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Lithospheric density models reveal evidence for Cenozoic uplift of the Colorado Plateau and Great Plains by lower-crustal hydration Öffentlichkeit Deposited

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https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/articles/5d86p115x
Abstract
  • Subduction at plate boundaries can have thermal, chemical, and physical impacts on broad regions of the continental interior, but these interactions are not as readily obvious as deformation near the continental margin. Such cryp-tic alteration has produced surface uplift in the Colorado Plateau and western Great Plains of North America, which have risen—largely undeformed—1.6 and 1.3 km, respectively, relative to the eastern Great Plains during the Cenozoic. Accumulation of Cretaceous–Cenozoic sediments accounts for only 300 m of uplift of the Colorado Plateau and 400 m of the western Great Plains, leav-ing 1.3 km and 0.9 km, respectively, unexplained. To determine the physical causes of this enigmatic epeirogeny, we derived three-dimensional (3-D) litho-spheric density models from seismic velocity, gravity, topography, and heat-flow data. Lower-crustal density decreases systematically westward across the Great Plains, accounting nearly perfectly for the remaining 900 m of uplift of the western Great Plains and the modern east-west topographic gradient. Lower-crustal dedensification beneath the Colorado Plateau accounts for a similar 900 m of uplift. Lower-crustal xenoliths in both regions show progres-sive hydration-induced retrogression of garnet-bearing assemblages with in-creasing modern elevation, and Th-Pb dating of the Colorado Plateau retro-gression gives end-Cretaceous dates (xenoliths from the Great Plains have not yet been dated). We hypothesize that lower-crustal density variations—and much of the surface relief—in North America’s Proterozoic interior terranes re-flect varying degrees of metasomatic retrogression, such as by fluids exsolved from the Farallon slab. The remaining 400 m of Colorado Plateau uplift is most plausibly due to elevated mantle temperature. We present thermal models that suggest that 25–70 km of Cenozoic lithospheric thinning can explain the modern elevation and density structure.

Creator
Date Issued
  • 2019
Academic Affiliation
Journal Title
Journal Issue/Number
  • 14
Journal Volume
  • 3
Zuletzt geändert
  • 2020-01-07
Resource Type
Urheberrechts-Erklärung
DOI
Peer Reviewed
ISSN
  • 1553-040X
Language

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