Detrital zircons and sediment dispersal from the Coahuila terrane of northern Mexico into the Marathon foreland of the southern Midcontinent

Thomas, William A.; Gehrels, George E.; Lawton, Timothy F.; Satterfield, Joseph I.; Romero, Mariah C.; Sundell, Kurt E.

doi:10.1130/ges02033.1

Cited by 27 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…The deposition of 4200-5600 m of siliciclastic strata during Wolfcampian time correlates well with the rapid erosion of the massive accreted wedge adjacent to the basin (King, 1937;Flawn et al, 1961;Thomson and McBride, 1964;King, 1978). The age spectra observed within the Wolfcampian samples are consistent with the interpretation of Thomas et al (2019) on potential sourcing of zircons from the Coahuila block of Mexico. Additionally, the Leonardian Skinner Ranch Formation is a sandy turbidite facies, much more distal than the Wolfcampian conglomerates of the Lenox Hills Formation; yet the sediment source appears to remain the same.…”

Section: Early-middle Permian Deposits: Unroofing and Tectonic Quiescsupporting

confidence: 83%

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Orogen proximal sedimentation in the Permian foreland basin

et al. 2020

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The sedimentary fill of peripheral foreland basins has the potential to preserve a record of the processes of ocean closure and continental collision, as well as the long-term (i.e., 107–108 yr) sediment-routing evolution associated with these processes; however, the detrital record of these deep-time tectonic processes and the sedimentary response have rarely been documented during the final stages of supercontinent assembly. The stratigraphy within the southern margin of the Delaware Basin and Marathon fold and thrust belt preserves a record of the Carboniferous–Permian Pangean continental assembly, culminating in the formation of the Delaware and Midland foreland basins of North America. Here, we use 1721 new detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb ages from 13 stratigraphic samples within the Marathon fold and thrust belt and Glass Mountains of West Texas in order to evaluate the provenance and sediment-routing evolution of the southern, orogen-proximal region of this foreland basin system. Among these new DZ data, 85 core-rim age relationships record multi-stage crystallization related to magmatic or metamorphic events in sediment source areas, further constraining source terranes and sediment routing. Within samples, a lack of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian zircon grains in the pre-orogenic Mississippian Tesnus Formation and subsequent appearance of this zircon age group in the syn-orogenic Pennsylvanian Haymond Formation point toward initial basin inversion and the uplift and exhumation of volcanic units related to Rodinian rifting. Moreover, an upsection decrease in Grenvillian (ca. 1300–920 Ma) and an increase in Paleozoic zircons denote a progressive provenance shift from that of dominantly orogenic highland sources to that of sediment sources deeper in the Gondwanan hinterland during tectonic stabilization. Detrital zircon core-rim age relationships of ca. 1770 Ma cores with ca. 600–300 Ma rims indicate Amazonian cores with peri-Gondwanan or Pan-African rims, Grenvillian cores with ca. 580 Ma rims are correlative with Pan-African volcanism or the ca. 780–560 Ma volcanics along the rifted Laurentian margin, and Paleozoic core-rim age relationships are likely indicative of volcanic arc activity within peri-Gondwana, Coahuila, or Oaxaquia. Our results suggest dominant sediment delivery to the Marathon region from the nearby southern orogenic highland; less sediment was delivered from the axial portion of the Ouachita or Appalachian regions suggesting that this area of the basin was not affected by a transcontinental drainage. The provenance evolution of sediment provides insights into how continental collision directs the dispersal and deposition of sediment in the Permian Basin and analogous foreland basins.

