Detrital-zircon records of Cenomanian, Paleocene, and Oligocene Gulf of Mexico drainage integration and sediment routing: Implications for scales of basin-floor fans
Abstract:This paper uses detrital zircon (DZ) provenance and geochronological data to reconstruct paleodrainage areas and lengths for sediment-routing systems that fed the Cenomanian Tuscaloosa-Woodbine, Paleocene Wilcox, and Oligo cene Vicksburg-Frio clastic wedges of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) margin. During the Cenomanian, an ancestral Tennessee-Alabama River system with a distinctive Appalachian DZ signature was the largest system contributing water and sediment to the GoM, with a series of smaller systems d… Show more
“…Calculated Cenozoic discharge suggests that the major continental-scale catchments (e.g., Mississippi, Colorado, Columbia, Yukon, and Mackenzie) are broadly stable. For example, most of the large rivers that drain western North America into the Gulf of Mexico have similar flow patterns over the last ∼65 Ma, which is consistent with zircon provenance measurements from Cretaceous and Paleocene fluvial sandstones along the northern margin of the Gulf of Mexico (Figure 2; Blum & Pecha, 2014;Blum et al, 2017). Similar results have been obtained for the random slope condition and for the 1% initial condition.…”
Section: Calculated Landscapesupporting
confidence: 84%
“…Timing of these depositional phases is broadly coeval with the history of uplift estimated from clumped isotopes (Δ 47 ) and with other paleoaltimetric proxies, which imply that the Colorado Plateau had an elevation of 1-2 km between Cretaceous and Oligocene times (e.g., Gregory & Chase, 1992;Huntington et al, 2010;Wolfe et al, 1998). Galloway et al (2011), Blum and Pecha (2014), and Blum et al (2017) argue that large-scale drainage of the Cordilleran highlands toward the Gulf of Mexico existed by at least Late Paleocene times and that drainage catchments probably extended up to the western flank of the Appalachian mountains. Further west, Cather et al (2008) identified a major denudation event within the Colorado Plateau between the deposition of the Chuska Erg (35-27 Ma) and the Bidahochi Formation (∼16 Ma).…”
Section: Post-cretaceous Eventsmentioning
confidence: 81%
“…(), Blum and Pecha (), and Blum et al. () argue that large‐scale drainage of the Cordilleran highlands toward the Gulf of Mexico existed by at least Late Paleocene times and that drainage catchments probably extended up to the western flank of the Appalachian mountains. Further west, Cather et al.…”
Section: General Stratigraphic Constraintsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Inset with labeled bars = cumulative percentages of detrital zircon populations at locations that correspond to annotated circles on map. Colored circles = zircon ages (Blum et al, 2017). generating and maintaining the regional elevation of western North America since Late Cretaceous times (Spencer, 1996;Wilson et al, 2005). The observed velocity structure of the crust indicates that differences in crustal and sedimentary densities alone are insufficient to account for these dramatic changes in topographic relief (Klocking et al, 2018;Levandowski et al, 2018;.…”
Section: A Role For Large-scale Crustal and Lithospheric Thickening?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Inset with labeled bars = cumulative percentages of detrital zircon populations at locations that correspond to annotated circles on map. Colored circles = zircon ages (Blum et al., ).…”
The generation and evolution of continental topography are fundamental geologic and geomorphic concerns. In particular, the history of landscape development might contain useful information about the spatiotemporal evolution of deep Earth processes, such as mantle convection. A significant challenge is to generate observations and theoretical predictions of sufficient fidelity to enable landscape evolution to be constrained at scales of interest. Here, we combine substantial inventories of stratigraphic and geomorphic observations with inverse and forward modeling approaches to determine how the North American landscape evolved. First, stratigraphic markers are used to estimate postdepositional regional uplift. Present‐day elevations of these deposits demonstrate that >2 km of long‐wavelength surface uplift centered on the Colorado‐Rocky‐Mountain plateaus occurred in Cenozoic times. Second, to bridge the gaps between these measurements, an inverse modeling scheme is used to calculate the smoothest spatiotemporal pattern of rock uplift rate that yields the smallest misfit between 4,161 observed and calculated longitudinal river profiles. Our results suggest that Cenozoic regional uplift occurred in a series of stages, in agreement with independent stratigraphic observations. Finally, a landscape evolution model driven by this calculated rock uplift history is used to determine drainage patterns, denudation, and sedimentary flux from Late Cretaceous times until the present day. These patterns are broadly consistent with stratigraphic and thermochronologic observations. We conclude that a calibrated inverse modeling strategy can be used to reliably extract the temporal and spatial evolution of the North American landscape at geodynamically useful scales.
