The Jurassic Twist Gulch Formation of central Utah was deposited in the active Arapien sub-basin of the Western Cordillera foreland trough. We herein demonstrate the utility of integrating facies analysis, terrestrial sequence stratigraphy, and detrital zircon (U-Pb) ages to improve paleogeographic reconstructions as well as identify regional unconformities, locate fluvial depocenters, and infer sediment supply/accommodation space ratios. Strata of the Twist Gulch Formation in Pigeon Creek Canyon (PCC) near Levan, Utah consists primarily of alluvial deposits, while in Salina Canyon (SC) the Twist Gulch Formation is comprised of a mix of alluvial and marginal marine deposits associated with the Jurassic Western Interior Seaway. Within the PCC section, a change from high accommodation system (HAS) mudstones to low accommodation system (LAS) multi-storied channel sandstones and back to HAS deposits exists. This same pattern exists in the SC section but culminates with marine deposits. Terrestrial sequence stratigraphy predicts that the change from HAS to LAS deposits indicate a sequence boundary and thus an unconformity. The J-3 unconformity, a regional unconformity on the Colorado Plateau, separates strata of Callovian age from Oxfordian age in Utah. Using detrital zircons (U-Pb), the first radiometric ages were obtained for the Twist Gulch Formation. The J-3 unconformity is bracketed by detrital zircon (U-Pb) ages and stratigraphic relationships in the study area. These new ages suggest that the Twist Gulch Formation is time-equivalent to the Entrada Sandstone, Curtis, and Summerville formations of the Colorado Plateau. Further, integrating facies analysis, terrestrial sequence stratigraphy, and detrital zircon (U-Pb) ages predicts that the PCC section was an active depocenter during the early Oxfordian in which sedimentation outpaced accommodation space, prograding the Oxfordian shoreline of the Jurassic Western Interior Seaway shoreline eastward. This integration process also predicts that subsurface sandstones positioned above the J-3 unconformity on the west side of the Wasatch Plateau are of a different age, depositional system, and systems tract from subsurface sandstones on the east side of the Wasatch Plateau.

Published detrital zircon geochronological data was compiled to form the Global Detrital Zircon Database (GDZDb). This database provides a reference block for provenance analysis by future detrital zircon geochronological studies. This project entailed three subprojects: 1. crustal growth/crustal recycling patterns, 2. a provenance study of the Triassic Dry Fork Formation of the Danville-Dan River Rift basin of Virginia and North Carolina, and 3. sample size issues in detrital zircon studies. The global detrital zircon age frequency distribution exhibits six prominent, statistically significant peaks: 3.2-3.0, 2.7-2.5, 2.0-1.7, 1.2-1.0, 0.7-0.5, and 0.3-0.1 Ga. These peaks are also observed when the data is sorted for continent of origin, the tectonic setting of the host sediment and for modern river sediments. Hf isotope model ages were also incorporated into the database where grains were dated with both U-Pb and Hf isotopes. The Hf isotope model ages suggest that the majority of detrital zircons U-Pb ages reflect crustal recycling events that generated granitic magmatism, as most grains exhibited Hf isotope ages that are much older than the corresponding U-Pb age. The Triassic Dry Fork Formation was sampled from a site in southern Virginia in the Danville-Dan River Basin. The detrital zircon age frequency distribution for this formation was strongly unimodal with a peak at 400-450 Ma and a paucity of Grenville-age zircons. Comparison of the Dry Fork sample to published east coast data and to the North American record (from the GDZDb) illustrate the unusual nature of the Dry Fork Formation sample. It is probable that older Grenville zircons were blocked from the rift valley by the rift shoulder. Using the GDZDb a study of sample size was conducted in order to estimate the best sample size to use when trying to constrain the maximum age of sedimentation of the host sediment. Rift basins and active margins exhibited smaller offsets from the youngest zircon grain age to host sediment maximum age than observed in samples from passive margins. This study recommends that at least 50 grains need to be age dated on average in order to best constrain the age of the host sediment. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Xenolith-bearing orthogneiss of Amazonian affinity discovered in the Dellwood quadrangle in the Blue Ridge basement complex represents the oldest crustal component of the southern Appalachians (1.33 – 1.37 Ga: Quinn, 2012). New U-Pb zircon ages for migmatitic paragneiss of the Cartoogechaye terrane exposed in the Dellwood quadrangle reveal two unique detrital zircon age signatures that indicate either a local eastern Laurentian margin source or an exotic source. Detailed mapping, whole rock geochemistry, and U-Pb zircon geochronology were conducted to determine whether this exotic crustal component extends farther south into the Hazelwood 7.5” quadrangle. Lithological similarities exist between paragneisses in the Dellwood quadrangle and those in the Hazelwood quadrangle. However, the increase in proportion of leucosome and polyphase folding prevent direct correlation of lithologies between the areas. Whole rock major element compositions overlap the composition of basement orthogneisses. Zircon ages of six paragneiss samples reveal multiple detrital zircon age modes that are dominated by two Grenville modes at ~1050 and 1150 Ma. Minor zircon populations exist at ~450 – 480, 700 – 900, and 1300 – 1500 Ma. Age distributions and compositional trends are evidence that the protolith of the paragneiss in the Hazelwood quadrangle was Neoproterozoic rift sediments with a dominant Laurentian margin source.

