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We estimated the S-wave quality factor Q(f) of the upper crust in northeastern Sonora, Mexico, using a two-layer model. The first layer of the model has a thickness of 1 km, and the frequency dependence of Q can be represented by the relation Q(f) = 127f 0.7 in the frequency range of 0.5 ≤ f ≤ 20 Hz. The second layer varies in depth between 1 and 21 km, and Q(f) = 181f 0.7 in the same frequency range. The average Q of the model, weighted with the thickness of the layers, gives the relation Q(f) = 179.1f 0.7. We used nonparametric attenuation functions, determined in a previous study, to correct the observed spectral amplitudes, and then we retrieved source and site effects using a spectral inversion scheme. We used the resulting functions to separate source and site effects from the original spectral records and modeled Q for the 1-D model’s depths. We analyzed 38 local earthquakes recorded by 12 stations of the regional network RESNES (Red Sismica del Noreste de Sonora). We found that the S-wave Q of the superficial layer is a factor of only 1.4 smaller than the more profound layer. This result validates the use of an average Q to correct spectral amplitudes by the effect of anelastic attenuation from waves traveling within the upper crust.

In this study, we compiled reports from different catalogs and newspapers about the greatest earthquake documented in Northeastern Mexico. From these descriptions, we located the 28 April 1841 earthquake using the Bakun and Wentworth (1997) attenuation model for the Basin and Range region. From 13 observations with an intensity range of III–VII, we calculated a Mw 6.2 and the central intensity SW from Punta Santa Elena, Coahuila (24.65° N, 101.60° W). This earthquake could represent the fourth biggest event in the Mexican Basin and Range province after the events of Bavispe, Sonora, of 1887 (Mw 7.5), Parral, Chihuahua, of 1928 (Mw 6.5), and Valentine, Texas in the Texas-Chihuahua border, of 1931 (Mw 6.4). Finally, this study provides new insights on earthquake potential in the region to be considered for enhanced hazard quantification and shows that the region is seismically active and prone to events up to M > 6.

Silicon-rich continental crust is unique to Earth. Partial melting during high- to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism (700 °C to >900 °C) promotes the long-term stability of this crust because it redistributes key elements between the crust and mantle and ultimately produces cooler, more-differentiated continents. Granulites—rocks formerly at high- to ultrahigh-temperature conditions—preserve a record of the stabilization of Earth’s continents, but the tectonic mechanisms that drive granulite formation are enigmatic. Here we present an analysis of lower-crustal xenoliths from the Rio Grande Rift—a nascent zone of extension in the southwestern United States. Uranium–lead geo- and thermochronology combined with thermobarometric modelling show that the lower 10 km of the crust currently resides at granulite-facies conditions, with the lowermost 2 km at ultrahigh-temperature conditions. Crust and mantle xenoliths define a continuous pressure-and-temperature array, indicating that a thin lithospheric mantle lid mediates elevated conductive heat transfer into the crust. These findings establish a direct link among ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism, collapse of the Laramide orogen and lithospheric mantle attenuation. Other indicators of modern ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism are consistent with these conditions prevailing over thousands of square kilometres across the US–Mexico Basin and Range province. Similarities between the pressure-and-temperature path from the Rio Grande lower crust and those from exhumed granulite terranes imply that post-thickening lithospheric extension is a primary mechanism to differentiate Earth’s continental crust. A link between post-thickening lithospheric extension and the differentiation of continental crust is implied by granulite conditions beneath the Rio Grande Rift, inferred from analysis of lower-crustal xenoliths and thermobarometric modelling.

We estimated the seismic energy radiated by 47 earthquakes located near the faults that rupture during the 3 May 1887 Mw 7.5 Sonora earthquake in the Mexican Basin and Range Province. We retrieve source parameters from seismograms recorded by the local network RESNES (Red Sismica del Noreste de Sonora) that operated from 2003 to 2011, using a spectral inversion technique. We calculated the seismic energy by integrating the square velocity source spectrum of the earthquakes analyzed. We found that events with high-scaled seismic energy (Es/Mo) are located at the southern end of the fault that rupture in 1887, between the stepovers of the fault segments Teras and Otates. It is likely that tectonic stress accumulated in that zone after the fault ruptured. We estimate an average log(Es/Mo) = − 5.76 and found that most earthquakes analyzed have low apparent stress, varying between 0.5 × 10−3 and 1.85 MPa, with an average value of 0.0521 MPa. The apparent stress is heterogeneous not showing a clear correlation with seismic moment or focal depth.

The continental part of west-central Mexico is characterized by the active extensional tectonic regimes of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt and the adjacent southern Basin and Range Province. The deformation of the latter is distributed over several topographically very pronounced grabens and half-grabens (width 10–20 km, length ≤200 km; throw 1–2 km), including the Aguascalientes, Juchipila, Tlaltenango, and Bolaños grabens. Here, an A.D. 1774–1775 earthquake series in that area is documented based on numerous contemporary sources. The 6 November 1774 mainshock caused moderate-to-severe damage in several communities of the Bolaños graben, including the silver mining town of Bolaños, and moderate damage to communities in the Tlaltenango graben, such as the administrative center of Colotlán. Based on the macroseismic intensity distribution, the epicenter was in the Bolaños graben. The preferred magnitude of the mainshock is ∼6.0±0.5. No major historical earthquake had been reported previously from this region. Existing ground-shaking hazard models may, therefore, give a false sense of security.In the Bolaños graben, motion along the graben-bounding faults and the observed tilting of the graben shoulders has to be mostly younger than the 19.9 Ma age of the youngest basalt of the graben-shoulder stratigraphy. Its correlation across the western master fault indicates a 1300 m throw and a vertical long-term slip rate of 0.07 mm/yr. The observations of alluvial fan deposits juxtaposed against the footwall ignimbrites along the western master fault of the Bolaños graben, the displacement of alluvial fan deposits along secondary faults within the graben, and the existence of hot springs along the western boundary fault all are indicative of active deformation, and so is evidently the A.D. 1774 earthquake.

