Archean zircons in Cretaceous strata of the western Canadian Cordillera: The “Baja B.C.” hypothesis fails a “crucial test”

Mahoney, J. Brian; Mustard, P S; Haggart, James W.; Friedman, Richard M.; Fanning, Christopher; McNicoll, Vicki J.

doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0195:azicso>2.3.co;2

Cited by 76 publications

(94 citation statements)

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“…This linkage has been suggested by earlier workers (e.g., Dickinson, 1976;O'Brien et al, 1992) and is supported by the existence of Archean detrital zircons in both the overlying Methow/Methow-Tyaughton strata and in the associated Nanaimo basin (Mahoney et al, 1999). These results are problematic for large-scale displacement models that require ϳ2800 km northward translation of the Methow terrane between ca.…”

Section: Best-match Comparisoncontrasting

confidence: 43%

“…Detrital zircon age distributions from clastic sedimentary strata provide critical constraints on basin evolution, tectonic history, and paleogeography (e.g., Ross and Bowring, 1990;Mahoney et al, 1999;Gehrels, 2000, and references therein;DeGraaff-Surpless et al, 2002). By identifying a spectrum of grain ages that approximates the age distribution of geologic units within a source region, detrital zircon analysis can define sedimentary provenance and may help characterize spatial and temporal variations in sediment supply to a depocenter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lithofacies control in detrital zircon provenance studies: Insights from the Cretaceous Methow basin, southern Canadian Cordillera

Surpless

Mahoney

Wooden

et al. 2003

Geological Society of America Bulletin

135

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High-frequency sampling for detrital zircon analysis can provide a detailed record of fine-scale basin evolution by revealing the temporal and spatial variability of detrital zircon ages within clastic sedimentary successions. This investigation employed detailed sampling of two sedimentary successions in the Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin of the southern Canadian Cordillera to characterize the heterogeneity of detrital zircon signatures within single lithofacies and assess the applicability of detrital zircon analysis in distinguishing fine-scale provenance changes not apparent in lithologic analysis of the strata. The Methow/ Methow-Tyaughton basin contains two distinct stratigraphic sequences of middle Albian to Santonian clastic sedimentary rocks: submarine-fan deposits of the Harts Pass Formation/Jackass Mountain Group and fluvial deposits of the Winthrop Formation. Although both stratigraphic sequences displayed consistent ranges in detrital zircon ages on a broad scale, detailed sampling within each succession revealed heterogeneity in the detrital zircon age distributions that was systematic and predictable in the turbidite succession but unpredictable in the fluvial succession. These results suggest that a high-density sampling approach permits interpretation of finescale changes within a lithologically uniform turbiditic sedimentary succession, but † E-mail: ksurpless@stanford.edu. heterogeneity within fluvial systems may be too large and unpredictable to permit accurate fine-scale characterization of the evolution of source regions. The robust composite detrital zircon age signature developed for these two successions permits comparison of the Methow/MethowTyaughton basin age signature with known plutonic source-rock ages from major plutonic belts throughout the Cretaceous North American margin. The Methow/ Methow-Tyaughton basin detrital zircon age signature matches best with source regions in the southern Canadian Cordillera, requiring that the basin developed in close proximity to the southern Canadian Cordillera and providing evidence against large-scale dextral translation of the Methow terrane.

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Section: Best-match Comparisoncontrasting

confidence: 43%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithofacies control in detrital zircon provenance studies: Insights from the Cretaceous Methow basin, southern Canadian Cordillera

Surpless

Mahoney

Wooden

et al. 2003

Geological Society of America Bulletin

135

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“…Symons 1973;Butler et al 2006) as the result of tilting and not translation ('attitude vs. latitude'). Other arguments against large latitudinal displacements employ Late Cretaceous faunas (Carter and Haggart 2006), floras (Trop et al 1999;Pearson and Hebda 2006), and Archean detrital zircons in Late Cretaceous clastic strata on the west side of the southern Coast Mountains whose ages indicate derivation from northwest Laurentia (Mahoney et al 1999).…”

