Birth and evolution of the Rio Grande fluvial system in the past 8 Ma: Progressive downward integration and the influence of tectonics, volcanism, and climate

Repasch, Marisa; Karlstrom, Karl E.; Heizler, M. T.; Pecha, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.03.003

Cited by 76 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 84 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…Figure 5 further shows that locations of high erosion move up drainage due to knickpoint migration. This has been observed in basins and flume experiments (e.g., Adams et al, 2016;Begin et al, 1980;Repasch et al, 2017).…”

Section: Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystemssupporting

confidence: 58%

“…Regional-scale landscape models, including TISC, have been successfully used in modeling tectonic events (i.e., Braun et al, 2012;Cowie et al, 2006;Duvall & Tucker, 2015;García-Castellanos & Jiménez-Munt, 2015;Whipple, 2009; and many others); here we apply this modeling approach to the endorheicexorheic transition of continental rift basins. Repasch et al, 2017 andConnell et al, 2005).…”

Section: Numerical Models Of Rift Opening and Landscape Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Endorheic‐Exorheic Transitions of the Rio Grande and East African Rifts

Berry

Wijk

Cadol

et al. 2019

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Tectonic extension of continental lithosphere creates accommodation space in which sediments are deposited. Climate‐driven processes provide the mechanism by which mass is detached from hillslopes and sediments are transported into this accommodation space. These two forcings, climate and tectonics, act together to create either endorheic (internally drained) or exorheic (externally drained) rift basins. Here we use a large‐scale dynamic landscape evolution‐tectonics model to understand the contribution of tectonic processes in endorheic‐exorheic transitions. In the model, extension results in opening of an asymmetric half‐graben along a listric normal fault. Rift opening occurs in the models in wet, temperate, or semiarid climates where runoff and evapotranspiration are varied. Our numerical experiments show that slow rift‐opening rates, a slowing‐down of rift opening, or increase of headwater topography (e.g., upstream epeirogenic uplift), are tectonic situations that can cause a transition from an endorheic to an exorheic drainage state in a rift basin. Our results also show that wet climate conditions lead to a permanent exorheism that persists regardless of rift‐opening rates. In semiarid climates, endorheic conditions are favored and may last for the duration of rifting except for when rift opening is very slow. These results form an interpretive framework to study endorheic and exorheic drainage systems in natural continental rifts. In the slow‐opening Rio Grande rift, the endorheic‐exorheic transition may have occurred without dramatic climate changes. Lake‐level variations in East African rift basins are predicted by our models to result from variations in climate.

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Section: Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystemssupporting

confidence: 58%

Section: Numerical Models Of Rift Opening and Landscape Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endorheic‐Exorheic Transitions of the Rio Grande and East African Rifts

Berry

Wijk

Cadol

et al. 2019

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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“…River catchments may grow by upwardmigrating headward erosion and stream capture in both tectonically active and stable settings, as seen in examples from southern Spain (Stokes et al, 2002), southeast Asia (Clark et al, 2004), Africa (Goudie, 2005), western Himalayas (Clift and Blusztajn, 2005), and the southeastern U.S. (Prince et al, 2011). River integration and growth can also occur by downward-propagating linkage of basins that fill and overflow with water and sediment, as documented for the Rio Grande in New Mexico (Chapin and Cather, 1994;Connell et al, 2005;Repasch et al, 2017) and Colorado River Pearthree and House, 2014), and suggested for the Snake River in Idaho and Oregon (Van Tassell et al, 2001;Wood and Clemens, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Punctuated Sediment Discharge During Early Pliocene Birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from Regional Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology

