Late Paleogene topography of the Central Rocky Mountains and western Great Plains region using hydrogen isotope ratios in volcanic glass

Abstract:

The Central Rocky Mountains (CRM), located in southern Wyoming, Colorado, and northern New Mexico, are characterized by the highest elevation basins (up to 2500 m) and mountains (over 4000 m) in the North American Cordillera. The timing and drivers for surface uplift of the CRM have not been conclusively determined. The goal of this study is to constrain the timing of surface uplift of the CRM by comparing hydrogen isotope ratios of hydration waters (δD_glass) in late Paleogene volcanic glasses preserved in felsic tuffs deposited in CRM basins to δD_glass values from glasses of similar age (34.9 to 32.2 Ma) preserved in tuffs from the surrounding Great Plains. The tuffs deposited in the Great Plains, to the north and east of the CRM, are currently at elevations of 1100-1600 m. Volcanic glass hydrates shortly after deposition, preserving the δD of ancient meteoric water on geologic timescales, and can thus be used as a proxy for ancient precipitation δD values. 

Volcanic glasses from the CRM have δD_glass values that are an average of ~31‰ higher than δD_glass values from the Great Plains, while modern day precipitation δD values in the CRM are ~25‰ lower than δD values in the Great Plains.  These results suggest that the uplift of the CRM relative to the surrounding Great Plains occurred after ~32 Ma. This requires a mechanism such as mantle upwelling or differential crustal hydration, not solely Laramide tectonism, to uplift the CRM to current elevations. Elevation, however, may not have been the only control on the spatial distribution of precipitation δD values across the western US. Similar to the modern, mixing of Pacific and Gulf coast air masses likely occurred during the latest Paleogene, driving regional variability in δD values of precipitation.