The Barstow Formation in the Mojave region of California was deposited in an extensional-basin setting of the Basin and Range province and preserves diverse middle Miocene mammalian assemblages. Six facies associations represent the dominant depositional environments in the basin, which changed through time from alluvial-fan and playa-dominated settings to floodplains and spring-fed wetlands. The majority of fossil localities and specimens occur in later-forming facies associations. We analyzed the taphonomic characteristics of fossil assemblages to test whether basin-scale facies associations or locality-scale facies exert more control on the preservational features of mammalian assemblages through the formation. We documented the facies settings of 47 vertebrate localities in the field in order to interpret depositional setting and the mode of accumulation for fossil assemblages. We evaluated skeletal material in museum collections for taphonomic indicators, including weathering stage, original bone-damage patterns, hydraulic equivalence, and skeletal-element composition. We evaluated four alternative modes of accumulation, including attritional accumulation on the land surface, accumulation by fluvial processes, carnivore or scavenger accumulations, and mass-death events. The majority of localities represent attritional accumulations at sites of long-term mortality in channel-margin, abandoned-channel, poorly drained floodplain, and ephemeral-wetland settings. Skeletal-element composition and taphonomic characteristics varied among facies, indicating an important role for depositional setting and landscape position on fossil-assemblage preservation. We find that locality-scale facies have a greater influence on the taphonomic characteristics of fossil assemblages; the taphonomy of each facies association is influenced by the facies that compose it. The facies composition and distribution within facies associations change through the formation, with a greater variety of depositional settings forming later in the history of the basin. Heterogeneous landscapes present more settings for fossil accumulation, contributing to the increase in fossil occurrence through the depositional history of the formation.

Slab rollback, lithospheric body forces, or evolution of plate boundary conditions are strongly debated as possible lithospheric driving mechanisms for Cenozoic extension in southwestern North America. By incorporating paleo-topography, lithospheric structure, and paleo-boundary conditions, we develop a complete geodynamic model that quantifies lithospheric deviatoric stresses and predicts extension and shear history since Late Eocene. We show that lithospheric body forces together with influence of change-over from subduction to transtensional boundary conditions from Late Eocene to Early Miocene were the primary driving factors controlling direction and magnitude of extensional deviatoric stresses that produced topographic collapse. After paleo-highlands collapsed, influence of Pacific-North America plate motion and associated deformation style along the plate boundary became increasingly important from Middle Miocene to present. Smaller-scale convection stress effects from slab rollback and associated mantle flow played only a minor role. However, slab rollback guided deformation rate through introduction of melts and fluids that impacted rheology., The tectonic evolution of southwestern North America remains debated. Here, the authors present a complete time-dependent geodynamic model of the tectonic evolution of southwestern North America, which can explain the extensional collapse of the Basin and Range Province since the Late Eocene.

In this paper we report U Pb zircon ages from a syn-tectonic magmatism related to a contractional thick-skinned deformation pulse in the Mexican Fold and Thrust Belt. The study area corresponds to the Concepcion del Oro Block (COB), which is located in northern Zacatecas, Mexico. The COB is a NW-SE trending elongated tectonic structure located south of the Parras Transversal Sector in the Mexican Fold Thrust Belt (MFTB) in north-central Mexico. In this area, regional thin-skinned folds were formed between the late Turonian and Campanian and they define the core of a major northeastward-convex orocline around Concepcion del Oro mining district, Zacatecas, Mexico. The regional folds were cut by four Eocene-early Oligocene plutons (43-32 Ma; U Pb zircon), which in places modified the older thin-skinned structures. Magma was emplaced along thrust faults and modified the attitude of inverted limbs of overturned folds, and the orientation or position of the fold axis at the core of anticlines, causing the formation of complex emplacement-related deformation. Two NW-SE trending lineaments bound the COB, and both cut the periclinal ends of the thin-skinned older folds, at different time. The eastern lineament is here interpreted as a high angle reverse fault, which tilted polymictic conglomeratic continental succession that includes cobbles derived from one of the intrusive bodies and an andesitic syn-tectonic lava flow (40.7 ± 0.6 Ma; U Pb zircon). The western lineament is a normal fault generated by later regional tectonic extension related to the Basin and Range province. Altogether suggests that a late Eocene-early Oligocene contractional thick-skinned deformation pulse affected the COB. This pulse was contemporaneous with the Eocene-Oligocene magmatism in the Concepcion del Oro, Zacatecas region, and is similar in style and age to some of the structures produced by the Laramide orogeny in the southern Rocky Mountains and in some isolated areas in northern Mexico.

