Abstract
Initial 143Nd/144Nd determined for major rock types of the basement underlying the Rocky Mountains in Colorado indicate that this segment of continental crust was formed from a homogeneous and previously depleted source material in the upper mantle 1,800 Myr ago and contains no identifiable component of older crust. Subsequent magmatic events at 1,670, 1,400 and 1,000 Myr represent mainly intracrustal differentiation with small or no further additions to the crust from the mantle. These results imply that a major increase in the mass of the North American continent occurred over a narrow time interval 1,800 Myr ago. From the isotopic data an empirical model is constructed that may provide accurate crust-formation ages f or rocks of all ages. Preliminary results suggest that existing estimates of crustal age distributions may require substantial revision.
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DePaolo, D. Neodymium isotopes in the Colorado Front Range and crust–mantle evolution in the Proterozoic. Nature 291, 193–196 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/291193a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/291193a0
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