Chronology of Miocene–Pliocene deposits at Split Mountain Gorge, Southern California: A record of regional tectonics and Colorado River evolution

Dorsey, Rebecca J.; Fluette, A.; McDougall, Kristin; Housen, Bernard A.; Jänecke, Susanne U.; Axen, Gary J.; Shirvell, Catherine R.

doi:10.1130/g23139a.1

Cited by 124 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…(Fig. 1) (Spencer et al, 2001;Pederson et al, 2002;Dorsey et al, 2007). The rapid fl ux of sediment to these basins exerts a strong infl uence on deformation style, crustal rheology, synrift magmatism, and rift architecture (Moore, 1973;Fuis et al, 1984;Persaud et al, 2003;González-Fernández et al, 2005;Lizarralde et al, 2007;Bialas and Buck, 2009), though many aspects of this control remain poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Sedimentation and crustal recycling along an active oblique-rift margin: Salton Trough and northern Gulf of California

Dorsey

2010

Geology

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Transtensional basins embedded in the San Andreas fault system of Southern California (United States) and northwestern Mexico are fi lled with sediment derived from the Colorado River, which drains a large area of the western U.S. interior. The sediment is rapidly buried, heated, and mingled with intrusions in the deep basins to form a new generation of recycled crust along the active plate boundary. Using a range of values for total basin depth, relative volume of mantle-derived intrusions, and composition of early rift deposits, the volume of Colorado River-derived sediment in the basins is bracketed between 2.2 and 3.4 × 10 5 km 3 , similar to the volume of rock that likely was eroded from the Colorado River catchment over the past 5-6 m.y. The volumetric rate of crustal growth by sedimentation is ~80-130 km 3 /m.y./km, comparable to growth rates in subductionrelated island arcs and slow seafl oor spreading centers. Sedimentary and basinal processes thus play a major role in crustal evolution and recycling in this setting, and may be important at other rifted margins where a large river system is captured following tectonic collapse of a prerift orogenic highland.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Sedimentation and crustal recycling along an active oblique-rift margin: Salton Trough and northern Gulf of California

Dorsey

2010

Geology

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“…Even if the course of the Colorado River and its drainage system are not well constrained before 5 Ma, some elements argue for a strong drainage perturbation and reorganization in the last 30 Ma, perturbations that can be explained by the passing of a wave of dynamic uplift. These pieces of evidence include the following: (1) Before 30 Ma, the general flow was to the north [Holm, 2001]; (2) The presence of lake paleo-sediments in the plateau interior dated from 16 to 5 Ma [Spencer et al, 2008]; (3) There is no evidence of Colorado Plateau sediments in the Gulf of California prior to 5.3 Ma [Dorsey et al, 2007]; (4) Sudden increase in water flow, associated with the integration of the Lower Colorado River by lake fill and potential spill [House et al, 2008]; (5) Locally, there are perturbed drainage networks with the presence [Thomson et al, 2010;Haschke et al, 2006;Guillaume et al, 2013]; blue lines represent drainage network. (b) Projection of the apatite (U-Th)/He ages along the transect AA showing a decrease of minimum ages following the northward displacement of the wave of dynamic topography and a major increase of ages north of the present-day location of the wave of dynamic topography.…”

Section: Evidence From the Geological Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eroding dynamic topography

Braun

Robert

Simon‐Labric

2013

Geophysical Research Letters

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[1] Geological observations of mantle flow-driven dynamic topography are numerous, especially in the stratigraphy of sedimentary basins; on the contrary, when it leads to subaerial exposure of rocks, dynamic topography must be substantially eroded to leave a noticeable trace in the geological record. Here, we demonstrate that despite its low amplitude and long wavelength and thus very low slopes, dynamic topography is efficiently eroded by fluvial erosion, providing that drainage is strongly perturbed by the mantle flow driven surface uplift. Using simple scaling arguments, as well as a very efficient surface processes model, we show that dynamic topography erodes in direct proportion to its wavelength. We demonstrate that the recent deep erosion experienced in the Colorado Plateau and in central Patagonia is likely to be related to the passage of a wave of dynamic topography generated by mantle upwelling.

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“…The contemporaneous Imperial Formation records progradation of the Colorado River delta into the opening Gulf of California and Salton trough during early rifting and displacement along the San Andreas Fault [Johnson et al, 1983;Winker, 1987;Kerr and Kidwell, 1991]. Detritus originating from the upper basin first appears in the Imperial Formation at 5.3 Ma [Dorsey et al, 2007]. [Guay et al, 2006].…”

Section: Geology and Relevant Sedimentary Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of climate change and uplift on Colorado Plateau paleotemperatures from carbonate clumped isotope thermometry

2010

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The elevation history of Earth's surface is key to understanding the geodynamic processes responsible for the rise of plateaus. We investigate the timing of Colorado Plateau uplift by estimating depositional temperatures of Tertiary lake sediments that blanket the plateau interior and adjacent lowlands using carbonate clumped isotope paleothermometry (a measure of the temperature‐dependent enrichment of 13C‐18O bonds in carbonates). Comparison of modern and ancient samples deposited near sea level provides an opportunity to quantify the influence of climate and therefore assess the contribution of changes in elevation to the variations of surface temperature on the plateau. Analysis of modern lake calcite from 350 to 3300 m elevation in the southwestern United States reveals a lake water carbonate temperature (LCT) lapse rate of 4.2 ± 0.6°C/km. Analysis of Miocene deposits from 88 to 1900 m elevation in the Colorado River drainage suggests that the ancient LCT lapse rate was 4.1 ± 0.7°C/km, and temperatures were 7.7 ± 2.0°C warmer at any one elevation than predicted by the modern trend. The inferred cooling is plausible in light of Pliocene temperature estimates off the coast of California, and the consistency of lapse rates through time supports the interpretation that there has been little or no elevation change for any of the samples since 6 Ma. Together with previous paleorelief estimates from apatite (U‐Th)/He data from the Grand Canyon, our results suggest most or all of the plateau's lithospheric buoyancy was acquired ∼80–60 Ma and do not support explanations that ascribe most plateau uplift to Oligocene or younger disposal of either the Farallon or North American mantle lithosphere.

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Chronology of Miocene–Pliocene deposits at Split Mountain Gorge, Southern California: A record of regional tectonics and Colorado River evolution

Cited by 124 publications

References 11 publications

Sedimentation and crustal recycling along an active oblique-rift margin: Salton Trough and northern Gulf of California

Sedimentation and crustal recycling along an active oblique-rift margin: Salton Trough and northern Gulf of California

Eroding dynamic topography

Influence of climate change and uplift on Colorado Plateau paleotemperatures from carbonate clumped isotope thermometry

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