Beveling the Colorado Plateau: Early Mesozoic Rift‐Related Flexure Explains Erosion and Anomalous Deposition in the Southern Cordilleran Foreland Basin

Chapman, James B.; DeCelles, Peter G.

doi:10.1029/2020tc006517

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 112 publications

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“…The Mogollon Highlands were part of an orogenic plateau present along the southwest margin of the Colorado Plateau from the Jurassic (Dickinson & Lawton 2001, Chapman & DeCelles 2021 to the Late Cretaceous. The presence of high topography along this margin is geologically recorded by northeast-flowing paleorivers (Young & Hartman 2014).…”

Section: Laramide Orogeny (Ca 90-40 Ma)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonics of the Colorado Plateau and Its Margins

Karlstrom

Wilgus

Thacker

et al. 2022

Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci.

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The Cenozoic Colorado Plateau physiographic province overlies multiple Precambrian provinces. Its ∼2-km elevation rim surrounds an ∼1.6-km elevation core that is underlain by thicker crust and lithospheric mantle, with a sharp structural transition ∼100 km concentrically inboard of the physiographic boundary on all but its northeastern margin. The region was uplifted in three episodes: ∼70–50 Ma uplift above sea level driven by flat-slab subduction; ∼38–23 Ma uplift associated with voluminous regional magmatism and slab removal, and less than 20 Ma uplift associated with inboard propagation of basaltic magmatism that tracked convective erosion of the lithospheric core. Neogene uplift helped integrate the Colorado River from the Rockies at 11 Ma to the Gulf of California by ∼5 Ma. The sharp rim-to-core transition defined by geological and geophysical data sets suggests a young transient plateau that is uplifting as it shrinks to merge with surrounding regions of postorogenic extension. ▪ The Colorado Plateau's iconic landscapes were shaped during its 70-million-year, still-enigmatic, tectonic evolution characterized by uplift and erosion. ▪ Uplift of the Colorado Plateau from sea level took place in three episodes, the youngest of which has been ongoing for the past 20 million years. ▪ Tectonism across the Colorado Plateau's nearest plate margin (the base of the plate!) is driving uplift and volcanism and enhancing its rugged landscapes. ▪ The bowl-shaped Colorado Plateau province is defined by ongoing uplift and an inboard sweep of magmatism around its margins. ▪ The keel of the Colorado Plateau is being thinned as the North American plate moves southwest through the underlying mantle. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Volume 50 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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Section: Laramide Orogeny (Ca 90-40 Ma)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonics of the Colorado Plateau and Its Margins

Karlstrom

Wilgus

Thacker

et al. 2022

Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci.

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“…A significant Mogollon Highlands sediment source implies that there was sufficient topography or tectonic activity driving active exhumation in central Arizona during Late Cretaceous time; both of these implications are debated (e.g., Bilodeau, 1986; Dickinson et al, 1989; Dickinson & Gehrels, 2008b). Palaeogeographic maps of the regional sub‐Cretaceous unconformity show that the Mogollon Highlands were onlapped by the Cenomanian Dakota (Naturita) Formation, suggesting that headwater drainages eroded into deeper parts of the rift shoulder by Late Cretaceous time (Chapman & DeCelles, 2021; Dickinson, 2013). Palaeocurrent, provenance and petrographic data indicate the Mogollon Highlands provided significant sediment to the Morrison and Dakota Formations in Jurassic‐Cretaceous time (Dickinson & Gehrels, 2008b; Turner & Fishman, 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging assumptions of sediment routing in retroarc foreland basins: Detrital zircon evidence for axial versus transverse drainages in the Late Cretaceous of southern Utah, USA

Pierre

Johnson

2022

Basin Research

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Depositional models for retroarc foreland basin systems commonly imply a direct link between thrust belt dynamics and sediment supply, despite documented complexity between orogen‐transverse and orogen‐parallel (axial) sediment routing systems. Previous detrital zircon provenance studies from the Straight Cliffs Formation in the Kaiparowits Plateau of southern Utah indicate primary axial source areas to the south (Mogollon Highlands), and southwest (Cordilleran magmatic arc), with relatively minor transverse input from the Sevier fold‐thrust belt to the west. Complementary data from 32 new samples are presented to investigate whether these trends persist in correlated strata from sections most proximal to the active fold‐thrust belt, as well as strata proximal to the Mogollon Highlands. This study aims to improve statistical robustness through higher‐n datasets (>300 analyses/sample) and addresses the possibility of recycling of zircon grains from strata in the exhumed Sevier fold‐thrust belt. Based on this provenance dataset, we infer that orogen‐transverse deposition was mainly limited to the most proximal sections (within ca. 75 km of the fold‐thrust belt), but included episodic distribution across the foredeep that was associated with distinct intervals of widespread amalgamated sand and gravel sheet deposits. In contrast, more distal parts of the foredeep record long‐distance fluvial transport (>400 km) of zircons from the active Cordilleran magmatic arc as well as Yavapai‐Mazatzal basement rocks in central Arizona (the Mogollon Highlands). Palaeogeographic reconstructions suggest the apex of a large basin‐axial fluvial system may have been located at the structural syntaxis between the Sevier fold‐thrust belt and western margin of the Mogollon Highlands. This interpretation is supported by detrital zircon data presented here, thus extending the possibility that the Palaeogene ‘California River’ may have existed by at least Late Cretaceous time. Ultimately, these data point to extrabasinal controls on sediment supply, which was largely decoupled from flexural accommodation controls in this archetype retroarc foreland basin.

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Beveling the Colorado Plateau: Early Mesozoic Rift‐Related Flexure Explains Erosion and Anomalous Deposition in the Southern Cordilleran Foreland Basin

Abstract: Sedimentation patterns in foreland basin systems provide some of the best constraints on the tectonic histories of Cordilleran-style orogens and are the basis for evaluating a wide range of geodynamic models (e.g.

Cited by 2 publications

References 112 publications

Tectonics of the Colorado Plateau and Its Margins

Tectonics of the Colorado Plateau and Its Margins

Challenging assumptions of sediment routing in retroarc foreland basins: Detrital zircon evidence for axial versus transverse drainages in the Late Cretaceous of southern Utah, USA

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