Detrital Geochronology Research Articles

Two‐Dimensional Quantitative Comparison of Density Distributions in Detrital Geochronology and Geochemistry

AbstractDetrital geochronology provides insight into a broad range of Earth Science questions. However, detrital zircon U‐Pb age distributions are inherently univariate, and thus quantitative comparison methods are limited to one‐dimension (1D) and subject to nonunique results due to overlapping age groups. We developed two‐dimensional (2D) quantitative comparison measures for bivariate kernel density estimates (KDEs) and cumulative distribution functions (CDFs). These methods are extensions of 1D quantitative comparison measures commonly used in detrital geochronology: Similarity, Likeness, and Cross‐correlation of KDEs and Kolmogorov‐Smirnov (K‐S) and Kuiper tests of CDFs. We demonstrate the efficacy of these methods by applying them to a global compilation of detrital and igneous zircon univariate U‐Pb data (n = 767,660) and bivariate U‐Pb and Hf (i.e., εHfT) data (n = 114,311) parsed geographically into eight continental landmasses demarcated by Paleozoic sutures. The 2D quantitative comparison measures behave in a similar fashion to their 1D counterparts in terms of sensitivity and consistency regardless of parameterization (e.g., kernel bandwidth and discretization interval). Results show that the detrital record reliably reflects the igneous record for both univariate U‐Pb and bivariate εHfT distributions between 4,400 and 0 Ma. In contrast, 1D and 2D quantitative comparison results differ over the narrower Ediacaran‐Cambrian time interval due to nonunique univariate zircon U‐Pb age groups; the 2D quantitative results consistently identify continental landmasses involved in the formation of Gondwana. We implemented the 2D methods in a new MATLAB‐based graphical user interface, DZstats2D, which is available as open‐source code and as standalone applications for macOS and Windows.

Provenance of Neogene sandstones in western Taiwan traced with garnet geochemistry and zircon geochronology

AbstractIn this study, we use provenance analysis to shed light on the Neogene evolution of river drainage and sediment dispersal in eastern Asia as a consequence of the Himalayan orogeny and topographic rise of the Tibetan Plateau. As an attempt to envisage how sediment‐routing systems operated in the past, and to identify the ultimate source of siliciclastic detritus originally generated in mainland China and now incorporated in, and recycled from, the western Taiwan accretionary prism, we have used Raman spectroscopy of detrital garnet in modern river sands and upper Neogene sandstones, complemented by detrital‐zircon geochronology and by petrographic and heavy‐mineral analysis. Garnet grains are relatively abundant and largely represented by almandine with various percentages of pyrope molecules in Yangtze sand as in western Taiwan sandstones and modern river sand derived from them. Instead, they are rare and largely represented by grossular or andradite in the sand of the Pearl River and of coastal rivers of SE China facing the Taiwan Strait. This finding supports the result of detrital geochronology, which documents a sharp difference between U‐Pb age spectra of Pearl River and coastal SE China zircons (characterised by a Paleozoic‐Mesozoic triple peak) and Yangtze and western Taiwan zircons (characterised by prominent Neoproterozoic, Paleoproterozoic, and latest Archean clusters). The Pearl River and minor rivers facing the Taiwan Strait are thus ruled out as ultimate sources of upper Neogene sandstones exposed today along the western front of the Taiwan fold‐thrust belt. In the envisaged scenario, sand mostly supplied by the paleo‐Yangtze River was entrained for ~ca.1,000 km southward by longshore currents and deposited on the Chinese passive margin before being accreted along the front of the Taiwan orogen since ~6 Ma. Littoral sand drift represents a major factor of long‐distance sediment transport in modern shelves and needs to be taken into full account in source‐to‐sink studies and paleogeographic reconstructions.

