Fission track analysis of the footwall of the Catalina detachment fault, Arizona: Tectonic denudation, magmatism, and erosion

Fayon, A.; Peacock, Simon M.; Stump, Edmund; Reynolds, Stephen J.

doi:10.1029/1999jb900421

Cited by 44 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Given the transient nature of these rapidly evolving systems, the assumption of steady-state is not valid. Furthermore, calculation of a time-integrated cooling rate from high to low T is meaningless if a rock experienced a multi-phase decompression and cooling history, as is likely for gneiss domes and core complexes (Catalina: Fayon et al [2000]; Shuswap: Lorencak et al, [2001]; Vanderhaeghe et al [2003]). Evaluating the model results by determining cooling rates during ascent provides insight for comparing observed data and predicted paths as a function of exhumation mechanism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…B. Cooling paths for the Shuswap and Catalina metamorphic core complexes determined from thermochronologic data. The two core complexes record similar cooling paths: rapid cooling followed by a period of slower cooling and exhumation (after Davy et al, 1989;Guérin et al, 1990;Vanderhaeghe et al, 1999;Fayon et al, 2000;Lorencak et al, 2001). Initial cooling of the Shuswap is characterized by a moderate cooling rate of ~55 °C/m.y.…”

Section: Case Studies: Shuswap and Catalina Core Complexes North Amementioning

confidence: 97%

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Exhumation of orogenic crust: Diapiric ascent versus low-angle normal faulting

Fayon¹,

Teyssier²

2004

Gneiss Domes in Orogeny

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Many high-grade metamorphic terrains record isothermal decompression, implying rapid exhumation or heat input during decompression. These terrains commonly contain gneiss domes that are spatially and temporally associated with low-angle normal faults such as those bounding metamorphic core complexes. To understand the thermomechanical relationship of gneiss domes and core complexes, we use twodimensional numerical modeling to evaluate exhumation and cooling rates resulting from diapiric ascent of partially-molten crust, a proposed mechanism for gneiss dome formation, versus exhumation of orogenic crust by low-angle normal faulting, the primary unroofi ng mechanism in metamorphic core complexes. Pressure-temperaturetime paths calculated for vertical ascent rates of 2-20 km/m.y. show that isothermal decompression is possible for rocks within a diapir. In contrast, paths calculated for rocks in the footwall of low-angle normal faults show that cooling occurs as rocks are brought closer to Earth's surface, and the rate at which these rocks cool is controlled by fault dip, displacement rate, and amount of displacement. The amount of heat loss per unit time during decompression increases with fault dip. For exhumation of rocks in the footwall of a very low-angle fault (~10°), decompression paths occur with little cooling (quasi-isothermal), but the shallow dip of the fault does not allow signifi cant decompression. Low-angle normal faulting alone cannot result in isothermal decompression: The presence of gneiss domes in core complexes requires an additional exhumation process, such as diapiric ascent or a more structurally and thermally complex evolution of the detachment system. In the late stages of exhumation, once the rocks have risen to depths of <15 km and experience rapid cooling, detachment faulting may be the primary mechanism of the fi nal unroofi ng and juxtaposition of formerly deep rocks and upper crustal rocks.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Case Studies: Shuswap and Catalina Core Complexes North Amementioning

confidence: 97%

Exhumation of orogenic crust: Diapiric ascent versus low-angle normal faulting

Fayon¹,

Teyssier²

2004

Gneiss Domes in Orogeny

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“…Although thermochronometric evidence for late Oligocene-early Miocene cooling has been described in mountain ranges of southern Arizona and southern New Mexico (Bryant et al, 1991;Kelley et al, 1992;Kelley and Chapin, 1997;Fayon et al, 2000;Carter et al, 2004), such cooling may be mostly the result of local footwall uplift and exhumation.…”

Section: Southern Basin and Range And Rio Grande Riftmentioning

confidence: 95%

Diachronous episodes of Cenozoic erosion in southwestern North America and their relationship to surface uplift, paleoclimate, paleodrainage, and paleoaltimetry

