| Autor: |
Wong, Martin S., Singleton, John S., Seymour, Nikki M., Gans, Phillip B., Wrobel, Alexander J. |
| Zdroj: |
Tectonics; Feb2023, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p1-30, 30p |
| Abstrakt: |
Metamorphic core complexes in the western North American Cordillera are commonly interpreted as the result of a single phase of large‐magnitude extension during the middle to late Cenozoic. We present evidence that mylonitic shear zones in the Harcuvar and Buckskin‐Rawhide core complexes in west‐central Arizona also accommodated an earlier phase of extension during the Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene. Microstructural data indicate substantial top‐NE mylonitization occurred at amphibolite‐facies, and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology documents post‐tectonic footwall cooling to <500°C by the Paleocene to mid‐Eocene. Amphibolite‐facies mylonites are spatially associated with voluminous and variably deformed footwall leucogranites that were emplaced from ca. 74–64 Ma, and a late kinematic ca. 63 Ma dike indicates this phase of mylonitization had waned by the early Paleocene. Reconstruction of the footwall architecture indicates that this latest Cretaceous—early Paleocene deformation occurred within a NE‐dipping extensional shear zone. The leucogranites were likely the result of crustal melting due to orogenic thickening, consistent with a model whereby crustal heating triggered gravitational collapse of overthickened crust. Other tectonic processes, such as the Laramide underplating of Orocopia Schist or mantle delamination, may have also contributed to this episode of orogenic extension. Miocene large‐magnitude extension was superimposed on this older shear zone and had similar kinematics, suggesting that the location and geometry of Miocene extension was strongly influenced by tectonic inheritance. We speculate that other Cordilleran core complexes also experienced a more complex and polyphase extensional history than previously recognized, but in many cases the evidence may be obscured by later Miocene overprinting. Key Points: Miocene tectonic exhumation at these core complexes was predated by a latest Cretaceous to early Paleocene extensional eventThis earlier extension was driven by crustal heating and anatexis that triggered gravitational collapse of overthickened crustRecognition of this earlier extension has important implications for models of core complex formation and western North America [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Databáze: |
Complementary Index |
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