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Active transpressional fault systems are typically associated with the development of broad zones of deformation and topographic development; however, the complex geometries typically associated with these systems often make it difficult to isolate the important boundary conditions that control transpressional orogenic growth. The Denali fault system is widely recognized as transpressional due to the presence of the Denali fault, a major, active, right-lateral fault, and subparallel zones of thrust faults and fault-related folding along both the north and south flanks of the Alaska Range. Measured Quaternary and Holocene slip rates exist for the Denali fault system and portions of the adjacent thrust system, but the partitioning of fault slip between contractional and translational components of this transpressional system has not been previously studied in detail. Exploiting the relatively simple geometry of the Denali fault, we analyze the style and distribution of active faulting within the Alaska Range to define patterns of strain accommodation and determine how contractional and translational strain is partitioned across the Denali fault system. As the trace of the Denali fault curves by ~70° across central Alaska, the mean strike of the thrust system to the north remains subparallel to the Denali fault, while to the south, the few faults with known or suspected Quaternary offset are oblique to the Denali fault. This relationship suggests that as the Denali fault system accommodates local fault-parallel strike slip, it partitions the residual part of the regional NW-directed plate motion into NW-SE shortening south of the Denali fault and shortening perpendicular to the Denali fault to the north. The degree of slip partitioning is consistent with a balanced slip budget for the two primary faults that contribute displacement to the Denali fault system (the eastern Denali fault and Totschunda fault). The current obliquity of displacement south of the Denali fault is the result of the late Cenozoic development of the Totschunda fault, which provides a more direct connection for the transfer of strain from the Fairweather transform fault to the Denali fault system. The transmitted strain is partitioned into right-lateral slip on the Denali fault and into Denali fault-normal shortening that is accommodated by thrust faulting in the Alaska Range and distributed left-lateral slip faulting within interior Alaska to the north.

Terrace profile data for Riley Creek age terraces west of the Nenana River.. 138 E-6 Terrace profile data for Riley Creek age terraces east o f the Nenana River... 140 Combellick for their patience and thorough reviews. I owe special thanks to Bill Witte for his computer expertise and generosity with his limited time, Patty Craw for her enthusiasm for neotectonics, Gideon Decker for his relaxed assistance in the field, and all the current and recently-departed structural geology graduate students. The diverse funding sources for this project include

The tallest mountain in North America, Denali (formerly Mount McKinley, 6,190 m), is situated inside a sharp bend in the right-lateral strike-slip Denali fault. This anomalous topography is clearly associated with the complex geometry of the Denali fault, but how this restraining bend has evolved in conjunction with the regional topography is unknown. To constrain how this bend in the Denali fault is deforming, we document the Quaternary fault-related deformation north of the Denali fault through combined geologic mapping, active fault characterization, and analysis of background seismicity. Our mapping illustrates an east-west change in faulting style where normal faults occur east of the fault bend and thrust faults predominate to the west. The complex and elevated regional seismicity corroborates the style of faulting adjacent to the fault bend and provides additional insight into the change in local stress field in the crust adjacent to the bend. The style of active

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