Research Paper GEOSPHERE Orogen proximal sedimentation in the Permian foreland basin Graham M. Soto-Kerans1,2, Daniel F. Stockli1, Xavier Janson2, Timothy F. Lawton2, and Jacob A. Covault2 1Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA 2Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78758, USA GEOSPHERE, v. 16, no. 2 https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02108.1 ABSTRACT ■ INTRODUCTION 15 figures; 1 table; 1 set of supplemental files The sedimentary fill of peripheral foreland basins has the potential to pre- Major tectonic and geologic events, such as ocean closure and continen- serve a record of the processes of ocean closure and continental collision, as tal collision, and the evolution of associated sediment-routing systems, are CORRESPONDENCE: well as the long-term (i.e., 107–108 yr) sediment-routing evolution associated recorded within the sedimentary fill of foreland basins (Jordan et al., 1988; [email protected] with these processes; however, the detrital record of these deep-time tec- DeCelles and Giles, 1996; Ingersoll, 2012). Detrital zircon (D2) U-Pb geochronol- CITATION: Soto-Kerans, G.M., Stockli, D.F., Janson, tonic processes and the sedimentary response have rarely been documented ogy is a powerful provenance analysis tool for elucidating hinterland tectonic X., Lawton, T.F., and Covault, J.A., 2020, Orogen proxi- during the final stages of supercontinent assembly. The stratigraphy within and erosional processes and the associated depositional record (Dickinson, mal sedimentation in the Permian foreland basin: Geo- the southern margin of the Delaware Basin and Marathon fold and thrust 1988; Fedo et al., 2003; Gehrels, 2012; Gehrels, 2014). This methodology pro- sphere, v. 16, no. 2, p. 567– 593, https://doi .org/10.1130 /GES02108.1. belt preserves a record of the Carboniferous– Permian Pangean continental vides invaluable insights into the geological processes linked to continental assembly, culminating in the formation of the Delaware and Midland foreland assembly and can help track the complex temporal and spatial evolution of Science Editor: David E. Fastovsky basins of North America. Here, we use 1721 new detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb these foreland basin systems (Haughton et al., 1991; Lawton et al., 2010). Associate Editor: Cathy Busby ages from 13 stratigraphic samples within the Marathon fold and thrust The Permian Basin is the result of the diachronous collision between the belt and Glass Mountains of West Texas in order to evaluate the prove- Gondwanan and Laurentian continental plates during the Late Mississippian Received 19 December 2018 nance and sediment-routing evolution of the southern, orogen-proximal to early Permian, completing the formation of the supercontinent Pangea. This Revision received 6 August 2019 Accepted 2 December 2019 region of this foreland basin system. Among these new DZ data, 85 core-rim collision led to the inversion of the Laurentian continental margin, over-thrust- age relationships record multi-stage crystallization related to magmatic or ing of Gondwanan crust, and the formation of several flexural foreland basins Published online 6 January 2020 metamorphic events in sediment source areas, further constraining source and uplifts (King, 1930; King, 1937; Ross, 1986; Yang and Dorobek, 1995; Poole terranes and sediment routing. Within samples, a lack of Neoproterozoic– et al., 2005). The Delaware Basin is the western of two major sub-basins that Cambrian zircon grains in the pre-orogenic Mississippian Tesnus Formation make up the Permian foreland basin. It contains extensive hydrocarbon reser- and subsequent appearance of this zircon age group in the syn-orogenic voirs in conventional deep-water sandstones as well as unconventional shale Pennsylvanian Haymond Formation point toward initial basin inversion and carbonate strata. These important resources have motivated numerous and the uplift and exhumation of volcanic units related to Rodinian rifting. studies of the depositional environments and reservoir quality across the Moreover, an upsection decrease in Grenvillian (ca. 1300–920 Ma) and an basin (Hills, 1984; Harms et al., 1988; Dutton et al., 2003; Gardner et al., 2003; increase in Paleozoic zircons denote a progressive provenance shift from Pyles et al., 2010). The Pennsylvanian to middle Permian stratigraphy exposed that of dominantly orogenic highland sources to that of sediment sources along the southern margin of the Delaware Basin (Figs. 1 and 2) offers the deeper in the Gondwanan hinterland during tectonic stabilization. Detrital unique opportunity to study geological processes related to late Paleozoic zircon core-rim age relationships of ca. 