Extension of the Anaconda metamorphic core complex: 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology and implications for Eocene tectonics of the northern Rocky Mountains and the Boulder batholith David A. Foster1, Warren C. Grice Jr.1,*, and Thomas J. Kalakay2 1DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES, P.O. BOX 112120, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA 32611, USA 2DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY, ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE, 1511 POLY DRIVE, BILLINGS, MONTANA 59102, USA ABSTRACT Thermochronologic data defi ne the extension and exhumation history of the Anaconda metamorphic core complex and have implications for the Eocene tectonic setting of the northern Rocky Mountains. The 40Ar/ 39Ar data indicate that relatively rapid extension on the Anaconda detachment started at ca. 53 Ma and continued through ca. 39 Ma. Apatite fi ssion-track data reveal that faulting and exhumation of the foot- wall continued until ca. 27 Ma. The average displacement rate on the Anaconda detachment was on the order of 1 mm/yr between ca. 50 and 39 Ma based on the lateral gradient in mica 40Ar/39Ar ages in the direction of fault slip. The total displacement along the Anaconda detachment in Eocene and Oligocene times is estimated to be ≥25–28 km based on reconstruction of the Cretaceous Storm Lake Stock with its detached roof, which is now exposed in the Deer Lodge Valley. Extension exhumed crust from ~12 km depth and exposed middle-greenschist-facies mylonites in the easternmost part of the Anaconda complex footwall. On a regional scale, the Anaconda detachment dips east beneath the Cretaceous Boulder batholith, indicating that the batholith and the Butte mineralization were transported east in the hanging wall. The Ana- conda metamorphic core complex formed at the transition between the Cordilleran hinterland and the foreland at the same time as exten- sion occurred in the Bitterroot and Priest River metamorphic core complexes but exhumed a shallower part of the Eocene crustal section than the contemporaneous complexes to the west. LITHOSPHERE; v. 2; no. 4; p. 232–246; Data Repository Item 2010208. doi: 10.1130/L94.1 INTRODUCTION of hyperextended terrains exposed from western Montana to northeastern Washington and British Columbia (Fig. 1B). Unlike the other core com- Eocene metamorphic core complexes are a signifi cant tectonic ele- plexes, the Anaconda complex is located at the easternmost margin of the ment of the northern Rocky Mountains, United States, and southern Cordilleran metamorphic-plutonic hinterland. Published geochronology Canadian Cordillera. Exposure of the core complexes resulted from and thermochronology indicate that regional extension and core complex widespread extension that began between 55 and 53 Ma during the fi nal exhumation began in the early to middle Eocene at ca. 54–52 Ma, coin- stages of or immediately after shortening ended in the Cordilleran thrust cident with onset of Challis-Colville-Kamloops-Absaroka magmatism belt (e.g., Constenius, 1996; Foster et al., 2007). Several hypotheses have (Armstrong and Ward, 1991; Morris et al., 2000; Foster et al., 2001, 2007; been proposed to explain the onset of rapid Eocene extension and associ- Breitsprecher et al., 2003; Haeussler et al., 2003). ated magmatism in the northern Cordillera including: orogenic collapse, as theno spheric upwelling within a slab window, rapid rollback of the Far- GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND allon slab, regional transtension associated with northward motion of the Kula plate, or accretion of the Siletzia terrane (Armstrong et al., 1977; The Anaconda metamorphic core complex is located along the east- Severinghaus and Atwater, 1990; Morris et al., 2000; Vanderhaeghe and ern edge of the Cordilleran hinterland in western Montana (O’Neill et al., Teyssier, 2001; Breitsprecher et al., 2003; Haeussler et al., 2003; Foster 2004; Foster et al., 2007). This extensional terrain is south of the Lewis et al., 2001, 2007; Humphreys, 2009a). The 40Ar/39Ar thermochronologic and Clark fault zone, east of the Idaho batholith and Bitterroot metamor- data from the Anaconda metamorphic core complex in western Montana phic core complex, west of the Boulder batholith, and within the west- (Fig. 1) have implications for the timing, duration, and rate of extension ern part of the Helena salient of the Cordilleran thrust belt (Fig. 1) (Foster in the easternmost core complex in the Cordillera, as well as the Eocene et al., 2007). The Anaconda complex is composed of three structural- tectonic setting in the northern U.S. Cordillera. metamorphic domains: (1) a metamorphic-plutonic footwall exposed in the The Anaconda metamorphic core complex (O’Neill et al., 2004; Fos- Anaconda and Flint Creek Ranges (Figs. 2 and 