Yavapai orogeny

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Precambrian provinces of western North America, showing the Yavapai Province (in dark grey) Wyoming, Mojave, Yavapai, Mazatzal, Trans-Hudson.gif
Precambrian provinces of western North America, showing the Yavapai Province (in dark grey)

The Yavapai orogeny was an orogenic (mountain-building) event in what is now the Southwestern United States that occurred between 1710 and 1680 million years ago (Mya), [1] in the Statherian Period of the Paleoproterozoic. Recorded in the rocks of New Mexico and Arizona, it is interpreted as the collision of the 1800-1700 Mya age [1] Yavapai island arc terrane with the proto-North American continent. This was the first in a series of orogenies within a long-lived convergent boundary along southern Laurentia that ended with the ca. 1200–1000 Mya Grenville orogeny during the final assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia, which ended an 800-million-year episode of convergent boundary tectonism. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

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Description

Age and isotope data show that southern North America is composed of a series of northeast-trending provinces representing island arc terranes accreted onto the 1800 Mya core of Laurentia. [7] These are the Yavapai province (1800–1700 Mya), the Mazatzal province (1700–1650 Mya), the Granite-Rhyolite province (1500–1300 Mya), and the Llano-Grenville province (1300–1000 Mya). Each is interpreted as juvenile crust of an island arc, together with smaller amounts of reworked older crust, that accreted to Laurentia in an orogenic pulse accompanied by pluton emplacement. The plutons sutured new and existing orogens together and helped convert the juvenile terranes to mature crust. The orogen pulses are identified as the Yavapai orogeny at 1710–1680 Mya, the Mazatzal orogeny at 1650–1600 Ga, the Picuris orogeny at 1450–1300 Mya, [8] and the Grenville orogeny at 1.30–0.95 Mya. [6]

Some of the orogens were accompanied by slab rollback. This created short-lived extensional basins at 1700 and 1650 Mya that accumulated sand and high-silica volcanic debris to form Paleoproterozoic quartzite-rhyolite successions. Subsequent convergent tectonics closed the basins and thrust imbricated the successions. That is, faulted blocks of rock were stacked atop each other like shingles on a roof. [6]

The northeast-trending provinces are truncated by Neoproterozoic passive margins that indicate the orogenic system once extended much further. This is part of the basis for the AUSWUS reconstruction of Rodinia, which places Australia adjacent to the southwestern US from 1800 to 1000 Mya. Other supporting evidence includes correspondence of 1450 and 1000 Ga paleomagnetic poles between Australia and Laurentia. [2] The northeastern extension of the orogenic belt would then correspond to the Gothian orogeny [9] in Baltica and the southwestern extension to the Albany-Fraser orogeny. [10] However, the placement of Australia has been disputed on the basis of paleomagnetic data. [11] The SWEAT reconstruction places East Antarctica on the southwest extension of the Yavapai Province. [12]

The Yavapai Province was named for the Yavapai Supergroup in central Arizona. [13] It extends from Arizona to Colorado south of the Cheyenne belt, then northeastward to the mid-continent region. The southern boundary is somewhat poorly defined, [13] [14] [15] possibly because it corresponds to a shallow relic subduction zone, but runs roughly along the Jemez Lineament. [4] Individual island arc terranes accreted to Laurentia during the Yavapai Orogeny include the Elves Chasm block in the Grand Canyon, Green Mountain, Dubois-Cochetopa, Irving Formation, Moppin-Gold Hill, and Ash Creek-Payson. [6] The latter includes the Payson Ophiolite. Quartzite-rhyolite successions associated with extensional basins include the Vadito Group and Hondo Group in New Mexico and the Mazatzal Group in Arizona, deposited during the transition from the Yavapai to the Mazatzal orogens at 1700 Mya. The extensional basin in which the Mazatzal Group was deposited lasted about 30 Ma, from the Payson Ophiolite at 1730 Mya to the Mazatzal Peak Quartzite sometime after 1700 Mya. [16]

A number of regional orogenies fall within the time span of the Yavapai orogeny and are regarded as parts of the overall orogenic system. These include the Ivanpah orogeny (1710–1680 Mya) in the New York Mountains area; the Central Plains orogeny [17] in the mid-continent; the Medicine Bow orogeny at 1708–1750 Mya that produced the Cheyenne belt, the Colorado province or Colorado orogeny at 1780–1700 Mya. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurasia</span> Northern landmass that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent

Laurasia was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around 335 to 175 million years ago (Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana 215 to 175 Mya during the breakup of Pangaea, drifting farther north after the split and finally broke apart with the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean c. 56 Mya. The name is a portmanteau of Laurentia and Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mesoproterozoic</span> Second era of the Proterozoic Eon

