The improved resolution of sediment provenance from detrital zircon analysis of Great Valley stratigraphy enables recognition of previously undocumented arc magmatism and the evolution of regional drainage systems within the Cretaceous arc-forearc system related to uplift, magmatism, and structure in the arc. Great Valley detrital zircon age data confirm previous studies that indicate that the locus of the sediment source in the southern Sierra Nevada arc migrated east with the active volcanic front and suggest rapid rates of uplift and unroofing of the southern arc. Sacramento Valley detrital zircon age data indicate a more complex history of drainage in the northern Klamath-Sierran arc than previously documented. Detrital zircon age distributions from the Cache Creek section of the Great Valley Group broaden through time from nearly unimodal age distributions to signatures with multiple age peaks. This transition to more broadly distributed detrital zircon age spectra likely results from a combination of (1) expanding subaerial drainage systems from highly localized to more broadly distributed catchments; (2) changing shelf and submarinecanyon morphology with rising sea level and/or basin subsidence; (3) increased degree of dissection of the Klamath-Sierran arc; and (4) potential drainage capture and redirection within the arc. Sacramento Valley detrital zircon age data also record a pulse of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

High-frequency sampling for detrital zircon analysis can provide a detailed record of fine-scale basin evolution by revealing the temporal and spatial variability of detrital zircon ages within clastic sedimentary successions. This investigation employed detailed sampling of two sedimentary successions in the Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin of the southern Canadian Cordillera to characterize the heterogeneity of detrital zircon signatures within single lithofacies and assess the applicability of detrital zircon analysis in distinguishing fine-scale provenance changes not apparent in lithologic analysis of the strata. The Methow/ Methow-Tyaughton basin contains two distinct stratigraphic sequences of middle Albian to Santonian clastic sedimentary rocks: submarine-fan deposits of the Harts Pass Formation/Jackass Mountain Group and fluvial deposits of the Winthrop Formation. Although both stratigraphic sequences displayed consistent ranges in detrital zircon ages on a broad scale, detailed sampling within each succession revealed heterogeneity in the detrital zircon age distributions that was systematic and predictable in the turbidite succession but unpredictable in the fluvial succession. These results suggest that a high-density sampling approach permits interpretation of finescale changes within a lithologically uniform turbiditic sedimentary succession, but † E-mail: ksurpless@stanford.edu. heterogeneity within fluvial systems may be too large and unpredictable to permit accurate fine-scale characterization of the evolution of source regions. The robust composite detrital zircon age signature developed for these two successions permits comparison of the Methow/MethowTyaughton basin age signature with known plutonic source-rock ages from major plutonic belts throughout the Cretaceous North American margin. The Methow/ Methow-Tyaughton basin detrital zircon age signature matches best with source regions in the southern Canadian Cordillera, requiring that the basin developed in close proximity to the southern Canadian Cordillera and providing evidence against large-scale dextral translation of the Methow terrane.

The presence of Cretaceous detrital zircon in Upper Jurassic strata of the Great Valley Group may require revision of the lower Great Valley Group chronostratigraphy, with significant implications for the Late Jurassic-Cretaceous evolution of the continental margin. Samples (n ‫؍‬ 7) collected from 100 km along strike in the purported Tithonian strata of the Great Valley Group contain 20 Cretaceous detrital zircon grains, based on sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe age determinations. These results suggest that Great Valley Group deposition was largely Cretaceous, creating a discrepancy between biostratigraphy based on Buchia zones and chronostratigraphy based on radiometric age dates. These results extend the duration of the Great Valley Group basal unconformity, providing temporal separation between Great Valley forearc deposition and creation of the Coast Range Ophiolite. If Great Valley forearc deposition began in Cretaceous time, then sediment bypassed the developing forearc in the Late Jurassic, or the Franciscan subduction system did not fully develop until Cretaceous time. In addition to these constraints on the timing of deposition, pre-Mesozoic detrital zircon age signatures indicate that the Great Valley Group was linked to North America from its inception.

