Supracrustal Input to Magmas in the Deep Crust of Sierra Nevada Batholith: Evidence from High-D18o Zircon
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Earth and Planetary Science Letters 235 (2005) 315–330 = www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl Supracrustal input to magmas in the deep crust of Sierra Nevada batholith: Evidence from high-d18O zircon Jade Star Lackeya,*, John W. Valleya, Jason B. Saleebyb aDepartment of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, United States bDivision of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, United States Received 26 October 2004; received in revised form 24 January 2005; accepted 4 April 2005 Available online 1 June 2005 Editor: B. Wood Abstract Oxygen isotope ratios of zircon (Zc) from intrusives exposed in the Tehachapi Mountains, southern California, reveal large inputs of high-d18O supracrustal contaminant into gabbroic and tonalitic magmas deep (N30 km) in the Cretaceous Sierra Nevada batholith. High d18O(Zc) values (7.8F0.7x) predominate in the deep parts of the batholith, but lower values (6.1F0.9x) occur in shallower parts. This indicates a larger gradient in d18O with depth in the batholith than occurs from west to east across it. Oxygen, Sr, and Nd isotope data show that the supracrustal contaminant was likely young (Paleozoic or Mesozoic), hydrothermally altered upper oceanic crust or volcanic arc sediments. Such rocks were subducted or underthrust beneath the Sierran arc during accretion of oceanic terranes onto North America. This component yielded high-d18O magmas that were added to the base of the batholith. On average, gabbros in the southern Sierra contain at least 18% of the subducted supracrustal component. Some tonalite and granodiorite magmas were additionally contaminated by Kings Sequence metase- dimentary rocks, as evidenced by d18O(Zc) and initial 87Sr/86Sr that trend toward values measured for the Kings Sequence. Besides high d18O values in the southern Sierra, xenoliths in the central Sierra also have elevated d18O, which confirms the widespread abundance of supracrustal material in the sub-arc lithospheric mantle. In contrast to d18O(Zc), whole rock d18O values of many samples have undergone post-magmatic alteration that obscures the magmatic contamination history of those rocks. Such alteration previously prevented confident determination of the mass of young, hydrothermally altered mantle rocks that contributed to Sierran granitoids. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: oxygen isotopes; zircon; granitoids; alteration; Sierra Nevada; Tehachapi Mountains 1. Introduction Understanding convergent margin magmatism is * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 608 263 3453. essential to unraveling processes of crustal growth E-mail address: [email protected] (J.S. Lackey). and maturation. Granitic batholiths at continental con- 0012-821X/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.04.003 316 J.S. Lackey et al. / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 235 (2005) 315–330 vergent margins are thought to represent crust gener- mantle and crustal components interact at different ated by interaction of mantle-derived magmas and depths, and how much material is added versus pre-existing continental crust. Studies of continental recycled (e.g., [1–3]). A particularly important but margin batholiths have sought to understand how elusive parameter of magma generation at convergent 121° 120° Susanville 122° 40° ° 40 CA N1 N2 Reno 39° 39° N N3 Sample Cretaceous 119° (Plutonic) 38° 38° >0.706 NV Cretaceous 121° (Volcanic) Jurassic CA <0.706 Cretaceous C1 C2 Chinese Jurassic Peak 118° Triassic & Older 37° W1 37° 120° Undifferentiated Wallrocks Fresno W2 Distance (km) W3 0 20406080100 W4 W5 36° W6 36° C12 W7 S3 C8 C13 W8 S2S1 C7 C9 C3 C6 C10 Figures C4 C5 C11 C14 2 & 3 C15 Mount ° C16 Whitney 119 35° 35° 118° C18 C17 Fig. 1. Generalized geologic map of the Sierra Nevada batholith. Sample locations are indicated for rocks studied in the northern, western and central Sierra Nevada. Sri =0.706 isopleth [4] is shown for reference. Map after Jennings et al. [5] and Moore and Sisson [6]. J.S. Lackey et al. / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 235 (2005) 315–330 317 margin batholiths regards knowing the mass of young young depleted mantle. The location and relative (relative to the batholith’s age), mantle-derived rock abundance of these reservoirs in the crustal cross- that is remelted and recycled. Knowing this parameter section of the arc, especially at its deepest levels, is critical to understanding heat balance, cooling rates, remain speculative and controversial. and volatile budgets (e.g., CO2), which are factors that Oxygen isotopes help fingerprint different reser- in turn affect processes of deformation, as well as ore voirs. They are particularly well suited for identifying formation. recycling of young, supracrustal (volcanic) rocks in The Mesozoic Sierra Nevada batholith (SNB) in convergent margin