Detrital Zircon U-Pb Geochronology and Provenance of the Sundance Formation, Western Powder River Basin, Wyoming

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-317
Author(s):  
Joseph Syzdek ◽  
David Malone ◽  
John Craddock
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Powder River Basin ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Sediment Dispersal ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Management Area

This study uses detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology to investigate the provenance of the Jurassic Sundance Formation in the western Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Understanding the provenance of the Sundance Formation is critical as it was deposited during the transition from cratonic to synorogenic sedimentation derived from the Sevier-Laramide foreland. The Sundance in the western Powder River Basin consists of an oolitic limestone and green glauconitic sandstone at the base, green shales in the middle, and a yellow quartz arenite with coquina “oyster” beds at the top. U-Pb analyses of detrital zircons using LA-ICP-MS were conducted on two samples collected in the Bud Love Wildlife Habitat Management Area, 20 km northwest of Buffalo, WY. The two samples were taken from the upper and lower sandstone members of the Sundance Formation (n=289 concordant U-Pb zircon ages). The samples show a distinct difference in detrital zircon age spectra. The lower sandstone age spectrum ranges from 260-3172 Ma with 23% of the ages being Paleozoic, 71% being Proterozoic, and 6% being Archean. This lower stratum has detrital zircon age peaks at 343, 432, 686, 1039, 1431, 1662, 1748, 1941, 2433, and 3179 Ma. The lower sandstone shows an easterly Appalachian-Ouachita provenance, which persisted in the region beginning in the Carboniferous. In comparison to the upper strata, ages range from 157-2949 Ma and age peaks at 170, 243, 440, 545, 1082, 1467, 1681, and 1985 Ma. The maximum deposition age for the upper member is 160 Ma. Mesozoic aged grains make up 15.6% of the zircons, 14.7% were Paleozoic, 65.7% were Proterozoic, and 4% were Archean in age. The appearance of Mesozoic zircons in the upper sandstone marks the first significant appearance of westerly sourced zircons, and perhaps reflects the earliest uplift of the Sevier fold and thrust belt. Previous research has found this same signature in the Sundance but not in the underlying Triassic Chugwater Formation, resulting in a broad boundary of the change in sediment dispersal and the onset of the Sevier Orogeny between the Triassic and Jurassic. This study was conducted for a higher resolution to the provenance of the Sundance Formation and to further narrow the boundary of differing sedimentation from an eastern recycled to western synorogenic source.

Preliminary detrital zircon U-Pb Geochronology of the Wasatch Formation, Powder River Basin, Wyoming

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-266
Author(s):  
Ian Anderson ◽  
David H. Malone ◽  
John Craddock
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Powder River Basin ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Lower Eocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Mountain Front ◽  
Fluvial Sandstone

The lower Eocene Wasatch Formation is more than 1500 m thick in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. The Wasatch is a Laramide synorgenic deposit that consists of paludal and lacustrine mudstone, fluvial sandstone, and coal. U-Pb geochronologic data on detrital zircons were gathered for a sandstone unit in the middle part of the succession. The Wasatch was collected along Interstate 90 just west of the Powder River, which is about 50 km east of the Bighorn Mountain front. The sandstone is lenticular in geometry and consists of arkosic arenite and wacke. The detrital zircon age spectrum ranged (n=99) from 1433-2957 Ma in age, and consisted of more than 95% Archean age grains, with an age peak of about 2900 Ma. Three populations of Archean ages are evident: 2886.6±10 Ma (24%), 2906.6±8.4 Ma (56%) and 2934.1±6.6 Ma (20%; all results 2 sigma). These ages are consistent with the age of Archean rocks exposed in the northern part of the range. The sparse Proterozoic grains were likely derived from the recycling of Cambrian and Carboniferous strata. These sands were transported to the Powder River Basin through the alluvial fans adjacent to the Piney Creek thrust. Drainage continued to the north through the basin and eventually into the Ancestral Missouri River and Gulf of Mexico. The provenance of the Wasatch is distinct from coeval Tatman and Willwood strata in the Bighorn and Absaroka basins, which were derived from distal source (>500 km) areas in the Sevier Highlands of Idaho and the Laramide Beartooth and Tobacco Root uplifts. Why the Bighorn Mountains shed abundant Eocene strata only to the east and not to the west remains enigmatic, and merits further study.

