Late Cretaceous-Paleocene Extensional Collapse and Disaggregation of the Southernmost Sierra Nevada Batholith

Geobarometric studies have documented that most of the metasedimentary wall rocks and plutons presently exposed in the southernmost Sierra Nevada batholith south of the Lake Isabella area were metamorphosed and emplaced at crustal levels significantly deeper (～15 to 30 km) than the batholithic rocks exposed to the north (depths of ～3 to 15 km). Field and geophysical studies have suggested that much of the southernmost part of the batholith is underlain along low-angle faults by the Rand Schist. The schist is composed mostly of metagraywacke that has been metamorphosed at relatively high pressures and moderate temperatures. NNW-trending compositional, age, and isotopic boundaries in the plutonic rocks of the central Sierra Nevada appear to be deflected westward in the southernmost part of the batholith. Based on these observations, in conjunction with the implicit assumption that the Sierra Nevada batholith formerly continued unbroken south of the Garlock fault, previous studies have inferred that the batholith was tectonically disrupted following its emplacement during the Cretaceous. Hypotheses to account for this disruption include intraplate oroctinal bending, W-vergent overthrusting, and gravitational collapse of overthickened crust. In this paper, new geologic data from the eastern Tehachapi Mountains, located adjacent to and north of the Garlock fault in the southernmost Sierra Nevada, are integrated with data from previous geologic studies in the region into a new view of the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene tectonic evolution of the region. The thesis of this paper is that part of the southernmost Sierra Nevada batholith was unroofed by extensional faulting in Late Cretaceous-Paleocene time. Unroofing occurred along a regional system of low-angle detachment faults. Remnants of the upper-plate rocks today are scattered across the southern Sierra Nevada region, from the Rand Mountains west to the San Emigdio Mountains, and across the San Andreas fault to the northern Salinian block.

Batholithic rocks in the upper plates of the Blackburn Canyon fault of the eastern Tehachapi Mountains, low-angle faults in the Rand Mountains and southeastern Sierra Nevada, and the Pastoria fault of the western Tehachapi Mountains are inferred to have been removed from a position structurally above rocks exposed in the southeastern Sierra Nevada and transported to their present locations along low-angle detachment faults. Some of the granitic and metamorphic rocks in the northern part of the Salinian block are suggested to have originated from a position structurally above deep-level rocks of the southwestern Sierra Nevada. The Paleocene-lower Eocene Goler Formation of the El Paso Mountains and the post-Late Cretaceous to pre-lower Miocene Witnet Formation in the southernmost Sierra Nevada are hypothesized to have been deposited in supradetachment basins that formed adjacent to some of the detachment faults.

Regional age constraints for this inferred tectonic unroofing and disaggregation of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith suggest that it occurred between ～90 to 85 Ma and ～55 to 50 Ma. Upper-plate rocks of the detachment system appear to have been rotated clockwise by as much as 90° based on differences in the orientation of foliation and contacts between inferred correlative hanging-wall and footwall rocks. Transport of the upper-plate rocks is proposed to have occurred in two stages. First, the upper crust in the southern Sierra Nevada extended in a south to southeast direction, and second, the allochthonous rocks were carried westward at the latitude of the Mojave Desert by a mechanism that may include W-vergent faulting and/or oroclinal bending. The Late Cretaceous NNW extension of the upper crust in the southernmost Sierra Nevada postulated in this study is similar to Late Cretaceous, generally NW-directed, crustal extension that has been recognized to the northeast in the Funeral, Panamint, and Inyo mountains by others. Extensional collapse of the upper crust in the southern Sierra Nevada batholith may be closely linked to the emplacement of Rand Schist beneath the batholith during Late Cretaceous time, as has been suggested in previous studies.     

