Extending the western North American Proterozoic and Paleozoic continental crust through the Mojave Desert

Abstract

Data supporting the existence of Proterozoic basement in the central and western Mojave Desert include U-Pb zircon geochronology and Nd, Sr, and Pb isotopic values of quartzofeldspathic gneisses, detrital zircon provenance ages, and the presence of basement clasts in Paleozoic and Mesozoic conglomerates. These data corroborate existing isotopic data from Mesozoic and Tertiary intrusive rocks that suggest involvement of Proterozoic crust in their genesis. Exposures of Proterozoic basement and Late Proterozoic and Paleozoic transitional miogeoclinal-cratonal facies trends in the central and western Mojave Desert consistently imply that cratonal North America continues westward uninterrupted through this region to the San Andreas fault. These data place geographic limits on the position of several pre-Tertiary tectonic elements speculated to exist in the Mojave Desert.