were assisted by W.T. Ashlock and R. E. Rowland, field assistants, and by a bulldozer operator-mechanic. From June 23 to July 27, 1954, Barnes and Sokol were assisted by A. E. Burford and W. S. Hopkins, geologists, and an operator-mechanic.

From introduction: The purpose of this paper is to describe the geology and mineral resources of a part of the Copper River Basin between the Richardson Highway and the valley of the Klutina River, together with small areas east of the highway and west of the river. For convenience in reference this area is called the Tonsina district, as the Tonsina River and Tonsina Lake are conspicuous local geographic features, and the Tonsina Road House, on the highway at the crossing of the river, is one of the oldest and best-known settlements in the Copper River Basin.

From Introduction: "The value of its mineral resources has long been recognized as a matter of concern in the welfare of every nation, and all wise governments almost from time immemorial have taken steps to find out about, utilize, and safeguard such of these natural resources as lie within their own boundaries or to acquire rights in those they need that lie outside those boundaries. Obviously one of these lines concerns itself with the record of present performance-how much of the different mineral commodities is the country at present producing, where does this production come from and what are the facts as to the current developments in the industry? To answer some of these questions authoritatively is part of the work of the Alaskan branch of the Geological Survey, and answers to those questions for the year 1934 are given in the accompanying report."

A report that describes the geologic history of various landscapes viewed from major roadways in and around Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

The following report studies results from the bedrock and surficial geologic reconnaissance of the middle section of the Tanana lowland and adjacent parts of the Alaska Range and the Yukon-Tanana upland.