Stratigraphic consequences of episodic extension in the Lemitar Mountains, central Rio Grande rift

Cather, Steven M.; Chamberlin, Richard M.; Chapin, Charles E.; McIntosh, William C.

doi:10.1130/spe291-p157

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…In the Gore Range, the decrease in cooling rate after ca. 13 Ma is coeval with the slower extension and cooling rates seen throughout the rift in Late Miocene to Pliocene time Lozinsky, 1994;Cather et al, 1994;House et al, 2003).…”

Section: Implications For Rio Grande Rift Propagation Modelsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…The onset of rifting and rates of extension have been relatively well studied in the major basins of the rift in central New Mexico and southern Colorado (e.g., Chapin and Cather, 1994;Brister and Gries, 1994;Lozinsky, 1994;Lewis and Baldridge, 1994;Cather et al, 1994;Miggins et al, 2002). Geochronology on volcanic rocks interbedded with synrift sediments and uplifted on rift fl anks suggests initial basin development and sedimentation in the Late Oligocene, with the onset of rifting broadly synchronous from at least the Socorro Basin northward through the San Luis Basin Fig.…”

Section: Regional Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Landman

Flowers

2013

Geosphere

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The Rio Grande Rift system tapers northward into the center of the southern Rocky Mountains. How rift initiation and evolution are related to development of the Rocky Mountains is not well understood. The Gore Range and adjacent Blue River Valley of central Colorado are the northernmost significant fault-related manifestations of the rift. New apatite (U-Th)/He data from the range record only middle and late Cenozoic exhumation phases, unlike neighboring Rocky Mountain uplifts that record a single phase of Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary unroofing. Middle Tertiary dates require that Gore Range basement remained covered by sedimentary rocks until at least the Middle Eocene. Normal faulting initiated during the Oligocene, inducing exhumation of basement to the surface and deposition of synrift fi ll in the Blue River Valley. Major cooling and unroofi ng in the Miocene were restricted to the southern Gore Range and continued until at least 7 Ma, with ~2.3 km of total displacement along the Blue River normal fault. This middle to late Tertiary unroofi ng history is strikingly similar to that inferred for other rift fl ank uplifts to the south, and suggests broad synchroneity in the middle Tertiary onset and subsequent evolution of >700 km of the Rio Grande Rift. The results highlight that the notion of a northwardpropagating rift, as suggested by its northward-tapering geometry, is incorrect, and preclude models invoking rift propagation to explain late Cenozoic elevation gain of the Rocky Mountains.

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Section: Implications For Rio Grande Rift Propagation Modelsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Regional Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

Landman

Flowers

2013

Geosphere

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“…The geometry of normal faults and the associated stress field makes it difficult to sustain large fluid overpressures over long time scales (27). However, previous work has shown that faultvalve behavior can occur in extensional settings where basin stratigraphy includes low-permeability horizons at depth, as is the case in the Socorro Basin beneath the Loma Blanca fault (33). We hypothesize that the inferred increase in CO 2 content of pore fluids may record input of volatiles exsolved from riftrelated magma.…”