大型花岗岩基形成和演化的深部动力学过程：滴水构造、钾质火山作用与地表地质过程

以美国内华达山脉复合岩基为例,系统评述了与大型花岗岩基的形成、演化相关的深部地球动力学过程及构造地貌学响应.在大陆岛弧环境下,基性岩浆的底侵作用促使下地壳发生角闪岩脱水部分熔融,在岩基根部形成高密度的石榴辉石岩,岩基根部最终发生重力失稳,形成滴水构造;在地貌上反映为滴水构造对应区域的沉降和相应的张性构造,在岩浆作用上则表现为软流圈地幔上涌和残余富集岩石圈地幔的低程度部分熔融,形成钾质火山岩.这种高度动态的深部动力学过程是维持大型花岗岩基地区较高高程或促使这些区域高程骤然增加的重要因素.     

Coexisting cummingtonite and aluminous hornblende from garnet amphibolite,Boehls Butte area,Idaho, USA

Electron microprobe analyses of green hornblende and coexisting cummingtonite from garnet amphibolite show identical Fe/Mg ratios ( = 0.9). Cummingtonite is iron-magnesium silicate with very little calcium and aluminum and practically no alkalies. In contrast, the hornblende has 1.5 tetrahedral Al, 0.9 octahedral Al and a considerable amount of Ca and alkalies. Comparison with the hornblendes from the Sierra Nevada shows a higher relative amount of tschemakite molecule in the hornblendes from Idaho where pressures during the recrystallization were higher.     

The age and origin of a thick mafic–ultramafic keel from beneath the Sierra Nevada batholith

We present evidence for a thick (∼100 km) sequence of cogenetic rocks which make up the root of the Sierra Nevada batholith of California. The Sierran magmatism produced tonalitic and granodioritic magmas which reside in the Sierra Nevada upper- to mid-crust, as well as deep eclogite facies crust/upper mantle mafic–ultramafic cumulates. Samples of the mafic–ultramafic sequence are preserved as xenoliths in Miocene volcanic rocks which erupted through the central part of the batholith. We have performed Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd mineral geochronologic analyses on seven fresh, cumulate textured, olivine-free mafic–ultramafic xenoliths with large grainsize, one garnet peridotite, and one high pressure metasedimentary rock. The garnet peridotite, which equilibrated at ∼130 km beneath the batholith, yields a Miocene (10 Ma) Nd age, indicating that in this sample, the Nd isotopes were maintained in equilibrium up to the time of entrainment. All other samples equilibrated between ∼35 and 100 km beneath the batholith and yield Sm-Nd mineral ages between 80 and 120 Ma, broadly coincident with the previously established period of most voluminous batholithic magmatism in the Sierra Nevada. The Rb-Sr ages are generally consistent with the Sm-Nd ages, but are more scattered. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd intercepts of the igneous-textured xenoliths are similar to the ratios published for rocks outcroping in the central Sierra Nevada. We interpret the mafic/ultramafic xenoliths to be magmatically related to the upper- and mid-crustal granitoids as cumulates and/or restites. This more complete view of the vertical dimension in a batholith indicates that there is a large mass of mafic–ultramafic rocks at depth which complement the granitic batholiths, as predicted by mass balance calculations and experimental studies. The Sierran magmatism was a large scale process responsible for segregating a column of ∼30 km thick granitoids from at least ∼70 km of mainly olivine free mafic–ultramafic residues/cumulates. These rocks have resided under the batholith as granulite and eclogite facies rocks for at least 70 million years. The presence of this thick mafic–ultramafic keel also calls into question the existence of a “flat” (i.e., shallowly subducted) slab at Central California latitudes during Late Cretaceous–Early Cenozoic, in contrast to the southernmost Sierra Nevada and Mojave regions. Received: 27 December 1997 / Accepted: 11 June 1998     

The Sierra Crest Magmatic Event: Rapid Formation of Juvenile Crust during the Late Cretaceous in California

