Silurian plutonism in the Trinity terrane (Neoproterozoic and Ordovician), Klamath Mountains, California, United States

Abstract

New data indicate that the Trinity terrane of northern California is a polygenetic composite terrane rather than a single slice of oceanic lithosphere. We suggest approximately one third of the Trinity terrane consists of Silurian intrusive rocks that represent the roots of a previously unrecognized Silurian magmatic arc. Crosscutting relations and U‐Pb zircon isotopic data document at least one early Paleozoic deformation in the Trinity terrane of northern California. A ductile shear zone between Neoproterozoic metagabbro and Ordovician(?) harzburgite is intruded by the Upper Silurian China Mountain pluton. This evidence indicates a major early Paleozoic shear zone formed in the eastern Klamath Mountains after the Middle Ordovician but prior to Late Silurian plutonism.