“…Calculated Cenozoic discharge suggests that the major continental-scale catchments (e.g., Mississippi, Colorado, Columbia, Yukon, and Mackenzie) are broadly stable. For example, most of the large rivers that drain western North America into the Gulf of Mexico have similar flow patterns over the last ∼65 Ma, which is consistent with zircon provenance measurements from Cretaceous and Paleocene fluvial sandstones along the northern margin of the Gulf of Mexico (Figure 2; Blum & Pecha, 2014;Blum et al, 2017). Similar results have been obtained for the random slope condition and for the 1% initial condition.…”
Section: Calculated Landscapesupporting
confidence: 84%
“…Timing of these depositional phases is broadly coeval with the history of uplift estimated from clumped isotopes (Δ 47 ) and with other paleoaltimetric proxies, which imply that the Colorado Plateau had an elevation of 1-2 km between Cretaceous and Oligocene times (e.g., Gregory & Chase, 1992;Huntington et al, 2010;Wolfe et al, 1998). Galloway et al (2011), Blum and Pecha (2014), and Blum et al (2017) argue that large-scale drainage of the Cordilleran highlands toward the Gulf of Mexico existed by at least Late Paleocene times and that drainage catchments probably extended up to the western flank of the Appalachian mountains. Further west, Cather et al (2008) identified a major denudation event within the Colorado Plateau between the deposition of the Chuska Erg (35-27 Ma) and the Bidahochi Formation (∼16 Ma).…”
Section: Post-cretaceous Eventsmentioning
confidence: 81%
“…(), Blum and Pecha (), and Blum et al. () argue that large‐scale drainage of the Cordilleran highlands toward the Gulf of Mexico existed by at least Late Paleocene times and that drainage catchments probably extended up to the western flank of the Appalachian mountains. Further west, Cather et al.…”
Section: General Stratigraphic Constraintsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Inset with labeled bars = cumulative percentages of detrital zircon populations at locations that correspond to annotated circles on map. Colored circles = zircon ages (Blum et al, 2017). generating and maintaining the regional elevation of western North America since Late Cretaceous times (Spencer, 1996;Wilson et al, 2005). The observed velocity structure of the crust indicates that differences in crustal and sedimentary densities alone are insufficient to account for these dramatic changes in topographic relief (Klocking et al, 2018;Levandowski et al, 2018;.…”
Section: A Role For Large-scale Crustal and Lithospheric Thickening?mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Inset with labeled bars = cumulative percentages of detrital zircon populations at locations that correspond to annotated circles on map. Colored circles = zircon ages (Blum et al., ).…”
The generation and evolution of continental topography are fundamental geologic and geomorphic concerns. In particular, the history of landscape development might contain useful information about the spatiotemporal evolution of deep Earth processes, such as mantle convection. A significant challenge is to generate observations and theoretical predictions of sufficient fidelity to enable landscape evolution to be constrained at scales of interest. Here, we combine substantial inventories of stratigraphic and geomorphic observations with inverse and forward modeling approaches to determine how the North American landscape evolved. First, stratigraphic markers are used to estimate postdepositional regional uplift. Present‐day elevations of these deposits demonstrate that >2 km of long‐wavelength surface uplift centered on the Colorado‐Rocky‐Mountain plateaus occurred in Cenozoic times. Second, to bridge the gaps between these measurements, an inverse modeling scheme is used to calculate the smoothest spatiotemporal pattern of rock uplift rate that yields the smallest misfit between 4,161 observed and calculated longitudinal river profiles. Our results suggest that Cenozoic regional uplift occurred in a series of stages, in agreement with independent stratigraphic observations. Finally, a landscape evolution model driven by this calculated rock uplift history is used to determine drainage patterns, denudation, and sedimentary flux from Late Cretaceous times until the present day. These patterns are broadly consistent with stratigraphic and thermochronologic observations. We conclude that a calibrated inverse modeling strategy can be used to reliably extract the temporal and spatial evolution of the North American landscape at geodynamically useful scales.
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