The Great Basin of the western United States, the northern component of the Basin and Range Province, is a region of Cenozoic lithospheric extension with multiple periods and types of igneous activity. The composition and volume of Cenozoic magmas reflect a complex interaction between mantle-derived magmas and highly diverse crust, where both mantle sources and magmatic processes were modulated by tectonic environment. The Fish Creek Mountains in north-central Nevada underwent multiple igneous events ranging from ca. 40 Ma to 1 Ma that span all of the complex Cenozoic tectono-magmatic episodes of the Great Basin. The Fish Creek Mountains, therefore, is an ideal location to evaluate the different sources and processes involved in magma generation. Many plutons were emplaced in the region between about 40 and 38 Ma, several of which host base and precious metal deposits. Between 36 and 33 Ma, lava fields and calderas of the 37–19 Ma Ignimbrite Flare-up were emplaced. Both these and the preceding plutons resulted from southwestward rollback of the Farallon plate beneath North America during by far the most voluminous phase of Cenozoic magmatism. The lavas range from rare basalt and basaltic andesite to andesite, dacite, and rhyolite, have continental arc-like incompatible element patterns, and high initial 87Sr/86Sr and low eNd that require a metasomatized lithospheric mantle source combined with minor crustal component. Ignimbrites of the 34.4 Ma Cove Mine (trachydacite to rhyolite) and 34.0 Ma Caetano calderas (rhyolite to high-silica rhyolite) are abundantly porphyritic, include hydrous phases, were largely derived from partial melts of crustal rocks, but likely include 20–30% of a mantle-derived component. Igneous activity ceased in the region as the rollback-arc migrated to the southwest, but at 24.9 Ma a new caldera formed in the southern Fish Creek Mountains that was filled by ignimbrites of the Fish Creek Mountains Tuff. Intracaldera rhyolite ignimbrites range from aphyric, pumice-rich deposits at the base to progressively more quartz-feldspar phyric ignimbrites at higher levels; all flow units lack hydrous phases. No contemporaneous mafic or intermediate igneous activity accompanied caldera formation, but initial 87Sr/86Sr values in the Fish Creek Mountains tuffs are lower than in the Caetano Tuff, suggesting a greater mantle contribution to the 24.9 Ma ignimbrites. After another hiatus in igneous activity, the region was intruded and overlain by basalt to rhyolite dykes and lavas of the northern Nevada rift between 16.8 and 15.1 Ma. The primarily tholeiitic igneous suite is of the same age, chemistry, and isotopic composition as the Grande Ronde Formation of the Columbia River flood basalts, and evolved members (trachydacite and rhyolite) are crustally contaminated. The youngest northern Nevada rift lava is an alkali olivine basalt with isotopic affinity to basalts of the eastern Snake River Plain. After 10 Ma of quiescence, the region was locally covered by mafic lava flows with high-alumina olivine tholeiite compositions, represented by the 5.4 Ma Pumpernickel Valley flows. Their mid-ocean ridge-like incompatible element compositions indicate a depleted mantle source for the lavas, but radiogenic isotopic compositions indicate that the lavas of this region include a significant contribution from a mafic to ultramafic, high-87Sr/86Sr source. The final igneous event in the Fish Creek Mountains region, the 4.0 to 1.0 Ma Buffalo Valley volcanic field, includes flows and spatter cones of transitional to alkalic basalt that are divided into two geochemical groups with identical isotopic compositions. They represent variable, low percent partial melts of the asthenosphere at different depths, yielding different rare earth element characteristics. Similar to the Lunar Crater volcanic field, the Buffalo Valley rocks represent a rare case where the lithosphere in the central Great Basin is now thin enough to allow melting of the underlying asthenosphere. Cenozoic magmatism in the northern Great Basin exhibits several transitions in magma sources and tectonic setting with time. Magmatism began as pre-extension, subduction-related, primarily lithospherically-derived magmas emplaced on/in tectonically-thickened crust. The onset of extension was partially driven by impingement of the Yellowstone plume that resulted in emplacement of rift-related volcanic and intrusive rocks in the northern Nevada rift, followed by the eruption of extension-related HAOT lavas along the northwest margin of the Great Basin. Finally, lithospheric thinning allowed for partial melting of the asthenosphere and eruption of alkaline basaltic lavas.

Over the past few decades, tectonic geomorphology has been widely implemented to constrain spatial and temporal patterns of fault slip, especially where existing geologic or geodetic data are poor. We apply this practice along the eastern margin of Bull Mountain, Southwest Montana, where 15 transient channels are eroding into the flat, upstream relict landscape in response to an ongoing period of increased base level fall along the Western North Boulder fault. We aim to improve constraints on the spatial and temporal slip rates across the Western North Boulder fault zone by applying channel morphometrics, cosmogenic erosion rates, bedrock characteristics, and calibrated reproductions of the modern river profiles using a 1-dimensional stream power incision model that undergoes a change in the rate of base level fall. We perform over 104 base level fall simulations to explore a wide range of fault slip dynamics and stream power parameters. Our best fit simulations suggest that the Western North Boulder fault started as individual fault segments along the middle to southern regions of Bull Mountain that nucleated around 6.2 to 2.5 Ma, respectively. This was followed by the nucleation of fault segments in the northern region around 1.5 to 0.4 Ma. We recreate the evolution of the Western North Boulder fault to show that through time, these individual segments propagate at the fault tips and link together to span over 40 km, with a maximum slip of 462 m in the central portion of the fault. Fault slip rates range from 0.02 to 0.45 mm/yr along strike and are consistent with estimates for other active faults in the region. We find that the timing of fault initiation coincides well with the migration of the Yellowstone hotspot across the nearby Idaho-Montana border and thus attribute the initiation of extension to the crustal bulge from the migrating hotspot. Overall, we provide the first quantitative constraints on fault initiation and evolution of the Western North Boulder fault, perhaps the farthest north basin in the Northern Basin and Range province that such constraints exist. We show that river profiles are powerful tools for documenting the spatial and temporal patterns of normal fault evolution, especially where other geologic/geodetic methods are limited, proving to be a vital tool for accurate tectonic hazard assessments.