Abstract:The Jurassic-Cretaceous Methow basin of northern Washington State and southern British Columbia forms an overlap sequence linking several small tectonostratigraphic terranes. Sandstone petrography, sandstone and mudrock geochemistry, and detrital zircon U-Pb age and Hf analysis of mid-Cretaceous, east-derived Methow strata together document a remarkably uniform provenance signature that suggests proximal, abundant, and unchanging sediment sources throughout deposition. The eastern belt of the Coast Mountains batholith, intruded into Stikine and related inboard terranes of the Intermontane superterrane, along with Jurassic and Cretaceous plutons of the westernmost Okanogan Range, provide the best match to the provenance signature of east-derived sediment in the Methow basin during the mid-Cretaceous. Furthermore, the Cretaceous and Jurassic plutons of the eastern Coast Mountains batholith and western Okanogan Range were rapidly uplifted to provide the substantial thickness of sediment in the Methow basin, and they must have acted as a topographic barrier that effectively prevented sediment derived from the continental interior from reaching the basin. This uplift of a proximal eastern source occurred during regional late Early Cretaceous sinistral transpression and resulted in subsidence of the Methow trough and rapid deposition of east-derived strata in the Methow basin. Because Methow sediment sources apparently did not include the North American interior, the extent of post-depositional large-scale translation relative to the North American craton of the Methow basin with its proximal, eastern sources cannot be unequivocally determined.Résumé : Le bassin de Methow (Jurassique-Crétacé) du nord de l'État de Washington et du sud de la Colombie-Britannique forme une séquence de chevauchement reliant plusieurs petits terranes tectonostratigraphiques. La pétrographie des grès, la géochimie des grès et des pélites ainsi que les âges déterminés par U-Pb sur des zircons détritiques et des analyses Hf des strates de Methow provenant de l'est (Crétacé moyen) documentent ensemble une signature de provenance remarquablement uniforme, suggérant des sédiments de sources proximales, abondantes et inchangées durant toute la déposition. La ceinture est du batholite de la Chaîne côtière, introduite dans le terrane de Stikine et d'autres terranes intérieurs reliés du superterrane intermontagneux, et les plutons datant du Jurassique et du Crétacé de la partie la plus à l'ouest du chaînon Okanogan, fournissent la meilleure concordance pour une signature de provenance de sédiments de l'est vers le bassin de Methow au Crétacé moyen. De plus, les plutons datant du Crétacé et du Jurassique du batholite de l'est de la chaîne Côtière et de l'ouest du chaînon Okanagan ont été soulevés rapidement, fournissant l'importante épaisseur de sédiments dans le bassin de Methow, et ils ont dû agir de barrière topographique qui a effectivement empêché les sédiments provenant de l'intérieur du continent d'atteindre le bassin. Ce soulèvement ...

ABSTRACT

No abstract

The Great Valley basin of California (USA) is an archetypal forearc basin, yet the timing, structural style, and location of basin development remain controversial. Eighteen of 20 detrital zircon samples (3711 new U-Pb ages) from basal strata of the Great Valley forearc basin contain Cretaceous grains, with nine samples yielding statistically robust Cretaceous maximum depositional ages (MDAs), two with MDAs that overlap the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary, suggesting earliest Cretaceous deposition, and nine with Jurassic MDAs consistent with latest Jurassic deposition. In addition, the pre-Mesozoic age populations of our samples are consistent with central North America sources and do not require a southern provenance. We interpret that diachronous initiation of sedimentation reflects the growth of isolated depocenters, consistent with an extensional model for the early stages of forearc basin development.

The improved resolution of sediment provenance from detrital zircon analysis of Great Valley stratigraphy enables recognition of previously undocumented arc magmatism and the evolution of regional drainage systems within the Cretaceous arc-forearc system related to uplift, magmatism, and structure in the arc. Great Valley detrital zircon age data confirm previous studies that indicate that the locus of the sediment source in the southern Sierra Nevada arc migrated east with the active volcanic front and suggest rapid rates of uplift and unroofing of the southern arc. Sacramento Valley detrital zircon age data indicate a more complex history of drainage in the northern Klamath-Sierran arc than previously documented. Detrital zircon age distributions from the Cache Creek section of the Great Valley Group broaden through time from nearly unimodal age distributions to signatures with multiple age peaks. This transition to more broadly distributed detrital zircon age spectra likely results from a combination of (1) expanding subaerial drainage systems from highly localized to more broadly distributed catchments; (2) changing shelf and submarinecanyon morphology with rising sea level and/or basin subsidence; (3) increased degree of dissection of the Klamath-Sierran arc; and (4) potential drainage capture and redirection within the arc. Sacramento Valley detrital zircon age data also record a pulse of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous