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Paleoelevation estimates for the northern and central proto—Basin and Range from carbonate clumped isotope thermometry

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Lechler, Alex R., Niemi, Nathan A., Hren, Michael T., Lohmann, Kyger C.·2013·Tectonics
DOI 10.1002/tect.20016
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Abstract

Quantitative paleoelevation histories can help explain both why and how widespread Cenozoic extension occurred in the Basin and Range Province of western North America. We present new estimates of preextensional paleoelevations for the northern and central Basin and Range using clumped isotope (Δ 47) thermometry of lacustrine carbonates collected from each region. Comparison of carbonate Δ 47‐derived mean annual air temperature (MAAT) estimates (~16°C–20°C) for the Late Cretaceous–Eocene Sheep Pass basin of east central Nevada with published MAAT estimates for the Eocene, coastal northern Sierra Nevada (~20°C–25°C), suggests that the early Paleogene Sheep Pass basin had a paleoelevation of ≤2 km. Such a modest paleoelevation suggests that either (1) the proto–northern Basin and Range did not attain maximum paleoelevations of 3–4 km until the late Eocene–early Oligocene; or (2) the Sheep Pass basin was a local, high‐relief (>1 km) setting contained within a >3 km orogenic highland (“Nevadaplano”). Similarity of Δ 47‐derived MAAT estimates (~17°C–24°C) for carbonates from the central Basin and Range and the near–sea level southern Sierra Nevada Bena basin indicate that middle Miocene paleoelevations in the Death Valley region were ≤1.5 km. These fairly low paleoelevations are incompatible with preextensional crustal thicknesses >52 km and indicate that mean elevation change was minor (≤500 m) and lithospheric mass was not conserved during >100% Neogene extension of the central Basin and Range, but was instead likely compensated by synextensional magmatic additions to the crust.

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  • Clumped isotope thermometry has been widely employed to reconstruct the burial history of carbonate strata in sedimentary basins.

    “This technique has been widely employed to reconstruct the burial history of carbonate strata in sedimentary basins [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].”

    From Clumped Isotope Reordering and Kinetic Differences in Co-Hosted Calcite and Dolomite Minerals throughout Burial Diagenesis and Exhumation (2023) · cites this paper as [3]

    Section 2 describes clumped isotope thermometry as a way to measure carbonate formation or diagenetic-resetting temperatures, and Section 6.1 applies it to carbonate from the Goler Basin. But the paper uses those measurements for paleoelevation and evaluates possible alteration; it does not say the technique has been widely employed to reconstruct burial histories. Section 6.1 instead cites preserved lignite to constrain postdepositional burial temperature. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Research works printed but not linked: 9

  1. Albright, L. B., D. L. Lofgren, and M. C. McKenna (2009), Magnetostratigraphy, mammalian biostratigraphy, and refined age assess- ment of the Goler Formation (Paleocene), California, in Papers on Geology, Vertebrate Paleontology, and Biostratigraphy in Honor of Michael O. Woodburne, vol. 65, edited by L. B. Albright, pp. 259-278, Flagstaff, Ariz.
  2. Chase, C. G., K. M. Gregory-Wodzicki, J. T. Parrish, and P. DeCelles (1998), Topographic history of the western Cordillera of North America and controls on climate, in Tectonic boundary conditions for climate model simulations, edited by T. J. Crowley and K. Burke, pp. 73-99, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, U. K.
  3. Cox, B. F. (1982), Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and structure of the Goler Formation (Paleocene), El Paso Mountains, California: Implications for Paleogene tectonism on the Garlock Fault Zone, Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Riverside.
  4. Fouch, T. D. (1979), Character and paleogeographic distribution of Upper Cretaceous(?) and Paleogene nonmarine sedimentary rocks in east-central Nevada, in Cenozoic Paleogeography of the Western United States: Pacific Coast Paleogeographic Symposium 3, edited by J. M. Armentrout et al., pp. 97-111, Pacific Section, SEPM, Los Angeles, CA.
  5. Lofgren, D. L., J. G. Honey, M. C. McKenna, R. L. Zondervan, and E. E. Smith (2008), Paleocene primates from the Goler Formation of the Mojave Desert in California, in Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Western and Southern North America, Contributions in Honor of David P. Whistler, edited by X. Wang and L. G. Barnes, pp. 11-28, Los Angeles, CA.
  6. Niemi, N. A. (2013), Detrital zircon age distributions as a discriminator of tectonic versus fluvial transport; an example from the Death Valley extended terrane, Geosphere, 9(1), 126-137, doi:10.1130/GES00820. · DOI
  7. Oskin, M., J. Stock, and A. Martín-Barajas (2001), Rapid localization of Pacific-North America plate motion in the Gulf of California, Geology, 29(5), 459-462, doi:10.1130/0091-7613(2001)0290459: RLOPNA_2.0.CO;2. · DOI
  8. Reynolds, M. W. (1969), Stratigraphy and structural geology of the Titus and Titanothere Canyons Area, Death Valley, California, Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley.
  9. Wernicke, B. (1992), Cenozoic extensional tectonics of the U.S. Cordillera, in The Geology of North America, The Cordilleran Region, vol. G-3, edited by B. C. Burchfiel et al., pp. 553-581, GSA, Boulder, CO.

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Authors
Lechler, A. R., Niemi, N. A., Hren, M. T., & Lohmann, K. C.
Affiliations
  • University of New Mexico (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • University of Connecticut (US)
Corresponding author
Lechler, Alex R.
ORCID
Venue
Tectonics
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Published
2013-05-30
Volume
32
Issue
3
Pages
295-316
ISSN
  • 0278-7407 (ISSN-L)
  • 1944-9194
DOI
10.1002/tect.20016
OpenAlex
W1847590186
Cited by
64
References
109
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3
FWCI
11.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Tectonics (publishedVersion)
  • Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geology › Geological and Geophysical Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geophysics › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
Keywords
paleoelevation, Basin and Range, clumped isotope thermometry, lacustrine carbonates, mean annual air temperature, Cenozoic extension, Death Valley, Sierra Nevada, Neogene extension, crustal thickness, paleoclimate

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