Geochronology of the St. Kevin granite and neighboring precambrian rocks, northern Sawatch Range, Colorado

R. C. Pearson; C. E. Hedge; H.H. Thomas; T.W. Stern

doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1966)77[1109:gotskg]2.0.co;2

Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70221298

Geochronology of the St. Kevin granite and neighboring precambrian rocks, northern Sawatch Range, Colorado

R. C. Pearson·C. E. Hedge·H.H. Thomas·T.W. Stern

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Radiometric ages have been measured on rocks of a crystalline terrane that includes ancient gneisses and migmatites, two granitic batholiths ( St . Kevin Granite and granite of Cross Creek), and various minor intrusive rocks . A whole- rock Rb-Sr isochron age on the St . Kevin Granite establishes it as 1390 ± 60 m.y. old. Mineral ages on the St . Kevin and numerous other rocks are either about the same as the St . Kevin whole- rock age or younger by as much as 200 m.y., even where the relative age is known to be older. Some minor Precambrian intrusive masses that are probably younger than St . Kevin Granite yield mica ages within analytical error of the St . Kevin age, indicating that these rocks can be younger than the granite by only a few tens of millions of years. The mica ages, both Rb-Sr and K-Ar, are thought to be minimal, but a K-Ar age of 2020 m.y. on horn-blende probably reflects excess argon. Mica ages from all rocks known geologically to be older than St . Kevin Granite are low and are interpreted as heating ages reflecting intrusion of the granite , in some cases modified further by heating during Laramide time. In this area, Precambrian intrusion and deformation had largely ended by 1200 or 1300 m.y. ago. Plutonism, represented here by the St . Kevin Granite and elsewhere by the Silver Plume and other granites, probably accounts for the numerous mineral ages of about 1300 m.y. previously reported from Colorado although weak regional metamorphism may also have been a factor.

Explore related subjects

Geological Society of America Bulletin Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 38.758366935612784° to 39.47436547486121° latitude; -107.501220703125° to -106.32568359375° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

R. C. Pearson, C. E. Hedge, H.H. Thomas, T.W. Stern. 1966. Geochronology of the St. Kevin granite and neighboring precambrian rocks, northern Sawatch Range, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1966)77%5B1109%3Agotskg%5D2.0.co%3B2

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2025

An empirical test of maximum depositional age through paired LA-ICP-MS and CA-ID-TIMS detrital zircon analysis with implications for the “Nevadan orogeny” in the Sierra Nevada foothills, California, U.S.A.

The interpretation of maximum depositional age (MDA) from U-Pb detrital zircon data acquired via laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) or secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is now routine; however, to date only a few studies have presented tests of such MDAs by subsequently analyzing a subset of the same detrital zircon grains with the more accurate and precise chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) method. We first generated LA-ICP-MS dates and MDAs from three turbidite sandstone samples of the Late Jurassic Mariposa Formation (Sierra Nevada foothills, California) containing large proportions of young detrital zircon grains (at the time of sediment deposition). We then removed 4–5 of the apparent youngest grains from the epoxy mount and analyzed them with CA-ID-TIMS. Despite a lack of low Th/U or high U (ppm) characteristics that might indicate U-Pb system disturbance, all LA-ICP-MS dates are younger than corresponding CA-ID-TIMS dates, on the same grain, by up to 11.8 m.y. when considered as point estimates. Only two out of 13 paired analyses overlap within error at 95% confidence. We interpret MDAs from our CA-ID-TIMS dates to be the youngest CA-ID-TIMS dates (YTDs). LA-ICP-MS MDAs based on fewer dates from the young tail of the youngest date distribution perform the worst (i.e., furthest from CA-ID-TIMS MDAs), whereas LA-ICP-MS MDA methods that incorporate more dates from the youngest date distribution perform better; the best performing method in all cases is the maximum likelihood algorithm–minimum. The performance of tested LA-ICP-MS MDA methods is improved by removing statistical outlier dates and by removing visually young “outlier” dates that drift away from the primary distribution of young dates. Our paired LA-ICP-MS/CA-ID-TIMS MDA workflow shows that the accuracy of MDA can be significantly improved by conducting CA-ID-TIMS on as few as four grains from a sample. The combination of our new CA-ID-TIMS MDAs with published CA-ID-TIMS analyses and petrochronology on the nearby Guadalupe igneous complex provides sub-million-year resolution of contemporaneous igneous and sedimentary systems during deformation and clarifies the timing of regional deformation that defines the local “Nevadan orogeny.” Rocks in the upper plate of the Bear Mountains fault zone have a CA-ID-TIMS YTD MDA of 151.71 ± 0.23 Ma, and rocks of the lower plate have a CA-ID-TIMS YTD MDA of 149.92 ± 0.11 Ma. These new MDAs, in conjunction with the observation of fabric-bearing Mariposa Formation xenoliths in the ca. 149.65 ± 0.10 Ma Guadalupe igneous complex, suggest that rocks in the upper plate of the Bear Mountains fault zone represent a slightly older (~2 m.y.) section of Mariposa Formation that was deformed and intruded prior to being juxtaposed against, and further deformed with, a slightly younger lower-plate section of Mariposa Formation in actively deforming, fault-bounded basins. Our observations are not consistent with traditional models that require that sedimentation of the Mariposa Formation ended by ca. 155 Ma. Instead, we interpret our data to be consistent with other evidence for a continuum of deformation in Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous time and document that the regional “slatey cleavage” observed in the greater Mariposa Formation and used to define the “Nevadan orogeny” in our study area is largely younger than 149.92 ± 0.11 Ma.

