Cretaceous Exhumation of the North American Cordillera Measured through Mineral Multi-Dating: Insights into Basin Filling Models and Orogenic Architecture

Abstract:

Apatite fission track (AFT) thermochronology is an effective thermochronometer to measure source exhumation in the North American Cordillera, western U.S.A. We use a combination of thermochronology and geochronology to measure lag times, i.e., the difference in time between the cooling and depositional ages of a mineral crystal. These lag-time measurements using source exhumation ages, measured with AFT thermochronology, and depositional ages, measured with biostratigraphy and detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, indicate constant to decreasing lag times of 0–5 m.y. throughout the Cretaceous. These lag times are consistent with rapid exhumation rates of ~0.9–>1 km/m.y. One pitfall of using detrital thermochronology to measure source exhumation is assuring that the apatite crystals are exhumed apatites and not volcanic apatites introduced into the system from the volcanic arc. To do this we use U-Pb geochronology to remove samples contaminated with young arc derived apatites and keep those with old exhumed apatites. Five of the seven detrital AFT samples were significantly contaminated with young volcanic apatites, showing that U-Pb geochronology should be a routine step in measuring lag times.

Our findings demonstrate that coarse-grained foreland basin deposits in the Cretaceous Western Interior, in both the proximal and distal settings, were deposited during times of active tectonism and exhumation and that sediments are not stored in wedge-top and proximal foredeep settings for long periods of time, i.e. >5 m.y., and then subsequently reworked distally. Exhumation rates of ~0.9–>1 km/m.y. are not sustainable over the entire orogenic belt for the duration of the Sevier orogeny, indicated by the lack of deep-crustal material exhumed in the North American Cordillera. High exhumation rates were likely concentrated over the eastward-propagating Sevier fold-thrust belt, whereas the Nevadaplano and hinterland experienced much slower rates of exhumation. This variation in exhumation rates is observed in South America in the central Andean arc, Puna-Altiplano, and eastern Cordillera zones.