2012

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The history of erosion of southwestern North America and its relationship to surface uplift is a long-standing topic of debate. We use geologic and thermochronometric data to reconstruct the erosion history of southwestern North America. We infer that erosion events occurred mostly in response to surface uplift by contemporaneous tectonism, and were not long-delayed responses to surface uplift caused by later climate change or drainage reorganization. Rock uplift in response to isostatic compensation of exhumation occurred during each erosion event, but has been quantifi ed only for parts of the late Miocene-Holocene erosion episode. We recognize four episodes of erosion and associated tectonic uplift: (1) the Laramide orogeny (ca. 75-45 Ma), during which individual uplifts were deeply eroded as a result of uplift by thrust faults, but Laramide basins and the Great Plains region remained near sea level, as shown by the lack of signifi cant Laramide exhumation in these areas; (2) late middle Eocene erosion (ca. 42-37 Ma) in Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado, which probably occurred in response to epeirogenic uplift from lithospheric rebound that followed the cessation of Laramide dynamic subsidence; (3) late Oligocene-early Miocene deep erosion (ca. 27-15 Ma) in a broad region of the southern Cordillera (including the southern Colorado Plateau, southern Great Plains, trans-Pecos Texas, and northeastern Mexico), which was uplifted in response to increased mantle buoyancy associated with major concurrent volcanism in the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico and in the Southern Rocky Mountains; (4) Late Miocene-Holocene erosion (ca. 6-0 Ma) in a broad area of southwestern North America, with loci of deep erosion in the western Colorado-eastern Utah region and in the western Sierra Madre Occidental. Erosion in western Colorado-eastern Utah refl ects mantle-related rock uplift as well as an important isostatic component caused by compensation of deep fl uvial erosion in the upper Colorado River drainage following its integration to the Gulf of California.Erosion in the western Sierra Madre Occidental occurred in response to rift-shoulder uplift and the proximity of oceanic base level following the late Miocene opening of the Gulf of California. We cannot estimate the amount of rock or surface uplift associated with each erosion episode, but the maximum depths of exhumation for each were broadly similar (typically ~1-3 km). Only the most recent erosion episode is temporally correlated with climate change.Paleoaltimetric studies, except for those based on leaf physiognomy, are generally compatible with the uplift chronology we propose here. Physiognomy-based paleo eleva tion data suggest that near-modern elevations were attained during the Paleogene, but are the only data that uniquely support such interpretations. High Paleogene elevations require a complex late Paleogene-Neogene uplift and subsidence history for the Front Range and western Great Plains of Colorado that is not compatible with the regional sedimentation and er...

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“…Lister & Baldwin 1993), coeval rapid erosion (e.g. Fayon et al 2000;Thomson & Ring 2006), resetting of ages by the influx of synkinematic hot mineralizing fluids (e.g. Morrison & Anderson 1998;Carter et al 2004), or more than one active detachment, potentially with bivergent directions of slip (e.g.…”

Section: Age -Distance Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing and nature of formation of the Ios metamorphic core complex, southern Cyclades, Greece

Thomson

Ring

Brichau

et al. 2009

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We apply low-temperature thermochronology, Rb/Sr geochronology, petrological data, and structural mapping to constrain the timing and kinematics of the Ios metamorphic core complex. Top-to-north extension in the lower plate Headland Shear Zone was active at 18-19 Ma under metamorphic conditions of 475-610 8C and 0.65-1.1 GPa. The South Cyclades Shear Zone/Ios Detachment Fault (SCSZ/IDF) system shows top-to-south extensional shear active at c. 19 Ma at 380-550 8C, with local top-to-north bands. Extensional shear above the SCSZ/IDF is dominantly top-to-south to top-to-SW. PT estimates from an eclogite boudin constrain Eocene high-pressure metamorphism to 430-560 8C and 1.21 + 0.42 GPa to 0.66 + 0.37 GPa. Similar low-temperature thermochronometric ages across Ios demonstrate that ductile extensional movement ceased by c. 15 Ma. Exhumation to shallow crustal levels took place between c. 15 and 9 Ma at cooling rates of up to 120 8C Ma 21 with a slow down to ,20 8C Ma 21 between 12 and 9 Ma, most likely accommodated by extensional slip at rates of c. 3 km Ma 21 along the top-to-SW Coastal Fault System. We propose a model of bivergent extension for exhumation of the Ios core complex between 19 and 9 Ma, with Ios forming a secondary antithetic top-to-south to top-to-SW extensional fault system to a more dominant top-to-north Naxos/Paros detachment system.

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Fission track analysis of the footwall of the Catalina detachment fault, Arizona: Tectonic denudation, magmatism, and erosion

Cited by 44 publications

References 70 publications

Exhumation of orogenic crust: Diapiric ascent versus low-angle normal faulting

Exhumation of orogenic crust: Diapiric ascent versus low-angle normal faulting

Diachronous episodes of Cenozoic erosion in southwestern North America and their relationship to surface uplift, paleoclimate, paleodrainage, and paleoaltimetry

Timing and nature of formation of the Ios metamorphic core complex, southern Cyclades, Greece

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