Tracking Proterozoic–Triassic sediment routing to western Laurentia via bivariate non-negative matrix factorization of detrital provenance data

When reconstructing sediment provenance, the challenge posed by multiple univariate (i.e., age-only) detrital geochronology data sets with similar one-dimensional distributions can be mitigated by incorporation of a second variable such as Hf isotopic data. However, there is no commonly applied method of sample intercomparison, much less forward or inverse modeling of these bivariate data sets. In this paper we explore application of non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to bivariate data sets. Factorization of univariate mixed (a.k.a., sink or daughter) data sets has been demonstrated to successfully recover both the one-dimensional endmember (a.k.a., source or parent) distributions and their mixture weightings. We show that NMF can successfully recover both the two-dimensional distributions and mixing weights in synthetic data sets. Application of the method to 24 published Neoproterozoic–Triassic samples from western Laurentia yields six two-dimensional endmember distributions that are a close match to empirical sediment sources on the southern, eastern, and northern margin of Laurentia. The results are broadly consistent with previous interpretations and confirm that the method can characterize unknown sediment sources based on data from analyzed sink samples. Correlating between factorized endmembers and empirical sources indicates that the Transcontinental Arch was not a barrier to east–west sediment transport until the late Cambrian. Quantitative comparison also shows that the closest known match for a factorized endmember with highly evolved Permo-Triassic zircons is from northern South America and suggests northward transport of this detritus following assembly of Pangea. Recognizing these empirical sources and their distribution into strata that would later be incorporated into the North American Cordillera sets the stage for interpreting sediment provenance records in the Jurassic–Paleogene Cordilleran retroarc foreland basin. Supplementary material: The open-source software ( DZnmf2D ) and a user manual is available in public repositories: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4460336 . All other supplemental files are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5280320 Thematic collection: This article is part of the Fold-and-thrust belts and associated basins collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/fold-and-thrust-belts

Maximum depositional age estimation revisited

In a recent review published in this journal, Coutts et al. (2019) compared nine different ways to estimate the maximum depositional age (MDA) of siliclastic rocks by means of detrital geochronology. Their results show that among these methods three are positively and six negatively biased. This paper investigates the cause of these biases and proposes a solution to it. A simple toy example shows that it is theoretically impossible for the reviewed methods to find the correct depositional age in even a best case scenario: the MDA estimates drift to ever smaller values with increasing sample size. The issue can be solved using a maximum likelihood model that was originally developed for fission track thermochronology by Galbraith and Laslett (1993). This approach parameterises the MDA estimation problem with a binary mixture of discrete and continuous distributions. The ‘Maximum Likelihood Age’ (MLA) algorithm converges to a unique MDA value, unlike the ad hoc methods reviewed by Coutts et al. (2019). It successfully recovers the depositional age for the toy example, and produces sensible results for realistic distributions. This is illustrated with an application to a published dataset of 13 sandstone samples that were analysed by both LA-ICPMS and CA-TIMS U–Pb geochronology. The ad hoc algorithms produce unrealistic MDA estimates that are systematically younger for the LA-ICPMS data than for the CA-TIMS data. The MLA algorithm does not suffer from this negative bias. The MLA method is a purely statistical approach to MDA estimation. Like the ad hoc methods, it does not readily accommodate geological complications such as post-depositional Pb-loss, or analytical issues causing erroneously young outliers. The best approach in such complex cases is to re-analyse the youngest grains using more accurate dating techniques. The results of the MLA method are best visualised on radial plots. Both the model and the plots have applications outside detrital geochronology, for example to determine volcanic eruption ages.

Constraining the links between the Himalayan belt and the Central Myanmar Basins during the Cenozoic: An integrated multi-proxy detrital geochronology and trace-element geochemistry study

