Deciphering the Tectonic History of Slowly Cooled Precambrian Polymetamorphic Terranes in the American Southwest

University Of Texas At El Paso, El Paso TX

Investigators

Abstract

The Proterozoic tectonic history of the American southwest is the subject of considerable controversy. Controversy revolves around the nature of ~1.4 Ga plutonism and tectonism and its relationship to Paleoproterozoic (1.8-1.6 Ga) crustal accretion. To help resolve this question The P.I. will investigate the Cimarron Mountains of northern New Mexico and the Needle Mountains of southwestern Colorado. These two regions preserve deformation and plutonic histories that record both Paleoproterozoic accretion and subsequent Mesoproterozoic reactivation. 1.4 Ga metamorphism has erased the Paleoproterozoic thermal signature in most of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Therefore, these two proposed study areas may provide the only opportunity to decipher the Paleoproterozoic metamorphic and cooling history in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. The Cimarron Mountains contain an upper amphibolite grade block and a greenschist grade block separated by the Fowler Pass Shear Zone (FPSZ). Metamorphic mineral assemblages across the shear zone suggest up to 10 km of vertical separation. Cooling ages from the high-grade block suggest high-grade metamorphism occurred at ~1.4 Ga. In contrast, rocks in the low-grade block record a 1678 Ar 40 /Ar 39 cooling age: this is the oldest cooling age reported in northern New Mexico. Detailed structural analysis of the two blocks and the F.P.S.Z. will be undertaken to clarify the deformation history and tectonic significance of this structure and its relationship to the metamorphic evolution of the region. The Needle Mountains record a much different history. Paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks in this region are divided into two packages. The Uncompahgre Formation, consisting of quartzites and schists, is regionally metamorphosed to the greenschist facies. These rocks rest on a sheared unconformity above the second package, which is composed of amphibolite facies gneiss, migmatite, and schist. The 1.46 Ga Eolus granite intrudes both packages and has a well-developed contact aureole with peak metamorphic assemblages including sillimanite and K-feldspar. However, many of the rocks far from the granite have assemblages that appear to be unaffected by 1.4 Ga metamorphism. This situation may provide the opportunity to determine the thermal structure of the crust during Paleoproterozic orogenesis as well as during the 1.4 Ga overprint. In order to better understand the role of 1.4 Ga tectonics in the evolution of southwest North America, the P.I. will undertake a structural, metamorphic, and geochronologic study of the two ranges. Both of these areas are similar in having 1.4 Ga metamorphic features and Paleoproterozoic thermal and metamorphic signatures. These regions are therefore well suited to determine which deformational and metamorphic features belong to each of the two events. The preservation of Paleoproterozic metamorphic features makes these areas ideal for testing of models for slow cooling and long-term residence in the middle crust in newly formed lithosphere.