The Basin and Range province in the western United States hosts numerous low-slip-rate normal faults with diffuse and subtle surface expressions. Legacy aerial photographs, widely available across the region, can be used to generate high-resolution digital elevation models of these previously uncharacterized fault systems. Here, we test the limits and utility of aerial photograph-derived elevation products on the Drum Mountains fault zone—a virtually unstudied and enigmatic fault system in the eastern Basin and Range province of central Utah. We evaluate a new 2-m digital surface model produced from aerial photographs against other remotely sensed and field survey data and assess the various factors that contribute to noise, artifacts, and distortions. Despite some challenges, the new elevation model captures the complex array of cross-cutting fault scarps well. We demonstrate that the fault zone has variable net east- or west-down sense of displacement across a c. 8-km-wide zone of antithetic and synthetic traces. Optically stimulated luminescence ages and scarp profiles are used to constrain net extension rates across two transects and reveal that the Drum Mountains fault zone has average extension rates of c. 0.1–0.4 mm yr−1 over the last c. 35 ka. These rates are both faster than previously estimated and faster than most other faults in the region, and could be an order of magnitude higher if steep faults at the surface sole into a detachment at depth. Several models have been proposed for local and regional faulting at depth, but our data show that the offsets, rates, and geometries of faulting can be generated by the reactivation of pre-existing, cross-cutting faults in a structurally complex zone between other fault systems. This study highlights how legacy aerial-photograph-derived elevation products, in lieu of other high-resolution topographic datasets, can be used to study active faults, especially in remote regions where diffuse deformation would otherwise remain undetected.

Summary Faults play a key role in heat transport and permeability within extensional setting convective type geothermal plays. While faults can act as seals or conduits to fluid flow, their identification is paramount to the evaluation and assessment of geothermal resources. Identification of faults relies heavily on surface expression or seismic reflection and/or refraction methods. Gravity data is also utilized to identify basin geometry, which will often indicate location of faults with high displacement if density contrast of a sufficient magnitude is present. Full Tensor Gradiometry measures the directional gradients of the gravity field, allowing the interpreter to quantify subtle changes in density contrast associated with faulting, provided sufficient magnitude and offset are present. Full Tensor (Gravity) Gradiometry (FTG) data acquired over the Crescent Valley geothermal field in Nevada reveals previously unmapped faults and identifies their relationship to the regional structural framework. Intersections of faults are additionally identified through lineament extraction methodologies, which in turn contribute to the identification of favourable geothermal prospects. Additionally, 2D modelling of FTG and seismic reflection data can be used quantitatively to assess permeability of shallow sedimentary units.

Extension orientation is a key parameter in rift tectonics. While a clockwise rotation of the extension orientation is widely accepted for the southern Rio Grande rift and the Basin and Range province in the western U.S., in which direction(s) the northern Rio Grande rift opened has been controversial. Moreover, slip re-orientation, a phenomenon caused by local stress rotation on weak faults under a uni-directional regional extension, imposes a serious impact on kinematic interpretations. We investigate the presently oblique Tusas-Abiquiu segment of the Rio Grande rift in north-central New Mexico to assess the rifting kinematics with the presence of pre-existing crustal weaknesses. Fault-slip data show an overall NE-SW extension on the NW-trending Tusas border faults, and WNW-ESE extension on the NNE-trending Abiquiu border and internal faults. The slip vectors on the border faults show a wide variety of oblique-slip component, whereas those on the internal faults are predominantly pure dip-slip. The majority of our field measurements can be reproduced by the slip re-orientation model, although this model's setting does not satisfy regional geological records. Clockwise rotation of the extension axes from NE-SW to WNW-ESE can also explain our fault-slip data, as well as other structures in the rift. Tectonic reactivation during the extension also influenced the landscape evolution of the early rift. The Rio Grande rift shared similar extension orientation with the southern Basin and Range during the late Oligocene. The extensional strain field of the southwestern North American plate shows a progressive, time-transgressive rotational pattern, implying that plate boundary processes, instead of asthenospheric upwelling, governed the initiation and early evolution of this intracontinental rift.

