George E. Gehrels

Enhanced precision, accuracy, efficiency, and spatial resolution of U‐Pb ages by laser ablation–multicollector–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry

Abstract The transition from Laramide syntectonic sedimentation of the lower Eocene Willwood Formation to the post-Laramide volcanogenic sedimentation of the middle Eocene Wapiti Formation was studied in the upper South Fork Shoshone River Valley, Wyoming. To better understand the regional age, paleogeography, and provenance of volcaniclastic sandstones in the lower stratified member of the Wapiti Formation, we sampled three units for detrital zircon U/Pb geochronology (n=241). The maximum depositional age for the sandstone units within the lower-most, middle, and upper-most units are 49.03 Ma, 49.44 Ma, and 48.99 Ma, respectively, which is consistent with previous geochronologic and paleontologic studies. These ages also are consistent with rocks deposited immediately prior to the emplacement of the Heart Mountain slide. Detrital-zircon age spectra show a transition from a mixed (recycled?) provenance, consistent with drainage from the west, composed of minor primary Eocene volcanic contributions to one dominated by primary Eocene and Archean contributions from the northern Absaroka volcanoes and the Laramide Beartooth Uplift. Thus, uplift and unroofing of the Beartooth Plateau was occurring during the deposition of the oldest members of the Wapiti Formation.

Geological records of the Lhasa-Qiangtang and Indo-Asian collisions in the Nima area of central Tibet

A geological and geochronologic investigation of the Nima area along the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous Bangong suture of central Tibet (∼32°N, ∼87°E) provides well-dated records of contractional deformation and sedimentation during mid-Cretaceous and mid-Tertiary time. Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous (≤125 Ma) marine sedimentary rocks were transposed, intruded by granitoids, and uplifted above sea level by ca. 118 Ma, the age of the oldest nonmarine strata documented. Younger nonmarine Cretaceous rocks include ca. 110–106 Ma volcanic-bearing strata and Cenomanian red beds and conglomerates. The Jurassic–Cretaceous rocks are unconformably overlain by up to 4000 m of Upper Oligocene to Lower Miocene lacustrine, nearshore lacustrine, and fluvial red-bed deposits. Paleocurrent directions, growth stratal relationships, and a structural restoration of the basin show that Cretaceous–Tertiary nonmarine deposition was coeval with mainly S-directed thrusting in the northern part of the Nima area and N-directed thrusting along the southern margin of the basin. The structural restoration suggests >58 km (>47%) of N–S shortening following Early Cretaceous ocean closure and ∼25 km shortening (∼28%) of Nima basin strata since 26 Ma. Cretaceous magmatism and syncontractional basin development are attributed to northward low-angle subduction of the Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere and Lhasa-Qiangtang continental collision, respectively. Tertiary syncontractional basin development in the Nima area was coeval with that along the Bangong suture in westernmost Tibet and the Indus-Yarlung suture in southern Tibet, suggesting simultaneous, renewed contraction along these sutures during the Oligocene-Miocene. This suture-zone reactivation immediately predated major displacement within the Himalayan Main Central thrust system shear zone, raising the possibility that Tertiary shortening in Tibet and the Himalayas may be interpretable in the context of a mechanically linked, composite orogenic system.

Neogene foreland basin deposits, erosional unroofing, and the kinematic history of the Himalayan fold-thrust belt, western Nepal