The Late Cretaceous was a period of extremely voluminous magmatism and rapid crustal growth in the western United States. From approximately 98 to 86 Ma, greater than 4000 km² of exposed granodioritic to granitic crust, including the largest composite intrusive suites in the Sierra Nevada batholith, were emplaced in eastern California. Plutons intruded during this period include the highest peaks in the Sierra; we informally refer to this as the Sierra Crest magmatic event. Field, petrologic, geochemical, and geochronologic data indicate that, although they comprise an insignificant volume of exposed rocks (less than 100 km²), mafic magmas were intruded contemporaneously with each episode of intermediate and high-silica magmatism in the event. This observation attests to the fundamental importance of high-alumina basaltic magmas during crustal-growth episodes in continental arcs. Geochemical data for suites of coeval plutonic rocks of the Sierra Crest magmatic event, ranging in composition from basalt to high-silica rhyolite, demonstrate that recycling of pre-existing crust locally played a minor role in the growth of new crust. Thus, major chemical and isotopic characteristics of Sierra Crest plutons, such as variable isotopic compositions, were inherited from the mantle source of the high-alumina basalts and are not necessarily the result of interaction with the overlying crust. Consequently, we interpret isotopic boundaries in the western United States, such as the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.706 isopleth, to be largely features of the continental lithospheric mantle. Furthermore, isotopic data demonstrate that enrichment of the lithospheric mantle in the western United States probably occurred in the Precambrian during assembly of the North American craton. Geophysical and xenolith investigations by other workers support the hypothesis presented here that Cretaceous magmatism in the Sierra Nevada may have locally restructured most, if not all, of the crustal column. The timing of Sierra Crest magmatism correlates with voluminous magmatism elsewhere in the Cordilleran arc. We speculate that this intense episode of magmatism may have played a role in the global marine geochemical excursions and extinctions at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary.     

Nd,Sr, and Pb isotopic characteristics of Cretaceous intrusive rocks from deep levels of the Sierra Nevada batholith,Tehachapi Mountains,California

The Cretaceous gabbroic to granitic intrusive rocks of the Tehachapi Mountains were emplaced at depths of 25–30 km and thus afford a view of deep processes in the Sierra Nevada batholith. They consist of the 115 Ma Tehachapi suite and the 100 Ma Bear Valley suite; new zircon U-Pb age data reveal the presence of the latter as far west as Grapevine Canyon. The Nd, Sr, Pb, and O isotopic whole-rock data and zircon Pb inheritance patterns for the bulk of the suites suggest an origin by mixing between depleted mantlederived magmas and metasedimentary material with a substantial component of old continental material. However, this mixing is not evident in variations between isotopic ratios and chemical and lithologic parameters. This implies that isotopic hybridization of magmas took place deeper than 30 km, and that fractionation processes are likely responsible for the bulk of the chemical variation in this part of the Sierra Nevada batholith. Consideration of the isotopic data in the context of the Sierra Nevada batholith as a whole suggests that the well-known east-to-west isotopic gradients in the batholith may reflect a change in the average isotopic character of the preintrusive frame-work rather than a change in amount of crustal component. On the other hand, the lack of areal gradients in Sr and Nd isotopic ratios in the main study area may indicate a lack of pronounced gradation at deep levels, at least within the western batholith.     

Distribution of elements in biotite-hornblende pairs and in an orthopyroxene-clinopyroxene pair from zoned plutons,northern Sierra Nevada,California