The accretion of the Avalon and Meguma terranes to the Laurentian margin was a major event in the development of the Appalachian orogen. The Minas Fault Zone delineates the boundary between these terranes. A strongly lineated and foliated granite intrusion (Kelly Brook pluton) exposed along the West River St. Mary's Fault intruded into Meguma Supergroup metasedimentary rocks. Well-developed C-S fabrics characterize the pluton with muscovite aligned in the S fabric, and a shallow (~10°) westerly plunging quartz stretching lineation. New U-Pb (zircon, LA-ICP-MS) geochronological data yield a crystallization age of 375.0 ± 4.6 Ma for the Kelly Brook pluton that is indistinguishable from other Late-Devonian intrusive rocks in the Meguma terrane. Petrographic data for muscovite indicate that it grew prior to deformation. A 100% plateau 40Ar/39Ar age of 369.0 ± 1.2 Ma on a single muscovite grain constrains the time of cooling of the granite to approximately 450 to 420 °C. Apatite grains also demonstrate pre- to syn-deformational fabrics and yield a U-Pb (LA-ICP-MS) age of 361.2 ± 5.6 Ma indicating the temperature of the granite was still above 350 °C at this time. Earliest Tournaisian fossils in the unconformably overlying Horton Group strata indicate that the granite was exposed by ca. 359 Ma. Exhumation rates of the Kelly Brook pluton and the Meguma terrane from approximately 9.5–13.3 km depth from ca. 375 Ma to surface exposure at ca. 359 Ma are 0.06 to 0.08 cm yr−1. Estimates for the Upper Devonian regional geothermal gradient in the northern Meguma terrane are high between 39.5 °C km−1 and 67.8 °C km−1, gradients that are common in extensional tectonic environments such as the Basin and Range province. An apatite fission-track age of 215 ± 14 Ma indicates Mesozoic reburial and reheating of the granite prior to opening of the Atlantic Ocean.

International audience; Breaking the lithosphere in extension without exceeding the driving far-field forces available on Earth is a tough quantitative modeling problem. One can tear it apart by propagation of an existing oceanic basin or weakness zone or one must assist rifting with magmatic processes, which drop the effective stress and weakens locally the lithosphere. While previous 3D models have demonstrated that non-cylindrical plumes produce almost cylindrical rift structures in a lithosphere under slight far-field loading, our contribution goes one step further by producing models of complete continental break-up. We investigate in details how the rheological stratification of the continental lithosphere interacting with active mantle plume influences the geometry and dynamics of rifting to continental break-up in 3D. We find that, irrespective of the rheological stratification, a plume-induced rifting process always occurs in two stages: an early crustal rifting stage and a late lithospheric necking (breakup) stage. In case of a rheologically decoupled lithosphere, initial brittle deformation is concentrated in the upper crust and strongly localized due to compensating ductile flow of lower-crustal material (core complex extension mode). On the contrary, rheological coupling between upper crust and lithospheric mantle results in highly distributed brittle deformation in the crust above mantle plume head (wide rift mode). Both core complex-like and wide rifting are followed by an abrupt transition to narrow rift stage when a localized ascent of mantle plume material focuses high strain along faults zones breaking through the entire lithosphere. The Main Ethiopian Rift, the Basin and Range province, and the East Shetland Basin may be natural examples of regions that have passed through these two stages of extension. Across-strike and along-strike asymmetry of break-up patterns arising spontaneously within initially symmetrical and laterally homogenous environment seems to be an intrinsic characteristic of plume-induced rifting.

Formation and evolution of the Pannonian Basin as part of the Mediterranean region was accompanied by eruptions of compositionally diverse magmas during the Neogene to Quaternary. The long-lasting magmatic activity began with some of the most voluminous silicic eruptions in Europe for the last 20 Myr. This paper describes the eruption chronology of this volcanic activity using new, high-quality zircon U-Pb dates, and provides the first estimates on the volume and areal distribution of the volcanic products, characterizes the magma composition and discusses the silicic magmatism in a region, where the continental lithosphere underwent significant extension. A thorough zircon geochronological study was conducted on samples collected from ignimbrites and pyroclastic fall deposits exposed in the Bukkalja Volcanic Field. In-situ LA-ICP-MS analysis on zircon grains provided a fast, cheap and accurate method for such detailed geochronological work, where the volcanic products occur in scattered outcrops that often have poor stratigraphic constraints. The interpreted eruption ages were determined from the youngest zircon age population within the samples and this methodology was validated by new single zircon CA-ID-TIMS dates and sanidine Ar-Ar ages. The volcanism covers about 4 Myrs, from 18.2 Ma to 14.4 Ma and involved at least eight eruptive phases. Within this, four large eruption events were recognized at 14.358 ± 0.015 Ma (Harsany ignimbrite), 14.880 ± 0.014 Ma (Demjen ignimbrite), 16.816 ± 0.059 Ma (Bogacs unit) and 17.055 ± 0.024 Ma (Mango ignimbrite), which are found in areas across the Pannonian Basin and elsewhere in central Europe. Considering all the potential sources of silicic ash found in the Paratethys sub-basins around the Pannonian Basin and along the northern Alps and in central Italy, we suggest that they were probably derived almost exclusively from the Pannonian Basin as shown by zircon U-Pb dates presented in this paper and published comparable age data from several localities. The new eruption ages considerably refine the Early to Mid-Miocene chronostratigraphy of the Pannonian basin, where the extensive volcanoclastic horizons are used as important marker layers. The cumulative volume of the volcanic material formed during this 4 Myr long silicic volcanism is estimated to be >4000 km3, consistent with a significant ignimbrite flare-up event. Zircon crystallization ages indicate magma intrusions and formations of magma reservoirs in the continental crust for prolonged period, likely >1 Myr prior to the onset of the silicic volcanism accompanied with sporadic andesitic to dacitic volcanic activities. Mafic magmas were formed by melting of the thinned lithospheric mantle metasomatized previously by subduction-related fluids and emplaced at the crust-mantle boundary. They evolved further by assimilation and fractional crystallization to generate silicic magmas, which ascended into the pre-warmed upper crust and formed extended magma storage regions. Zircon Hf isotope and bulk rock Sr-Nd isotopic data indicate a sharp decrease of crustal and/or increase of asthenospheric mantle input after 16.2 Ma, suggesting that by this time the crust, and the lithospheric mantle was considerably thinned. This magmatism appears to have had a structural relationship to tectonic movements characterized by strike-slip and normal faults within the Mid-Hungarian Shear Zone as well as vertical axis block rotations, when the two microplates were juxtaposed. Our new zircon ages helped to refine the age of two major block-rotation phases associated with faulting. This volcanism shows many similarities with other rift-related silicic volcanic activities such as the Taupo Volcanic Zone (New Zealand) and the Basin and Range Province (USA).

