Fission-Track Geochronology and Geothermometry of Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary Epizonal Plutons, in and Adjacent to the Lombard Thrust Fault, Southwestern Montana
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Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 6-1988 Fission-Track Geochronology and Geothermometry of Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary Epizonal Plutons, in and Adjacent to the Lombard Thrust Fault, Southwestern Montana Jean Talanda Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Geology Commons Recommended Citation Talanda, Jean, "Fission-Track Geochronology and Geothermometry of Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary Epizonal Plutons, in and Adjacent to the Lombard Thrust Fault, Southwestern Montana" (1988). Master's Theses. 1202. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1202 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FISSION-TRACK GEOCHRONOLOGY AND GEOTHERMOMETRY OF LATE CRETACEOUS-EARLY TERTIARY EPIZONAL PLUTONS, IN AND ADJACENT TO THE LOMBARD THRUST FAULT, SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA by Jean Talanda A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Department of Geology Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan June 1988 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FISSION-TRACK GEOCHRONOLOGY AND GEOTHERMOMETRY OF LATE CRETACEOUS-EARLY TERTIARY EPIZONAL PLUTONS , IN AND ADJACENT TO THE LOMBARD THRUST FAULT, SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA Jean Talanda, M.S. Western Michigan University, 1988 Thrusting occurred in the central portion of the cen tral Montana sa lie n t where the timing of movements is somewhat obscured by the multiple deformations from Archean time to the present. The relationship of this thrusting to the associated plutons has not been established in every case. Fission-track geochronology was employed in dating several plutons associated with the Lombard thrust fault, consequently, defining a time range in which movement along the thrust occurred. Seven plutons with known structural relationships to the Lombard thrust have ages which suggest that movement along the fault occurred 73.2 +/-6.7 Ma. Fission-track length distributions suggest that all the plutons studied share a common thermal history. The distributions indicate that the plutons were brought to a shallow depth and cooled rapidly similar to undisturbed volcanic-type rocks. Therefore, the fission-track ages obtained in this study are very likely related to the actual crystallization of rocks. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AC KNOWLEDGEMENT S Matthew Fisher, my husband: Thanks for your support. Dorothy and Edmund Talanda, my parents: I hope this paper can appropriately reflect all that I have learned. Donald S. Miller, Chairman of the Geology Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI); Ian R. Duddy, from the University of Melbourne, Australia; and, Raymond A. Donelick, RPI: They have given me their time and energy above and beyond th a t expected from any outside university. I truly appreciate their assistance. The su p p o rtin g s t a f f a t RPI; Mary Roden, C harles Kavanaugh and Clark Isachsen. I thank them for th e ir help. John D. Grace, W. Thomas Straw, Christopher J. Schmidt and Ronald B. Chase; Professors in the Geology Department at Western Michigan University (WMU) : This thesis has been a challenge. Thanks for helping me with the concept, the field work and lab equipment. My sincere gratitude to my other supporters: the Graduate Research Fund at WMU; the Awards and Fellowship Committee for a financial grant; the Department of Geology at WMU, for a financial award; the Carlson's, in Montana; Jerry Jones, for the Phoenix Memorial Reactor at U of M; Richard Berg at the Montana Bureau of Mines; and, the Michigan Department of Transportation, for their lab. Jean Talanda ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality o f the material submitted. 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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 1334666 Fission-track geochronology and geothermometry of Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary epizonal plutons, in and adjacent to the Lombard thrust fault, southwestern Montana Talanda, Jean, M.S. Western Michigan University, 1988 Copyright ©1988 by Talanda, Jean. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages ______ 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print _______ 3. Photographs with dark background _____ 4. 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Copyright by Jean Talanda 1988 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................................... i i LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................ vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................... v ii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 The Problem ........................................................................ 1 II. GEOLOGICAL .................................................................................. 5 Lombard Thrust Fault ................................................... 6 Boulder Batholith Region ......................................... 7 I II . FISSION TRACK ANALYSIS ...................................................... 10 Problems Involved in Fission Tracking .......... 10 Effects of Other Fission Track Producing Isotopes ................................................ 12 Physical and Age Limitations of Apatite Crystals ..................................................... 13 Changes After Crystal Formation ................. 14 Laboratory Determinations