The Mesoproterozoic Era is a geologic era that occurred from 1,600 to 1,000 million years ago. The Mesoproterozoic was the first era of Earth's history for which a fairly definitive geological record survives. Continents existed during the preceding era, but little is known about them. The continental masses of the Mesoproterozoic were more or less the same ones that exist today, although their arrangement on the Earth's surface was different.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia (supercontinent)</span> Ancient supercontinent of approximately 2,500 to 1,500 million years ago

Columbia, also known as Nuna or Hudsonland, was one of Earth's ancient supercontinents. It was first proposed by John J.W. Rogers and M. Santosh in 2002 and is thought to have existed approximately 2,500 to 1,500 million years ago, in the Paleoproterozoic Era. The assembly of the supercontinent was likely completed during global-scale collisional events from 2100 to 1800 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pannotia</span> Hypothesized Neoproterozoic supercontinent from the end of the Precambrian

Pannotia, also known as the Vendian supercontinent, Greater Gondwana, and the Pan-African supercontinent, was a relatively short-lived Neoproterozoic supercontinent that formed at the end of the Precambrian during the Pan-African orogeny, during the Cryogenian period and broke apart 560 Ma with the opening of the Iapetus Ocean, in the late Ediacaran and early Cambrian. Pannotia formed when Laurentia was located adjacent to the two major South American cratons, Amazonia and Río de la Plata. The opening of the Iapetus Ocean separated Laurentia from Baltica, Amazonia, and Río de la Plata. In 2022 the whole concept of Pannotia has been put into question by scientists who argue its existence is not supported by geochronology, "the supposed landmass had begun to break up well before it was fully assembled".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grenville orogeny</span> Mesoproterozoic mountain-building event

The Grenville orogeny was a long-lived Mesoproterozoic mountain-building event associated with the assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia. Its record is a prominent orogenic belt which spans a significant portion of the North American continent, from Labrador to Mexico, as well as to Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Río de la Plata Craton</span> Medium-sized continental block in Uruguay, eastern Argentina and southern Brazil

The Rio de la Plata Craton (RPC) is a medium-sized continental block found in Uruguay, eastern Argentina and southern Brazil. During its complex and protracted history it interacted with a series other blocks and is therefore considered important for the understanding of the amalgamation of West Gondwana. Two orogenic cycles have been identified in the RPC: a 2000 Ma-old western domain representing the old craton and a 700–500 Ma-old eastern domain assigned to the Brasiliano Cycle. It is one of the five cratons of the South American continent. The other four cratons are: Amazonia, São Francisco, Río Apa and Arequipa–Antofalla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wyoming Craton</span> Craton in the west-central United States and western Canada

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurentia</span> A large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of the North American continent

Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton that forms the ancient geological core of North America. Many times in its past, Laurentia has been a separate continent, as it is now in the form of North America, although originally it also included the cratonic areas of Greenland and also the northwestern part of Scotland, known as the Hebridean Terrane. During other times in its past, Laurentia has been part of larger continents and supercontinents and itself consists of many smaller terranes assembled on a network of Early Proterozoic orogenic belts. Small microcontinents and oceanic islands collided with and sutured onto the ever-growing Laurentia, and together formed the stable Precambrian craton seen today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Antarctic Shield</span> Cratonic rock body which makes up most of the continent Antarctica

The East Antarctic Shield or Craton is a cratonic rock body that covers 10.2 million square kilometers or roughly 73% of the continent of Antarctica. The shield is almost entirely buried by the East Antarctic Ice Sheet that has an average thickness of 2200 meters but reaches up to 4700 meters in some locations. East Antarctica is separated from West Antarctica by the 100–300 kilometer wide Transantarctic Mountains, which span nearly 3,500 kilometers from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. The East Antarctic Shield is then divided into an extensive central craton that occupies most of the continental interior and various other marginal cratons that are exposed along the coast.

The Ivanpah orogeny was a mountain building event in the Proterozoic from 1.71 to 1.70 billion years ago, preserved in the Ivanpah Mountains and the rocks of some mountain ranges in western Arizona and eastern California. The event is closely related to the Yavapai orogeny and may have had the same underlying causes. Foliated intrusive rocks including granite-gneiss, augen gneiss as well as amphibolite and granulite-grade metamorphism on the sequence of metamorphic facies offers evidence about the extent of deformation.

