Pressure-temperature-time paths, prograde garnet growth, and protolith of tectonites from a polydeformational, polymetamorphic terrane: Salmon River Suture Zone, West-Central Idaho

dc.contributorRobinson, D. M.
dc.contributorSchwartz, Joshua
dc.contributorJohnson, Kenneth
dc.contributor.advisorStowell, Harold Hilton
dc.contributor.authorMcKay, Matthew P.
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-01T14:43:38Z
dc.date.available2017-03-01T14:43:38Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractThe metamorphic rocks of the Salmon River suture zone (SRSZ) in west-central Idaho provide a unique glimpse into mid-lower crustal processes during continental growth by island arc accretion. The SRSZ, which separates island arc terranes of the Blue Mountains Province (BMP) from the Mesozoic margin of North America, contains medium to high grade tectonites that record multiple metamorphic and deformation events. The SRSZ is divided by the Pollock Mountain thrust fault (PMtf) into two structural blocks: the higher-grade Pollock Mountain plate (PMp), and the lower-grade, underlying Rapid River plate (RRp). Previous studies interpreted pre-144 Ma metamorphism within the SRSZ related to assembly of the BMP. Counter-clockwise P-T paths for metamorphism within the RRp [peak=8-9 kbar ~600°C, retrograde=5-7 kbar, 450- 525°C] were inferred to include prograde garnet growth during pre-144 Ma loading followed by garnet growth during rapid cooling due to lithospheric delamination. The PMp was interpreted to have subsequently been buried to increasing depth and metamorphosed again at 128 Ma as a result of the BMP docking with North America. New P-T-t paths for the RRp and PMp constructed from geochronology, geothermobarometry, pseudosections, and petrography suggest that after loading, slow cooling rates caused diffusion in garnet rims, which produced counter-clockwise P-T paths. Garnet Sm-Nd ages of 112.5±1.5 Ma from the RRp, and 141-124 Ma from the PMp suggest that metamorphism within the SRSZ is diachronous and that crustal thickening was protracted occurring between 141-112 Ma. P-T-t paths between both plates indicate that the PMp reached peak metamorphism prior to peak metamorphism of the RRp. This suggests that the PMp was buried prior to the development of the PMtf. The RRp was subsequently buried along the PMtf, which was followed by development of the Rapid River thrust fault, which juxtaposed RRp schists onto the Wallowa terrane of the BMP. This model suggests that metamorphism in the SRSZ was controlled by individual thrust faults instead of recording collisions between terranes and is consistent with a prolonged burial of rocks in the SRSZ followed by slow cooling that does not require lithospheric delamination to account for retrograde P-T estimates.en_US
dc.format.extent135 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0000650
dc.identifier.otherMcKay_alatus_0004M_10737
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/1155
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.haspartIncludes appendices for lab techniques and sample data.
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectGeology
dc.subjectGeochemistry
dc.titlePressure-temperature-time paths, prograde garnet growth, and protolith of tectonites from a polydeformational, polymetamorphic terrane: Salmon River Suture Zone, West-Central Idahoen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Geological Sciences
etdms.degree.disciplineGeology
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.levelmaster's
etdms.degree.nameM.S.

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