Detrital zircons from Late Paleozoic Ice Age sequences in Victoria Land (Antarctica): New constraints on the glaciation of southern Gondwana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Zurli ◽  
Gianluca Cornamusini ◽  
Jusun Woo ◽  
Giovanni Pio Liberato ◽  
Seunghee Han ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Late Paleozoic ◽  
Lower Permian ◽  
Petrographic Composition ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Late Paleozoic Ice Age

The Lower Permian tillites of the Beacon Supergroup, cropping out in Victoria Land (Antarctica), record climatic history during one of the Earth’s coldest periods: the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. Reconstruction of ice-extent and paleo-flow directions, as well as geochronological and petrographic data, are poorly constrained in this sector of Gondwana. Here, we provide the first detrital zircon U-Pb age analyses of both the Metschel Tillite in southern Victoria Land and some tillites correlatable with the Lanterman Formation in northern Victoria Land to identify the source regions of these glaciogenic deposits. Six-hundred detrital zircon grains from four diamictite samples were analyzed using laser ablation−inductively coupled plasma−mass spectrometry. Geochronological and petrographic compositional data of the Metschel Tillite indicate a widespread reworking of older Devonian Beacon Supergroup sedimentary strata, with minor contribution from Cambro-Ordovician granitoids and meta-sedimentary units as well as Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks. Euhedral to subhedral Carboniferous−Devonian zircon grains match coeval magmatic units of northern Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. This implies, in accordance with published paleo-ice directions, a provenance from the east-southeast sectors. In contrast, the two samples from northern Victoria Land tillite reflect the local basement provenance; their geochronological age and petrographic composition indicates a restricted catchment area with multiple ice centers. This shows that numerous ice centers were present in southern Gondwana during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. While northern Victoria Land hosted discrete glaciers closely linked with the northern Victoria Land-Tasmania ice cap, the west-northwestward flowing southern Victoria Land ice cap contributed most of the sediments comprising the Metschel Tillite.

Enigmatic provenance signature of sandstone from the Okwa Group, Botswana

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-342
Author(s):  
T. Andersen ◽  
M.A. Elburg ◽  
J. Lehmann
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Sedimentary Rock ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
Isotope Distributions

Abstract Detrital zircon grains from three samples of sandstone from the Tswaane Formation of the Okwa Group of Botswana have been dated by U-Pb and analysed for Hf isotopes by multicollector LA-ICPMS. The detrital zircon age distribution pattern of the detrital zircons is dominated by a mid-Palaeoproterozoic age fraction (2 000 to 2 150 Ma) with minor late Archaean – early Palaeoproterozoic fractions. The 2 000 to 2 150 Ma zircon grains show a range of epsilon Hf from -12 to 0. The observed age and Hf isotope distributions overlap closely with those of sandstones of the Palaeoproterozoic Waterberg Group and Keis Supergroup of South Africa, but are very different from Neoproterozoic deposits in the region, and from the Takatswaane siltstone of the Okwa Group, all of which are dominated by detrital zircon grains younger than 1 950 Ma. The detrital zircon data indicate that the sources of Tswaane Formation sandstones were either Palaeoproterozoic rocks in the basement of the Kaapvaal Craton, or recycled Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary rocks similar to the Waterberg, Elim or Olifantshoek groups of South Africa. This implies a significant shift in provenance regime between the deposition of the Takatswaane and Tswaane formations. However, the detrital zircon data are also compatible with a completely different scenario in which the Tswaane Formation consists of Palaeoproterozoic sedimentary rock in tectonic rather than depositional contact with the other units of the Okwa Group.

Detrital zircon geochronology of metasedimentary rocks in the southern Omineca Belt, Canadian Cordillera

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 (8) ◽  
pp. 1254-1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald M. Ross ◽  
Randall R. Parrish
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Bimodal Distribution ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Detrital Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Early Proterozoic ◽  
Metasedimentary Rocks ◽  
Basement Rocks ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Alberta Basin ◽  
Detrital Zircon Ages

