Apatite triple dating and white mica 40Ar/ 39Ar thermochronology
of syntectonic detritus in the Central Andes:
A multiphase tectonothermal history
B. Carrapa1, P.G. DeCelles2, P.W. Reiners2, G.E. Gehrels2, and M. Sudo3
1
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming 82071, USA
2
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
3
Universität Potsdam, Institut für Geowissenschaften, 14476 Golm, Germany
ABSTRACT
We applied apatite U-Pb, fission track, and (U-Th)/He triple dating and white mica 40Ar/39Ar
thermochronology to syntectonic sedimentary rocks from the central Andean Puna plateau in
order to determine the source-area geochronology and source sedimentary basin thermal histories, and ultimately the timing of multiple tectonothermal events in the Central Andes. Apatite triple dating of samples from the Eocene Geste Formation in the Salar de Pastos Grandes
basin shows late Precambrian–Devonian apatite U-Pb crystallization ages, Eocene apatite fission track (AFT), and Eocene–Miocene (U-Th)/He (ca. 8–47 Ma) cooling ages. Double dating
of cobbles from equivalent strata in the Arizaro basin documents early Eocene (46.2 ± 3.9
Ma) and Cretaceous (107.6 ± 7.6, 109.5 ± 7.7 Ma) AFT and Eocene–Oligocene (ca. 55–30 Ma)
(U-Th)/He ages. Thermal modeling suggests relatively rapid cooling between ca. 80 and 50 Ma
and reheating and subsequent diachronous basin exhumation between ca. 30 Ma and 5 Ma.
The 40Ar/39Ar white mica ages from the same samples in the Salar de Pastos Grandes area are
mainly 400–350 Ma, younger than apatite U-Pb ages, suggesting source-terrane cooling and
exhumation during the Devonian–early Carboniferous. Together these data reveal multiple
phases of mountain building in the Paleozoic and Cenozoic. Basin burial temperatures within
the plateau were limited to <80 °C and incision occurred diachronously during the Cenozoic.
INTRODUCTION
The provenance, geochronology, and thermal
history of syntectonic sedimentary rocks provide valuable information about the location,
age, and exhumation history of source terranes
and dynamics of orogenic processes (e.g., Bernet et al., 2001; Najman et al., 2001; Carrapa et
al., 2003; Hodges et al., 2005). Although much
progress has been made during the past decade
toward routine detrital thermochronology, the
combination of multiple thermochronological
and geochronological methods on individual
detrital grains (multidating) is still in its infancy.
The advantage of multidating is that a high-temperature method can reveal the crystallization
age and a lower-temperature method can reveal
the cooling and exhumation age of a grain, thus
providing valuable information about source and
basin histories. Although several studies using
multiple chronometers on individual zircon
grains have been published (Rahl et al., 2003;
Campbell et al., 2005; Reiners et al., 2005; Bernet et al., 2006; van der Beek et al., 2006), this is
the first work using three methods on individual
detrital apatite grains.
We present triple dating of detrital apatite grains
from Eocene syntectonic sedimentary rocks of
the Geste Formation in the Pastos Grandes and
Arizaro basins in the Puna plateau of northwest-
ern Argentina using the apatite U-Pb, apatite fission track (AFT), and apatite (U-Th)/He methods. We also apply 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology
on detrital white micas from the same samples in
order to determine the mid-temperature cooling
history of the detritus. The closure temperatures
of these systems are ~450–550 °C for apatite
U-Pb (e.g., Flowers et al., 2007), ~350 °C for
white mica 40Ar/39Ar, ~120–60 °C for AFT (e.g.,
Green et al., 1989), and ~80–60 °C for apatite
(U-Th)/He (e.g., Farley, 2000).
The Central Andes have been the site of arcrelated and foreland basin deposition since the
Paleozoic, and therefore are an ideal place in
which to investigate the thermal effects of multiple orogenic phases. In the Central Andes, documented Cenozoic exhumation rates are ~0.2 mm/
yr (e.g., Carrapa et al., 2005, 2006; Deeken et al.,
2006; Coutand et al., 2006). However, recently
published AFT detrital thermochronologic data
document relatively rapid exhumation rates (0.5
to >1 mm/yr) during Paleocene–Eocene time
(Carrapa and DeCelles, 2008), coeval with contractional deformation. It remains unknown if
the Central Andes underwent earlier phases of
rapid exhumation, because 40Ar/39Ar ages do not
record early Cenozoic signals.