Dorsey¹,

O’Connell²,

McDougall-Reid³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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The Colorado River in the southwestern U.S. provides an excellent natural laboratory for studying the origins of a continent-scale river system, because deposits that formed prior to and during river initiation are well exposed in the lower river valley and nearby basinal sink. This paper presents a synthesis of regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and micropaleontology from the southern Bouse Formation and similar-age deposits in the western Salton Trough, which we use to interpret processes that controlled the birth and early evolution of the Colorado River. The southern Bouse Formation is divided into three laterally persistent members: basal carbonate, siliciclastic, and upper bioclastic members. Basal carbonate accumulated in a tidedominated marine embayment during a rise of relative sea level between ~6.3 and 5.4 Ma, prior to arrival of the Colorado River. The transition to green claystone records initial rapid influx of river water and its distal clay wash load into the subtidal marine embayment at ~5.4-5.3 Ma. This was followed by rapid southward progradation of the Colorado River delta, establishment of the earliest through-flowing river, and deposition of river-derived turbidites in the western Salton Trough (Wind Caves paleocanyon) between ~5.3 and 5.1 Ma. Early delta progradation was followed by regional shut-down of river sand output between ~5.1 and 4.8 Ma that resulted in deposition of marine clay in the Salton Trough, retreat of the delta, and re-flooding of the lower river valley by shallow marine water that deposited the Bouse upper bioclastic member. Resumption of sediment discharge at ~4.8 Ma drove massive progradation of fluvial-deltaic deposits back down the river valley into the northern Gulf and Salton Trough.These results provide evidence for a discontinuous, start-stop-start history of sand output during initiation of the Colorado River that is not predicted by existing models for this system. The underlying controls on punctuated sediment discharge are assessed by comparing the depositional chronology to the record of global sea-level change. The lower Colorado River Valley and Salton Trough experienced marine transgression during a gradual fall in global sea level between ~6.3 and 5.5 Ma, implicating tectonic subsidence as the main driver of latest Miocene relative sea-level rise. A major fall of global sea level at 5.3Ma outpaced subsidence and drove regional delta progradation, earliest flushing of Colorado River sand into the northern Gulf of California, and erosion of Bouse basal carbonate and siliciclastic members. The lower Colorado River valley was re-flooded by shallow marine waters during smaller changes in global sea level ~ 5.1-4.8 Ma, after the river first ran through it, which requires a mechanism to stop delivery of sand to the lower river valley. We propose that tectonically controlled subsidence along the lower Colorado River, upstream of the southern Bouse study area, temporarily trapped sediment and stopped delivery of sand to the lower river valley and nort...

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“…Synrift fill consists of Oligocene to Quaternary fluvial and lacustrine sedimentary units and volcanic rocks (Figure ), with a prerift depositional surface of Paleocene‐Oligocene units, Mesozoic or Paleozoic sedimentary units, and/or Proterozoic metamorphic rocks (Baldridge et al, ). The rift is named for the Rio Grande, a through‐going river system that integrated the rift basins from the San Juan Mountains in Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico over the past 8 Myr (Repasch et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lithospheric Signature of Late Cenozoic Extension in Electrical Resistivity Structure of the Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico, USA

2019

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We present electrical resistivity models of the crust and upper mantle from two‐dimensional (2‐D) inversion of magnetotelluric (MT) data collected in the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, USA. Previous geophysical studies of the lithosphere beneath the rift identified a low‐velocity zone several hundred kilometers wide, suggesting that the upper mantle is characterized by a very broad zone of modified lithosphere. In contrast, the surface expression of the rift (e.g., high‐angle normal faults and synrift sedimentary units) is confined to a narrow region a few tens of kilometers wide about the rift axis. MT data are uniquely suited to probing the depths of the lithosphere that fill the gap between surface geology and body wave seismic tomography, namely the middle to lower crust and uppermost mantle. We model the electrical resistivity structure of the lithosphere along two east‐west trending profiles straddling the rift axis at the latitudes of 36.2 and 32.0°N. We present results from both isotropic and anisotropic 2‐D inversions of MT data along these profiles, with a strong preference for the latter in our interpretation. A key feature of the anisotropic resistivity modeling is a broad (~200‐km wide) zone of enhanced conductivity (<20 Ωm) in the middle to lower crust imaged beneath both profiles. We attribute this lower crustal conductor to the accumulation of free saline fluids and partial melt, a direct result of magmatic activity along the rift. High‐conductivity anomalies in the midcrust and upper mantle are interpreted as fault zone alteration and partial melt, respectively.

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Birth and evolution of the Rio Grande fluvial system in the past 8 Ma: Progressive downward integration and the influence of tectonics, volcanism, and climate

Cited by 76 publications

References 84 publications

Endorheic‐Exorheic Transitions of the Rio Grande and East African Rifts

Endorheic‐Exorheic Transitions of the Rio Grande and East African Rifts

Punctuated Sediment Discharge During Early Pliocene Birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from Regional Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology

Lithospheric Signature of Late Cenozoic Extension in Electrical Resistivity Structure of the Rio Grande Rift, New Mexico, USA

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