Vesicular horizons are common surface horizons in arid and semi-arid lands and are characterized by the prevalence of nearly spherical, non-interconnected vesicular pores. They regulate surface hydrology in water-limited ecosystems, but are easily disrupted by human land-use. In order to interpret potential changes to vesicular horizon distribution and properties in response to land-use and climatic change, we need to know more about the current distribution of vesicular horizons and how they are formed. The objectives of this dissertation are to: 1) evaluate the distribution and properties of vesicular horizons across the western U.S., 2) determine how disturbance and recovery of vesicular horizons impacts their pore morphology and hydraulic properties, and 3) determine the influence of microbial respiration and thermal expansion of gases on vesicular pore formation. The methods used in this research include analysis of soil databases, examination of vesicular horizon recovery from disturbance in the field, creation of vesicular pores in the lab, and X-ray computed tomography analysis of soil pores. Our results show that vesicular horizons cover 156,000 km2 of the western U.S. and are best expressed in the cold deserts (i.e., Central and Northern Basin and Range) relative to the warm deserts (i.e., the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts). We observed that vesicular horizons recover rapidly from disturbance, both in artificially disturbed soils and in tire tracks, and that the rate of recovery is dependent on the frequency of precipitation during the recovery period. Disturbance does not severely alter the hydraulic properties of the vesicular horizon, but leads to a slight reduction in Ksat and Gardner's α. In the lab, we found evidence that both biotic and abiotic processes are involved in vesicular pore formation; however, the role of thermal expansion of gases in growth of the vesicular pores was not supported. Through this work we have found that vesicular horizons occur extensively throughout arid and semi-arid regions of the western U.S. Vesicular horizon formation and recovery from disturbance is dependent on climatic conditions (e.g., precipitation frequency, soil temperature), biological factors (e.g., shrub cover, microbial respiration), and their interactions.

The North China Craton (NCC) witnessed Mesozoic vigorous tectono-thermal activities and transition in the nature of deep lithosphere. These processes took place in three periods: (1) Late Paleozoic to Early Jurassic (~170 Ma); (2) Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (160–140 Ma); (3) Early Cretaceous to Cenozoic (140 Ma to present). The last two stages saw the lithospheric mantle replacement and coupled basin-mountain response within the North China Craton due to subduction and retreating of the Paleo-Pacific plate, and is the emphasis in this paper. In the first period, the subduction and closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean triggered the back-arc extension, syn-collisional compression and then post-collisional extension accompanied by ubiquitous magmatism along the northern margin of the NCC. Similar processes happened in the southern margin of the craton as the subduction of the Paleo-Tethys ocean and collision with the South China Block. These processes had caused the chemical modification and mechanical destruction of the cratonic margins. The margins could serve as conduits for the asthenosphere upwelling and had the priority for magmatism and deformation. The second period saw the closure of the Mongol-Okhotsk ocean and the shear deformation and magmatism induced by the drifting of the Paleo-Pacific slab. The former led to two pulse of N-S trending compression (Episodes A and B of the Yanshan Movement) and thus the pre-existing continental marginal basins were disintegrated into sporadically basin and range province by the Mesozoic magmatic plutons and NE-SW trending faults. With the anticlockwise rotation of the Paleo-Pacific moving direction, the subduction-related magmatism migrated into the inner part of the craton and the Tanlu fault became normal fault from a sinistral one. The NCC thus turned into a back-arc extension setting at the end of this period. In the third period, the refractory subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) was firstly remarkably eroded and thinned by the subduction-induced asthenospheric upwelling, especially those beneath the weak zones (i.e., cratonic margins and the lithospheric Tanlu fault zone). Then a slightly lithospheric thickening occurred when the upwelled asthenosphere got cool and transformed to be lithospheric mantle accreted (~125 Ma) beneath the thinned SCLM. Besides, the magmatism continuously moved southeastward and the extensional deformations preferentially developed in weak zones, which include the Early Cenozoic normal fault transformed from the Jurassic thrust in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt, the crustal detachment and the subsidence of Bohai basin caused by the continuous normal strike slip of the Tanlu fault, the Cenozoic graben basins originated from the fault depression in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt, the Bohai Basin and the Sulu Orogenic belt. With small block size, inner lithospheric weak zones and the surrounding subductions/collisions, the Mesozoic NCC was characterized by (1) lithospheric thinning and crustal detachment triggered by the subduction-induced asthenospheric upwelling. Local crustal contraction and orogenesis appeared in the Trans-North Orogenic Belt coupled with the crustal detachment; (2) then upwelled asthenosphere got cool to be newly-accreted lithospheric mantle and crustal grabens and basin subsidence happened, as a result of the subduction zone retreating. Therefore, the subduction and retreating of the western Pacific plate is the outside dynamics which resulted in mantle replacement and coupled basin-mountain respond within the North China Craton. We consider that the Mesozoic decratonization of the North China Craton, or the Yanshan Movement, is a comprehensive consequence of complex geological processes proceeding surrounding and within craton, involving both the deep lithospheric mantle and shallow continental crust.