arcs because d18O values in these California (Fig. 1) is one of the best studied conver- rocks are often reset by hydrothermal alteration, soon gent margin batholiths. Excellent exposures and a after they crystallize. In contrast, radiogenic isotopes wealth of existing data make the SNB an ideal loca- are not modified considerably by hydrothermal altera- tion to study crustal growth and recycling processes. tion [7], and they can only identify recycled material Considerable uncertainty remains, however, as to the that is sufficiently old to have undergone ingrowth of sources and amounts of different crustal and mantle radioactive decay products. Consequently, in young breservoirsQ and the mechanisms by which they were mantle-derived rocks, like altered ocean crust, d18O incorporated into Sierran magmas. Three reservoirs values are often significantly shifted from mantle generally thought to have influenced magma chemis- values, whereas changes of Sr isotope ratio are mini- try in the Sierran arc are: 1) craton-derived sedimen- mal, and Nd and Pb isotope ratios are essentially tary rocks; 2) ancient lower continental crust, and 3) unchanged [7]. Thus, in arc settings, oxygen isotopes N S4 LI KCF S5 S7 Samples S6 S8 Plutonic 30' Volcanic ° S9 35 Cretaceous Granitoids Undifferentiated Bear Valley S20 Springs Tonalite Tunis Creek & Bison S19 Peak Mafic Intrusives S10 S23 Tehachapi F S22 Gneiss Complex W lt W S24 S21 S13 u Undifferentiated S25 S14 Fa Metasediments S26 S11S12 ck S46 S47 lo TC ar Rand Schist S30 S27 G S31 S29 S16 00' ° 00' S32 S15 ° S37 S33 BP S17 35 35 ° ° 118 00' S43 S28 118 00' S44 S34 S18 S45 S35 Distance (km) S36 San 0102030 And S38 S41 rea S39 s F S40 S42 ault Fig. 2. Geology of the southern Sierra, including the Tehachapi Gneiss complex and Bear Valley Springs intrusive suite. Metasedimentary rocks are predominantly from the Kings Sequence. WWF=White Wolf Fault; KCF=Kern Canyon Fault; LI=Lake Isabella; TC=Tunis Creek Gabbro; BP=Bison Peak tonalite; after Wood and Saleeby [12]. 318 J.S. Lackey et al. / Earth and Planetary Science Letters 235 (2005) 315–330 are unique monitors for recycling of young, mantle- southern Sierra (Figs. 2 and 3), which have been derived rock that resided near earth’s surface, and they intensely deformed [12] and altered, as shown by can provide a quantitative estimate of such recycling. d18O(WR) and yD(WR) studies there and in the adja- Furthermore, the interpretation of mass balance calcu- cent Mojave Desert [9,14]. Accordingly, analyzing lations is simplified by the fact that oxygen is a major d18O of zircon in the southern Sierra allows insight element in most rocks. into the record of magmatic processes deep in the Taylor and Silver used oxygen isotopes to detect batholith that was otherwise obscured by post-mag- recycling of supracrustal rocks in a classic study of the matic alteration. Peninsular Ranges batholith of southern California [8]. There, correlation of whole rock (WR) d18O and 87 86 initial Sr/ Sr (Sri) revealed variable input of altered 2. Geologic background ocean crust to magmas across the batholith [8].A similar study in the SNB [9] showed no clear trend of The Cretaceous part of the SNB represents a large d18O(WR) with respect to trends in the spatial and tem- crustal mass with pronounced spatial variation in com- poral distribution of radiogenic isotope ratios. From position, age, and isotopic chemistry. The exposed these results, it was concluded that many d18O(WR) granitic batholith, approximately 35,000 km2 (Fig. values were reset by extensive hydrothermal alteration. 1), represents at least 1,000,000 km3 of granitic crust In this study, we present analyses of d18O made formed largely over 35 million years. On the west side by laser fluorination, from aliquots of zircon (Zc) of the batholith, plutons are more mafic (gabbros, concentrates previously analyzed by U–Pb methods tonalites, diorites, and quartz diorites); they progres- (e.g., [10,11] and see Appendix A) to date igneous sively become more felsic (granodiorites and granites) rocks in the SNB (Figs. 1 and 2). Zircons were to the east [15,16]. The changes of lithology correlate analyzed because they are highly retentive of mag- to decreasing ages of the rock [17–20] from west matic d18O values and have been shown to preserve (Early Cretaceous) to east (Late Cretaceous) and those values better than other minerals, even through have also been shown to be accompanied by extreme hydrothermal alteration and protracted high-tempera- gradients in major and trace element geochemistry ture metamorphism [13]. The hardiness of zircon is [16,21] as well as in radiogenic isotopes of Sr [4,22], key to studying high pressure igneous rocks of the Nd [23], and Pb [24]. The lateral variations of batholith chemistry reflects a transition from accreted Phanero- zoic (oceanic) rocks in the western Sierra, to Proter- ozoic continental lithosphere in the eastern Sierra [4], LI but also heterogeneity in the pre-batholithic litho- spheric mantle beneath the batholith [25].