Geological and tectonic analysis of the Eastern Himalayan basins has given rise to a decade-long debate on the geodynamic evolution of the Burmese terrane and on the extent of reorganization of the main SE Asia drainage systems. However, the influence of the Himalayan belt on the Central Myanmar Basin (CMB) system remains poorly documented, although it is key to providing more accurate models for the evolution of the Himalayan-Burmese orogen. In this contribution, we present geochronological, isotopic and geochemical analysis from 2500 zircon, 1700 titanite, 700 rutile and 850 apatite detrital grains from fifteen Cenozoic siliciclastic samples and one Cretaceous igneous rock. The samples were collected within the fore- and back-arc basins of the Central Myanmar Basin domain (CMB) to constrain the provenance, maximum depositional ages, and depositional environments of the west Burma terrane. Nine key lithological units, the Sadwingyi, Ketpanda, Wabo Chaung, Gwegon, Minwun, Padaung, Okmintaung and Irrawaddy formations have detrital age spectra spanning from the Miocene to Paleoarchean. The entire data set has common age peaks at ca. 20, 40, 60, 90, 100 ​Ma, with about 80% of the U–Pb ages younger than ca. 140 Ma and only ca. 1% of the grains predating ca. 3.0 ​Ga.Our results shed light on the current ambiguities on the transport pathways of Himalayan detritus in the CMB. They show that the fore-arc basin was open to the trench and fed by the unroofing of both the Wuntho Popa volcanic arc to the east and possibly from the Burmese basement and/or from Himalayan-derived Bengal Fan detritus to the west during the Eocene, from at least ca. 44 Ma to before ca. 39 Ma. We show that the west Burma Terrane was partitioned into pull-apart basins such as the Minwun Basin, which during the Oligocene recorded the first evidence of a new source contribution into the CMB at ca. 27 Ma. This new source is characterized by detritus highly compatible with the SE Asia basement rocks, which we suggest corresponds to the initiation of the palaeo–Irrawaddy River. This geodynamic evolution does not require any Yarlung Tsangpo-Irrawaddy-Brahmaputra paleodrainage reorganization, since from the Oligocene to the Early Miocene, the Irrawaddy River fed an internally drained basin, and from the Late Miocene onwards, the Yarlung drained into the Brahmaputra in the Bengal Basin.

Geodynamic significance of Neoarchean metasedimentary belts in the Superior Province: Detrital zircon U-Pb LA-ICP-MS geochronology of the Opinaca and La Grande subprovinces

Metasedimentary subprovinces within the Superior Province and many Archean cratons worldwide occur as prominent belts separating volcano-plutonic subprovinces. The stages of their development mark major, distinct geodynamic events. Deposition ubiquitously follows a restricted period of voluminous, regional, felsic pluton emplacement. Their geodynamic setting of deposition is not well understood, and despite similar sedimentological, structural and post-deposition metamorphic characteristics, metasedimentary subprovinces have been variously interpreted as developing in accretionary prism, syn-orogenic, and back-arc basin settings. We present the first synthesis of detrital zircon U-Pb LA-ICP-MS geochronology from paragneiss and migmatite of the Opinaca and La Grande subprovinces. This study constrains detrital zircon age populations of the sedimentary protoliths, assesses their provenance, and evaluates the geodynamic setting of deposition. Including detrital geochronology compiled from regional literature, nine paragneiss samples from the Laguiche Complex (Opinaca) and eleven from the Rivière Salomon, Thor, Keyano, Magin, Marbot, Low and Ekomiak formations (La Grande) provide dominant modal age peaks similar to regional Neoarchean felsic plutonic suites, and lesser age peaks consistent with regional Neoarchean and Mesoarchean greenstone belts and Mesoarchean gneiss. The units have comparable zircon age populations; therefore we interpret a shared provenance from the La Grande and Minto subprovinces, suggesting that none of the metasedimentary units represent exotic accreted terranes. Mean ages of youngest LA-ICP-MS zircon age clusters range from 2716 to 2695 Ma, thus defining the maximum ages of deposition. ID-TIMS analyses of select youngest grains confirm the efficacy of the LA-ICP-MS constraints. Regional intrusive suites ranging from ca. 2710 to 2678 Ma further constrain deposition to a short time interval. Our detrital geochronology results are similar to all other Superior Province metasedimentary subprovinces, which consistently exhibit large proportions of detrital zircon ages close to their depositional age. This would conventionally lead to the interpretation that the extensional environment is a back-arc basin to an active convergent margin. However, as the sequence of events preceding formation of the Opinaca subprovince may not reflect uniformitarian tectonic processes, we discuss alternate models of basin formation and how the similar patterns observed in Superior Province detrital geochronology could be consistent with a variety of geodynamic environments.