California↗

USGS2025

Origin and evolution of mafic volcanism associated with 3 m.y. of andesite production at the Goat Rocks volcanic cluster, southern Washington Cascade Range

More than 3 m.y. of mafic volcanism near the Goat Rocks volcanic cluster in the southern Washington Cascade Range, USA, lends insight into the evolution of basalts and the subarc mantle at a long-lived, major arc volcanic locus. We contribute field observations, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dates, paleomagnetic directions, and bulk rock and mineral compositions to characterize nine mafic units that erupted in association with the Goat Rocks volcanic cluster. The time frame of mafic volcanism, ca. 3.6 Ma to 60 ka, encompasses the lifespan of the central volcanic cluster (3.1 Ma to 115 ka), with a lull from ca. 2.7 Ma to 1.4 Ma. A climactic period of voluminous mafic activity and far-traveled lava flows, including construction of the Hogback Mountain shield volcano, coincided with voluminous andesite eruptions from the central volcanic cluster. The basaltic rocks in the Goat Rocks area are calc-alkaline to barely tholeiitic and have high field strength element depletion relative to large-ion lithophile elements characteristic of calc-alkaline basalts (CAB) of the Cascade volcanic arc. Unlike at neighboring andesitic volcanic centers (Mounts Adams, St. Helens, and Rainier), no other mafic end members such as high-aluminum olivine tholeiite (HAOT) or intraplate-type basalt (IPB) are present at or near the Goat Rocks volcanic cluster, although some of the calc-alkaline basalts in this study have IPB-like affinities. The Goat Rocks mafic units exhibit two main temporal trends in composition: (1) the most primitive basalts erupted earlier, compared to less primitive and more evolved compositions later, and (2) high field strength element concentrations are higher in the younger basalt units relative to the oldest two. In contrast to these temporal trends, the mafic units define two compositional groups that recur through time, a low-Sr and a high-Sr group, each with distinct trace element and Sr and Nd isotope ratios. Although radiogenic isotope ratios are generally aligned with High Cascades CAB and HAOT, some extend toward IPB of Mount Adams and Simcoe Mountains volcanic field. Olivine-dominated crystal fractionation at shallow pressure from a small range of parent magma compositions accounts for much of the variation among the basalts and basaltic andesites. A high-pressure fractionation model is plausible for only one of the youngest basalt units (basalt of Walupt Lake volcano). Mafic recharge and crustal assimilation accounts for the incompatible-element enriched composition of basaltic andesites erupted during construction of the largest andesitic centers, further supporting sustained basalt mass flux and thermal energy driving andesite genesis. We model the most primitive members of the Goat Rocks mafic units as partial melts of successively less depleted mantle in time. Variable degrees of fluxing with fluids and melts from subduction explain the distinction between high-Sr and low-Sr groups. We propose that mantle metasomatism by ancestral subduction and fluid-flux melting is heterogeneously distributed through the local subarc mantle and played a greater role in the genesis of the high-Sr basalt group. The limited range of primitive basalt types around the Goat Rocks volcanic cluster contrasts with the much greater diversity of basalts throughout the southern Washington to northern Oregon Cascade arc. On the other hand, the central volcanic cluster encompasses nearly the entire diversity observed at neighboring composite volcanoes. In the case of the Goat Rocks area at least, and perhaps attributable to the entire region, this means that the genesis of diverse intermediate magmas is independent from and does not require vastly different parental basalt compositions.

California, Oregon, Washington↗

USGS2025

A 400-k.y. perspective on arc volcanism: An exceptional explosive eruption record from Central Mexico

Volcanic eruption records provide key information for hazard planning but suffer from a time-dependent loss of resolution, hindering long-term evaluations of volcano behavior. Here, we investigate an exceptional sedimentary sequence from Lake Chalco, on the SE edge of Mexico City, which provides a perspective on volcanic activity over hundred-thousand-year time scales, and we develop a methodological and analytical protocol applicable to core datasets globally. The lava-dominated base of the sequence (~105 m) is followed by ~155 m of lateral-collapse derived deposits and overlain by ~295 m of lacustrine sediments containing at least 450 visible tephra fall deposits (TFDs), spanning 400 k.y. These TFDs include 205 events sourced from large-magnitude (predominantly volcanic explosivity index [VEI] ≥5) silicic explosive eruptions, principally from regional polygenetic sources, and 205 deposits from the nearby Sierra Chichinautzin volcanic field (SCVF). A gradual decline in both frequency and apparent magnitude in the silicic eruption record is consistent with the gradual migration of volcanism south along the adjacent Sierra Nevada volcanic range, toward Popocatépetl. In contrast, the SCVF-derived deposits imply persistent but episodic activity, on time scales of 40–70 k.y., suggesting that the SCVF has been more continuously active than previously recognized. Decoupled trends between the SCVF and regional silicic sources implies that the total magmatic flux is not dictated at the arc scale, or by external (e.g., climatic) drivers, but instead reflects the independent development of individual volcanic systems. The records indicate a minimum long-term frequency of impactful eruptions on Mexico City to be one per 900 years (>1 cm tephra deposited) or 9000 years (≥10 cm tephra).

Central Mexico↗