The Albany-Fraser orogeny was an orogenic event which created the Albany-Fraser Orogen in what is now Australia between 2.63 and 1.16 billion years ago, during the late Archean and Proterozoic. Tectonic history developed from isotope dating suggests that the orogeny occurred as the combined North Australia Craton-West Australia Craton collided with the East Antarctic-South Australian Craton. The Kepa Kurl Booya Province, including its component zones, the Fraser Zone, Nornalup Zone and Biranup Zone represents the crystalline basement of the orogen. Numerous theories and hypotheses have been presented about the orogeny. For example, in 2011 geochronology dating of 1.71 to 1.65 billion year old granite and gabbro intrusions in the Biranup Zone suggested craton margin rocks rather than a previously interrupted small terrane wedged against the Yilgarn Craton. In other cases, researchers attempting to reconstruct the supercontinent Rodinia suggested a possible connection between Australia-Antarctica and the proto-North American continent Laurentia, but in 2003 paleomagnetic data from the Albany-Fraser orogeny suggested that Australia and Laurentia were at different latitudes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazatzal orogeny</span> Mountain-building event in North America

The Mazatzal orogeny was an orogenic event in what is now the Southwestern United States from 1650 to 1600 Mya in the Statherian Period of the Paleoproterozoic. Preserved in the rocks of New Mexico and Arizona, it is interpreted as the collision of the 1700-1600 Mya age Mazatzal island arc terrane with the proto-North American continent. This was the second in a series of orogenies within a long-lived convergent boundary along southern Laurentia that ended with the ca. 1200–1000 Mya Grenville orogeny during the final assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia, which ended an 800-million-year episode of convergent boundary tectonism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picuris orogeny</span> Mountain-building event in what is now the Southwestern US

The Picuris orogeny was an orogenic event in what is now the Southwestern United States from 1.43 to 1.3 billion years ago in the Calymmian Period of the Mesoproterozoic. The event is named for the Picuris Mountains in northern New Mexico and interpreted either as the suturing of the Granite-Rhyolite crustal province to the southern margin of the proto-North American continent Laurentia or as the final suturing of the Mazatzal crustal province onto Laurentia. According to the former hypothesis, this was the second in a series of orogenies within a long-lived convergent boundary along southern Laurentia that ended with the ca. 1200–1000 Mya Grenville orogeny during the final assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia, which ended an 800-million-year episode of convergent boundary tectonism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ortega Formation</span> Geologic formation in New Mexico, US

The Ortega Formation is a geologic formation that crops out in most of the mountain ranges of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the formation of 1690-1670 million years (Mya), in the Statherian period of the Precambrian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquenas Formation</span> Geologic formation in New Mexico, US

The Marquenas Formation is a geological formation that crops out in the Picuris Mountains of northern New Mexico. Detrital zircon geochronology gives it a maximum age of 1435 million years, corresponding to the Calymmian period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazatzal Group</span> Geologic formation in Arizona, US

The Mazatzal Group is a group of geologic formations that crops out in portions of central Arizona, US. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the formation of 1660 to 1630 million years (Mya), in the Statherian period of the Precambrian. The group gives its name to the Mazatzal orogeny, a mountain-building event that took place between 1695 and 1630 Mya.

The White Ledges Formation is a geologic formation that crops out in central Arizona, US. Detrital zircon geochronology establishes a maximum age for the formation of 1726 million years (Mya), in the Statherian period of the Precambrian. The formation is typical of quartzites deposited around 1650 million years ago in the southwestern part of Laurentia, the ancient core of the North American continent.

The Central Plains orogeny was a mountain building event in the Proterozoic from 1630 to 1800 million years ago, preserved in the subsurface of Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri, US. The event is closely related to the Yavapai orogeny and may have had the same underlying causes.