With this study we demonstrate the unique
power of the detrital multidating approach by
answering the following questions, which have
implications for paleogeographic reconstructions and tectonic models of Andean evolution.
(1) What is the geochronological source-terrane
signature of Eocene sedimentary rocks? (2) Are
Eocene AFT ages widespread within the plateau, and do they represent regional exhumation, rather than magmatic input? (3) What is the
magnitude of basin burial (heating) and subsequent exhumation, and is basin exhumation synchronous within the plateau? (4) Did the Central
Andes undergo pre-Cenozoic exhumation and,
if so, when, and what were the magnitude and
cause? In order to answer all these questions, a
multidating approach covering a large temperature window (~500–60 °C) is necessary.
GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
The region defined as the Puna Altiplano,
or central Andean plateau, is characterized by
high mean elevation (>3500 m), internal drainage, and aridity resulting from geodynamic
and surficial processes related to convergence
between the Nazca and South American plates
since the mid-Cretaceous (e.g., Isacks, 1988;
Allmendinger et al., 1997; Strecker et al., 2007).
Rocks now in the central Andean plateau record
deposition in a backarc basin during the Cambrian–Ordovician, a foreland basin during the
© 2009 Geological Society of America. For permission to copy, contact Copyright Permissions, GSA, or editing@geosociety.org.
GEOLOGY,
May
2009
Geology,
May
2009;
v. 37; no. 5; p. 407–410; doi: 10.1130/G25698A.1; 3 figures; Data Repository item 2009103.
407
68°W
67°
66°
B
Salar de Pastos Grandes
C
Silt
Sand
Pebble
Boulder
24°S
2000
Nevados
Sa
lar
de
Salar de
Pastos Grandes
Macon Range
de Palermo
Ar
iza
ro
Salar Pocitos
4SP700
1500
25°
Bolivia
16 S
> 3 km
elevation
Eolian sandstone
Partially covered
Study
area
Argentina
28 S
0
20
km
26°
Holocene salt lakes and
salt flats
Pacific
Ocean
Neogene
plutonic rocks
Alluvium
undifferentiated volcanic rocks
Upper Miocene-Pliocene
andesites, dacites and basalts
Undifferentiated
Cenozoic
Cretaceous
sedimentary rocks
Neogene ignimbrites
Neogene basalts
Pleistocene-Holocene
undifferentiated volcanic rocks
Carboniferous
sedimentary rocks
Late Paleozoic
plutonic rocks
74 W
Siltstone
Phyllite
3SP431 Sample site
500
66 W
Cambrian
sedimentary rocks
Paleozoic
plutonic rocks
Ordovician: sedimentary
rocks, local volcanic rocks
Precambrian/Cambrian
plutonic rocks
Precambrian/Cambrian
sedimentary and igneous
rocks
Faults
Study areas
0m
2SP277
2SP238
500
TG408
TG190
TG41
2SP38
Geste Formation
24 S
3SP431
Sandstone
Chile
20 S
LEGEND
Mean paleocurrent
direction
Conglomerate 1000
Salar de Arizaro
Salar de
Hombre Muerto
Peru
Geste Formation
A
1SP32
Cambrian- 0m
1SP0
Precambrian
granites
Ordovician
Figure 1. A: Map of central South America showing location of study area in northwestern
Argentina. B: Geological map of southern Central Andes modified after Reutter et al. (1994).
C: Stratigraphic column of Geste Formation in the Salar de Pastos Grandes (modified after
DeCelles et al., 2007) and Arizaro basins. New paleocurrent data, from this study, are shown
to the right of the Arizaro stratigraphic column.
Early Devonian, a continental rift during the
Early Cretaceous, and a foreland basin again
during the Cenozoic (Jordan and Alonso, 1987;
Isaacson and Díaz-Martínez, 1995; Rapela et
al., 1998; Sempere, 1995; DeCelles and Horton,
2003; Carrapa and DeCelles, 2008).
