The Early Mesozoic Cordilleran Arc and Late Triassic Paleotopography: the Detrital Record in Upper Triassic Sedimentary Successions on and Off the Colorado Plateau
The Early Mesozoic Cordilleran arc and Late Triassic paleotopography: The detrital record in Upper Triassic sedimentary successions on and off the Colorado Plateau N.R. Riggs1, S.J. Reynolds2, P.J. Lindner1,*, E.R. Howell1,†, A.P. Barth3, W.G. Parker4, and J.D. Walker5 1School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA 2School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-1404, USA 3Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana 46202, USA 4Division of Resource Management, Petrifi ed Forest National Park, Petrifi ed Forest, Arizona 86028, USA 5Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA ABSTRACT eroding into the stream systems that depos- of the record of magmatism is in backarc sedi- ited the three units. Streams diverged from mentary successions. Upper Triassic sandstones in diverse loca- a common source that maintained a rela- Unmetamorphosed Paleozoic sections tions in eastern California, southern Arizona, tively uniform magma composition over are exposed on the Colorado Plateau and in and on the Colorado Plateau (USA) yield time, as indicated by a narrow range of southern Arizona, and equivalent strata have detrital zircons that are remarkably similar in Th/U values, as well as tapping a somewhat long been recognized in deformed sections in age and geochemistry, leading to the hypoth- different source evidenced by a grouping eastern California and western Arizona, where esis that they are temporally related and in which Th/U ratios are lower. Once the they are overlain by strata of the Buckskin and were derived from similar sources.
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