The spread of grasslands in the Miocene and of C4 grasses in the late Miocene-Pliocene represents a major development in terrestrial plant evolution that affected the climate system and faunal evolution. The macrofossil record of grasses is sparse, likely due to the limited preservation potential of grasses. Diagnosis of the C3 or C4 photosynthetic pathway depends on preservation of both cellular structures and organic carbon for isotope analysis. Here we analyze the anatomical and isotopic composition of newly-collected grass fossils from the Dove Spring Formation, Red Rock Canyon State Park, California, USA, located in the El Paso Basin on the western side of the Basin and Range Province, a site previously identified as one of the earliest known C4 grass fossil bearing localities. We analyzed the anatomical and geochemical characteristics of these new grass fossils dated to 12.01–12.15 Ma. The fossils analyzed in this study include grass shoots and in cross-section display anatomy indicative of the C3 photosynthetic pathway. We isolated organic carbon from the stem fossils and determined the carbon isotopic composition to be − 24.8 ± 0.5‰. Together, the anatomical and geochemical analyses confirm that these plants used the C3 photosynthetic pathway. Our findings are consistent with dietary evidence based on tooth enamel from grazing mammals of available C3 resources in the same sections. These newly reported Miocene-age C3 grass fossils contribute to a sparse macrofossil record of grass evolution. Overall, paleoecological reconstructions at this site indicate more humid conditions during the Miocene compared to the modern Mojave Desert with C3 grasses and diverse grazing mammals.

Pluvial lake deposits in the Basin and Range province have long been exploited for records of hydrologic and climatic change. To obtain the most accurate reconstructions, a thorough understanding of the geomorphic evolution of such lake basins must be grounded in field stratigraphy and mapping, which are often lacking or are not well integrated with core studies. We conducted extensive stratigraphic investigation, mapping, and dating of exposed strata in the Lake Manix basin, former terminus of the Mojave River, California, during the Pleistocene to provide such a background and to supplement interpretations from a 45-m-long core. In this paper, we emphasize the geomorphic and tectonic processes that shaped the evolution of the Manix basin after the arrival of the Mojave River in the early-middle Pleistocene. The main processes include (1) sedimentary infilling of the lake basin, (2) interaction among the subbasins as controlled by internal sills and sill failures, (3) tectonics, and (4) climate change. From about 500 to 190 ka, Lake Manix was confined to its western subbasins, and fluctuated in response to climate change and perhaps to brief diversions of the river into the upstream Harper Lake basin. During this time, about 24 m of sediment accumulated near the confluence of the Mojave River and Manix Wash, and a 15-km-long clastic wedge built into the western basins, gradually filling the accommodation space. Two basin-integration events subsequently occurred, both caused by failure of sills that lay on sheared deposits along the Manix fault zone. When Lake Manix rose at the onset of glacial marine isotope stage 6, the sill on the south flank of Buwalda Ridge failed and triggered a catastrophic flood that entered the new, lower elevation, previously endorheic Afton subbasin. Subsequent lake-level changes affected both subbasins, but the thickest deposits after the flood are preserved in the Afton subbasin. The area upstream of Buwalda Ridge was only submerged during relatively high lake levels. Thus, sediment records interpreted from the core site and nearby outcrops in part reflect a geomorphic event (basin integration) rather than climatic conditions. The sill of Lake Manix after the integration event lay at the northeast end of the Afton subbasin, athwart strands of the Manix fault zone. At about 25 ka, this eastern sill was rapidly incised, and the river advanced to terminate in Lake Mojave in the Soda and Silver Lake basins. Recognition and dating of integration events, common for lake-river interactions in active tectonic settings, provide important context for interpreting paleoclimate records from sediments and provide temporal and spatial constraints on the biogeography of aquatic species.

Rivers are key elements of the landscape sensitive to changes in the rate of rock uplift. For the case where rock uplift is rapid, rivers experience a drop of their base-level leading to the formation of a knickpoint that propagates through the fluvial network. Such response is expected in extensional settings where rivers incise across the fault scarp direction. The NW portion of the state of Sonora (NW Mexico), belongs to the Basin and Range province where the extensional activity produced the arrangement of mountain ranges with NNW to SSE orientation. The extension started in the Late Oligocene and continued in the Miocene; however, when the landscape responded to the tectonic activity across the river basin remains unknown. The basin morphometry and knickpoint propagation ages are used to explore evidence of the first extensional activity traced back from the modern landscape of the Sonora river basin (SRB). The results of basins morphometric analysis indicate that the landscape steepness is high at the northeastern, central and southern portion of the SRB. Such trend is in agreement with the estimated ages of knickpoint retreat that range from ~19 to ~10 Ma. The results obtained in this study indicate that the landscape of the SRB has been affected by many phases of tectonic events, probably occurred in the Pliocene and Quaternary, and the landscape has not reached the equilibrium.

