Signatures of mountain building: Detrital zircon U/Pb ages from northeastern Tibet

Abstract

Research Article| March 01, 2007 Signatures of mountain building: Detrital zircon U/Pb ages from northeastern Tibet Richard O. Lease; Richard O. Lease 1Department of Earth Science, University of California-Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Douglas W. Burbank; Douglas W. Burbank 1Department of Earth Science, University of California-Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar George E. Gehrels; George E. Gehrels 2Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Zhicai Wang; Zhicai Wang 3State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100029, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Daoyang Yuan Daoyang Yuan 3State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics, Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing 100029, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2007) 35 (3): 239–242. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23057A.1 Article history received: 02 Jun 2006 rev-recd: 26 Oct 2006 accepted: 27 Oct 2006 first online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Richard O. Lease, Douglas W. Burbank, George E. Gehrels, Zhicai Wang, Daoyang Yuan; Signatures of mountain building: Detrital zircon U/Pb ages from northeastern Tibet. Geology 2007;; 35 (3): 239–242. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G23057A.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Although detrital zircon has proven to be a powerful tool for determining provenance, past work has focused primarily on delimiting regional source terranes. Here we explore the limits of spatial resolution and stratigraphic sensitivity of detrital zircon in ascertaining provenance, and we demonstrate its ability to detect source changes for terranes separated by only a few tens of kilometers. For such an analysis to succeed for a given mountain, discrete intrarange source terranes must have unique U/Pb zircon age signatures and sediments eroded from the range must have well-defined depositional ages. Here we use ∼1400 single-grain U/Pb zircon ages from northeastern Tibet to identify and analyze an area that satisfies these conditions. This analysis shows that the edges of intermontane basins are stratigraphically sensitive to discrete, punctuated changes in local source terranes. By tracking eroding rock units chronologically through the stratigraphic record, this sensitivity permits the detection of the differential rock uplift and progressive erosion that began ca. 8 Ma in the Laji Shan, a 10-25-km-wide range in northeastern Tibet with a unique U/Pb age signature. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.