Geochronology and Tectonics of the North American Cordillera
Summary
The North American Cordillera represents a complex assemblage of magmatic arcs, accreted terranes and metamorphic belts extending from Alaska to Mexico. Over the past fifty million years, subduction of the Farallon plate and subsequent slab interaction have driven pulses of arc magmatism, crustal thickening during Sevier and Laramide orogenesis, and later transition to extensional regimes forming metamorphic core complexes in the Basin and Range province. Geochronological methods—most notably U-Pb zircon dating, (U–Th)/He thermochronology and 40Ar/39Ar analysis—have illuminated the timing of pluton emplacement, cooling histories and deformation events. Integrating structural mapping with geochemical and isotopic proxies has refined reconstructions of terrane accretion, crustal growth and lithospheric architecture. These insights bear on resource exploration for minerals and hydrocarbons, as well as seismic hazard assessment in active mountain belts.
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Geochronology and Tectonics of the North American Cordillera publication trend
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Technical terms
U-Pb zircon dating: Radiometric technique using uranium–lead decay in zircon crystals to determine crystallisation ages.
(U–Th)/He thermochronology: Low-temperature dating method measuring helium produced by uranium and thorium decay to constrain cooling histories.
Terrane accretion: Process by which discrete crustal blocks are sutured to a continental margin during plate convergence.
Magmatic arc: Curvilinear belt of igneous activity above a subducting plate, characterised by volcanoes and intrusive bodies.
Subduction zone: Convergent plate boundary where one lithospheric plate descends beneath another into the mantle.
References
- Tracking 40 Million Years of Migrating Magmatism across the Idaho Batholith Using Zircon U-Pb Ages and Hf Isotopes from Cretaceous Bentonites. Minerals (2021).
- Internal fabrics of the Idaho batholith, USA. Lithosphere (2016).
- U-Pb LA-ICP-MS Zircon Dating of Crustal Xenoliths: Evidence of the Archean Lithosphere Beneath the Snake River Plain. Minerals (2024).
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