Geometry, timing, and continuity of the Rock Springs uplift, Wyoming, and Douglas Creek arch, Colorado: Implications for uplift mechanisms in the Rocky Mountain foreland, U.S.A.

Mederos, Selena.; Tikoff, Basil; Bankey, Viki

doi:10.2113/40.2.167

Cited by 37 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…81 Ma (Cross, ; Liu & Nummedal, ; Painter & Carrapa, ). Angular unconformities and stratal thinning patterns indicate that uplift of the Laramide Moxa and Rock Springs arches predated late Campanian time in southwestern Wyoming (Devlin et al, ; Leary et al, ; Mederos et al, ). Tindall et al () argued that the East Kaibab monocline in southern Utah was active between ca.…”

Section: Timing Of Laramide Uplifts: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Inception of the Laramide Orogeny in Southwestern Montana and Northern Wyoming: Implications for Models of Flat‐Slab Subduction

2019

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Timing and distribution of magmatism, deformation, exhumation, and basin development have been used to reconstruct the history of Laramide flat‐slab subduction under North America during Late Cretaceous‐early Cenozoic time. Existing geodynamic models, however, ignore a large (~40,000‐km2) sector of the Laramide foreland in southwestern Montana. The Montana Laramide ranges consist of Archean basement arches (fault‐propagation folds) that were elevated by thrust and reverse faults. We present new thermochronological and geochronological data from six Laramide ranges in southwestern Montana (the Beartooth, Gravelly, Ruby and Madison Ranges, and the Tobacco Root and Highland Mountains) that show significant cooling and exhumation during the Early to mid‐Cretaceous, much earlier than the record of Laramide exhumation in Wyoming. These data suggest that Laramide‐style deformation‐driven exhumation slightly predates the eastward sweep of magmatism in western Montana, consistent with geodynamic models involving initial strain propagation into North American cratonic rocks due to stresses associated with a northeastward expanding region of flat‐slab subduction. Our results also indicate various degrees of Cenozoic heating and cooling possibly associated with westward rollback of the subducting Farallon slab, followed by Basin‐and‐Range extension.

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Section: Timing Of Laramide Uplifts: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Inception of the Laramide Orogeny in Southwestern Montana and Northern Wyoming: Implications for Models of Flat‐Slab Subduction

2019

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“…Subsequent relative uplift of the Rock Springs Uplift to the west and the Rawlins Uplift to the east ( Fig. 1) during Late Cretaceous through Paleocene time further defi ned the margins of the Great Divide Basin (Lillegraven et al, 2002;Mederos et al, 2005). The basin was not closed, however, until at least middle to late Miocene time (Hansen, 1986;Lillegraven and Ostresh, 1988).…”

Section: Great Divide Basinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate-induced formation of a closed basin: Great Divide Basin, Wyoming

Heller

McMillan

Humphrey

2010

Geological Society of America Bulletin

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“…Aeromagnetic mapping of the Archean basement shows a contact between highly magnetic granitic rocks and weakly magnetic gneisses along the western margin of the uplift (Finn and Sims, 2005). However, gravity data for the Rock Springs uplift do not appear to support the concept of reactivation of an older basement structure (Mederos et al, 2005).…”

Section: Reactivation Of Precambrian Structuresmentioning

confidence: 92%

Concurrent growth of uplifts with dissimilar orientations in the southern Green River Basin, Wyoming: Implications for Paleocene-Eocene patterns of foreland shortening

Johnson

Andersen

2009

Rocky Mountain Geology

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The diverse orientations of Precambrian-involved and fault-bounded uplifts in the Rocky Mountain foreland region seem difficult to reconcile with the inferred Paleocene-Eocene shortening direction and plate convergence. Some have hypothesized that the shortening direction rotated as much as 90° over time, whereas others have hypothesized a relatively stable strain field involving concurrent oblique slip on faults with varied strikes.The stratigraphic thicknesses of the synorogenic Paleocene-Eocene Fort Union, Wasatch, and Green River Formations in the southern Green River Basin of Wyoming are used here to define the pattern of basin subsidence and to interpret the timing of movement on two contractional structures with contrasting orientations. Isopach maps and cross sections of three sequential time-stratigraphic intervals show thinning around the north-south-oriented Rock Springs uplift and regional southward thickening of these three stratigraphic intervals. The southward thickening evidently resulted from flexural subsidence in response to loading from the adjacent east-west-oriented Uinta uplift. Stratigraphic thinning in the vicinity of the Rock Springs uplift demonstrates that growth of the underlying blind thrust system produced an area of comparatively low accommodation space within the subsiding Green River Basin.The concurrent growth of the Rock Springs and Uinta uplifts does not support a rotation of shortening direction from east-west to north-south. The margin of a Neoproterozoic rift basin may have controlled the orientation of the thrust faults bounding the north flank of the Uinta uplift, and Late Cretaceous-throughEocene contraction caused oblique slip on these faults during structural inversion. A north-south-striking blind reverse fault underlies the west flank of the Rock Springs uplift, but Phanerozoic strata cover the Precambrian core of the uplift, so the structure within the Archean basement rocks is unknown. Despite contrasting strikes and different structural histories, the Uinta and Rock Springs uplifts responded concurrently to northeast-southwest-to east-northeast-west-southwest-directed shortening.

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Geometry, timing, and continuity of the Rock Springs uplift, Wyoming, and Douglas Creek arch, Colorado: Implications for uplift mechanisms in the Rocky Mountain foreland, U.S.A.

Cited by 37 publications

References 38 publications

Early Inception of the Laramide Orogeny in Southwestern Montana and Northern Wyoming: Implications for Models of Flat‐Slab Subduction

Early Inception of the Laramide Orogeny in Southwestern Montana and Northern Wyoming: Implications for Models of Flat‐Slab Subduction

Climate-induced formation of a closed basin: Great Divide Basin, Wyoming

Concurrent growth of uplifts with dissimilar orientations in the southern Green River Basin, Wyoming: Implications for Paleocene-Eocene patterns of foreland shortening

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