A survey of Sierra Nevada magmatism using Great Valley detrital zircon trace-element geochemistry: View from the forearc

The well-characterized Sierra Nevada magmatic arc offers an unparalleled opportunity to improve our understanding of continental arc magmatism, but present bedrock exposure provides an incomplete record that is dominated by Cretaceous plutons, making it challenging to decipher details of older magmatism and the dynamic interplay between plutonism and volcanism. Moreover, the forearc detrital record includes abundant zircon formed during apparent magmatic lulls, suggesting that understanding the long-term history of arc magmatism requires integrating plutonic, volcanic, and detrital records. We present trace-element geochemistry of detrital zircon grains from the Great Valley forearc basin to survey Sierra Nevadan arc magmatism through Mesozoic time. We analyzed 257 previously dated detrital zircon grains from seven sandstone samples of volcanogenic, arkosic, and mixed compositions deposited ca. 145–80 Ma along the length of the forearc basin. Detrital zircon trace-element geochemistry is largely consistent with continental arc derivation and shows similar geochemical ranges between samples, regardless of location along strike of the forearc basin, depositional age, or sandstone composition. Comparison of zircon trace-element data from the forearc, arc, and retroarc regions revealed geochemical asymmetry across the arc that was persistent through time and demonstrated that forearc and retroarc basins sampled different parts of the arc and therefore recorded different magmatic histories. In addition, we identified a minor group of Jurassic detrital zircon grains with oceanic geochemical signatures that may have provenance in the Coast Range ophiolite. Taken together, these results suggest that the forearc detrital zircon data set reveals information different from that gleaned from the arc itself and that zircon compositions can help to identify and differentiate geochemically distinct parts of continental arc systems. Our results highlight the importance of integrating multiple proxies to fully document arc magmatism, demonstrating that detrital zircon geochemical data can enhance understanding of a well-characterized arc, and these data may prove an effective means by which to survey an arc that is inaccessible and therefore poorly characterized

Leveraging Detrital Zircon Geochemistry to Study Deep Arc Processes: REE-Rich Magmas Mobilized by Jurassic Rifting of the Sierra Nevada Arc

Anomalous trace element compositions of Middle to Late Jurassic detrital zircon separated from Sierra Nevada forearc and intra-arc strata reveal processes of differentiation occurring within the deep arc lithosphere. REE-Sc-Nb-Ti-Hf-U-Th covariations define three populations of atypically REE-rich grains that we interpret as crystallizing from (1) differentiates produced by olivine+clinopyroxene+plagioclase+garnet±ilmenite fractionation; (2) mixing between mafic arc magmas and partial melts of Proterozoic Mojave province crust; and (3) compositionally transient, low Gd/Yb magmas generated by hornblende resorption during decompression. We interpret a fourth population of Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous zircons having REE contents similar to “typical” arc zircon but with atypically high Gd/Yb ratios as having crystallized from partial melts of recycled arc crust and from deep-arc differentiates that evolved down-temperature through hornblende saturation. We hypothesize that latest Jurassic extension ripped open the arc, facilitating upward migration and eruption of geochemically anomalous zircon-bearing magmas. The anomalous compositions relative to “typical” arc zircon imply that these zircons and their host magmas rarely reach the upper arc crust, where eruption and/or erosion would release their zircon cargo to the clastic system. Focusing on the trace element compositions of zircons of syn-extensional age represents a productive new strategy for learning about deep magmatic reservoirs and early differentiation pathways within the thick lithosphere of continental margin arcs