Miocene potassium metasomatism, Whipple Mountains, southeastern California: A datable tracer of extension-related fluid transport

Abstract

Research Article| March 01, 1999 Miocene potassium metasomatism, Whipple Mountains, southeastern California: A datable tracer of extension-related fluid transport Kathi K. Beratan Kathi K. Beratan 1Department of Geology and Planetary Science, 321 EH, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Kathi K. Beratan 1Department of Geology and Planetary Science, 321 EH, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1999) 27 (3): 259–262. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0259:MPMWMS>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Kathi K. Beratan; Miocene potassium metasomatism, Whipple Mountains, southeastern California: A datable tracer of extension-related fluid transport. Geology 1999;; 27 (3): 259–262. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0259:MPMWMS>2.3.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Potassium enrichment within the upper plate of the Whipple detachment fault, southeastern California, occurred as a discrete pulse between 18.5 and 14 Ma, following the most intense extension and prior to the last episode of movement on the detachment fault. This timing is not consistent with a hydrothermal model for K enrichment in which the K is derived from propylitic alteration of lower-plate rocks. Instead, the temporal and spatial distribution of K enrichment supports a diagenetic model in which the K was derived from leaching of Tertiary alkalic volcanic rocks and dissolution of rhyolitic ashes by alkaline-saline brines in a lake and circulating ground water. The most intense alteration is commonly associated with mapped upper-plate faults, although not all mapped faults display evidence of K metasomatism. Fracture porosity present along active faults may have provided a conduit for K-bearing fluids, thus marking a set of faults as coeval and cogenetic. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.