Yukon is in the North American Cordillera. The relatively young chain of mountain belts that make up the western edge of the continent, from Alaska to Mexico, has a complex geological history. Yukon is underlain by a diverse array of rock types that record nearly two billion years of geological history. Most rocks have been affected by folding, faulting, metamorphism, plutonism, and uplift during various tectonic events. This history has given the territory its well-documented high mineral potential.
Yukon is divided into two main geologic regions separated by the Tintina Fault:
Northeast of the Tintina Fault
The northeastern portion consists largely of sedimentary sequences between 1.7 billion years (b.y.) and 300 million years (m.y.) old that were deposited along the western margin of the Ancient North American continent.
Southwest of the Tintina Fault
The southwestern portion is a collage of late Paleozoic and Mesozoic arc, oceanic and pericratonic accreted terranes consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks between 350 and 190 m.y. old. Postaccretionary assemblages in both provinces include Mesozoic and Tertiary sedimentary successor basins and plutons. Following terrane accretion, strike-slip movement of at least 450 km along the Tintina Fault and at least 350 km along the Denali fault, further disrupted these assemblages.