Late Paleozoic detrital history of eastern Gondwanaland: petrofacies and detrital geochronology of Permo-Carboniferous intracratonic sequences of the northwest Bengal Basin

ABSTRACTPermo-Carboniferous Gondwanan sequences have been reported from several isolated basins of Peninsular India. These siliciclastic sequences were preserved in several intracratonic basins in northwest Bangladesh. Sandstone petrography, heavy-mineral assemblages, mineral chemistry, and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of sediment cores were used in this study to decipher the provenance history of Gondwanan sediments at two localities (Khalashpir and Barapukuria). Petrographic studies suggest that these sequences are mostly immature and poorly sorted arkosic sandstones (Khalashpir-Qt60F27L13, Barapukuria-Qt52F31L17), with compositions ranging from quartzarenite to litharenite. Among lithic fragments, sedimentary types are abundant. Heavy minerals are volumetrically rare and of low diversity in sediments of northwest Bangladesh. Garnet geochemistry indicates that metamorphic grades in the source terranes were of the amphibolite to granulite facies. Laser 40Ar/39Ar ages for single crystals of detrital muscovite from the deepest drilled Gondwanan sequences yielded the broadest age range, with a dominant mode at circa 515 Ma and lesser clusters of ages at circa 550, 570, and 600 Ma. The other two shallower samples are dominated by ages with similar single modes at circa 495–500 Ma. The oldest muscovite crystals may have been derived from the adjacent Indian craton and/or the Meghalayan craton. Younger muscovite crystals may have been contributed from the Pinjarra Orogen, formed during episodes of Neoproterozoic to early Paleozoic collision among India, Antarctica, and Australia.

Corrigendum: A Stratigraphic Approach to Inferring Depositional Ages From Detrital Geochronology Data

Corrigendum: A Stratigraphic Approach to Inferring Depositional Ages From Detrital Geochronology Data

A Stratigraphic Approach to Inferring Depositional Ages From Detrital Geochronology Data

With the increasing use of detrital geochronology data for provenance analyses, we have also developed new constraints on the age of otherwise undateable sedimentary deposits. Because a deposit can be no older than its youngest mineral constituent, the youngest defensible detrital mineral age defines the maximum depositional age of the sampled bed. Defining the youngest `defensible' age in the face of uncertainty (e.g., analytical and geological uncertainty, or sample contamination) is challenging. The current standard practice of finding multiple detrital minerals with indistinguishable ages provides confidence that a given age is not an artifact; however, we show how requiring this overlap reduces the probability of identifying the true youngest component age. Barring unusual complications, the principle of superposition dictates that sedimentary deposits must get younger upsection. This fundamental constraint can be incoporated into the analysis of depositional ages in sedimentary sections through the use of Bayesian statistics, allowing for the inference of bounded estimates of true depositional ages and uncertainties from detrital geochronology so long as some minimum age constraints are present. We present two approaches for constructing a Bayesian model of deposit ages, first solving directly for the ages of deposits with the prior constraint that the ages of units must obey stratigraphic ordering, and second describing the evolution of ages with a curve that represents the sediment accumulation rate. Using synthetic examples we highlight how this method preforms in less-than-ideal circumstances. In an example from the Magallanes Basin of Patagonia, we demonstrate how introducing other age information from the stratigraphic section (e.g., fossil assemblages or radiometric dates) and formalizing the stratigraphic context of samples provides additional constraints on and information regarding depositional ages or derived quantities (e.g., sediment accumulation rates) compared to isolated analysis of individual samples.

Detrital geochronology of the Gondwana sequence of the Lesser Himalaya of the Nepal Himalaya

Detrital age relationship between major lithounits of the orogeny and foreland basin strata can elucidate orogenic events. However, analyses of some selected samples of a certain time interval from a sedimentary basin can lead to misjudgement. We present detrital zircon U–Pb age analyses of some older sedimentary strata of the Tansen Group, a renowned basin for the explanation of the Himalayan Orogeny. Sandstone and tuff samples of the Permian and Cretaceous Periods from the Gondwana sequence of the Lesser Himalaya of eastern Nepal and western Nepal were subjected to U–Pb age analyses, and the results were compared with available younger strata of the same basin along with the major lithotectonic units of the Himalaya. The detrital zircon age population of different units enables us to propose a new stratigraphic framework for the eastern Nepal Gondwana sequence and correlate them with the well‐established Gondwana sequence of the western Nepal Lesser Himalaya. This study reveals that the source region for the Gondwana sequence (Permian to Cretaceous) and post‐Gondwana sequence (Eocene to Miocene) is alternating and casts doubt upon the famous implications for the India and Asia collision and metamorphic core exhumation made from the basin analysis of these sedimentary basins of the southern part of the Himalayan Thrust Fold Belt (HTFB). Furthermore, we argue that these basins cannot be used for the reconstruction of collision and exhumation history of the Himalaya as being used. Alternatively, the results are more consistent with the possibilities of recent unconventional hypotheses of sediment contribution of the Greater Himalaya to the Permian strata of the Lesser Himalaya and the Cretaceous rifting of the Tibetan–Himalayan Microcontinent followed by the accretion of the microcontinent before collision of India and Asia.