The Andes Mountains provide an ideal natural laboratory to analyze the relationship between the tectonic evolution of a subduction margin, retroarc shortening, basin morphology, and volcanic activity. Timing of initial shortening and foreland basin development in Argentina is diachronous along strike, with ages varying by 20-30 million years. The Neuquén Basin (32°S-40°S) of southern-central Argentina sits in a retroarc position and provides a geological record of sedimentation in variable tectonic settings from the Late Triassic to the early Cenozoic including: 1.) active extension and deposition in isolated rift basins in the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic; 2.) post-rift back-arc basin from Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous; 3.) foreland basin from Late Cretaceous to Oligocene; and 4.) variable extension and contraction along-strike from Oligocene to present. The goal of this study is to determine the timing of the transition from post-rift thermal subsidence to foreland basin deposition in the northern Neuquén Basin and then assess volcanic activity and composition during various tectonic regimes. The Aconcagua and Malargüe areas (32°S and 35°S) are located in the northern segment of the Neuquén Basin and preserve Upper Jurassic to Miocene sedimentary rocks, which record the earliest phase of shortening at this latitude. This study presents new sedimentological and detrital zircon U-Pb data from the Jurassic to latest Cretaceous sedimentary strata to determine depositional environments, stratigraphic relations, provenance, and maximum depositional ages of these units and ultimately evaluate the role of tectonics on sedimentation in this segment of the Andes. The combination of provenance, basin, and subsidence analysis shows that the initiation of foreland basin deposition occurred at ~100 Ma with the deposition of the Huitrín Formation, which recorded an episode of erosion marking the passage of the flexural forebulge. This was followed by an increase in tectonic subsidence, along with the appearance of recycled sedimentary detritus, recorded in petrographic and detrital zircons analyses, as well development of an axial drainage pattern, consistent with deposition in the flexural forebulge between 95 and 80 Ma. By ca. 70 Ma the volcanic arc migrated eastward and was a primary local source for detritus. Growth structures recorded in latest Cretaceous units very near both the Aconcagua and Malargüe study areas imply 35-40 km and 80-125 km of foreland migration between 95 and 60 Ma in the Aconcagua and Malargüe areas, respectively. Strata ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Neogene were analyzed to determine their detrital zircon U-Pb age spectra and Hf isotopic composition to determine the relationship between magmatic output rate, tectonic regime, and crustal evolution. When all detrital zircon data are combined, significant pulses in magmatic activity occur from 190-145 Ma, and at 128 Ma, 110 Ma, 69 Ma, 16 Ma, and 7 Ma. The duration of magmatic lulls increased markedly from 10-30 million years during back-arc deposition (190-100 Ma) to ~40-50 million years during foreland basin deposition (100-~30 Ma). The long duration of magmatic lulls during foreland basin deposition could be caused by flat-slab subduction events during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic or by long magmatic recharge events. There are three major shifts towards positive Hf isotopic values and all are associated with regional extension events whereas compression seems to lead to more evolved isotopic values.

