Detrital Zircon Geochronology with Applications to North American Tectonics

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atmire.migration.oldid4714
dc.contributor.advisorGuest, Bernard
dc.contributor.authorMatthews, William
dc.contributor.committeememberHenderson, Charles
dc.contributor.committeememberHubbard, Stephen
dc.contributor.committeememberWieser, Michael
dc.contributor.committeememberDavis, William
dc.date.accessioned2016-08-05T21:01:56Z
dc.date.available2016-08-05T21:01:56Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.date.submitted2016en
dc.description.abstractDetrital zircons from rocks in the eastern and western portions of the North American Cordillera were used to constrain tectonic models for the orogen. In the eastern Cordillera, regional provenance patterns in latest-Neoproterozoic to Cambrian sandstones were analysed and five detrital zircon facies defined based on statistical intercomparison using multi-dimensional scaling. Detrital zircon facies occur in unique geographical regions reflecting proximity to the major tectonic provinces of Laurentia. Samples from northern regions are dominated by Archean and Paleoproterozoic zircons derived from Archean cratons and orogenic belts that record their assembly. More southerly sample locations show an increase in detrital zircons derived from younger Paleoproterozoic orogenic belts and early Mesoproterozoic intrusive suites. Detrital zircons from Grenville–aged sources are common in the south. The east-west continuity of detrital zircon facies between rocks of the North American and Cassiar/Antler platforms argues against the latter being exotic with respect to North America, supports the back-arc models for Cordilleran orogenesis, and argues against models involving Jurassic or Cretaceous ribbon continent collision. In the western Cordillera we compare detrital zircon populations from the Nanaimo Basin, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, to potential source areas in western North America to test hypothesized northern and southern Cretaceous paleogeographic positions for the basin. Our detrital zircon data suggest that sediment in the Nanaimo Basin derives from the Western Coast Mountains Batholith and the Mojave-Sonoran Region of southwestern North America, supporting a southerly Cretaceous paleogeographic position and confirming previous paleomagnetic estimates. A speculative Cretaceous to Paleogene paleogeographic reconstruction for the southwestern United States and northern Mexico that accommodates the presence, and northward transport, of the westernmost terrane of the Cordillera is presented. It is proposed that the Western Coast Mountains Batholith and the Nanaimo Basin represent the missing segment of the Mesozoic magmatic arc and associated forearc regions, between the Sierra Nevada and Peninsular Ranges Batholiths. This segment was translated northward following capture by the Kula plate. As such, we reconcile the paleomagnetic data for the Baja-BC block with the geology of the southwestern United States. Our model, albeit speculative, is compatible with the large-scale tectonic and magmatic processes that affected western North America in the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMatthews, W. (2016). Detrital Zircon Geochronology with Applications to North American Tectonics (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25612en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/25612
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/3167
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.facultyScience
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectGeochemistry
dc.subjectGeology
dc.subject.classificationTectonicsen_US
dc.subject.classificationGeochronologyen_US
dc.titleDetrital Zircon Geochronology with Applications to North American Tectonics
dc.typedoctoral thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineGeology and Geophysics
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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