Distribution of major and minor elements has been determined for five hornblende-biotite pairs from hornblende-biotite quartz diorite and monzotonalite and for a clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene pair from pyroxene diorite collected from the border zones and centers of zoned plutons in the northern Sierra Nevada, California. The distribution coefficients K _d [Mg/Fe] for biotite/hornblende are of the same magnitude (0.61–0.67) for both the mafic border zone and the silicic center.For comparison, K _D [Mg/Fe] values for biotite/hornblende from plutonic rocks of the central Sierra Nevada and the southern California batholith were calculated from data published by others. Rocks of the oldest age group (ca. 150 m.y.) in the central Sierra Nevada have an average distribution coefficient, K _D , of 0.64, close to the average K _D in the study area, where K-Ar dates are 143 to 129 m.y. The intermediate age group has an average K _D =0.81, and the youngest group has K _D =0.77. K _D [Mg/Fe] for biotite/hornblende from the southern California batholith is 0.83, close to the average of the intermediate age group in the central Sierra Nevada. The calculated difference in pressure of crystallization between rocks of the Feather River area and the southern California batholith is 1 kb; the rocks of the Feather River area being crystallized at a higher pressure. This is in good agreement with the low-pressure contact metamorphism in the south (pyroxene hornfels facies), as compared with a medium-pressure metamorphism around the northern plutons, where andalusitesillimanite-cordierite and andalusite-staurolite subfacies of the amphibolite facies indicate pressures of about 4 kb.Trace elements Cr, V, Ni, Co, Ga are distributed equally between biotite and hornblende, whereas Ba and possibly Cu are concentrated in biotite and Sr and Sc and possibly Zr in hornblende.Publication authorized by the Director, U.S. Geological Survey.     

Experimental and geochemical evidence for derivation of the El Capitan Granite,California, by partial melting of hydrous gabbroic lower crust

Partial melting of mafic intrusions recently emplaced into the lower crust can produce voluminous silicic magmas with isotopic ratios similar to their mafic sources. Low-temperature (825 and 850°C) partial melts synthesized at 700 MPa in biotite-hornblende gabbros from the central Sierra Nevada batholith (Sisson et al. in Contrib Mineral Petrol 148:635–661, 2005) have major-element and modeled trace-element (REE, Rb, Ba, Sr, Th, U) compositions matching those of the Cretaceous El Capitan Granite, a prominent granite and silicic granodiorite pluton in the central part of the Sierra Nevada batholith (Yosemite, CA, USA) locally mingled with coeval, isotopically similar quartz diorite through gabbro intrusions (Ratajeski et al. in Geol Soc Am Bull 113:1486–1502, 2001). These results are evidence that the El Capitan Granite, and perhaps similar intrusions in the Sierra Nevada batholith with lithospheric-mantle-like isotopic values, were extracted from LILE-enriched, hydrous (hornblende-bearing) gabbroic rocks in the Sierran lower crust. Granitic partial melts derived by this process may also be silicic end members for mixing events leading to large-volume intermediate composition Sierran plutons such as the Cretaceous Lamarck Granodiorite. Voluminous gabbroic residues of partial melting may be lost to the mantle by their conversion to garnet-pyroxene assemblages during batholithic magmatic crustal thickening.     

东昆仑东段哈拉尕吐花岗岩基岩浆混合作用:来自岩石学和矿物学约束

哈拉尕吐花岗岩基位于东昆仑东段,其中花岗闪长岩岩浆混合作用明显,是研究岩浆混合作用的良好对象.从岩石学、岩相学和矿物化学等方面对哈拉尕吐花岗岩基进行了详细研究.电子探针结果显示:寄主岩斜长石的An值同相对应包体中斜长石捕掳晶近似;包体中基质斜长石大部分具核边结构,核部和边部An值存在间断;部分包体中浅色基质斜长石的An值与具核边结构斜长石的边部近似;辉长闪长岩中斜长石具较高的An值.寄主岩角闪石同相对应包体中角闪石捕掳晶的结晶温度、压力和氧逸度较为接近;包体中基质角闪石的结晶温度和压力低于寄主岩角闪石,氧逸度稍高于寄主岩角闪石;辉长闪长岩角闪石具有最高的结晶温度和压力及最低的氧逸度.哈图沟剖面和德福胜剖面寄主岩中的斜长石和角闪石的成分具有一定差别.岩浆不同期次侵入结晶和岩浆自身演化,使不同地点斜长石和角闪石的成分和物理化学特征具有一定变化.镁铁质岩浆位于地壳深部,氧逸度较低,使结晶的角闪石具有较高的形成压力和较低的氧逸度,斜长石具较高An值;随着镁铁质岩浆注入寄主岩,由于环境突变,使斜长石受到熔蚀;由于岩浆上侵以及两种岩浆物理化学性质差别较大,导致温度、压力和水饱和度降低,氧逸度升高,使包体中残留岩浆快速结晶,形成具核边结构、浅色均一的斜长石,以及结晶程度较差、较高氧逸度的角闪石.      