Sedimentological and provenance data from the lower Miocene–Pliocene Dumri Formation and Siwalik Group in western Nepal provide new information about the timing of thrust faulting and the links between erosional unroofing of the Himalaya and the Cenozoic 87 Sr/ 86 Sr record of the ocean. In western Nepal, the Dumri Formation is an ∼750–1300-m-thick fluvial sandstone and overbank mudstone unit. The Siwalik Group is >4200 m thick and consists of a lower member (>850 m) of 2–12-m-thick fluvial channel sandstones and oxidized calcareous paleosols, a middle member (>2400 m) of very thick (>20 m) channel sandstones and mainly organic-rich Histosols, and an upper member (>1000 m) composed of gravelly braided river deposits. Paleocurrent data indicate that middle Miocene–Pliocene rivers in western Nepal flowed southward, transverse to the thrust belt, throughout deposition of the Siwalik Group. No evidence was found for an axial fluvial trunk system (i.e., the paleo-Ganges River) in Siwalik Group sandstones. A major increase in fluvial channel size is recorded by the transition from lower to middle Siwalik members at ∼10.8 Ma, probably in response to an increase in seasonal discharge. Modal petrographic data from sandstones in the Dumri Formation and the Siwalik Group manifest an upsection enrichment in potassium feldspar, carbonate lithic fragments, and high-grade metamorphic minerals. Modal petrographic analyses of modern river sands provide some control on potential source terranes for the Miocene–Pliocene sandstones. The Dumri Formation was most likely derived from erosion of sedimentary and low-grade metasedimentary rocks in the Tibetan (Tethyan) Himalayan zone during early Miocene emplacement of the Main Central thrust. The presence in Dumri sandstones of plagioclase grains suggests exposure of crystalline rocks of the Greater Himalayan zone, perhaps in response to tectonic unroofing by extensional detachment faults of the South Tibetan detachment system. During deposition of the lower Siwalik Group (∼15–11 Ma), emplacement of the Dadeldhura thrust sheet (one of the synformal crystalline thrust sheets of the southern Himalaya) on top of the Dumri Formation supplied abundant metasedimentary lithic fragments to the foreland basin. A steady supply of plagioclase grains and high-grade minerals was maintained by deeper erosion into the Main Central thrust sheet. From ∼11 Ma to the present, K-feldspar sand increased steadily, suggesting that granitic source rocks became widely exposed during deposition of the upper part of the lower Siwalik Group. This provenance change was caused by erosion of passively uplifted granites and granitic orthogneisses in the Dadeldhura thrust sheet above a large duplex in the Lesser Himalayan rocks. Since the onset of deposition of the conglomeratic upper Siwalik Group (∼4–5 Ma), fault slip in this duplex has been fed updip and southward into the Main Boundary and Main Frontal thrust systems. We obtained 113 U-Pb ages on detrital zircons from modern rivers and Siwalik Group sandstones that cluster at 460–530 Ma, ∼850–1200 Ma, ∼1.8–2.0 Ga, and ∼2.5 Ga. An abundance of Cambrian–Ordovician grains in the Siwalik Group suggests sources of Siwalik detritus in the granites of the Dadeldhura thrust sheet and possibly the Greater Himalayan orthogneisses. The older ages are consistent with sources in the Greater and Lesser Himalayan zones. An overall upsection increase in zircons older than 1.7 Ga suggests increasing aerial exposure of Lesser Himalayan rocks. None of the detrital zircons (even in the modern river samples) yielded a Cenozoic age that might suggest derivation from the Cenozoic Greater Himalayan leucogranites, but this may be attributable to the inheritance problems that characterize the U-Pb geochronology of the leucogranites. When compared with recent studies of the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr composition of paleosol carbonate nodules and detrital carbonate in paleosols from the Siwalik Group, the provenance data suggest that erosion and weathering of metamorphosed carbonate rocks in the Lesser Himalayan zone and Cambrian–Ordovician granitic rocks of the crystalline thrust sheets in central and eastern Nepal may have played a significant role in elevating the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio of middle Miocene synorogenic sediments in the Indo-Gangetic foreland basin and the Bengal fan, as well as global seawater.

Detrital zircon geochronology of pre-Tertiary strata in the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen

Detrital zircon data have recently become available from many different portions of the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen. This study uses 13,441 new or existing U-Pb ages of zircon crystals from strata in the Lesser Himalayan, Greater Himalayan, and Tethyan sequences in the Himalaya, the Lhasa, Qiangtang, and Nan Shan-Qilian Shan-Altun Shan terranes in Tibet, and platformal strata of the Tarim craton to constrain changes in provenance through time. These constraints provide information about the paleogeographic and tectonic evolution of the Tibet-Himalaya region during Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic time. First-order conclusions are as follows: (1) Most ages from these crustal fragments are <1.4 Ga, which suggests formation in accretionary orogens involving little pre-mid-Proterozoic cratonal material; (2) all fragments south of the Jinsa suture evolved along the northern margin of India as part of a circum-Gondwana convergent margin system; (3) these Gondwana-margin assemblages were blanketed by glaciogenic sediment during Carboniferous-Permian time; (4) terranes north of the Jinsa suture formed along the southern margin of the Tarim-North China craton; (5) the northern (Tarim-North China) terranes and Gondwana-margin assemblages may have been juxtaposed during mid-Paleozoic time, followed by rifting that formed the Paleo-Tethys and Meso-Tethys ocean basins; (6) the abundance of Permian-Triassic arc-derived detritus in the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes is interpreted to record their northward migration across the Paleo- and Meso-Tethys ocean basins; and (7) the arrival of India juxtaposed the Tethyan assemblage on its northern margin against the Lhasa terrane, and is the latest in a long history of collisional tectonism. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from Permian and Jurassic eolian sandstones of the Colorado Plateau, USA: Paleogeographic implications

