Constraints from U-Pb and Hf Isotopic Data of Detrital Zi
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Magmatic History and Crustal Genesis of South America: Constraints from U-Pb Ages and Hf Isotopes of Detrital Zircons in Modern Rivers Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Pepper, Martin Bailey Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 23/09/2021 09:38:39 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/347220 MAGMATIC HISTORY AND CRUSTAL GENESIS OF SOUTH AMERICA: CONSTRAINTS FROM U-Pb AGES AND Hf ISOTOPES OF DETRITAL ZIRCONS IN MODERN RIVERS by Martin Pepper __________________________ Copyright © Martin Pepper 2014 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2014 1 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Martin Pepper, titled Magmatic History and Crustal Genesis of South America: Constraints from U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes of detrital zircons in modern rivers and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: (11/17/2014) Peter Reiners _______________________________________________________________________ Date: (11/17/2014) Paul Kapp _______________________________________________________________________ Date: (11/17/2014) George Zandt Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: (11/17/2014) Dissertation Director: George Gehrels 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: MARTIN PEPPER 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor George Gehrels for giving me this opportunity to execute such a unique research project and further my knowledge and experiences. The opportunities gained now and in the future are irreplaceable and I am eternally thankful for my new directions in life. I would also like to thank my wife Lena Pepper for her support and understanding during this long academic stint with long hours and little time outside of my projects. Thank you mother (Karen Pepper) and father (Carl Pepper) for always encouraging me to keep learning and allowing me to push my boundaries. I am also very thankful for my colleagues and the other students in our department that were extremely helpful in this project, namely, Mauricio Ibanez-Mejia, Alex Pullen, Ned Brown, Mark Pecha, Jay Quade, Gayland Simpson, Dominique Giesler, Chelsea White, Clayton Loehn, Glynis Jehle and Victor Valencia. Furthermore, I couldn’t have completed such an arduous journey throughout South America without the help of my field crew: Franco Urbani, David Mendi, Agustin Cardona, Camilo Bustamante, Giovani Jimenez and Herman Bayona. Thank you! 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………... 6 LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………… 7 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………….. 8 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………. 10 GEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF SOUTH AMERICA………………………………... 13 Cratonal Nucleus…………………………………………………………... 13 Northern Andes (NA)…………...…………………………………………. 14 Central Andes (CA)………………...……………………………………… 14 Southern Andes (SA)……………………..……………………………….. 14 PRESENT STUDY………………………………………………………………………… 16 Sampling Methodology……………………………………………………………. 16 Sample Descriptions……………………………………………………………….. 16 Northern Andes (NA)………………………………………………………. 16 Central Andes (CA)………………………………………………………… 17 Southern Andes (SA)……………………………………………………….. 17 U-Pb Analytical Methods………………………………………………….. 17 Hf Analytical Methods…………………………………………………….. 18 RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………….. 21 U-Pb Geochronology………………………………………………………………. 21 Northern Andes (NA)………………………………………………………. 21 Central Andes (CA)………………………………………………………… 21 Southern Andes (SA)……………………………………………………….. 21 East-West comparison of U-Pb ages………………………………………. 22 Hf Isotope Geochemistry…………………………………………………………... 22 Northern Andes (NA)………………………………………………………. 22 Central Andes (CA)………………………………………………………… 22 Southern Andes (SA)……………………………………………………….. 23 COMPARISON WITH EXISTING U-Pb AND Hf DATA FROM SOUTH AMERICA… 24 U-Pb………………………………………………………………………………... 24 HF………………………………………………………………………………….. 25 INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS………………………………………………………. 26 Magmatic History…………………………………………………………………. 26 Crustal Evolution………………………………………………………………….. 