Alternating contraction and extension in the hinterlands of orogenic belts: An example from the Raft River Mountains, Utah

Wells, Michael L.

doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1997)109<0107:acaeit>2.3.co;2

Cited by 62 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Plate reconstructions indicate that subduction was continuous along the continental margin throughout that time interval Rhodes and Hyndman, 1984;Harms and Price, 1992;Doughty andPrice, 1999, 2000 Pv Pozo Verde S25W Goodwin and Haxel, 1990;Nourse et al, 1994 Rr Raft River N80E Wells, 1997 real question is not whether inland magmatism was related to subduction, but how. 2.…”

Section: Migratory Magmatic Arcsmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Basin and Range Province as a Composite Extensional Domain

Dickinson

2002

International Geology Review

227

254

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The Basin and Range province is a composite Cenozoic taphrogen with a present configuration and internal geometry derived from superimposed multiple phases of extensional deformation driven by varied geodynamic impulses. Different components of the composite taphrogen derive from: (a) post-orogenic Late Paleocene to Middle Miocene slab rollback beneath overthickened crust of the Sevier-Laramide orogen, to induce migratory arc magmatism, tectonic denudation of Cordilleran metamorphic core complexes within associated domains of crustal extension, and belts of backarc rifting including pre-Middle Miocene phases of the Rio Grande rift; (b) Eocene transrotational tectonism that pivoted and displaced crustal elements of the Paleogene forearc in the Pacific Northwest; (c) late Early Miocene and younger crustal extension in the northwestern Basin and Range province (Numic subtraphrogen including segments in the Great Basin, Southeast Oregon Plateau, and Idaho-Montana border regions) as structural accompaniment to northward migration of the Mendocino triple junction; and (d) late Middle Miocene and younger crustal extension in the southeastern Basin and Range province (Piman subtaphrogen including the Gulf of California extensional province, interior Meseta Central province, and post-mid-Miocene Rio Grande rift) succeeding the rapid southward migration of the Rivera triple junction. A transtaphrogen bridge spanning the Mojave block, Eastern Transverse Ranges, and a broad region in southeastern California and southwestern Arizona experienced only limited post-mid-Miocene extensional deformation during evolution of the active Numic and Piman subtaphrogens lying to the northwest and southeast. The compound evolutionary history of the Basin and Range province renders moot any unitary theories for its geodynamic behavior.

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Section: Migratory Magmatic Arcsmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Basin and Range Province as a Composite Extensional Domain

Dickinson

2002

International Geology Review

227

254

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“…Previous workers have investigated the structural, magmatic, and metamorphic history of several parts of the complex. These workers include Compton et al (1977), Todd (1973Todd ( , 1980 and Compton (1983) in the Grouse Creek Mountains; Armstrong and Hills (1967), D. Miller (1980), D. Miller et al (1990), D. Miller and Bedford (1998), and Forrest et al (1994) in the Albion Mountains; Saltzer and Hodges (1988) in the Middle Mountain area; and Compton (1972Compton ( , 1975, Compton et al (1977), Malavielle (1987aMalavielle ( , 1987b, Wells (1997), and Wells et al (1997aWells et al ( , 1998Wells et al ( , 2000 in the Raft River Mountains. The combined field observations and geochronologic work by these authors highlight the spatial association of inferred extensional fabrics with either plutons or significant metamorphic heating and/or cooling events throughout the core complex, but in detail, the relations described between deformation, metamorphism, and plutonism vary, and have not been clearly outlined.…”

Section: Please Scroll Down For Articlementioning

confidence: 96%

Timing and Nature of Tertiary Plutonism and Extension in the Grouse Creek Mountains, Utah

Egger

Dumitru

Miller

et al. 2003

International Geology Review

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The Grouse Creek-Albion-Raft River metamorphic core complex in northwestern Utah and southern Idaho is characterized by several Tertiary plutons with a range of ages and crosscutting relations that help constrain the timing of extensional deformation. In the Grouse Creek Mountains, at least three distinct, superimposed, extension-related Tertiary deformational events are bracketed by intrusive rocks, followed by a fourth event: motion on range-bounding faults.The Emigrant Pass plutonic complex was emplaced at depths of less than 10 km into Permianage rocks. SHRIMP U-Pb zircon analysis indicates a three-stage intrusion of the complex at 41.3 ± 0.3 Ma, 36.1 ± 0.2 Ma, and 34.3 ± 0.3 Ma. The two youngest phases represent distinctly younger intrusive event(s) than the oldest phase, separated by more than 5 m.y. The oldest phase cuts several metamorphosed and deformed younger-on-older faults, providing a pre-41 Ma age bracket for oldest extension-related deformation in the region. The youngest phase(s) are interpreted to have been intruded during development of a map-scale, N-S-trending recumbent fold, the Bovine Mountain fold, formed during vertical shortening of roof rocks during intrusion. This second event folded older normal faults that are likely pre-41 Ma. Zircons from the youngest part of the pluton show inheritance from Archean basement (~2.5 Ga) and from its Proterozoic sedimentary cover (~1.65 Ga).The Red Butte pluton, emplaced at 15-20 km depth, intruded highly metamorphosed Archean orthogneiss at 25.3 ± 0.5 Ma; cores of some zircons yield latest Archean ages of 2.55 Ga. The pluton is interpreted to have been intruded during a third deformational and metamorphic event that resulted in vertical flattening fabrics formed during NW to EW stretching, ultimately leading to thinning of cover and top-to-the west motion on the Ingham Pass fault. The Ingham Pass fault represents an important structure in the Grouse Creek Mountains, as it juxtaposes two parts of the crust that apparently resided as much as 10 km apart (in depth) at times as young as the Miocene.The varied structural, metamorphic, and intrusive relations observed in the Grouse Creek Mountains reflect their formation at different levels within the crust. Data from these various levels argue that plutonism has been a key mechanism for transferring heat into the middle and upper crust, and localizing strain during regional extension. Interestingly, events documented here correlate in a broad way with cooling events documented in the Raft River Mountains, although plutons are not exposed there. Major and trace element geochemistry imply a crustal component in all of the studied plutons, indicating significant degrees of crustal melting at depth during extension, and point to mantle heat sources during the timespan of Basin and Range extension as the cause of melting.Basin and Range faulting and final uplift of the range is recorded by apatite fission track ages, averaging 13.4 Ma, and deposition of about 2 km of syn-faulting basin fill deposits along the ...

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“…Prior studies in the Raft River-Albion-Grouse Creek core complex have unraveled a history of alternating shortening and extension during continued growth of the Sevier orogen (Wells, 1997;Hoisch et al, 2002). P-T paths from the schist of Stevens Spring in Basin Creek canyon detail an ''N" shaped pressure-temperature path with the following sequence: isothermal burial, exhumation and heating, and renewed burial (Hoisch et al, 2002).…”

Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The garnet schists studied here are from the schist of Stevens Springs in Basin Creek canyon in the northern Grouse Creek Mountains, and are part of a sequence of alternating quartzite and psammitic, pelitic, and amphibolitic schists of Proterozoic age that unconformably overlie Archean basement (for a more complete description of the stratigraphy, see Compton, 1972;Wells, 1997;Wells et al, 1998;Hoisch et al, 2002). Prior studies in the Raft River-Albion-Grouse Creek core complex have unraveled a history of alternating shortening and extension during continued growth of the Sevier orogen (Wells, 1997;Hoisch et al, 2002).…”

Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%