Does Pebble Abrasion Influence Detrital Age Population Statistics? A Numerical Investigation of Natural Data Sets

AbstractPebble abrasion is a key factor controlling the release of minerals into sand, but few attempts have been made to model how it could influence the liberation of minerals into the size fraction used in detrital geochronology. We perform a series of experiments with an abrasion model to test this influence using natural and synthetic data sets. Our results demonstrate that pebble abrasion can change the zircon mixing proportions of upstream source units as well as the age distribution of mixed fluvial sands. This change is particularly significant when there is strong contrast in rock resistance within the watershed. Pebble abrasion is one of many factors that can change the mixing proportion of sands, including hillslope gravel supply, erosion rates, and mineral fertility. In our study case (Marsyandi watershed, Himalaya), the abrasion model predicts age distributions that are statistically indistinguishable from those predicted by a no‐abrasion model. However, the relative erosion rates estimated by our model largely differ from the results of a no‐abrasion model and are closer to those from other studies that suggest a strong correlation between modern erosion rates, tectonics, and precipitation intensity in the Marsyandi watershed. These findings highlight that, even in cases where there is no statistical evidence of change between the modeled age distributions, abrasion can affect the erosion rates estimated from them. Therefore, quantifying the influence of abrasion on sand production is an essential step not only to predict mixing proportions but also to accurately retrieve erosion rates from the measured grain age distributions.

Provenance and diagenesis from two stratigraphic sections of the lower cretaceous Caballos formation in the upper Magdalena valley: Geological and reservoir quality implications

The Aptian-Albian Caballos Formation is a proven reservoir in the oil producing basins of the Upper Magdalena Valley and Putumayo (Colombia), characterized by wide variation in its petrophysical properties. Integrated provenance, diagenetic and basic petrophysical analyses are presented from two stratigraphic sections of the Caballos Formation in the Upper Magdalena Valley (Ocal and Cobre creeks) in order to test regional geological models, and to relate compositional and diagenetic factors with the reservoir quality.Sandstones from the Caballos Formation document a change from texturally immature- subarkoses, litharenites to quartz arenites. High quartz contents, the presence of feldspar, sedimentary, metamorphic and volcanic lithic suggest mixed provenance, with a major contribution from sedimentary sources. U-Pb dating of detrital zircons reveals age populations that include contributions from Precambrian, Permian, Triassic and Jurassic rocks. These data, together with the compositional trends, suggest that source areas likely include adjacent massifs from the eastern segment of the Upper Magdalena Valley with similar compositional andtemporal characteristics (Garzón and Macarena Massifs for the southeastern Ocal Section, and the Upper Magdalena Valley massifs and the eastern flank of the Central Cordillera; Ocal Section). The changes in compositional features and detrital geochronology between the upper and lower members of both sections suggest a change in source areas, associated with the erosion and depletion of adjacent uplifts, and the increasing dominance of more distal eastern and western sources, which reflect the end of tectonic instability and the deepening of the basin.The presence of quartz, feldspar, and lithic rock fragments have a major impact on the porosity and permeability of Caballos Formation sandstones. Porosity values are lower in the lower member of the Caballos Formation where diagenesis has altered abundant feldspar and lithic rock fragments to authigenic porefilling clays. Higher porosity and permeability values found in the upper member of the Caballos correspond to a combination of higher quartz contents and the dissolution of meta-stable components during late diagenesis.