The Salar de Pastos Grandes basin, in the
central Puna plateau (Fig. 1), contains ~3.5 km
of Cenozoic syntectonic fluvial-alluvial deposits, including 2 km of the Eocene Geste Formation (Alonso, 1992). Provenance data document
Ordovician quartzite and minor phyllite and
schist as source rocks located to the west (Carrapa and DeCelles, 2008). Detrital zircon U-Pb
ages from both the Geste Formation and underlying Ordovician quartzite cluster in the 900–1200
Ma (Grenville, Sunsás) and late Precambrian–
Cambrian (Panafrican, Pampean) ranges. Late
Eocene (ca. 37–34 Ma) grains are also present
and document limited volcanic input (DeCelles
et al., 2007). Detrital AFT data show dominance
of grains with Eocene–Paleocene ages requiring
rapid (>~1 mm/yr) source-terrane exhumation
during that time (Carrapa and DeCelles, 2008).
In the Arizaro basin (Jordan and Mpodozis,
2006), equivalent coarse-grained conglomerates have been reported along both flanks of the
408
north-south–trending Macon Range, which is
composed of Cambrian and Precambrian granitoid rocks (Fig. 1).
METHODS
We selected 76 apatites, belonging to AFT
populations P1 and P2 (43.7 ± 3.2 and 56.2 ±
2.7 Ma, respectively), and 1 grain belonging to
P3 (Carrapa and DeCelles, 2008), from the AFT
mount (of 100 AFT dated grains) of sample
2SP38 from the lower part of the Geste Formation, and analyzed them by laser-ablation–multicollector inductively coupled plasma–mass
spectrometry (Fig. 2A). Of the same grains,
13 were subsequently extracted from the grain
mount and analyzed by (U-Th)/He thermochronology (Fig. 2B; GSA Data Repository
Table DR11). Apatites were selected on the basis
of their AFT age (P1 and P2) and homogeneity
(inclusion and zonation free). We selected sam-
1
GSA Data Repository item 2009103, data tables,
geochronology, thermochronology, and thermal
modeling, is available online at www.geosociety.
org/pubs/ft2009.htm, or on request from editing@
geosociety.org or Documents Secretary, GSA, P.O.
Box 9140, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
ple 2SP38 because of its abundant high-quality
apatites and lowest (i.e., deepest) stratigraphic
position, which provides the best constraints on
basin burial and exhumation history.
Three cobbles from an ~500-m-thick section of fluvial, eolian, and alluvial fan deposits
of equivalent Geste Formation in the Arizaro
basin (Fig. 1), farther to the west, were selected,
and apatites were analyzed for fission track
and (U-Th)/He ages (Table DR2). We also analyzed detrital white micas for 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology from two samples, one from
the lowest part (1SP32) and one from the top
(4SP700) of our measured sections in the Salar
de Pastos Grandes basin (Fig. 3C). We picked
those two samples to check for possible stratigraphic shifts in the detrital 40Ar/39Ar signatures.
We analyzed 19 grains from sample 1SP32 and
25 grains from sample 4SP700 by single fusion
analysis (Fig. 2C). One grain from each sample
was selected for step-heating analysis (Table
DR3). Multikinetic inverse thermal modeling
of fission track and (U-Th)/He ages was applied
to the three cobbles from the Arizaro basin and
one sandstone from equivalent strata in the Salar
de Pastos Grandes basin (Figs. 1 and 3). (For
details regarding analytical methods, see the
Data Repository.)
RESULTS
Apatite U-Pb ages of P1 and P2 grains are
almost exclusively between 500 Ma and 1000
Ma (Fig. 2A; Table DR1). Only a single grain
from P1 yielded a Cenozoic age, but this age is
much younger than the depositional age, suggesting significant Pb loss. These late Precambrian and early Paleozoic U-Pb apatite ages are
slightly younger than zircon U-Pb ages from
the same samples (DeCelles et al., 2007), as
expected for a lower closure temperature. Dating of the same apatites by (U-Th)/He reveals
Eocene–late Miocene ages. The youngest
(U-Th)/He ages range between ca. 15 and ca. 8
Ma (Table DR1), which together with low eU
(effective uranium) are consistent with a higher
sensitivity to postburial heating and resetting
(Shuster et al., 2006; Flowers et al., 2007), compared with grains having higher eU values and
older detrital ages.
