DETRITAL ZIRCON PROVENANCE OF THE DENVER BASIN: EVOLVING SEDIMENT DISPERSAL PATTERNS DURING THE LARAMIDE OROGENY

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viridis M. Miranda Berrocales ◽  
◽  
Glenn R. Sharman ◽  
Jacob A. Covault ◽  
Daniel F. Stockli
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Denver Basin ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Sediment Dispersal ◽  
Laramide Orogeny

scholarly journals Tectonic influence on axial-transverse sediment routing in the Denver Basin

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn R. Sharman ◽  
Daniel F. Stockli ◽  
Peter Flaig ◽  
Robert G. Raynolds ◽  
Marieke Dechesne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
The Other ◽  
Front Range ◽  
Denver Basin ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Magmatic Arc ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Basin Fill

ABSTRACT Detrital zircon U-Pb and (U-Th)/He ages from latest Cretaceous–Eocene strata of the Denver Basin provide novel insights into evolving sediment sourcing, recycling, and dispersal patterns during deposition in an intracontinental foreland basin. In total, 2464 U-Pb and 78 (U-Th)/He analyses of detrital zircons from 21 sandstone samples are presented from outcrop and drill core in the proximal and distal portions of the Denver Basin. Upper Cretaceous samples that predate uplift of the southern Front Range during the Laramide orogeny (Pierre Shale, Fox Hills Sandstone, and Laramie Formation) contain prominent Late Cretaceous (84–77 Ma), Jurassic (169–163 Ma), and Proterozoic (1.69–1.68 Ga) U-Pb ages, along with less abundant Paleozoic through Archean zircon grain ages. These grain ages are consistent with sources in the western U.S. Cordillera, including the Mesozoic Cordilleran magmatic arc and Yavapai-Mazatzal basement, with lesser contributions of Grenville and Appalachian zircon recycled from older sedimentary sequences. Mesozoic zircon (U-Th)/He ages confirm Cordilleran sources and/or recycling from the Sevier orogenic hinterland. Five of the 11 samples from syn-Laramide basin fill (latest Cretaceous–Paleocene D1 Sequence) and all five samples from the overlying Eocene D2 Sequence are dominated by 1.1–1.05 Ga zircon ages that are interpreted to reflect local derivation from the ca. 1.1 Ga Pikes Peak batholith. Corresponding late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic zircon (U-Th)/He ages are consistent with local sourcing from the southern Front Range that underwent limited Mesozoic–Cenozoic unroofing. The other six samples from the D1 Sequence yielded detrital zircon U-Pb ages similar to pre-Laramide units, with major U-Pb age peaks at ca. 1.7 and 1.4 Ga but lacking the 1.1 Ga age peak found in the other syn-Laramide samples. One of these samples yielded abundant Mesozoic and Paleozoic (U-Th)/He ages, including prominent Early and Late Cretaceous peaks. We propose that fill of the Denver Basin represents the interplay between locally derived sediment delivered by transverse drainages that emanated from the southern Front Range and a previously unrecognized, possibly extraregional, axial-fluvial system. Transverse alluvial-fluvial fans, preserved in proximal basin fill, record progressive unroofing of southern Front Range basement during D1 and D2 Sequence deposition. Deposits of the upper and lower D1 Sequence across the basin were derived from these fans that emanated from the southern Front Range. However, the finer-grained, middle portion of the D1 Sequence that spans the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary was deposited by both transverse (proximal basin fill) and axial (distal basin fill) fluvial systems that exhibit contrasting provenance signatures. Although both tectonic and climatic controls likely influenced the stratigraphic development of the Denver Basin, the migration of locally derived fans toward and then away from the thrust front suggests that uplift of the southern Front Range may have peaked at approximately the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary.

scholarly journals Interpreting large detrital geochronology data sets in retroarc foreland basins: An example from the Magallanes-Austral Basin, southernmost Patagonia

Lithosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 620-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary T. Sickmann ◽  
Theresa M. Schwartz ◽  
Matthew A. Malkowski ◽  
Stephen C. Dobbs ◽  
Stephan A. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Multidimensional Scaling ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Foreland Basins ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Sediment Dispersal ◽  
Source Regions ◽  
Provenance Data

Abstract The Magallanes-Austral retroarc foreland basin of southernmost South America presents an excellent setting in which to examine interpretive methods for large detrital zircon data sets. The source regions for retroarc foreland basins generally, and the Magallanes-Austral Basin specifically, can be broadly divided into (1) the magmatic arc, (2) the fold-and-thrust belt, and (3) sources around the periphery of foreland flexural subsidence. In this study, we used an extensive detrital zircon data set (30 new, 87 previously published samples) that is complemented by a large modal provenance data set of 183 sandstone petrography samples (32 new, 151 previously published) and rare earth element geochemical analyses (130 previously published samples) to compare the results of empirical (multidimensional scaling) and interpretive (age binning based on source regions) treatments of detrital zircon data, ultimately to interpret the detailed evolution of sediment dispersal patterns and their tectonic controls in the Magallanes-Austral Basin. Detrital zircon sample groupings based on both a priori age binning and multidimensional scaling are required to maximize the potential of the Magallanes-Austral Basin data set. Multidimensional scaling results are sensitive to differences in major unimodal arc-related U-Pb detrital zircon ages and less sensitive to differences in multimodal, thrust belt–related age peaks. These sensitivities complicate basin-scale interpretations when data from poorly understood, less densely sampled sectors are compared to data from better-understood, more densely sampled sectors. Source region age binning alleviates these biases and compares well with multidimensional scaling results when samples from the less well-understood southern basin sector are excluded. Sample groupings generated by both multidimensional scaling and interpretive methods are also compatible with compositional provenance data. Together, this integration of provenance data and methods facilitates a detailed interpretation of sediment dispersal patterns and their tectonic controls for the Late Cretaceous to Eocene fill of the Magallanes-Austral retroarc foreland basin. We interpret that provenance signatures and dispersal patterns during the retroarc foreland phase were fundamentally controlled by conditions set by a predecessor extensional basin phase, including (1) variable magnitude of extension with latitude, (2) the composition of lithologies emplaced on the antecedent western flank, and (3) long-lasting structural discontinuities associated with early rifting that may have partitioned dispersal systems or controlled the location of long-lived drainage networks.