28 DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………… 33 Magmatic Processes……………………………………………………………….. 33 Crustal Generation and Reworking………………………………………………... 35 CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………………………... 37 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………….. 40 APPENDIX A. FIGURE 1. GEOLOGIC MAP WITH OUTLINED CATCHMENTS…. 41 APPENDIX B. U-Pb REFERENCES USED IN ATTACHED DATA COMPILATION .. 44 APPENDIX C. Hf REFERENCES USED IN ATTACHED DATA COMPILATION…... 88 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………….. 106 5 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. MAP OF RESEARCH AREA……………………………………………….. 90 FIGURE 2. U-PB AND HF FOR NA REGION………………………………………….. 91 FIGURE 3. U-PB AND HF FOR CA REGION ………………………………………….. 92 FIGURE 4. U-PB AND HF FOR SA REGION ………………………………………….. 93 FIGURE 5. U-PB DISTRIBUTIONS OF ALL AREAS………………………………….. 94 FIGURE 6. 0-200MA DISTRIBUTIONS FOR ALL AREAS..………………………….. 95 FIGURE 7. MAP OF SAMPLE LOCATIONS OF COMPILED DATA.……………….. 96 FIGURE 8. SUMMARY OF U-PB AND HF FOR NA REGION ……………………….. 97 FIGURE 9. SUMMARY OF U-PB AND HF FOR CA REGION ……………………….. 98 FIGURE 10. SUMMARY OF U-PB AND HF FOR SA REGION ………………………. 99 FIGURE 11. SUMMARY OF U-PB AND HF FOR ALL REGIONS……………………. 100 FIGURE 12. 0-200MA U-PB, HF AND CONVERGENCE DATA OF ALL REGIONS..101-102 FIGURE 13. COMPARISON OF THIS PROJECT WITH GLOBAL DATA…………… 103 FIGURE 14. COMPARISON OF THIS PROJECT WITH HASCHKE ET AL., 2002… 104 6 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. SAMPLE INFORMATION…………………………………………………… 105 7 ABSTRACT South America provides an outstanding laboratory for studies of magmatism and crustal evolution because it contains older Archean-Paleoproterozoic cratons that amalgamated during Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic supercontinent assembly, as well as a long history of Andean magmatism that records crustal growth and reworking in an accretionary orogen. We have attempted to reconstruct the growth and evolution of South America through U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotope analyses of detrital zircons from 59 samples of sand from modern rivers and shorelines. Results from 5,524 new U-Pb ages and 1,199 new Hf isotope determinations are reported. We have also integrated our data into a compilation of all previously published zircon geochronologic and Hf isotopic information, yielding a record that includes >42,000 ages and >1,600 Hf isotope analyses. These data yield five main conclusions: (1) South America has an age distribution that is similar to most other continents, presumably reflecting the supercontinent cycle, with maxima at 2.2-1.8 Ga, 1.6-0.9 Ga, 700-400 Ma, and 360-200 Ma; (2) <200 Ma magmatism along the western margin of South America has age maxima at 183 Ma (191-175 Ma), 151 Ma (159-143 Ma), 126 Ma (131-121 Ma), 109 Ma (114-105 Ma), 87 Ma (95- 79 Ma), 62 Ma (71-53 Ma), 39 Ma (43-35 Ma), 19 Ma (23-15 Ma), and 6 Ma (10-2 Ma); (3) for the past 200 Ma, there appears to be a positive correlation between magmatism and the velocity of convergence between central South America and Pacific oceanic plates; (4) Hf isotopes record reworking of older crustal materials during most time periods, with incorporation of juvenile crustal materials at ~1.6-1.0 Ga, 500-400 Ma and ~200-100 Ma; and (5) the Hf isotopic signature of <200 Ma magmatism is apparently controlled by the generation of juvenile magmas during extensional tectonism and reworking of juvenile versus evolved crustal materials during crustal thickening and arc migration. 8 Keywords: Detrital zircon, U-Pb geochronology, Andes, South America, Hf isotopes, orogenic cycles, crustal evolution 9 INTRODUCTION The ‘Andean type’ orogeny is frequently referenced as a modern analog for the subduction based orogeny of a current or an ancient oceanic plate beneath a continental plate (Hodges et al., 1982). The problem with this statement is that we still do not completely understand what has been occurring along this Pacific margin in terms of magmatic flux and crustal evolution either in a regional context, east and west variations and/or along the entire ~7000 km length of the Andes. Ideally, a single project would encompass the whole