We address two problems of Cordilleran geology in this study using U–Pb dating of single detrital zircon grains from metasedimentary rocks: the provenance of the Windermere Supergroup, and the age and correlation of metasedimentary rocks within the Shuswap Complex that are at high metamorphic grade. Because some of these rocks are clearly of North American affinity, the ages of zircons provide indirect constraints on the age and distribution of continental basement from which the zircons were derived.A consistent pattern emerges from ages of about 50 grains from six rocks. Nearly all samples analyzed (48–53°N) are characterized by a bimodal distribution of zircon ages of 1.65–2.16 Ga and > 2.5 Ga, with a distinct lack of ages between 2.1 and 2.5 Ga. Exceptions to this pattern are young zircons from two samples, from Valhalla and Grand Forks – Kettle complexes of southeastern British Columbia, that have grains 1435 ± 35 and 650 ± 15 Ma, respectively. These younger grains are inferred to have been derived from magmatic rocks, and they have no obvious source in either the Canadian Shield or the Alberta subsurface basement to the east. The Early Proterozoic and Archean ages of detrital zircons resemble those of dated basement rocks beneath the Alberta Basin as well as basement exposed within the Cordilleran hinterland (gneisses of Thor–Odin, Frenchman Cap, and Malton regions). However, 2.1–2.4 Ga rocks that are extensive in the subsurface of northern Alberta are not represented in the inventory of detrital zircon ages presented in this paper.This pattern suggests that much of the Cordilleran basement between these latitudes is underlain by Archean crust of the Hearne–Wyoming provinces that may be mantled to the west by an orogenic–magmatic belt of Early Proterozoic (1.7–1.9 Ga) age which may largely have been parallel to the present Cordilleran orogen.

Detrital Zircon U-Pb geochronology of the Ordovician Lander Sandstone, Bighorn

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. McGuire ◽  
David Malone ◽  
John Craddock ◽  
Shawn J. Malone
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Peace River ◽  
The North ◽  
Quartz Arenite ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
The Us ◽  
Statistical Similarity ◽  
Peace River Arch ◽  
Archean Basement

The Ordovician Lander Sandstone, which occurs unconformably above the Cambrian Gallatin Limestone and beneath the Bighorn Dolomite, occurs in the Bighorn, Powder, and Wind River basins of Wyoming. The Lander ranges from 0-10 m in thickness and consists of texturally and compositional mature, cross bedded quartz arenite. This study uses detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology to elucidate its provenance. Samples were collected from two localities along the eastern flank of the Bighorn Mountains near Buffalo, Wyoming: a roadcut on US 16 just west of the Clear Creek thrust and from along Crazy Woman Canyon Road. The results showed a statistical similarity between the two samples, and that zircon ages are predominantly Proterozoic in age (~75%) while the minority ages were Archean (25%). Probability density plots of the two-source areas show that the peak ages for Crazy Woman Canyon (n=90) are ~1840, 2075 and 2695 Ma and the US 16 peak ages (n=141) are ~1825, 2075, and 2725 Ma. The detrital zircon age spectra for these samples indicate that the Lander was not derived from local Archean basement and was not recycled from the underlying Cambrian. The Lander has a provenance in either the Trans-Hudson Province and adjacent rocks in present day Saskatchewan and Manitoba more than 1000 km to the north or from the Peace River Arch, an early Paleozoic highlands in northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. The Lander zircons have a similar provenance to eolian zircons in the Bighorn Dolomite and to other Ordovician sandstones on the Cordilleran Continental margin and central Idaho. The Lander provenance is distinct from the Ordovician St. Peter Sandstone, which occurs extensively east of the Transcontinental Arch. We interpret that the Lander was derived on the late Ordovician shoreline, and then transported via prevailing winds across the Laurentian shelf from east to west during sea level low stand, and then distributed throughout the shelf by currents.

Detrital zircon geochronology and provenance of the Middle Cambrian Flathead Sandstone, Park County, Wyoming

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Malone ◽  
John Craddock ◽  
Stuart Kenderes
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
The South ◽  
Midcontinent Rift ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Middle Cambrian ◽  
Detrital Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Cheyenne Belt ◽  
Basement Rocks ◽  
Wyoming Province

We report the results of analyses of detrital zircon from the middle Cambrian Flathead Sandstone from four locations in Park County, WY. The Flathead U-Pb zircon age spectra (n=355) includes one peak at 2702–3345 Ma (95%) and two small age peaks at 1784 Ma (4%) and ∼1830 Ma (1%). Regional paleocurrent data for the Flat-head indicate sediment transport from east to west but the dominant Archean detrital zircons in our sample suite indicates a proximal source in structurally and topographically high Wyoming Province crust. The Archean ages are consistent with the >3.0 Ga fraction being derived from basement rocks present in the northern Beartooth Range and areas further to the west. The 2.8–3.0 Ga grains were derived from the Beartooth-Bighorn magmatic zone, which directly underlies and extends to the south and east of these Flathead sampling localities. The 1.7–1.8 Ga grains were derived from 100s of km to the south and east, in the Cheyenne Belt or more distal Yavapai Province rocks. This 1.7–1.8 Ga crust was uplifted along the Transcontinental Arch during late Precambrian time. The Transcontinental Arch, and perhaps the Midcontinent Rift further to the east as well, prevented easterly-sourced (i.e. Grenville) zircons from reaching the Wyoming Sauk shoreline.