Detrital 40Ar/39Ar analyses of 44 white micas
from the Geste detritus in the Salar de Pastos
Grandes basin show Devonian–early Carboniferous cooling ages (Fig. 2C). Step-heating
analyses show plateau ages of 393.8 ± 1 Ma and
396.0 ± 1.4 Ma on samples 1SP32 and 4SP700,
respectively (Table DR3), indicating that the
single fusion ages are most likely undisturbed.
Three cobbles (TG41, TG190, and TG408)
from the Geste Formation in the Arizaro basin,
derived from the Macon Range (Fig. 1C), were
analyzed for AFT and (U-Th)/He ages. TG41
produced an AFT age of 107.6 ± 7.6 Ma and
GEOLOGY, May 2009
GEOLOGY, May 2009
A
2SP38
(AFT populations calculated on 100 grains)
P1: 43.7 ± 3.2
P2: 56.2 ± 2.7
Apatite U/Pb age (Ma)
1000
800
600
400
200
0
50
B
20
40
60
80
100
120
C
40
Probability
Probability
Apatite (U-Th)/He age (Ma)
30
20
140
160
1
1SP32
(n=19)
(n
= 19)
0.8
0.6
4SP700
4SP700
(n (n=25)
= 25)
0.4
0.2
0
10
0
100 200 300 400 500 600
40
40
3939
Ar/
Ar/ Ar
Arage
age
(Ma)
(Ma)
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
AFT age (Ma)
Figure 2. A: Apatite U-Pb versus apatite fission track (AFT) ages for 75 double dated apatites;
note that populations P1 and P2 are calculated on 100 AFT dated grains. B: AFT versus (UTh)/He ages for 13 triple dated apatites (Table DR2). C: Probability density diagrams of white
mica 40Ar/39Ar detrital ages from samples 1SP32 and 4SP700 (Table DR3).
100
TG 408
Good fit
Best fit
C
Acceptable fit
Best fit
Acceptable fit
Best fit
mean L:
13.0 ± 1.5
B
mean L:
13.1 ± 1.1
A
0.2
TG 41
0
0.2
Arizaro basin
Salar de Pastos Grandes
basin
200
200
mean L:
± 0.7
0.4 14.3
2SP38
150
100
Age (Ma)
50
Basin exhumation
0
Stratigraphic order
DISCUSSION
Apatite U-Pb data show Cambrian–Precambrian apatite crystallization ages of source
terranes west of the Salar de Pastos Grandes
basin, mainly corresponding to Ordovician
rocks, as indicated by similar Precambrian–
Cambrian zircon U-Pb ages (DeCelles et al.,
2007). These results further support the interpretation that Paleocene–Eocene AFT ages
from the same grains represent true exhumation ages rather than magmatic input (Carrapa
and DeCelles, 2008).
The youngest He ages of selected grains, ranging from ca. 15 to 8 Ma (Tables DR1 and DR2),
are interpreted as the result of cooling during
basin exhumation. Also, the fact that only a few
apatites are fully reset for He and none for AFT
constrains the maximum heating temperature to
<~80 °C, as supported by modeling results. AFT
and (U-Th)/He ages from equivalent units in the
Arizaro basin document mainly Eocene and
limited Cretaceous cooling ages. Modeling of
AFT and (U-Th)/He ages of samples from both
the Arizaro and Salar de Pastos Grandes basins
suggests diachronous basin exhumation and late
Miocene out of sequence deformation within
the plateau after the orogenic front had already
swept through the plateau in Eocene time (Carrapa and DeCelles, 2008).
The 40Ar/39Ar white mica detrital ages from
equivalent Eocene units in the Salar de Pastos
Grandes basin show Devonian–early Carboniferous ages. Assuming the same source for
mica and apatite and given that the apatite
U-Pb crystallization ages are generally much
older than the 40Ar/39Ar ages, it is plausible that
the mica ages represent exhumation rather than
crystallization ages. Considering that a foreland basin was in place during the Early Devonian (Isaacson and Díaz-Martínez, 1995), we
interpret the Paleozoic 40Ar/39Ar ages as rep-
1200
T (°C)
He ages of 55.0 ± 5.0 and 52.8 ± 3.2; TG190
yielded an AFT age of 109.5 ± 7.7 Ma and a He
age of 47.5 ± 2.8; and TG408 produced an AFT
age of 46.2 ± 3.9 Ma and He ages of 50.1 ± 2.7
and 29.6 ± 2.6 (Table DR2). Cretaceous ages are
consistent with data reported for the northern
Macon Range (Deeken et al., 2006).
