Detrital zircon microtextures and U‐PB geochronology of Upper Jurassic to Paleocene strata in the distal North American Cordillera foreland basin

Abstract

AbstractDetrital zircon surface microtextures, geochronologic U‐Pb data, and tectonic subsidence analysis from Upper Jurassic to Paleocene strata in the Black Hills of South Dakota reveal provenance variations in the distal portion of the Cordillera foreland basin in response to tectonic events along the outboard margin of western North America. During Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous time, nonmarine strata record initially low rates of tectonic subsidence that facilitated widespread recycling of older foreland basin strata in eolian and fluvial systems that dispersed sediment to the northeast, with minimal sediment derived from the thrust belt. By middle Cretaceous time, marine inundation reflects increased subsidence rates coincident with a change to eastern sediment sources. Lowstand Albian fluvial systems in the Black Hills may have been linked to fluvial systems upstream in the midcontinent and downstream in the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming. During latest Cretaceous time, tectonic uplift in the study area reflects dynamic processes related to Laramide low‐angle subduction that, relative to other basins to the west, was more influential due to the greater distance from the thrust load. Provenance data from Maastrichtian and lower Paleocene strata indicate a change back to western sources that included the Idaho‐Montana batholith and exhumed Belt Supergroup. This study provides a significant contribution to the growing database that is refining the tectonics and continental‐scale sediment dispersal patterns in North America during Late Jurassic‐early Paleocene time. In addition, it demonstrates the merit of using detrital zircon grain shape and surface microtextures to aid in provenance interpretations.