Origin of Sierra Nevadan granite: evidence from small scale composite dikes

Composite dikes at Hell Hole Meadow, in the central Sierra Nevada, contain hybrids created by small scale mixing of andesitic and rhyolitic magmas. Early rhyolitic injections had partially solidified when subsequent andesitic magmas arrived and mixed with small increments of remnant rhyolitic magma. In major element chemistry, the hybrid rocks define linear MgO-variation diagrams that closely resemble those for the Half Dome, Mt. Givens, and Eagle Peak granodiorites. The patterns suggest that mixing of mafic and felsic magmas has been important in the evolution of these plutons.Hornblendes in three Hell Hole Meadow hybrid rocks ranging from dacite to andesite display indistinguishable crystal-chemical variation patterns. The crystals apparently developed as phenocrysts of endmember andesitic magma prior to the mixing event and retained their compositional character in the hybridization event. Plutonic hornblendes (Dodge et al. 1968; Noyes et al. 1983) display crystal-chemical patterns nearly identical to those in the dike cores making it unlikely that the plutonic hornblendes represent restite of a complex lower crust.Hornblende chemical data from a suite of rocks collected across the width of the compositionally zoned Half Dome granodiorite (Yosemite National Park) define clusters, like their Hell Hole Meadow counterparts, that are very similar to one another despite the large range in host rock bulk composition. Sr isotopic data (Kistler et al. 1986) and linear MgO-variation patterns for the major elements (Reid et al. 1983) suggest that the Half Dome is a mixture of high-alumina basalt and rhyolitic magmas. We propose that while the bulk chemistry of hybrid granodiorites is determined by the proportions of the constituent mafic and felsic magmas, the hornblendes in the mixed rocks largely retain compositions created in the mafic component prior to mixing. Mixing may occur either by incremental addition of felsic magma into a relatively large volume of mafic magma (as at Hell Hole Meadow), or by the chilling and subsequent disaggregation of mafic pillows in a largely felsic host.     

Zircon U–Pb geochronology of granitic rocks of the Cordón de Lila and Sierra de Almeida ranges,northern Chile: 30 m.y. of Ordovician plutonism on the western border of Gondwana

In this paper we determined the chronology of Lower Paleozoic arc-related granitic rocks in the Cordón de Lila and Sierra de Almeida ranges, northern Chile, based on new U–Pb ages obtained by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on single zircons. Plutonism lasted ∼30 m.y., spanning from 490 to 460 Ma (Lower to Mid Ordovician). The obtained ages correspond to the plutonic units' crystallization ages and fit well with the observed contact relationships with their country rocks and mutual intrusion relationships, and also with biostratigraphical data from the sedimentary country rocks. Our geochronological results on the granitic rocks of Cordón de Lila and Sierra de Almeida ranges broadly agree with the known ages of the plutonic rocks in the Argentinian Puna, strengthening the idea that they formed part of the same magmatic arc in the western border of west Gondwana during the Early to Middle Ordovician.     

Petrology and petrogenesis of the Mount Stuart batholith — Plutonic equivalent of the high-alumina basalt association?