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Section: Early-middle Permian Deposits: Unroofing and Tectonic Quiescsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Finally, the youngest DZ U-Pb age modes within the Guadalupian age spectra are >300 Ma, indicating sediment sourcing from volcanic arc terranes, specifically the Las Delicias Arc located within the Coahuila terrane (Figs. 13B and 13C) (Lopez et al, 2001;Thomas et al, 2019).…”

Section: Mississippian-permian Tectonicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orogen proximal sedimentation in the Permian foreland basin

et al. 2020

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“…A sample from a Middle Permian sandstone southwest of the Forest City basin has a detrital-zircon age distribution similar to an Appalachian signature but with a distinctive small group of Alleghanian-age grains greater than the Alleghanian-age components in the Appalachian basin or in the Forest City or Illinois basins. The age distribution is similar to that of a Permian sandstone in the Anadarko basin, which has a source in the Marathon-Ouachita orogen (Thomas et al, 2016(Thomas et al, , 2019, suggesting that this Permian sandstone may represent the distal part of a dispersal system from the south, thus, limiting possible Permian dispersal from the Appalachians (Fig. 1).…”

Section: ■ Summary and Conclusion: Provenance And Sediment Dispersalmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…In addition, a secondary group with ages of 638-519 Ma (Pan-African/Brasiliano) in the Whitehorse sample exceeds the number of sparse grains of that age range in other samples (except for the four samples with prominent groups of that age range, which are restricted to the most northerly parts of the Forest City and Illinois basins). The ages of detrital zircons, as well as the red color, suggest that the Whitehorse sandstones may record a dispersal system that extended onto the southern Midcontinent from accreted terranes along the Marathon margin (Thomas et al, 2019), thereby marking a limit to westward dispersal from the Appalachians.…”

Section: Permianmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detrital zircons and sediment dispersal in the eastern Midcontinent of North America

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Results of detrital-zircon analyses (U-Pb ages and initial Hf values, εHft) of Mississippian–Pennsylvanian sandstones in the Michigan, Illinois, and Forest City basins are remarkably similar to data for coeval sandstones in the Appalachian basin, indicating dispersal of sediment from the Appalachian orogen through the Appalachian basin to the eastern Midcontinent during the late Paleozoic. The similarities of results include matches of the two most prominent age groups (1300–950 Ma and 490–350 Ma), as well as matches of the less abundant age groups. Comparisons of the data are from observations of probability density plots and multidimensional scaling of U-Pb age data and of εHft values. Despite the dominance of an Appalachian signature in all samples, some samples contain grains with ages that suggest intermittent additional sources. Four samples (three ranging in depositional age from Morrowan to Atokan–Desmoinesian in the Illinois basin, and one of Desmoinesian age in the Forest City basin), in addition to typical Appalachian age distributions, have prominent age modes between 768 and 525 Ma, corresponding in age to Pan-African/Brasiliano rocks in Gondwanan accreted terranes in the Appalachian orogen, suggesting intermittent dispersal from the Moretown terrane of the northern Appalachians. Sandstones in the Appalachian basin and those in the Midcontinent basins have very few grains with ages that correspond to the Alleghanian orogeny in the Appalachian orogen. Nevertheless, three sandstones each in the Illinois basin and Forest City basin with depositional ages of 312–308 Ma have a few zircon grains in the age range of 321 ± 5 to 307 ± 4 Ma. The nearly identical crystallization and depositional ages suggest reworking at the depositional sites of air-fall volcanic ash from the Alleghanian orogen, rather than fluvial transport from the orogen. The basal Pennsylvanian sandstones lap onto a regional unconformity around the northern rims of the Illinois and Forest City basins, suggesting sources for recycled grains. Along the northern edge of the Illinois basin, Ordovician sandstones beneath the unconformity may have contributed minor concentrations of Superior-age zircons in the basal Pennsylvanian sandstones. Basal Pennsylvanian sandstones in the Forest City basin lap onto Mississippian strata, suggesting possible recycling of zircons from eroded Mississippian sandstones.