1770 Ma cores with ca. 600–300 Ma Laurentia-Gondwana continental collision and foreland basin deposition near rims indicate Amazonian cores with peri-Gondwanan or Pan-African rims, the orogenic front. Grenvillian cores with ca. 580 Ma rims are correlative with Pan-African vol- Provenance studies have been employed to reconstruct the evolution of canism or the ca. 780–560 Ma volcanics along the rifted Laurentian margin, numerous orogenic systems, such as the Andes or the Himalayas, which still and Paleozoic core-rim age relationships are likely indicative of volcanic arc preserve much of both the orogenic hinterland and the adjacent basins. In activity within peri-Gondwana, Coahuila, or Oaxaquia. Our results suggest contrast, the Permian Basin represents a more significant challenge because dominant sediment delivery to the Marathon region from the nearby south- a significant portion of the Gondwanan hinterland subsequently rifted away ern orogenic highland; less sediment was delivered from the axial portion of during Mesozoic opening of the Gulf of Mexico (Hatcher et al., 1989; Thomas, the Ouachita or Appalachian regions suggesting that this area of the basin 2006, 2011b), and what likely remains in northern and northeastern Mexico was not affected by a transcontinental drainage. The provenance evolution is covered and poorly understood. Hence, the sedimentary strata along the of sediment provides insights into how continental collision directs the southern margin of the Permian Basin offer the potential to help unravel the This paper is published under the terms of the dispersal and deposition of sediment in the Permian Basin and analogous long-term geological and tectonic evolution of this collisional episode despite CC-BY-NC license. foreland basins. the missing or inaccessible hinterland. Several models for the sediment © 2020 The Authors GEOSPHERE | Volume 16 | Number 2 Soto-Kerans et al. | Permian foreland basin provenance Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article-pdf/16/2/567/4968494/567.pdf 567 by guest on 30 September 2021 Research Paper Southern Permian Basin and sourcing and routing have been proposed (Thomson and McBride, 1964; A Marathon Fold and Thrust Belt Regional Map: Kocurek and Kirkland, 1998; Soreghan and Soreghan, 2013). The recent advent of isotopic provenance analysis through DZ U-Pb dating has provided critical Delaware Basin Central Basin Platform process-oriented insights into the linkages between basin formation, hinter- Hovey and Ozona Arch land tectonics and/or unroofing, sediment routing, drainage reorganization, Diablo Channel Platform Val Verde Basin and basin subsidence as read in the basin fill history (Lawton et al., 2010, GLASS MTNS 2015a, 2015b; Gehrels, 2012; Sharman et al., 2015; Thomson et al., 2017). Orogenic Recent provenance studies have employed DZ U-Pb geochronology in order Belt to interpret sediment sources for the voluminous clastic reservoirs within Devils the Permian Basin (Soreghan and Soreghan, 2013; Anthony, 2015; Xie et al., River 2018). Specifically, these studies identified a previously unexpected signal Uplift Marfa of southern sediment provenance (i.e., peri-Gondwana). However, inter- Marathon Basin pretations of the sediment-routing scenario continue to be developed. For example, Soreghan and Soreghan (2013) interpret southerly provenance for the Guadalupian section in the northwestern Delaware Basin, but not by a N 0 50 km direct feeder system. Rather, sediment was contributed via transcontinental W E river systems stemming from the Ouachita and Appalachian regions and 0 50 mi deflated into eolian erg systems ultimately transporting sediment to the S Delaware Basin. We used DZ U-Pb geochronology to define the signal of southern prov- Glass Mountains and enance and direct sediment supply from the Marathon fold and thrust belt B Marathon Fold and Thrust Belt Geologic Map: and Gondwanan hinterland terranes. Moreover, the southern margin of the N Delaware Basin comprises strata that document the collisional phases of Pc Pc Pw 7 8 K IPh W E Pangea; the long-term (10 –10 yr) tectonic processes associated with this Pl Pwf S supercontinent assembly likely significantly influenced the provenance and Pw IPg sediment-routing evolution of the Delaware Basin (Graham et al., 1976). Pl IPd IPd Ci Duggout Creek Thrust IPh Pl Pwf ■ GEOLOGIC SETTING AND STRATIGRAPHY Pc IPM Iapetan Rifted Margin—Rodinian Breakup K IPg Marathon IPd Prior to the assembly of Pangea, Neoproterozoic–Cambrian rifting of the lPz Rodinian continent formed the inherited promontories and embayments of IPM IPM K IPh lPz southern Laurentia (Fig. 3) (Arbenz, 1989a; Cawood et al., 2001; Thomas, 2011b). lPz IPM 0 10 km The traces of these large-scale