TECTONIC STRATIGRAPHY OF THE LARAMIDE DENVER BASIN FORELAND: INSIGHTS FROM DETRITAL ZIRCON U-PB GEOCHRONOLOGY

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn R. Sharman ◽  
◽  
Jacob A. Covault ◽  
Peter P. Flaig ◽  
Daniel F. Stockli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Denver Basin

DETRITAL ZIRCON CONSTRAINTS ON NORTH AMERICAN TECTONISM AND SEDIMENT DISPERSAL DURING PALEOZOIC TIME

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Gehrels ◽  
◽  
Bill McClelland ◽  
William A. Thomas ◽  
Kurt E. Sundell
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Sediment Dispersal

scholarly journals PROCESS AND MORPHOLOGY CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO BARRIER BEACHES IN THE MAGDALEN ISLANDS, GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE, CANADA

1976 ◽  
Vol 1 (15) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
E.H. Owens
Keyword(s):  
Wave Energy ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Energy Levels ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Barrier Beach ◽  
Sediment Dispersal ◽  
Sediment Redistribution ◽  
Barrier Beaches ◽  
Magdalen Islands

Detailed field investigations of barrier beach morphology and processes at adjacent sites in the Magdalen Islands, Gulf of St. Lawrence, show that the two beaches are in distinctly different morphodynamic environments. The differences are expressed in terms of wave energy levels, sediment dispersal patterns, and nearshore, littoral, and dune geomorphology. The exposed west-facing coast has a steeper offshore gradient, is a zone of sediment bypassing, and has a complex sequence of three nearshore bars. Wave energy levels are lower on the sheltered east coast, and this is a zone of sediment redistribution and deposition with a single, linear nearshore bar. The different morphological characteristics of the two barriers are attributed to the spatial variation in energy levels and to the differences in offshore gradients on the two coasts. Computed wave energy values, derived from data monitored during two study periods (August and November, 1974), indicate that the mean wave energy levels were greater on the west coast as compared to the east coast by factors of 2.25 in summer and 2.95 in winter. This is due primarily to the dominance of winds out of the westerly quadrant throughout the year. 1975

scholarly journals Detrital zircon geochronology and provenance of the Middle to Late Jurassic Paradox Basin and Central Colorado trough: Paleogeographic implications for southwestern Laurentia

Geosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John I. Ejembi ◽  
Sally L. Potter-McIntyre ◽  
Glenn R. Sharman ◽  
Tyson M. Smith ◽  
Joel E. Saylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Morrison Formation ◽  
Detrital Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Sediment Dispersal ◽  
Paradox Basin ◽  
Southern Oklahoma ◽  
Trace Elemental

Middle to Upper Jurassic strata in the Paradox Basin and Central Colorado trough (CCT; south­western United States) record a pronounced change in sediment dispersal from dominantly aeolian deposition with an Appalachian source (Entrada Sandstone) to dominantly fluvial deposi­tion with a source in the Mogollon and/or Sevier orogenic highlands (Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation). An enigmatic abundance of Cambrian (ca. 527–519 Ma) grains at this prove­nance transition in the CCT at Escalante Canyon, Colorado, was recently suggested to reflect a local sediment source from the Ancestral Front Range, despite previous interpretations that local base­ment uplifts were largely buried by Middle to Late Jurassic time. This study aims to delineate spatial and tem­poral patterns in provenance of these Jurassic sandstones containing Cambrian grains within the Paradox Basin and CCT using sandstone petrog­raphy, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, and detrital zircon trace elemental and rare-earth ele­mental (REE) geochemistry. We report 7887 new U-Pb detrital zircon analyses from 31 sandstone samples collected within seven transects in west­ern Colorado and eastern Utah. Three clusters of zircon ages are consistently present (1.53–1.3 Ga, 1.3–0.9 Ga, and 500–300 Ma) that are interpreted to reflect sources associated with the Appalachian orogen in southeastern Laurentia (mid-continent, Grenville, Appalachian, and peri-Gondwanan terranes). Ca. 540–500 Ma zircon grains are anom­alously abundant locally in the uppermost Entrada Sandstone and Wanakah Formation but are either lacking or present in small fractions in the overlying Salt Wash and Tidwell Members of the Morrison Formation. A comparison of zircon REE geochem­istry between Cambrian detrital zircon and igneous zircon from potential sources shows that these 540–500 Ma detrital zircon are primarily magmatic. Although variability in both detrital and igneous REE concentrations precludes definitive identifica­tion of provenance, several considerations suggest that distal sources from the Cambrian granitic and rhyolitic provinces of the Southern Oklahoma aulacogen is also likely, in addition to a proximal source identified in the McClure Mountain syenite of the Wet Mountains, Colorado. The abundance of Cambrian grains in samples from the central CCT, particularly in the Entrada Sandstone and Wana­kah Formation, suggests northwesterly sediment transport within the CCT, with sediment sourced from Ancestral Rocky Mountains uplifts of the southern Wet Mountains and/or Amarillo-Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma. The lack of Cambrian grains within the Paradox Basin sug­gests that the Uncompahgre uplift (southwestern Colorado) acted as a barrier to sediment transport from the CCT.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document