Grain assemblages in organic-rich mudrocks of the Eagle Ford Formation of South Texas are assessed to determine the relative contributions of intra- and extrabasinal sediment sources, with the ultimate goal of producing data of relevance to prediction of diagenetic pathways. Integrated light microscopy, BSE imaging, and X-ray mapping reveal a mixed grain assemblage of calcareous allochems, biosiliceous grains (radiolaria), quartz, feldspar, lithics, and clay minerals. Dominant fossils are pelagic and benthic foraminifers and thin-walled and prismatic mollusks; echinoderms, calcispheres, and oysters are present. Early-formed authigenic minerals, including calcite, kaolinite, dolomite, albite, pyrite, quartz, and Ca-phosphate, some reworked, add to the overall lithologic heterogeneity. Point counting of images produced using energy-dispersive X-ray mapping in the SEM provides observations at a scale appropriate to classifying the mudrocks based on the composition of the grain assemblage, although grains and other crystals of clay-size cannot be fully characterized even with the SEM. Each sample is plotted on a triangle, whose vertices correspond to terrigenous and volcanic grains (extrabasinal components), calcareous allochems, and biosiliceous grains. As a subequal mix of grains of intrabasinal and extrabasinal origins the detrital grain assemblage of the Eagle Ford, presents a formidable challenge to the task of lithologic classification of this unit, as neither conventional limestone nor sandstone classifications can be readily applied. The abundant marine skeletal debris in the Eagle Ford is accompanied by abundant calcite cementation and the dissolution and replacement of biosiliceous debris is accompanied by authigenic quartz, suggesting that mudrock grain classification has potential for yielding diagenetic predictions. / text

The Fish Creek-Vallecito Basin exposes an archive of sediment related to early rifting of the Gulf of California beginning at 8.0 Ma followed by Colorado River delta progradation from 5.3-3.0 Ma. Mio-Pliocene deposits from the Fish Creek-Vallecito Basin of southern California and a sample from the modern Colorado River delta were analyzed through detrital zircon U-Pb (n=1996) and (U-Th)/He (n=280) double-dating in order to better constrain sediment provenance, hinterland exhumation, and Colorado River evolution. Coupling this dataset with outcrop study of the first Colorado River-sourced turbidites into the basin at 5.3 Ma, allows for evolution of the Colorado River system to be viewed from a source-to-sink perspective. Detrital zircon U-Pb and (U-Th)/He (ZHe) ages obtained in this study suggest earliest derivation of sediment was from the Peninsular Ranges followed by more distant sediment sourcing from the Colorado River. Initial Colorado River-sourced deposits show Yavapai-Mazatzal U-Pb ages with Laramide ZHe ages suggesting that the river was sourcing from Laramide basement cored uplifts at the onset of deposition into the Gulf of California, supporting a top-down model of river evolution. An increased percentage of Grenville U-Pb age grains as well as a wider range of ZHe ages associated with western US basement-derived zircon from a modern Colorado River delta sample indicate erosion into older stratigraphic units through time which is consistent with deep erosion on the Colorado Plateau since ~6 Ma. Vertically measured sedimentology logs through the Wind Caves Member, the first Colorado River-sourced unit deposited, were used to determine slope and basin floor architecture as the Colorado River and delta dispersed subaqueous sediment gravity flows into the marine Gulf. Measured sections arrayed along depositional strike show a 4.5 km wide pod of sand-rich turbidites that were delivered through a broad Fish Creek exit point from the paleo-Colorado shelf. The vertical sedimentation trend is one showing thick bedded, amalgamated channelized and sheet-like sandstones initially, shifting to thinnerbedded sheets and more isolated channels higher in the increasingly muddy section. The facies variability up section is interpreted as a change from a submarine basin floor fan to a lower slope environment as the Colorado River prograded its delta into the Gulf. / text

The Laramide Rocky Mountains in western U.S.A is an important topographic feature in the continental interior, yet its formation and evolution are poorly constrained. This study uses the oxygen and strontium isotope geochemistry of freshwater bivalve fossils from six Laramide basins in order to reconstruct the spatial evolution of the paleotopography and Precambrian basement erosion in late Cretaceous-early Eocene. In addition it uses the sedimentology, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, and isotope paleoaltimetry of early Eocene sedimentary strata to constrain the tectonic setting, paleogeography and paleoclimate of the Wind River basin. Annual and seasonal variation in ancient riverwater δ¹⁸O reconstructed from shell fossils shows that the Canadian Rocky Mountains was 4.5±1.0 km high in late Cretaceous-early Paleocene, and the Laramide ranges in eastern Wyoming reached 4.5±1.3 km high, while the ranges in western Wyoming were 1-2 km high in late Paleocene. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of riverwaters reconstructed from the same fossils show that Proterozoic metamorphic carbonates in the Belt-Purcell Supergroup were not exposed in the Canadian Rocky Mountains during Late Cretaceous-early Paleocene, but that Precambrian silicate basement rock was exposed and eroded in the Laramide ranges during late Paleocene-early Eocene. The sedimentary environment of the early Eocene Wind River basin changed from gravelly fluvial and/or stream-dominated alluvial fan to low-sinuosity fluvial systems. Tectonic uplift of the Washakie and Wind River Range in early Eocene formed the modern paleodrainage system, although the elevation of the basin floor was only ~500 m high at that time, and early Eocene paleoclimate is more humid than modern climate.