Section: Paleomagnetism Of Cretaceous Rocks Raises Unresolved Paleogementioning

confidence: 99%

Logan Medallist 1. Seeking the Suture: The Coast-Cascade Conundrum

Monger

2014

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The boundary between rocks assigned to the Intermontane superterrane in the interior of the Canadian Cordillera and those of the Insular superterrane in the westernmost Cordillera of British Columbia and southeastern Alaska lies within/along the Coast Mountains, in which is exposed the core of an orogen that emerged as a discrete tectonic entity between 105 and 45 million years ago. Evidence from the Coast Mountains and flanking areas indicates that parts of the Intermontane superterrane (in Stikinia and Yukon-Tanana terranes) were near those of the Insular superterrane (Wrangellia and Alexander terranes) by the Early Jurassic (~180 Ma). This timing, as well as paleobiogeographic and paleomagnetic considerations, appears to discount a recent hypothesis that proposes westward-dipping subduction beneath an intra-oceanic arc on Insular superterrane resulted in arc-continent collision and inaugurated Cordilleran orogenesis in the Late Jurassic (~146 Ma). The hypothesis also relates the subducted ocean that had separated the superterranes to a massive, faster-than-average-velocity seismic anomaly in the lower mantle below the eastern seaboard of North America. To create such an anomaly, subduction of the floor of a large ocean was needed. The only surface record of such an ocean in the interior of the Canadian Cordillera is the Cache Creek terrane, which lies within the Intermontane superterrane but is no younger than Middle Jurassic (~174 Ma). This terrane, together with the probably related Bridge River terrane in the southeastern Coast Mountains, which is as young as latest Middle Jurassic (164 Ma) and possibly as young as earliest Cretaceous (≥ 130 Ma), appear to be the only candidates in Canada for the possible surface record of the seismic anomaly. SOMMAIRELa limite entre les roches assignées au Superterrane d’intermont de l’intérieur des Cordillères canadiennes et celles du Superterrane insulaire dans la portion la plus à l’ouest de la Cordillère de Colombie-Britannique et du sud-est de l’Alaska se trouvent dans et au long de la Chaîne côtière, au sein de laquelle affleure le noyau d’un orogène qui est apparu comme entité tectonique distincte entre 105 et 45 millions d’années. Des indices de la Chaîne côtière et des régions environnantes montrent que des portions du Superterrane d’intermont (dans les terranes de Stikinia et de Yukon-Tanana) se trouvaient alors près de celles du Superterrane insulaire (terranes de Wrangellia et d’Alexander) au début du Jurassique (~180 Ma). Cette chronologie, ajoutée à certains facteurs paléobiogéographiques et paléomagnétiques semblent discréditer une hypothèse récente voulant qu’une subduction à pendage ouest sous un arc intra-océanique sur le Superterrane insulaire résultait d’une collision entre un arc et le continent, initiant ainsi l’orogénèse de la Cordillère à la fin du Jurassique (~146 Ma). Cette hypothèse relie aussi l’océan subduit qui séparait les superterranes à une anomalie de vitesse sismique plus rapide que la normale dans le manteau inférieur sous le littoral maritime oriental de l’Amérique du Nord. Pour créer une telle anomalie, la subduction du plancher d’un grand océan était nécessaire. La seule indication de surface de l’existence d’un tel océan à l’intérieur de la Cordillère canadienne est le terrane de Cache Creek qui, bien qu’il se trouve dans le Superterrane d’intermont, est plus ancien que le Jurassique moyen (~174 Ma). Ce terrane, avec son équivalent probable de Bridge River dans le sud-est de la Chaîne côtière, qui est aussi jeune que la fin du Jurassique (164 Ma) et peut-être aussi jeune que le début du Crétacé (≥ 130 Ma), semblent être les seuls candidats au Canada offrant des vestiges en surface de cette anomalie sismique.

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“…This technique has been successfully employed in the western North American Cordillera (e.g. Gehrels et al, 1995;Kapp and Gehrels, 1998;Mahoney et al, 1999;Soreghan and Gehrels, 2001), the Himalaya (DeCelles et al, 2000), and the northern Tibetan Plateau (Gehrels and Yin, 2003;Yue et al, 2003). China and Asia have had a long (O500 m.y.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%