The Mount Stuart batholith is a Late Cretaceous calc-alkaline pluton composed of rocks ranging in composition from two-pyroxene gabbro to granite. Quartz diorite is most abundant. This batholith may represent the plutonic counterpart of the high-alumina basalt association. A petrogenetic model is developed in which this intrusive series evolved from one batch of magnesian high-alumina basalt, represented by the oldest intrusive phase, by successive crystal fractionation of ascending residual magma. However, the possibility that this intrusive suite originated from an andésite (quartz diorite) parent by fractionation cannot be excluded.Computer modeling of this intrusive sequence provides a quantitative evaluation of the sequential change of magma composition. These calculations clearly indicate that the igneous suite is consanguineous, and that subtraction of early-formed crystals from the oldest rock is capable of reproducing the entire magma series with a remainder of 2–3% granitic liquid. This model requires that large amounts of gabbroic cumulate remain hidden at depth- an amount equal to approximately 8–10X the volume of the exposed batholith. Mass balances between the amounts of cumulate and residual liquid calculated compare favorably with the observed amounts of intermediate rocks exposed in the batholith, but not with the mafic rocks.Mafic magmas probably fractionated at depth by crystal settling, whereas younger quartz diorite and more granitic magmas underwent inward crystallization producing gradationally zoned plutons exposed at present erosional levels.     

An analysis of the gravity field over north Singhbhum, Bihar, India

About seven hundred gravity stations were established 2–3 miles apart over the Precambrian terrain of Singhbhum that lies between latitude 22° 15′ to 23°°15′N and longitude 85° to 87°E. Bouguer anomalies ranging from +4 to −62 mGal are found in the area. The observed Bouguer anomaly map was analyzed into regional and residual components. The residual anomaly map shows an excellent correlation with geology. The Singhbhum granite batholith is associated with several gravity lows. The residual anomaly map outlines nine plutonic granitic masses within the Singhbhum batholith. Negative residuals are also observed over some intrusive granites outside the batholith. Residual gravity highs are noted over the Dalma hill as well as over the Dhanjori lava complex on the eastern part of the Singhbhum batholith.Two-dimensional models suggestive of subsurface configuration of several major geologic units in the area are presented. These indicate that some of the plutonic granites within the Singhbhum batholith are of relatively large dimensions. The basin containing the Iron Ore Group of rocks to the west of the batholith, as well as the basin containing Singhbhum Group of rocks outside the Copper Belt thrust, may have sedimentary thicknesses of the order of 6–7 km. The Dalma lavas attain their maximum thickness of about 2.5 km in the form of a syncline, underneath which the Singhbhum Group of rocks is also found to be the thickest. The Copper Belt thrust, a major Precambrian fracture around the Singhbhum batholith, is moderately north-dipping near the surface but possibly attains a steeper slope at depth. The thrust appears to be quite deep seated. A threedimensional computer-based model for the Dhanjori lava—gabbro complex on the eastern part of the Singhbhum batholith has been deduced. Maximum thickness of these basic rocks is found to exist underneath a thin cap of granophyre. The geological implication of these results is discussed.Variation in the regional anomalies seems to be attributable to a mass deficiency under the Singhbhum batholith. The batholith may extend subsurfacially towards the north across the Copper Belt thrust. The northern tip of the batholith probably became dissected along the line of intersection of the two orogenic trends in the area and subsided. Over this subsided part, the Singhbhum Group of rocks was deposited at a later stage. Gravity data suggest a fairly large amount of subsidence in the area.     

Early island-arc intrusive activity,Cordillera Central,Dominican Republic

Reconnaissance studies of early island-arc intrusions in the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic demonstrate that these rocks are mainly hornblende tonalite with lesser amounts of hornblende diorite, quartz diorite, granodiorite and quartz monzonite. Two plutons (El Bao, Medina) are petrographically and chemically homogeneous, whereas two others (El Rio and Loma de Cabrera) are compositionally heterogeneous. Samples from these intrusions range in SiO₂ from 49 to 70% with most rocks in the 59 to 62% range. K₂O ranges from 0.24 to 3% and averages 1.2%. Cu, Zn, Co, Ni, V and possibly Cr decrease with increasing SiO₂. Rb/Sr values for the intrusions are low but variable. Present-day ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values range from 0.7031 to 0.7045 for the El Bao and Loma de Cabrera batholiths and 0.7033 to 0.7091 for the Medina stock. These data do not generate isochrons. The Cordillera Central tonalite intrusions are the most abundant plutonic rock type in the Greater Antilles, although small, younger granodiorite and quartz monzonite stocks are present. The Cordillera Central intrusions are lower in SiO₂, K₂O, Rb, and Sr than the average composition of the Sierra Nevada batholith, but they are similar to the tonalites and trondjhemites from the western margin of the Sierra Nevada batholith. The low Rb/Sr ratios and low initital Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios for the Cordillera Central intrusions combined with the high liquidus temperatures required for the generation of tonalite magmas strongly favor a subcrustal source for these magmas in an island-arc setting.     