The Middle-Upper Jurassic sedimentary rocks (i.e., the Entrada Sandstone, Wanakah Formation, and Morrison Formation) in western Colorado were mostly deposited in the Paradox Basin and form part of the modern-day Colorado Plateau in the Cordilleran foreland region. These rocks were deposited in the Mesozoic during periods of active tectonic processes in western and eastern Laurentia due to the Cordilleran magmatism and continued rifting of Pangaea, respectively. The Middle-Late Jurassic sedimentary record in the Paradox Basin shows rapid transition in depositional environments, pulses in sedimentation, post-depositional alteration, and changes in provenance. This dissertation project utilizes three main scientific tools to address pertinent geologic questions regarding the stratigraphic evolution of these units in the Paradox Basin. U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology of sandstones from these units show local and distal provenance sources. The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) of sediments and rock magnetism attribute the post-depositional alteration to percolation of ferruginous fluids driven by an adjacent regional uplift. Multi-geochemical proxies in paleosols suggest variable redox conditions, and a sub-humid to humid paleoclimate with seasonal precipitation during sedimentary hiatus in the Paradox Basin.

The Middle Ordovician Ancell Group, including the St. Peter Sandstone, Glenwood Shale and Starved Rock Formation, records intracontinental basin development during eustatic sea level changes in Iowa and Illinois. The St. Peter Sandstone overlies the Prairie du Chien Group across an erosional unconformity that marks a major sequence boundary, whereas upper contact of the St. Peter Sandstone with the Glenwood Shale also is a second sequence boundary. Data from 80 wells, selected well logs, and 20 cores were integrated to refine the high-resolution sequence stratigraphy of the Ancell Group. Two main sequences bounded by three sequence boundaries are interpreted to represent 3rd order sequences. Distinctive shallowing-upward parasequences bounded by flooding surfaces in many cores record higher frequency relative sea level fluctuations in the Ancell Group, but these cannot presently be correlated regionally. Facies variations define an aggradational transgressive systems tract TST), a prograding highstand systems tract (HST) and down stepping falling stage system tract (FSST) in both the St. Peter Sandstone and the Glenwood Shale-Starved Rock Formation units. The St. Peter Sandstone thickens towards the northeast and thins to the northwest and southwest in Iowa. In contrast, the St. Peter Sandstone in Illinois thickens to the south likely recording a prolonged FSST incised valley or channel fill. Detrital zircon geochronology of 13 samples from the St. Peter Sandstone and Starved Rock Formation define common peaks at 1100-1500 Ma and 2500-2700 Ma with minor components at 1670-1750 Ma and 3000-3600 Ma. The detrital zircon signature is dominated by Archean, and Grenville (1000-1300 Ma) ages. The detrital zircon geochronology indicates that the Ancell Group was sourced directly from the Archean Superior Province to the north and Grenville Province to the northeast, although recycling of Archean grains from the Paleoproterozoic Huron Basin cannot be ruled out. The near complete lack of 1800-1900 Ma ages argues against derivation of detritus from the Trans-Hudson or Penokean Orogens. The Transcontinental Arch northwest of the Iowa Basin acted as a barrier to sediment transport from the Trans-Hudson Orogen. Basement rocks of the Penokean Orogen are inferred to have been covered by water or younger sediments southeast of the Iowa Basin. CIA analyses of Ordovician shale samples from around the Transcontinental Arch indicate that the climate condition during Middle Ordovician time was warm and humid. This is consistent with a paleoclimate interpretation where mechanical erosion and chemical weathering yielded first cycle mature quartz arenites (Witzke, 1980).