Provenance and diagenesis from two stratigraphic sections of the lower cretaceous Caballos formation in the upper Magdalena valley: Geological and reservoir quality implications

The Aptian-Albian Caballos Formation is a proven reservoir in the oil producing basins of the Upper Magdalena Valley and Putumayo (Colombia), characterized by wide variation in its petrophysical properties. Integrated provenance, diagenetic and basic petrophysical analyses are presented from two stratigraphic sections of the Caballos Formation in the Upper Magdalena Valley (Ocal and Cobre creeks) in order to test regional geological models, and to relate compositional and diagenetic factors with the reservoir quality.Sandstones from the Caballos Formation document a change from texturally immature- subarkoses, litharenites to quartz arenites. High quartz contents, the presence of feldspar, sedimentary, metamorphic and volcanic lithic suggest mixed provenance, with a major contribution from sedimentary sources. U-Pb dating of detrital zircons reveals age populations that include contributions from Precambrian, Permian, Triassic and Jurassic rocks. These data, together with the compositional trends, suggest that source areas likely include adjacent massifs from the eastern segment of the Upper Magdalena Valley with similar compositional andtemporal characteristics (Garzón and Macarena Massifs for the southeastern Ocal Section, and the Upper Magdalena Valley massifs and the eastern flank of the Central Cordillera; Ocal Section). The changes in compositional features and detrital geochronology between the upper and lower members of both sections suggest a change in source areas, associated with the erosion and depletion of adjacent uplifts, and the increasing dominance of more distal eastern and western sources, which reflect the end of tectonic instability and the deepening of the basin.The presence of quartz, feldspar, and lithic rock fragments have a major impact on the porosity and permeability of Caballos Formation sandstones. Porosity values are lower in the lower member of the Caballos Formation where diagenesis has altered abundant feldspar and lithic rock fragments to authigenic porefilling clays. Higher porosity and permeability values found in the upper member of the Caballos correspond to a combination of higher quartz contents and the dissolution of meta-stable components during late diagenesis.

Detrital apatite U-Pb and trace element analysis as a provenance tool: Insights from the Yenisey Ridge (Siberia)

The use of zircon U-Pb geochronology to study the provenance of sediment is well-established, yet there are fundamental biases that are hard to avoid. These biases are due, in part, to the limited range of magmatic compositions from which zircon will crystallise. This can manifest as the over/under representation of particular age populations (i.e. sediment sources) in the data. The analysis of apatite, a mineral found in a wide variety of igneous rocks, can help to address this bias in detrital geochronology. In this study, we combine geochemical and U-Pb LA-ICP-MS analysis of individual apatite grains to characterise the potential source rocks. This information is integrated with zircon U-Pb data from the same samples in order to demonstrate the complementary provenance information that can be derived from apatite and zircon archives. The analysis of detrital apatite from sedimentary rocks in the Yenisey Ridge (Siberia) found two main U-Pb age populations. An apatite U-Pb population at 880–720 Ma corresponds to Neoproterozoic magmatism in the Yenisey Ridge, and a second at ~1800 Ma to magmatism related to the assembly of the Siberian Craton. Abundant Neoproterozoic apatites, many of which have chemistries indicative of crystallising from a mafic magma, are considerably more common than the relatively rare zircons of the same age. The ability of apatite analysis to detect mafic magmatic sources is one of the strengths of this approach that makes it particularly useful when used in combination with zircon U-Pb geochronology. This study shows that multi-method analysis of detrital apatite has the potential to be an important tool in conjunction with detrital zircon analysis in future efforts to understand the provenance of sedimentary rocks.

An Integrated Apatite Geochronology and Geochemistry Tool for Sedimentary Provenance Analysis

AbstractSediment provenance studies utilizing detrital geochronology are often limited by source‐rock non‐uniqueness with respect to mineral age. Thus, the development of integrated techniques which permit identification of source rock age and lithology are highly desirable. In this case study from the southern Massif Central, France, we target modern‐river sediment from the river Tarn to assess the utility of combined U‐Pb and multiple trace‐element geochemical analysis of detrital apatite as a provenance tool. The study area was chosen because the sediment source areas chiefly comprise a relatively simple mix of medium‐ to low‐grade Variscan metasediments and late Variscan granitoids, which should yield detrital apatite readily distinguishable by age, trace‐element chemistry, or both. Based on comparison with previously published apatite trace‐element data from metasedimentary rocks and granitoids, pelitic apatite in the river Tarn detritus is primarily distinguished by high Sr/Mn, light rare‐earth element depletion (LREE) and low actinide contents, whereas granitic apatite is characterized by much lower Sr/Mn, and high LREE and actinide abundances. These source rock determinations are highly consistent with apatite trace‐element data from Tarn tributaries that drain either predominantly metapelitic or granitoid catchments. U‐Pb analysis of detrital rutile was also undertaken on those catchments for comparative purposes. As pelitic and granitic apatite can be readily distinguished, samples that have experienced downstream sediment mixing can then be comprehensively characterized. Using this method we identify a source lithology for nearly every analyzed apatite grain in the river sediment, even though 59% of the analyzed grains do not yield reliable U‐Pb ages.