The distribution of radiogenic heat production as a function of depth in the Sierra Nevada Batholith, California

Geochemical analyses and geobarometric determinations have been combined to create a depth vs. radiogenic heat production database for the Sierra Nevada batholith, California. This database shows that mean heat production values first increase, then decrease, with increasing depth. Heat production is 2 μW/m³ within the 3-km-thick volcanic pile at the top of the batholith, below which it increases to an average value of 3.5 μW/m³ at 5.5 km depth, then decreases to 0.5–1 μW/m³ at 15 km depth and remains at these values through the entire crust below 15 km. Below the crust, from depths of 40–125 km, the batholith's root and mantle wedge that coevolved beneath the batholith appears to have an average radiogenic heat production rate of 0.14 μW/m³. This is higher than the rates from most published xenolith studies, but reasonable given the presence of crustal components in the arc root assemblages. The pattern of radiogenic heat production interpreted from the depth vs. heat production database is not consistent with the downward-decreasing exponential distribution predicted from modeling of surface heat flow data. The interpreted distribution predicts a reasonable range of geothermal gradients and shows that essentially all of the present day surface heat flow from the Sierra Nevada could be generated within the 35 km thick crust. This requires a very low heat flux from the mantle, which is consistent with a model of cessation of Sierran magmatism during Laramide flat-slab subduction, followed by conductive cooling of the upper mantle for 70 m.y. The heat production variation with depth is principally due to large variations in uranium and thorium concentration; potassium is less variable in concentration within the Sierran crust, and produces relatively little of the heat in high heat production rocks. Because silica content is relatively constant through the upper 30 km of the Sierran batholith, while U, Th, and K concentrations are highly variable, radiogenic heat production does not vary directly with silica content.     

青藏高原羌塘中部蜈蚣山印支期花岗岩的地球化学特征和黑云母40Ar-39Ar年龄

本松错岩基是羌塘中部规模最大的花岗岩复合岩基,面积超过1800km2,由石炭纪、三叠纪和侏罗纪3个不同时代的花岗岩岩体组成,记录了羌塘中部不同时期的岩浆活动,是研究羌塘盆地构造演化的重要窗口。蜈蚣山花岗岩位于本松错复合岩基北部,前人认为其时代为侏罗纪,但是近期在蜈蚣山地区侏罗纪花岗岩中发现有少量印支期花岗岩出露,岩性主要为花岗片麻岩和二长花岗岩,可能为侏罗纪花岗岩的捕虏体。地球化学研究表明,二长花岗岩属高钾钙碱性过铝质花岗岩,形成于同碰撞环境,与区域内其它印支期中酸性岩浆岩类似,共同构成龙木错-双湖-澜沧江板块缝合带同碰撞—后碰撞岩浆弧。此外还对花岗片麻岩片麻理中的黑云母做了40Ar-39Ar测年,获得了175.8Ma±1.1Ma的定年结果,与其围岩侏罗纪花岗岩年龄相近,推测花岗片麻岩是印支期花岗岩受后期侵入的侏罗纪岩浆改造后的产物,本松错复合岩基应当是中酸性岩浆岩多期侵入的产物。     

Exposure of a late cretaceous layered mafic-felsic magma system in the central Sierra Nevada batholith,California