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“…1; Dickinson, 2018). The age distributions for these regions include data from: (1) upper Paleozoic strata of the Appalachian foreland basin (Thomas et al, 2017) and Illinois and Forest City basins (Kissock et al, 2018), (2) upper Paleozoic strata of the Delaware (Xie et al, 2018), Fort Worth (Absalem et al, 2018, and Marathon (Thomas et al, 2019) basins, (3) lower Paleozoic strata of the Grand Canyon (Gehrels et al, 2011) and…”

Section: Analytical and Interpretive Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

LA-ICPMS U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircon grains from the Coconino, Moenkopi, and Chinle Formations in the Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona)

Gehrels¹,

Giesler²,

Olsen³

et al. 2019

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Abstract. U-Pb geochronology was conducted by Laser Ablation-Inductively Couple Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) on detrital zircon grains from twenty-nine samples from the Coconino Sandstone, Moenkopi Formation, and Chinle Formation. These samples were recovered from &#8764;520&#8201;m of drill core that was acquired during the Colorado Plateau Coring Project (CPCP), located in Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona). A sample from the lower Permian Coconino Sandstone yields a broad distribution of Proterozoic and Paleozoic ages that are consistent with derivation from the Appalachian and Ouachita orogens, with little input from local basement or Ancestral Rocky Mountain sources. Four samples from the Holbrook Member of the Moenkopi Formation yield a different set of Precambrian and Paleozoic age groups, indicating derivation from the Ouachita orogen, the East Mexico Arc, and the Permo-Triassic arc built along the Cordilleran margin. Twenty-three samples from the Chinle Formation contain variable proportions of Proterozoic and Paleozoic zircon grains, but are dominated by Late Triassic grains. LA-ICPMS ages of these grains belong to five main groups that correspond to the Mesa Redondo Member, Blue Mesa Member and lower part of the Sonsela Member, upper part of the Sonsela Member, middle part of the Petrified Forest Member, and upper part of the Petrified Forest Member. The ages of pre-Triassic grains also correspond to these chronostratigraphic units, and are interpreted to reflect varying contributions from the Appalachian orogen to the east, Ouachita orogen to the southeast, Precambrian basement exposed in the Ancestral Mogollon Highlands to the south, East Mexico arc, and Permian-Triassic arc built along the southern Cordilleran margin. Triassic grains in each chronostratigraphic unit also have distinct U and Th concentrations, which are interpreted to reflect temporal changes in the chemistry of arc magmatism. Comparison of our LA-ICPMS ages with available CA-TIMS ages and new magnetostratigraphic data provides new insights into the depositional history of the Chinle Formation, as well as methods utilized to determine depositional ages of fluvial strata. For parts of the Chinle Formation that are dominated by fine-grained clastic strata (e.g. mudstone and siltstone), such as the Blue Mesa Member and Petrified Forest Member, all three chronometers agree (to within &#8764;1&#8201;m.y.), and robust depositional chronologies have been determined. In contrast, for stratigraphic intervals dominated by coarse-grained clastic strata (e.g., sandstone), such as most of the Sonsela Member, the three chronologic records disagree due to recycling of older zircon grains and variable dilution of syn-depositional-age grains. This results in LA-ICPMS ages that significantly pre-date deposition, and CA-TIMS ages that range between the other two chronometers. These complications challenge attempts to establish a well-defined chronostratigraphic age model for the Chinle Formation, and to evaluate possible connections among fundamental Late Triassic biotic and climatic changes, a red siliceous horizon encountered in the CPCP core, and the &#8764;215.5&#8201;Ma Manicouagan impact.

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Detrital zircons and sediment dispersal from the Coahuila terrane of northern Mexico into the Marathon foreland of the southern Midcontinent

Cited by 27 publications

References 75 publications

Orogen proximal sedimentation in the Permian foreland basin

Orogen proximal sedimentation in the Permian foreland basin

Detrital zircons and sediment dispersal in the eastern Midcontinent of North America

LA-ICPMS U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircon grains from the Coconino, Moenkopi, and Chinle Formations in the Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona)

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