Unmixing detrital geochronology age distributions

AbstractDespite recent advances in quantitative methods of detrital provenance analysis, there is currently no widely accepted method of unmixing detrital geochronology age distributions. We developed a model that determines mixing proportions for source samples through inverse Monte Carlo modeling, wherein mixed samples are compared to randomly generated combinations of source distributions, and a range of best mixing proportions are retained. Results may then be used to constrain a forward optimization routine to find a single best‐fit mixture. Quantitative comparison is based on the Kolmogorov‐Smirnov (KS) testDstatistic and Kuiper testVstatistic for cumulative distribution functions, and the Cross‐correlation coefficient for finite mixture distributions (probability density plots or kernel density estimates). We demonstrate the capacity of this model through a series of tests on synthetic data, and published empirical data from North America mixed in known proportions; this proof‐of‐concept testing shows the model is capable of accurately unmixing highly complex distributions. We apply the model to two published empirical data sets mixed in unknown proportions from Colombia and central China. Neither example yields perfect model fits, which provides a cautionary note of potentially inadequate characterization of source and/or mixed samples, and highlights the importance of such characterization for accurate interpretation of sediment provenance. Sample size appears to be a major control on mixture model results; small (n < 100) samples may lead to misinterpretation. The model is available as a MATLAB‐based stand‐alone executable (.exe file) graphical user interface.

Climatic and anthropogenic influences on sediment mixing in the Mississippi source-to-sink system using detrital zircons: Late Pleistocene to recent

U–Pb geochronology of detrital zircons (DZ) is a robust tool used to elucidate linkages between tectonics, climate, and drainage configurations. However, timescales of sedimentary system response to modulation of up-system boundary conditions are rarely investigated using detrital geochronology. Here we present results of mixture modeling using modern and Late Pleistocene DZ samples from each of the Mississippi system segments, and show that high-frequency changes in up-system boundary conditions—anthropogenic sediment impoundment and late Pleistocene ice sheet dynamics—have measurable effects on detrital compositions. Results of DZ mixing models show a high positive correlation to measured suspended sediment loads for each major tributary (ca. 1970s–2000s). Differences between model results and historical records are explained by recent anthropogenic sediment impoundment. Results of DZ mixing models using late Wisconsin deep-sea samples indicate major increases from the Missouri and Upper Mississippi rivers. Boundary conditions responsible for increased sediment loads from these catchments include ice stream activity, increased transport capacity during deglacial melt-water floods, and an increased gradient of a glacial lower Mississippi Valley. These results suggest sediment mixtures in large rivers respond to icehouse climate change at timescales of 103–4 yrs, in contrast to calculated equilibrium response times of ca. 250–25 ka for the Mississippi system, and indications that anthropogenic river modifications alter relative sediment loads instantaneously. Adjustments in detrital mixtures occur at timescales an order-of-magnitude less than Milankovitch-timescale climate change, indicating rapid environmental signal propagation and preservation within transcontinental source-to-sink systems influenced by continental ice sheets.

Detrital geochronology of pre-Mississippian strata in the northeastern Brooks Range, Alaska: Insights into the tectonic evolution of northern Laurentia

