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Copyright by James V. Jones III 2005 Copyright by James V. Jones III 2005 The Dissertation Committee for James V. Jones III Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Proterozoic tectonic evolution of southern Laurentia: New constraints from field studies and geochronology in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, U.S.A. Committee: James Connelly, Supervisor Mark Cloos Sharon Mosher Karl Karlstrom Kent Condie Proterozoic tectonic evolution of southern Laurentia: New constraints from field studies and geochronology in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, U.S.A. by James V. Jones III, B.S.; M.S. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August, 2005 Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my advisor, Jim Connelly, for five years of support, encouragement, and guidance. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members Mark Cloos, Sharon Mosher, Karl Karlstrom, and Kent Condie for their time and efforts in providing insightful comments and lively discussion about this work. An extensive group of colleagues and collaborators was always willing to lend time, expertise, and information and includes (among others and in no particular order) Karlstrom, Mike Williams, Christine Siddoway, Colin Shaw, Micah Jessup, Chris Andronicos, Matt Heizler, Joe Kopera, and Steve Rogers. Technical assistance and patient instruction by Kathy Manser in the U-Pb lab was essential to this project and made geochronology quite enjoyable. John Lansdown’s time and energy in assisting with the laser and Platform ICP-MS helped make detrital zircon geochronology possible. Adam Krawiec provided field assistance for one summer during this study. This study was primarily supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR 0003528 awarded to K. Karlstrom, M. Williams, J. Connelly, and C. Siddoway. Funding was also provided by the Department of Geological Sciences and the Geology Foundation at The University of Texas at Austin. The 2001 Keck Foundation summer research project led by Chris Siddoway in the Wet Mountains helped to develop a number of ideas presented in Chapter 3 and provided occasional food and fellowship. Finally, I want to thank my family and friends for support and encouragement throughout the course of my studies. Rebecca and Lucy have demonstrated exceptional patience, and none of this would have been possible without them. Onward! iv Proterozoic tectonic evolution of southern Laurentia: New constraints from field studies and geochronology in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, U.S.A. Publication No._____________ James V. Jones III, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2005 Supervisor: James N. Connelly New field studies and geochronology from southern Colorado and northern New Mexico constrain the Proterozoic growth and modification of southern Laurentia. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Colorado preserve evidence for three episodes of Proterozoic magmatism, deformation, and metamorphism. Early deformation produced penetrative, NW-striking fabrics and occurred in an arc setting between 1750 – 1730 Ma. Post-Yavapai granitoid magmatism occurred at 1695±2 Ma and 1682±3 Ma and was contemporaneous with regional quartzite deposition. Deformation at 1637±6 Ma produced localized NE-striking, subvertical fabrics with dextral shear sense. Granitic magmatism at 1434±2 Ma and 1407±6 Ma was accompanied by NW – SE shortening between 1420 – 1412 Ma that produced subvertical, NE-striking fabrics. v Thick sequences of quartz arenite were deposited across the region between the Yavapai and Mazatzal orogenies (ca. 1.70 Ga and 1.65 Ga). New geochronology reveals that deposition occurred on exhumed, Yavapai-aged basement (1706±5 Ma and 1698±4 Ma) with detritus dominated by Paleoproterozoic sources only slightly older than the quartzites themselves. Regional quartzite sedimentation was contemporaneous with nearly continuous magmatism in the region at deeper crustal levels. The first-cycle, syn- orogenic character of quartzites contrasts with their extreme compositional maturity, requiring perhaps anomalous environmental influences that enhanced chemical weathering during deposition. New geochronology and structural studies from the Wet Mountains, Colorado, reveal contrasting structural styles during widespread Mesoproterozoic A-type granitic magmatism. At shallower crustal levels, strongly localized deformation at 1430+5/-3 Ma produced subvertical fabrics throughout the N-striking Five Points shear zone. At deeper crustal levels, penetrative deformation accompanying granitic magmatism at 1435±5 Ma and 1390±10 Ma produced moderately- to shallowly-dipping fabrics. Regionally consistent fabric orientations and kinematics are interpreted to represent an intracontinental response to convergent tectonism, and contrasting, yet coeval, styles of deformation require a structural discontinuity in the middle crust between ca. 1430 – 1360 Ma. Weak, flowing lower crust is consistent with models for intraplate orogenesis and the development of orogenic plateaus, and the southern Wet Mountains might represent an exhumed analog for mid-crustal, low-viscosity layers inferred beneath modern intracontinental orogenic systems such as Tibet and the Altiplano. vi Table of Contents List of Tables ......................................................................................................... ix List of Figures..........................................................................................................x Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1. Proterozoic tectonic evolution of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, southern Colorado...........................................................................................4 Abstract...........................................................................................................4 Introduction.....................................................................................................5 Geologic Background .....................................................................................7 Proterozoic Geology Of The Sangre De Cristo Mountains ..........................10 U-Pb Zircon And Titanite Geochronology ...................................................29 Proterozoic Tectonic History Of The Sangre De Cristo Mountains.............40 Regional (SW UW) Correlations..................................................................48 Regional (SW UW) Tectonic Implications...................................................52 Summary And Conclusions ..........................................................................56 Chapter 2. New age (U-Pb and Pb-Pb) constraints on the deposition and deformation of Proterozoic quartzites across the southern Rocky Mountains..................63 Abstract.........................................................................................................63 Introduction...................................................................................................64 Geologic Background ...................................................................................67 Blue Ridge Quartzite, Colorado....................................................................71 Quartzite Detrital Zircon Geochronology.....................................................86 Discussion.....................................................................................................94 Conclusions.................................................................................................103 Implications.................................................................................................104 Laurentian Correlative Sequences ..............................................................105 Summary.....................................................................................................107 vii Chapter 3. Contrasting structural styles at ca. 1.4 Ga across the Wet Mountains, Colorado: Implications for models for intracontinental tectonism in the southern Rocky Mountains .........................................................................110 Abstract.......................................................................................................110 Introduction.................................................................................................111 Geologic Setting..........................................................................................113 Proterozoic Lithologies And Structural Elements Of The Wet Mountains 116 U-Pb Zircon And Titanite Geochronology .................................................130 Discussion...................................................................................................152 Summary/Conclusions ................................................................................166 Appendix 1...........................................................................................................169 Methods: Isotope Dilution Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometer (ID-TIMS) analysis...............................................................................................169 Appendix 2...........................................................................................................171 Methods: Laser Ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometer (LA-ICP-MS) analysis...............................................................................................171
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