Detrital zircon grains (n=468) from eolian sandstones of Permian and Jurassic sand seas on the Colorado Plateau of southwest Laurentia fall into six separable age populations defined by discrete peaks on age–probability plots. The eolian sands include significant contributions from all Precambrian age belts of the Laurentian craton and all key plutonic assemblages of the Appalachian orogen marking the Laurentia–Gondwana suture within Pangaea. Nearly half the detrital zircon grains were derived ultimately from Grenvillian (1315–1000 Ma), Pan-African (750–500 Ma), and Paleozoic (500–310 Ma) bedrock sources lying within or along the flank of the Appalachian orogen. Recycled origins for Appalachian-derived grains, except for temporary residence of synorogenic detritus in the Appalachian foreland basin or in deformed Ouachita flysch and molasses along tectonic strike, are precluded by regional geology and known geochronology from other Laurentian sedimentary assemblages. We infer that transcontinental Permian and Jurassic river systems transported detritus of Appalachian provenance westward across the subdued surface of the Laurentian craton, for deposition as proximate sources for eolian systems feeding the ergs, on unconsolidated fluvial plains, deltas, and strandlines that lay up-paleowind along or near the Cordilleran paleoshoreline north and northeast of the Colorado Plateau. The postulated river systems headed in the remnant Appalachian orogen (Permian) or the incipient Atlantic rift belt (Jurassic), and additional transport of the Appalachian-derived detritus toward the Colorado Plateau was achieved by longshore drift of sediment southward along the Cordilleran paleoshoreline under the influence of prevailing trade winds in the Permian–Jurassic tropics. Only a quarter of the eolianite detrital zircons were derived or recycled from Mesoproterozoic (1470–1335 Ma) and younger Paleoproterozoic (1800–1615 Ma) basement of the Ancestral Rocky Mountains province adjacent to the Colorado Plateau. The final quarter of eolianite detrital zircons were derived from older Paleoproterozoic (2200–1800 Ma) and Archaean (3015–2580 Ma) basement of the Laurentian shield, or recycled from its sedimentary cover. Both Laurentian shield and Ancestral Rockies detritus may have entered the same transcontinental river systems (through tributary streams), or the same Cordilleran strandline system (by longshore drift), responsible for the delivery of Appalachian-derived sediment to positions near the Colorado Plateau ergs. As Colorado Plateau ergs received contributions from all the potential bedrock sources contiguous with Permian–Jurassic Laurentia and its orogenic–taphrogenic margins, detrital zircon studies of analogous ancient erg deposits elsewhere may help test reconstructions of Rodinia and other ancient paleocontinents by providing proxy records of the full age ranges of bedrock sources distributed across the surfaces of entire landmasses.

Triassic continental subduction in central Tibet and Mediterranean-style closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean

The Qiangtang metamorphic belt (QMB) in central Tibet is one of the largest and most recently documented high-pressure (HP) to near-ultrahigh-pressure (near-UHP) belts on Earth. Lu-Hf ages of eclogite- and blueschist-facies rocks within the QMB are 244–223 Ma, indistinguishable from the age of UHP metamorphism in the Qinling-Dabie orogen. Results of a U-Pb detrital zircon study suggest that protoliths of the QMB include upper Paleozoic Qiangtang continental margin strata and sandstones that were derived from a Paleozoic arc terrane that developed within the Paleo-Tethys Ocean to the north. We attribute QMB HP metamorphism to continental collision between the Qiangtang terrane and a Paleo-Tethys arc terrane. This collision, and the coeval South China–North China collision, may have slowed convergence between Laurasia and Gondwana-derived terranes and initiated Mediterranean-style rollback and backarc basin development within much of the remnant Paleo-Tethys Ocean realm.

Tibetan basement rocks near Amdo reveal “missing” Mesozoic tectonism along the Bangong suture, central Tibet

The U-Pb and 4 0 Ar/ 3 9 Ar studies of a unique exposure of crystalline basement along the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Bangong suture of central Tibet reveal previously unrecognized records of Mesozoic metamorphism, magmatism, and exhumation. The basement includes Cambrian and older orthogneisses that underwent amphibolite facies metamorphism coeval with extensive granitoid emplacement at 185-170 Ma. The basement cooled to ∼300 °C by 165 Ma and was exhumed to upper crustal levels in the hanging wall of a south-directed thrust system during Early Cretaceous time. We attribute Jurassic metamorphism and magmatism to the development of a continental arc during Bangong Ocean subduction, and Early Cretaceous exhumation to northward continental underthrusting of the Lhasa terrane beneath the Qiangtang terrane. We speculate that a Jurassic arc extended regionally along the length of the Bangong suture, but in all other places in Tibet has been buried, either depositionally or structurally, beneath supracrustal assemblages.