The Arctic Alaska terrane of northern Alaska and Yukon is one of several exotic terranes in the North American Cordillera with putative early Paleozoic connections to the northern Caledonian-Appalachian orogen. The U-Pb and 40 Ar/ 39 Ar isotopic data from detrital minerals in pre-Mississippian sedimentary units of the northeastern Brooks Range are presented here to investigate the consequences of Caledonian orogenesis on sediment dispersal trends and the paleogeography of northern Laurentia. Neoproterozoic–Cambrian siliciclastic rocks of the informal Firth River group and the Neruokpuk Formation were most likely deposited along a passive margin that sourced Archean and Paleoproterozoic basement rocks of the Canadian shield and reworked Mesoproterozoic and younger sedimentary units. These strata are overlain by a Lower Ordovician–Lower Devonian succession of fine-grained siliciclastic turbidites, herein referred to as the Clarence River group, which records a prominent shift in provenance most likely associated with the onset of the Caledonian-Appalachian orogeny in northeast Laurentia. U-Pb detrital zircon age populations of ca. 470–420 and 990–820 Ma, along with 40 Ar/ 39 Ar detrital muscovite ages of ca. 470–430 Ma, support provenance connections with the East Greenland Caledonides, Pearya, and Svalbard. Partially reset 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages in these sedimentary successions are linked to low-grade metamorphism associated with the Early–Middle Devonian Romanzof orogeny, a poorly understood tectonic event in the Brooks Range that is possibly associated with the emplacement of an allochthonous oceanic assemblage, herein named the Whale Mountain allochthon.

Applications of detrital geochronology and thermochronology from glacial deposits to the Paleozoic and Mesozoic thermal history of the Ross Embayment, Antarctica

AbstractTill from moraines at the heads of six major outlet glaciers in the Transantarctic Mountains (TAM) and from till beneath three West Antarctic ice streams have a ubiquitous zircon U‐Pb age population spanning the time of the Ross/Pan‐African Orogenies (610–475 Ma). Geochronology and thermochronology of detrital minerals in these Antarctic glacial tills reveal two different thermal histories for the central and southern TAM. Double‐dating of the zircons reveals a geographically widespread (U‐Th)/He (ZHe) population of 180–130 Ma in most of the till samples. Sandstone outcrops at Shackleton Glacier, and three Beacon Supergroup sandstone clasts from three moraines, have ZHe ages that fall entirely within this range. The similar population and proximity of many of the till samples to Beacon outcrops lead us to suggest that this extensive ZHe population in the tills is derived from Beacon Supergroup rocks and reflects the thermal response of the Beacon Basin to the breakup of Gondwana. A second population of older (>200 Ma) ZHe ages in tills at the head of Byrd, Nimrod, and Reedy Glaciers. For the tills at the head of the Nimrod and Byrd Glaciers, integrating the double‐dated zircon results with 40Ar/39Ar of hornblende, muscovite and biotite, and U‐Pb and (U‐Th‐Sm)/He double‐dates on apatite yields a typical pattern of early rapid orogenic cooling (∼4–10°C/Myr) 590–475 Ma after the emplacement of the Granite Harbour Intrusives. Low temperature thermochronometers at these sites yield variable but quite old ages (ZHe 480–70 Ma and AHe 200–70 Ma) that require a long history at low temperature.

Elucidating tectonic events and processes from variably tectonized conglomerate clast detrital geochronology: Examples from the Permian Hongliuhe Formation in the southern Central Asian orogenic Belt, NW China

AbstractThis article expands upon detrital zircon geochronology with a sampling and analysis strategy dating variably tectonized granitoid conglomerate clasts. Its purpose is to elucidate details of the provenance's tectonomagmatic history from deformation‐relative age distributions. The method involves bulk samples of clasts, sorted based on the degree of internal ductile deformation. Isolating granitoid clasts, we divide them into three subsets: undeformed, slightly deformed, and deformed. Laser ablation, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry U‐Pb geochronology is performed on zircon separates of each subset. Our case study, involving the Permian Hongliuhe Formation in the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt, analyzes each of the three clast subsets, as well as sandstone detrital samples, at three stratigraphic levels and yields a profile of the unroofed provenance. Clast age distributions exhibit different, wider‐age spectra than sandstone samples, an effect of proximity to the respective provenance. They indicate a minimal lag time, implying rapid exhumation rates, whereas sandstone data alone would indicate a 90 Myr lag time. Early Paleozoic arc‐building episodes appear as Ordovician peaks in sandstone data and Silurian‐Devonian peaks in clast data, indicating a younging of magmatism toward proximal provenance. A magmatic hiatus starts in the Devonian, correlating with the latest age of deformed clasts, interpreted as timing of collisional tectonics. The detailed age spectra provide regional tectonic context and interpretation of processes, as well as more robust provenance interpretation than could be determined from sandstone samples alone. The variably tectonized clast detrital geochronology method removes human sampling bias and the practical limits of studying regional granitoid distributions.