Section: Fluid Infiltrationmentioning

confidence: 95%

Reading a 400,000-year record of earthquake frequency for an intraplate fault

Williams

Goodwin

Sharp

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Our understanding of the frequency of large earthquakes at timescales longer than instrumental and historical records is based mostly on paleoseismic studies of fast-moving plate-boundary faults. Similar study of intraplate faults has been limited until now, because intraplate earthquake recurrence intervals are generally long (10s to 100s of thousands of years) relative to conventional paleoseismic records determined by trenching. Long-term variations in the earthquake recurrence intervals of intraplate faults therefore are poorly understood. Longer paleoseismic records for intraplate faults are required both to better quantify their earthquake recurrence intervals and to test competing models of earthquake frequency (e.g., time-dependent, time-independent, and clustered). We present the results of U-Th dating of calcite veins in the Loma Blanca normal fault zone, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, United States, that constrain earthquake recurrence intervals over much of the past ∼550 ka-the longest direct record of seismic frequency documented for any fault to date. The 13 distinct seismic events delineated by this effort demonstrate that for >400 ka, the Loma Blanca fault produced periodic large earthquakes, consistent with a time-dependent model of earthquake recurrence. However, this time-dependent series was interrupted by a cluster of earthquakes at ∼430 ka. The carbon isotope composition of calcite formed during this seismic cluster records rapid degassing of CO 2 , suggesting an interval of anomalous fluid source. In concert with U-Th dates recording decreased recurrence intervals, we infer seismicity during this interval records faultvalve behavior. These data provide insight into the long-term seismic behavior of the Loma Blanca fault and, by inference, other intraplate faults.earthquake | fault | geochronology | seismic | hazard R ecent increases in the rate of seismicity associated with subsurface wastewater injection have generated substantial interest in the seismic cycles of intraplate faults (1-4). Unfortunately, increasing seismicity in the continental interior has outpaced our understanding of the processes that govern natural earthquake recurrence on these faults. The seismic cycles of plate boundary faults are much better known, although the exact nature of their earthquake recurrence distributions remains much debated (5, 6). At the heart of this debate lies a fundamental question: Are seismogenic faults ever controlled by a stress-renewal process that can be approximated by elastic rebound theory? The latter states that stress buildup will be accommodated elastically until shear stress on the fault reaches a threshold value that will allow failure.If seismogenic faults are governed by a renewal process, then elastic rebound theory predicts that earthquakes will be produced quasiperiodically (7) (i.e., occur at regular intervals and therefore be "time-dependent") with steady tectonic loading. However, an alternative view posits that spatial and temporal variations in fault strength and/or mechan...

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“…Chapin and Cather (1994);Cather et al (1994);Smith et al (2001);Connell (2004); Koning et al (2004);Smith (2004).…”

Section: Northern and Central Rio Grande Riftmentioning

confidence: 96%

Interplay of oceanographic and paleoclimate events with tectonism during middle to late Miocene sedimentation across the southwestern USA

Chapin

2008

Geosphere

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Continental sedimentation refl ects a complex interplay of tectonics and climate. A 2000-km transect from coastalCalifornia to the western Great Plains documents a major increase in sedimentation (ca. 16-6 Ma) coeval with deposition of the hemipelagic Monterey Formation along the California coast. Basin and Range-style regional extension following elongation of the Pacifi cNorth American transform boundary at ca. 17.5 Ma provided fault-bounded basins for accommodation space, but sedimentation also occurred on unextended erosional surfaces of the Great Plains and Colorado Plateau. Two global climate transitions bracket this sedimentary interval. The middle Miocene transition (ca. 17-12 Ma) records the global change from equatorial to meridional circulation caused by: (1) closing of the eastern Tethys Seaway (ca. 18 Ma); (2) opening of the Arctic-North Atlantic connection (ca. 17.5 Ma); (3) growth of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (ca. 14 Ma); and (4) closing of the Indonesian Seaway (ca. 12 Ma). Upwelling of cold waters along the California coast, abetted by domination of La Niña phases of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), progressively aridifi ed the Southwest as refl ected in sedimentary and biologic records. The second climate transition occurred as opening of the Gulf of California (ca. 6 Ma) intensifi ed the North American monsoon, resulting in integration of drainages, incision of uplifts, and exhumation of basin fi lls. The Miocene ended with the driest climate of the Tertiary (both regional and global) accompanied by conversion of savanna to steppe or scrub desert, spread of C4 grasses, and the greatest mammal extinction of the Neogene.

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Stratigraphic consequences of episodic extension in the Lemitar Mountains, central Rio Grande rift

Cited by 19 publications

References 19 publications

Untitled

Untitled

Reading a 400,000-year record of earthquake frequency for an intraplate fault

Interplay of oceanographic and paleoclimate events with tectonism during middle to late Miocene sedimentation across the southwestern USA

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