Detrital-zircon geochronology of the northeastern Tibetan plateau

U-Pb geochronologic analyses have been conducted on 413 detrital-zircon grains collected from 16 samples in the Altun Shan, Nan Shan, and Qilian Shan. The samples come primarily from quartz arenites and metaturbidites of Middle to Late Proterozoic age and from feldspathic and volcanic clast-rich sandstones of early Paleozoic age. Zircon grains in Proterozoic strata resting on Tarim basement yielded mainly 2.0–1.9 Ga ages, whereas Proterozoic strata of the Qaidam and Qilian terranes yielded mainly ca. 930–820 Ma and ca. 1.9–1.1 Ga ages. The younger grains were apparently shed from local igneous rocks, whereas the grains older than 1.1 Ga were shed from an undetermined continental source. Grains in the lower Paleozoic strata are mainly ca. 500–430 Ma and were shed from nearby plutonic and possibly volcanic rocks that formed in a magmatic arc setting. Our detrital-zircon ages are consistent with a model (first proposed by E.R. Sobel and N. Arnaud) in which early Paleozoic magmatism occurred within a single northeast-facing magmatic arc that was constructed across an assemblage of Middle to Late Proterozoic accretionary complexes, remnants of magmatic arcs, and shallow-marine strata. This arc system was accreted to the Tarim and Sino-Korean cratons during Silurian–Devonian time. The resulting suture has been reactivated as Tertiary thrust faults that currently define the structural and topographic margin of the Tibetan plateau. Our data also provide two new estimates for the offset along the eastern Altyn Tagh fault. A belt of Middle Proterozoic shallow-marine strata is offset by ∼400 km, whereas a belt of 490–480 Ma magmatic arc rocks is offset by ∼370 km. These values are generally similar to the 350–400 km offset reported in most previous studies.

Initiation of the Himalayan Orogen as an Early Paleozoic Thin-skinned Thrust Belt

Research by many workers in various regions of the Himalaya, combined with our recent geologic and geochronologic studies in Nepal, indicate that fundamental aspects of the Himalayan orogen originated in an early Paleozoic thrust belt and are unrelated to Tertiary IndiaAsia collision. Manifestations of early Paleozoic tectonism include ductile deformation, regional moderate- to highgrade metamorphism, large-scale southvergent thrusting, crustal thickening and the generation of granitic crustal melts, uplift and erosion of garnet-grade rocks, and accumulation of thick sequences of synorogenic strata. Determining the relative contributions of early Paleozoic versus Tertiary tectonism constitutes a significant challenge in understanding the Himalayan orogen.

Eocene‐early Miocene foreland basin development and the history of Himalayan thrusting, western and central Nepal

Sedimentologic, petrographic, and U-Pb detrital zircon ages from middle Eocene through early Miocene sedimentary rocks in the Lesser Himalayan zone of western and central Nepal indicate that a peripheral foreland basin system had developed in the eastern Himalayan collision zone by middle Eocene time. The shallow-marine, Eocene Bhainskati Formation accumulated in a back-bulge depozone between a southward migrating forebulge and the Indian craton. Migration of the forebulge through this region during Eocene-Oligocene time produced a regional unconformity that spans ∼15–20 Myr. By early Miocene time, the forebulge unconformity was onlapped by the distal fringes of the southward migrating foredeep depozone, represented by fluvial deposits of the Dumri Formation. Continued southward migration of the foredeep during the Neogene accommodated the fluvial Siwalik Group. Light mineral provenance data and U-Pb detrital zircon ages suggest that the Bhainskati was derived partly from Tethyan sedimentary rocks of the Tibetan Himalayan zone during initial growth of the Himalayan fold-thrust belt. The Dumri was derived from metasedimentary and crystalline rocks of the Greater Himalayan zone during emplacement of the Main Central thrust and contemporaneous tectonic unroofing by normal faulting along the South Tibetan detachment system. The Lesser Himalayan crystalline thrust sheets were emplaced soon after deposition of the Dumri Formation, ∼15–10 Ma. Paleocurrent and lithofacies data from the Dumri Formation indicate deposition by west-southwestward flowing rivers that drained into the Indus portion of the Himalayan foreland basin system during the early Miocene. Thick channel sandstones in the lower Dumri may represent the early Miocene counterpart of the modern Ganges River. Eastward diversion of the Ganges drainage system to near its present location had occurred by ∼15 Ma, as the high-standing Aravalli Range on the northern Indian shield approached the front of the fold-thrust belt. Assuming reasonable values for the flexural rigidity of Indian lithosphere, the time span of the forebulge unconformity yields a velocity of ∼14–33 mm/yr for the southward migration of the fold-thrust belt relative to India. This range of values is consistent with Neogene and present-day estimates and suggests that only one third to one half of India-Eurasia convergence has been accommodated by shortening in the Himalayan fold-thrust belt since the onset of collision.