In order to test the hypothesis that the youngest (U-Th)/He ages are geologically meaningful
we modeled the youngest He ages, with the lowest eU content, of AFT age population P2 from
samples 2SP38 (8.02 ± 0.28 Ma) from the Salar
de Pastos Grandes basin, and TG41 (52.8 ± 3.21
Ma) and TG408 (29.6 ± 2.56 Ma) from equivalent strata in the Arizaro basin. The best modeling tests show monotonic and slow cooling
between ca. 160 Ma and 60 Ma, relatively rapid
cooling between ca. 80 and 50 Ma, and reheating and subsequent cooling between ca. 30 Ma
and 5 Ma (Fig. 3; see Data Repository).
0
0.2
0
0
6
10 14 18
Length (µm)
Figure 3. Inverse thermal modeling (T—temperature; L—length) for Geste Formation samples from Arizaro and Salar de Pastos Grandes basins. A: Sample TG 41 (granitic cobble),
Arizaro basin. B: Sample TG 408 (granitic cobble), Arizaro basin. C: Sample 2SP38 (detrital
population: P2), Salar de Pastos Grandes basin. Lengths are c-axis corrected.
resentative of exhumation of the contractional
Paleozoic orogenic system. In addition, the
lack of Devonian–early Carboniferous U-Pb
ages is consistent with the absence of plutons
of that age range in the region west of the Salar
de Pastos Grandes basin and supports our
interpretation. Overall, the Precambrian apatite
U-Pb ages indicate that the maximum temperature during Paleozoic tectonism was <450–550
°C, and Paleozoic 40Ar/39Ar ages indicate that
the maximum temperature during Mesozoic
and Cenozoic tectonism was <350 °C.
409
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Apatite triple dating, coupled with 40Ar/39Ar
detrital thermochronology, can provide critical
information about provenance, depositional,
and postdepositional histories in sedimentary
units. In particular, apatite triple dating can
link multiple source and postdepositional signatures through single detrital grains, obviating assumptions about source rocks of different minerals. Also, because of the contrasting
closure temperatures of the apatite (U-Th)/He,
fission track, and U-Pb systems, triple dating
has unique potential to unravel source-to-basin
thermal histories. Aside from the methodological significance, our data provide important
geological information.
1. Precambrian and early Paleozoic apatite
U-Pb ages document detrital source rocks of
likely Ordovician age in the Central Andes. The
implication is that Paleozoic source rocks were
deformed and exhumed during the Eocene, as
indicated by AFT ages.
2. Devonian–early Carboniferous (400–350
Ma) mica ages are younger than apatite U-Pb
ages, suggesting cooling and exhumation during
mid-Paleozoic orogenic growth along the Gondwana convergent margin at rates possibly faster
than any event recorded during the Cenozoic.
3. Modeling of AFT and (U-Th)/He ages
indicates monotonic source-terrane cooling during the early-middle Cretaceous, rapid cooling
between ca. 80 and 50 Ma, limited Cenozoic
basin burial, and subsequent exhumation consistent with out of sequence deformation.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (CA 481/5-1 to Carrapa); National Science Foundation (NSF) grant EAR-0710724 to Carrapa and DeCelles; NSF grants EAR-0443387 and
EAR-0732436 for support of the Arizona LaserChron
Center; and by ExxonMobil Corporation. We thank
Abir Biswas, Stefan Nicolescu, Victor Valencia, and
Scott Johnston for analytical assistance, and Shari
Kelley, Peter Vermeesch, an anonymous reviewer, and
Andrew Barth for constructive reviews.
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Manuscript received 24 November 2008
Revised manuscript received 10 December 2008
Manuscript accepted 11 December 2008
Printed in USA
GEOLOGY, May 2009