Detrital zircon geochronology of the Aycross Formation (Eocene) near Togwotee Pass, western Wind River Basin, Wyoming

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Malone ◽  
John Craddock ◽  
Kacey Garber ◽  
Jarek Trela
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Zircon Age ◽  
Detrital Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Wind River Basin ◽  
The North

The Aycross Formation is the basal unit of the Absaroka Volcanic Supergroup in the southern Absaroka Range and consists of volcanic sandstone, mudstone, breccia, tuff and conglomerate. The Aycross was deposited during the waning stages of the Laramide Orogeny and the earliest phases of volcanism in the Absaroka Range. U-Pb geo-chronology using laser ablation multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry LA-ICP-MS was performed on detrital zircons collected from an Aycross sandstone bed at Falls Campground east of Togwotee Pass. The detrital zircon age spectrum ranged fom ca 47 to 2856 Ma. Peak ages, as indicated by the zircon age probability density plot are ca. 51, 61, and 72 Ma. Tertiary zircons were the most numerous (n = 32), accounting for 42% of the zircon ages spectrum. Of these 19 are Eocene, and 13 are Paleocene, which are unusual ages in the Wyoming-Idaho-Montana area. Mesozoic zircons (n = 21) comprise 27% of the age spectrum and range in age from 68–126 Ma; all but one being late Cretaceous in age. No Paleozoic zircons are present. Proterozoic zircons range in age from 1196–2483 Ma, and also consist of 27% of the age spectrum. The maximum depositional age of the Aycross Formation is estimated to be 50.05 +/− 0.65 Ma based on weighted mean of the eight youngest grains. The Aycross Formation detrital zircon age spectrum is distinct from that of other 49–50 Ma rocks in northwest Wyoming, which include the Hominy Peak and Wapiti Formations and Crandall Conglomerate. The Aycross must have been derived largely from distal westerly source areas, which include the late Cretaceous and Paleocene Bitteroot Lobe of the Idaho Batholith. In contrast, the middle Eocene units further to the north must have been derived from erosion of the Archean basement-cored uplift of the Laramide Foreland in southwest Montana.

Neoproterozoic Jiangnan Orogeny in southeast Guizhou, South China: evidence from U–Pb ages for detrital zircons from the Sibao Group and Xiajiang Group

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Ma ◽  
Kunguang Yang ◽  
Xuegang Li ◽  
Chuangu Dai ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
North India ◽  
Yangtze Block ◽  
Inductively Coupled ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Southeastern Margin ◽  
Depositional Age

The Jiangnan Orogeny generated regional angular unconformities between the Xiajiang Group and the underlying Sibao Group in the western Jiangnan Orogen along the southeastern margin of the Yangtze Block in southeast Guizhou, South China. Laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) U–Pb zircon dating of two samples of the Motianling granitic pluton yielded U–Pb zircon ages of 826.2 ± 3.4 and 825.5 ± 6.1 Ma, with an average age of 825.6 ± 3.0 Ma, which is considered the minimum depositional age of the Sibao Group. The U–Pb ages of the youngest detrital zircon grains from the Sibao Group and the Xiajiang Group yielded average ages of 834.9 ± 3.8 and 794.6 ± 4.2 Ma, respectively. The depositional age of the Sibao Group can be constrained at 825–835 Ma, and deposition of the Xiajiang Group did not begin before ca. 800 Ma. These results suggest that the Jiangnan Orogeny, which led to the assembly of the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks, ended at 795–835 Ma on the western segment of the Jiangnan Orogen. The detrital zircon distribution spectrums of the Sibao and Xiajiang groups suggest a provenance from Neoproterozoic basement sedimentary sequences along with a mixture of local Neoproterozoic subduction-related felsic granitoids, distant plutons from the western Yangtze Block and eastern Jiangnan Orogen, and recycled materials from the interior of the Yangtze Block. By comparing the basin evolution histories and magmatic and metamorphic events along the continental margins of the Rodinia supercontinent, it is proposed that the South China Block might have been located at the periphery, adjacent to North India and East Antarctica, rather than in the interior of Rodinia in Neoproterozoic time.

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