3), (2) a low-grade hanging ter et al., 2007), along with the Bitterroot, Priest River, Clearwater, Shus- wall exposed along the western edge of and within the Deer Lodge Valley wap, Kettle, Okanagan, and Walhalla core complexes, constitutes a belt (Fig. 2), and (3) a brittle-plastic detachment fault system exposed along the eastern fl anks of the Anaconda and Flint Creek Ranges (Figs. 2 and 3). *Current address: ExxonMobil Corporation, 800 Bell Street, Houston, Texas Footwall rocks of the Anaconda complex are made up of Late Cretaceous 77002, USA. to Eocene granitic plutons intruded into metamorphosed Meso proterozoic 232 For permission to copy, contact [email protected] | |Volume © 2010 2 Geological | Number Society4 | LITHOSPHERE of America Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/lithosphere/article-pdf/2/4/232/3037948/232.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 on 02 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/lithosphere/article-pdf/2/4/232/3037948/232.pdf LITHOSPHERE 115°W 115°W LEW B 120°W A IS & CLARK S - Shuswap S M M - Monshee V Valhalla | V - Volume 2 Volume K - Kettle 49° FAULT ZONEFlathead Valley N CANADA O - Okanagan USA PR-Priest River Missouri River O 49° | Clearwater Number 4 Number K C - N Clearwater B -Bitterroot detachment PR Little Belt Spokane A - Anaconda Mtns. t MT IDAHO n L | ew www.gsapubs.org www.gsapubs.org e C is BATHOLITH Missoula & C m la rk F h Valley WA au c lt Helena Zo a n t e t B Valley OR A e n d HELENA e Butte SALIENT Bozeman t Bitterroot m 45° Lodge o ch N o ta r e r d te a Deer 45° Bit d BOULDER N n o BATHOLITH Columbia River Basalt c a n Boise ID Valley N P 45° A N Idaho Falls Hole Hole Pioneer IDAHO Big P- RR- Raft River RR BATHOLITH CHALLIS VOLCANICS Miocene - Recent volcanic rocks Extension oftheAnacondametamorphiccorecomplex 45° Eocene volcanic rocks N Cretaceous - Eocene plutonic rocks Cretaceous volcanic rocks Mesozoic accreted arcs Plain ABSAROKA Proterozoic & Phanerozoic VOLCANICS sedimentary rocks Archean - Proterozoic basement Snake River River FAULTS: detachment Snake River normal Snake thrust strike-slip other | 115°W 110°W RESEARCH Figure 1. (A) Tectonic map of the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains showing major Phanerozoic structures and tectonic elements in the vicinity of the Anaconda detachment, which bounds the Anaconda metamorphic core complex. The box shows the area of the map in Figure 2. (B) Inset map showing a larger area depicting the location of the Anaconda metamorphic core 233 complex and other Eocene metamorphic core complexes. The core complexes are shaded gray, with names corresponding to the abbreviations listed in the key. The box shows the area of the map in A. FOSTER ET AL. 113°W 112°W v v v v Cenozoic sediments N 10 km v & volcanic rocks v v v v v v Eocene v v intrusive rocks RS v v Flint Range Creek v Cretaceous v v v v v v v volcanic rocks v Rock v PP v v Cretaceous v intrusive rocks MPP Deer v Creek Valley t Lodge v v l Proterozoic (Belt), u n a Deer Lodge Valley e F Paleozoic & Mesozoic d e LC d k i a DF02-118 sedimentary rocks H Valley L Philipsburg SP A ben v Anaconda Eocene mylonite DF02-114 Lowland v SLP HL Creek Gra v faults: Boulder batholith detachment 46˚ v Butte N A' v v normal CJ thrust other exploration well PB sample location Anaconda Range Big Hole Valley Pioneer 113°W Range 112°W A Anaconda A' Amoco detachment DF02-114 Amoco Deer Lodge Arco A Jacobson Valley HLF #1 #1 Depth (km) v 0 v v v 0 v v v v v v v v v v v v 5 km BOULDER 5 km 10 km Anaconda BATHOLITH 10 km meta-Belt & K-T intrusions mylonit 15 km e 15 km 0km 10 km Figure 2. Geologic map and cross section of the central part of the Anaconda metamorphic core complex, Boulder batholith, and adjacent regions. The map was compiled from Emmons and Calkins (1913), Lewis (1998), Lonn et al. (2003), O’Neill et al. (2004), Foster et al. (2007), and Vuke et al. (2007). Locations of samples used for 40Ar/39Ar analyses that are not plotted on Figure 4 are also shown. Cretaceous intrusive rock at location DF02-114, in the hanging wall of the Anaconda detachment, is coarse-grained granodiorite interpreted to be the detached top of the Storm Lake pluton in the footwall. Abbreviations: SP—Sapphire pluton; CJ—Chief Joseph pluton; SLP—Storm Lake pluton; PB—Pioneer batholith; PP—Philipsburg batholith; MPP—Mount Powell pluton; RS—Royal Stock; HL—Hearst Lake plutonic suite; LC—Lost Creek Stock; HLF—Hidden Lake fault. The box shows the area of Figure 4. Belt Supergroup and Middle Cambrian to Cretaceous shelf-platform strata granodiorite and early to middle Eocene granitic plutons, which intruded (Figs. 2 and 4; Fig. DR11) (Emmons and Calkins, 1913, 1915; Desmarais, deformed Belt Supergroup and metamorphosed Middle Cambrian strata 1983; Heise, 1983; Wallace et al., 1992; Lonn et al., 2003; Grice, 2006).