References

  1. 1 2 Mako, Calvin A.; Williams, Michael L.; Karlstrom, Karl E.; Doe, Michael F.; Powicki, David; Holland, Mark E.; Gehrels, George; Pecha, Mark (December 2015). "Polyphase Proterozoic deformation in the Four Peaks area, central Arizona, and relevance for the Mazatzal orogeny". Geosphere. 11 (6): 1975–1995. Bibcode:2015Geosp..11.1975M. doi: 10.1130/GES01196.1 .
  2. 1 2 Karlstrom, Karl E; Åhäll, Karl-Inge; Harlan, Stephen S; Williams, Michael L; McLelland, James; Geissman, John W (1 October 2001). "Long-lived (1.8–1.0 Ga) convergent orogen in southern Laurentia, its extensions to Australia and Baltica, and implications for refining Rodinia". Precambrian Research. 111 (1): 5–30. Bibcode:2001PreR..111....5K. doi:10.1016/S0301-9268(01)00154-1. ISSN   0301-9268 . Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Karlstrom, Karl E. (1989). Early recumbent folding during Proterozoic orogeny in central Arizona. Geological Society of America. p. 156. ISBN   9780813722351.
  4. 1 2 Magnani, M.B.; Miller, K.C.; Levander, A.; Karlstrom, K. (2004). "The Yavapai-Mazatzal boundary: A long-lived tectonic element in the lithosphere of southwestern North America". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 116 (9): 1137. Bibcode:2004GSAB..116.1137M. doi:10.1130/B25414.1 . Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Jones, James V. III; Daniel, Christopher G.; Frei, Dirk; Thrane, Kristine (2011). "Revised regional correlations and tectonic implications of Paleoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks in northern New Mexico, USA: New findings from detrital zircon studies of the Hondo Group, Vadito Group, and Marqueñas Formation". Geosphere. 7 (4): 974–991. doi: 10.1130/GES00614.1 .
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Whitmeyer, Steven; Karlstrom, Karl E. (2007). "Tectonic model for the Proterozoic growth of North America". Geosphere. 3 (4): 220. doi: 10.1130/GES00055.1 .
  7. ↑ Condie, Kent C. (1982). "Plate-tectonics model for Proterozoic continental accretion in the southwestern United States". Geology. 10 (1): 37. Bibcode:1982Geo....10...37C. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1982)10<37:PMFPCA>2.0.CO;2.
  8. ↑ Daniel, C. G.; Pfeifer, L. S.; Jones, J. V.; McFarlane, C. M. (23 July 2013). "Detrital zircon evidence for non-Laurentian provenance, Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1490-1450 Ma) deposition and orogenesis in a reconstructed orogenic belt, northern New Mexico, USA: Defining the Picuris orogeny". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 125 (9–10): 1423–1441. Bibcode:2013GSAB..125.1423D. doi:10.1130/B30804.1 . Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  9. ↑ Graversen, Ole; Pedersen, Svend (1999). "Timing of Gothian structural evolution in SE Norway: A Rb-Sr whole-rock age study" (PDF). Norsk Geologisk Tidsskrift . 79 (47–56): 47–56. doi:10.1080/002919699433906 . Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  10. ↑ Kirkland, C.J. and co-authors (2011). "On the edge: U–Pb, Lu–Hf, and Sm–Nd data suggests reworking of the Yilgarn craton margin during formation of the Albany-Fraser Orogen". Precambrian Research. p. 223.
  11. ↑ Pisarevsky, S.A. and co-authors (2003). "Late Mesoproterozoic (ca 1.2 Ga) palaeomagnetism of the Albany–Fraser orogen: no pre-Rodinia Australia–Laurentia connection". Geophysical Journal International. p. F6.
  12. ↑ Goodge, J. W.; Vervoort, J. D.; Fanning, C. M.; Brecke, D. M.; Farmer, G. L.; Williams, I. S.; Myrow, P. M.; DePaolo, D. J. (11 July 2008). "A Positive Test of East Antarctica-Laurentia Juxtaposition Within the Rodinia Supercontinent". Science. 321 (5886): 235–240. Bibcode:2008Sci...321..235G. doi:10.1126/science.1159189. PMID   18621666. S2CID   11799613 . Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  13. 1 2 KARLSTROM, KARL E.; BOWRING, SAMUEL A.; CONWAY, CLAY M. (1987). "Tectonic significance of an Early Proterozoic two-province boundary in central Arizona". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 99 (4): 529. Bibcode:1987GSAB...99..529K. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1987)99<529:TSOAEP>2.0.CO;2.
  14. ↑ Grambling, Tyler A.; Holland, Mark; Karlstom, Karl E.; Gehrels, George E.; Pecha, Mark (2015). "REVISED LOCATION FOR THE YAVAPAI-MAZATZAL CRUSTAL PROVINCE BOUNDARY IN NEW MEXICO: HF ISOTOPIC DATA FROM PROTEROZOIC ROCKS OF THE NACIMIENTO MOUNTAINS" (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series. 66: 175–184. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  15. ↑ Daniel, Christopher G.; Karlstrom, Karl E.; Williams, Michael L.; Pedrick, Jane N. (1995). "The reconstruction of a middle Proterozoic orogenic belt in north-central New Mexico, U.S.A." (PDF). New Mexico Geological Society Field Conference Series. 46: 193. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. ↑ Cox, Rónadh; Martin, Mark W.; Comstock, Jana C.; Dickerson, Laura S.; Ekstrom, Ingrid L.; Sammons, James H. (December 2002). "Sedimentology, stratigraphy, and geochronology of the Proterozoic Mazatzal Group, central Arizona". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 114 (12): 1535–1549. Bibcode:2002GSAB..114.1535C. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(2002)114<1535:SSAGOT>2.0.CO;2 . Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  17. ↑ Sims, P. K.; Petermar, Z. E. (1986). "Early Proterozoic Central Plains orogen: A major buried structure in the north-central United States". Geology. 14 (6): 488. Bibcode:1986Geo....14..488S. doi:10.1130/0091-7613(1986)14<488:EPCPOA>2.0.CO;2.
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