2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting (28–31 October 2007)
Paper No. 101-4
Presentation Time: 2:15 PM-2:30 PM

TIMING OF EXHUMATION, DEFORMATION AND FLUID-FLOW PRESERVED IN MICROTEXTURALLY COMPLEX K-FELDSPAR, SANGRE DE CRISTO RANGE, NEW MEXICO

SANDERS, Robert E.1, HEIZLER, Matthew T.1, PARSONS, Ian2, and CHAMBERLAIN, K.3, (1) Department of Earth and Environmental Sci, NM Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801, sanders@nmt.edu, (2) grant Institute of Earth Sci, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JW, United Kingdom, (3) Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, 1100 University Ave, Laramie, WY 82071

40Ar/39Ar K-feldspar thermal histories and U-Pb dates of hydrothermal epidote veins from Proterozoic basement rocks in the southern Sangre de Cristo Range, New Mexico, indicate Grenville-age exhumation and related brittle deformation and fluid flow, and a Neoproterozoic (ca. 800 Ma) metasomatic event. Delineation of the timing of these processes has important implications for the evolution of the Western USA lithosphere.   40Ar/39Ar step heating analyses of K-feldspar yield maximum apparent ages of ~1050 Ma interpreted as the onset of regional cooling through 300°C.  Cooling, interpreted as exhumation at this time, is supported by U-Pb epidote analyses that date fracturing and fluid flow at 1123±140 Ma. SEM, BSE, and SEM-CL imaging of pegmatitic K-feldspar megacrysts reveals that portions of these grains have experienced an aqueous dissolution-reprecipitation reaction resulting in discrete areas of original clear film perthite and secondary pink patch perthite. Single subgrains of film perthite from two pegmatites yield total gas ages of 956±4 and 969±4 Ma, and 1065±4 and 1036±4 Ma, respectively.  Coexisting patch perthite yield significantly younger ages of 761±3 and 804±3 Ma, and 835±3 Ma, respectively.  While film perthite age spectra and total gas ages are similar to numerous other K-feldspars from the region, the ca. 800 Ma ages for patch perthite subgrains are restricted to the Pecos Valley.  These young total gas ages are interpreted as new K-feldspar growth ages resulting from Neoproterozoic alkali metasomatism likely related to deep circulating crustal fluids during Rodinia rifting. The chemical dissolution of film perthite and reprecipitation of patch perthite occurred at a temperature that did not cause significant thermally induced 40Ar* loss from the film perthite, thereby preserving two distinct age regimes within a single megacryst.  These observations reveal the power and requirement of linking detailed petrology and microsampling for argon analyses when dealing with these complex basement rocks. Also, the preservation of the discrete age domains related to two discrete geological processes exemplifies the utility of K-feldspar as a geo and thermochronometer for these complex ancient rocks.   

2007 GSA Denver Annual Meeting (28–31 October 2007)
General Information for this Meeting
Session No. 101
The Structure, Composition and Evolution of the Lithosphere of Western North America II
Colorado Convention Center: 703
1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Monday, 29 October 2007

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 39, No. 6, p. 278

© Copyright 2007 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.