New U-Pb zircon ages for the Lamarck Granodiorite, associated synplutonic gabbro and diorite plutons, and two large mafic intrusive complexes that underlie them in the Sierra Nevada batholith are 92±1 Ma. These ages establish the Late Cretaceous as a period of extensive mafic-felsic magmatism in the central part of the batholith, and confirm the significance of mafic magmatism in the evolution of the voluminous silicic plutions in the Sierran arc. The lack of significant zircon inheritance in any of the units analyzed supports isotopic evidence that the Lamarck and other Late Cretaceous Sierran plutons were derived predominantly from young crust. Recognition of an extensive mafic-felsic magma system in the Sierra Nevada batholith emphasizes the importance of basaltic liquids in the evolution of continental crust in arc settings.     

Magnetite/Ilmenite–series Classification and Magnetic Susceptibility of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Batholiths in Peru

Abstract: Plutonic rocks of the Coastal Batholith of Peru were evaluated in terms of the granitoid-series classification using the bulk ferric/ferrous ratio from the literature and new measurements of magnetic susceptibility. The batholith is largely composed of magnetite-series plutonic rocks; the magnetite series make up 85% by number of chemical analyses (n=130) and 80% by measurement of magnetic susceptibility (n=210). The ilmenite-series rocks are mostly found in the felsic facies of the batholith. Asymmetrical distribution of magnetic susceptibility is not clear as in the Japanese Islands and Peninsular Range Batholith, but the magnetic susceptibility may decreases continentward (i. e., Peninsular Range type).
The Cordillera Blanca Batholith and stocks are also composed of mainly magnetite series plutonic rocks, but ilmenite-series rocks may be more predominant than in the Coastal Batholith, which is also indicated by the presence of Sn and W mineralizations.     

Petrology of the Guadalupe Igneous Complex South-western Sierra Nevada Foothills California

The Guadalupe igneous complex is one of several late Jurassic,mesozonal plutons in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Severallines of evidence suggest that the different rock types, rangingfrom eucrite to leucogranophyre, originated mainly through fractionalcrystallization of a parent basaltic magma. Important differencesbetween this complex and other large differentiated basic intrusionsinclude the presence of steeply inclined but weak layering inthe gabbroic rocks and an abundance of hydrous mafic mineralsrelative to olivine and pyroxene, which are not representedby iron-rich end-members in the granitic differentiates. Chemically,the differentiation trend is marked by a large variation infelsic parameters and only a weak enrichment in iron. This trend,which is similar to that of calc-alkaline suites of orogenicregions, may have been influenced by abnormally high pressuresof water and oxygen for a crystallizing basaltic magma.     

青藏高原羌塘中部蜈蚣山印支期花岗岩的地球化学特征和黑云母^（40）Ar-^（39）Ar年龄

本松错岩基是羌塘中部规模最大的花岗岩复合岩基,面积超过1800km2,由石炭纪、三叠纪和侏罗纪3个不同时代的花岗岩岩体组成,记录了羌塘中部不同时期的岩浆活动,是研究羌塘盆地构造演化的重要窗口。蜈蚣山花岗岩位于本松错复合岩基北部,前人认为其时代为侏罗纪,但是近期在蜈蚣山地区侏罗纪花岗岩中发现有少量印支期花岗岩出露,岩性主要为花岗片麻岩和二长花岗岩,可能为侏罗纪花岗岩的捕虏体。地球化学研究表明,二长花岗岩属高钾钙碱性过铝质花岗岩,形成于同碰撞环境,与区域内其它印支期中酸性岩浆岩类似,共同构成龙木错-双湖-澜沧江板块缝合带同碰撞—后碰撞岩浆弧。此外还对花岗片麻岩片麻理中的黑云母做了40Ar-39Ar测年,获得了175.8Ma±1.1Ma的定年结果,与其围岩侏罗纪花岗岩年龄相近,推测花岗片麻岩是印支期花岗岩受后期侵入的侏罗纪岩浆改造后的产物,本松错复合岩基应当是中酸性岩浆岩多期侵入的产物。