Raising the West: Mid-Cenozoic Colorado-plano related to subvolcanic batholith assembly in the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA)?

Abstract

Abstract The Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, United States, have the highest regional elevation in North America, but present-day crustal thickness (∼42–47 km) is no greater than for the adjacent, topographically lower High Plains and Colorado Plateau. The chemistry of continental-arc rocks of the mid-Cenozoic Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, calibrated to compositions and Moho depths at young arcs, suggests that paleocrustal thickness may have been 20%–35% greater than at present and elevations accordingly higher. Thick mid-Cenozoic Rocky Mountain crust and high paleo-elevations, comparable to those inferred for the Nevadaplano farther west in the United States from analogous volcanic chemistry, could be consistent with otherwise-perplexing evidence for widespread rapid erosion during volcanism. Variable mid-Cenozoic crustal thickening and uplift could have resulted from composite batholith growth during volcanism, superimposed on prior crustal thickening during early Cenozoic (Laramide) compression. Alternatively, the arc–crustal thickness calibration may be inappropriate for high-potassium continental arcs, in which case other published interpretations using similar methods may also be unreliable.