The origin of late Cenozoic intraplate volcanism over the western United States is debated. One important reason is the lack of a clear understanding of the mantle dynamics during this volcanic history. Here we reconstruct the mantle thermal states beneath North America since 20 million years ago using a hybrid inverse geodynamic model with data assimilation. The model simultaneously satisfies the past subduction kinematics, present mantle tomographic image and the volcanic history. We find that volcanism in both the Yellowstone volcanic province and the Basin and Range province corresponds to a similar eastward-intruding mantle derived from beneath the Pacific Ocean and driven mostly by the sinking Farallon slab below the central-eastern United States. The hot mantle that forms the Columbia River flood basalt and subsequent Yellowstone–Newberry hotspot tracks first enters the western United States through tears within the Juan de Fuca slab. Subsequent coexistence of the westward asthenospheric flow above the retreating Juan de Fuca slab and eastward-propagating mantle beyond the back-arc region reproduces the bifurcating hotspot chains. A similar but weaker heat source intrudes below the Basin and Range around the southern edge of the slab, and can explain the diffuse basaltic volcanism in this region. According to our models, the putative Yellowstone plume contributes little to the formation of the Yellowstone volcanic province. Volcanism in the western US may result from warm oceanic mantle beneath the Pacific Ocean being drawn eastwards by mantle flow induced by the sinking of Farallon slabs, according to numerical model simulations.

The Gulf of California has a long tectonic history. Before the subduction of the Guadalupe and Magdalena plates ceased, extension of the Gulf began to the east, at the Basin and Range province. Later, it was focused west of the Sierra Madre Occidental and the opening of the Gulf started. Currently, the Gulf rifting has different characteristics to the north than to the south. In this study, we analyze the lithosphere thickness in the Gulf of California region by means of P -wave and S -wave receiver functions. We grouped our lithosphere-thickness estimates into five froups: 1) North of the Gulf, with a thin lithosphere (~ 50 km) related to the extension observed in the Salton Through region; 2) the northwestern part of Baja California, with a thicker lithosphere (~ 80 km), thinning towards the Gulf due to the extension and opening processes (~ 65 km); 3) central Baja California, with no converted phase corresponding to the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary but evidence of the presence of a slab remnant; 4) the southern Baja California peninsula, showing a shallow lithosphere-astenosphere boundary (LAB) (

Degassing of carbon monoxide (CO), which plays a significant role in the contribution of deep carbon to the atmosphere, commonly occurs within active fault zones. CO degassing from soil to the atmosphere in the Basin and Range province, west of Beijing (BRPB), China, was investigated by in-situ field measurements in the active fault zones. The measured concentrations of CO in soil gas in the BRPB ranged from 0.29 × 10 −6 to 1.1 × 10 −6 with a mean value of 0.6 × 10 −6 , which is approximately twice as large as that in the atmosphere. Net fluxes of CO degassing ranged from −48.6 mg m −2 d −1 to 12.03 mg m −2 d −1 . The diffusion of CO from soil to the atmosphere in the BRPB was estimated to be at least 7.6 × 10 3 ton/a, which is comparable to the corresponding result of about 1.2 × 10 4 ton/a for CO 2 . CO concentrations were spatially heterogeneous with clearly higher concentrations along the NE-SW trending in the BRPB. These elevated values of CO concentrations were also coincident with the region with low-velocity and high conductivity in deep mantle, and high Poisson’s ratio in the crust, thereby suggesting that CO degassing from the soil might be linked to upwelling of the asthenospheric mantle. Other sources of CO in the soil gas are suggested to be dominated by chemical reactions between deep fluids and carbonate minerals (e.g., dolomite, limestone, and siderite) in country rocks. Biogenic processes may also contribute to the CO in soil gas. The spatial distribution patterns of CO concentrations are coincident with the stress field, suggesting that the concentrations of CO could be a potential indicator for crustal stress field and, hence is potential useful for earthquake monitoring in the BRPB.

One highly disputed topic about the Jurassic igneous rocks in the eastern South China Block (SCB) is whether they were products of the Pacific plate subduction or the intra-continental extension of the SCB. The early Jurassic mafic rocks, which are regarded as important tracers for the mantle nature, geodynamic processes and tectonic setting, are of great importance to solve this controversy. This paper presents the detailed zircon U-Pb geochronological, elemental geochemical and Sr-Nd-Hf isotopic data for the Xialan gabbroic intrusion from the Eastern Nanling Range. SIMS zircon U-Pb dating results for olivine gabbro and hornblende gabbro yield weighted mean 206 Pb/ 238 U ages of 190.6 ± 1.3 Ma and 196.0 ± 2.7 Ma, respectively. Olivine gabbros are high in MgO, Mg-numbers and CaO and low in SiO 2 and depleted in LILEs and LREEs. They have significant Ba, Sr and Eu positive anomalies with e Nd (t) of +0.8 - +2.9, suggestive of their origination from an ancient lithospheric source. Hornblende gabbros have a wide compositional range of SiO 2 , MgO, Cr and Ni and are characterized by enrichment in LILEs and LREEs and insignificantly negative Nb-Ta anomalies, along with positive e Nd (t) values ranging from +1.7 to +6.2 and zircon e Hf (t) values from +9.7 to +12.7, indicative of their origination from the asthenosphere-lithosphere interaction. The estimated mantle potential temperature (1341–1407 °C) of hornblende gabbros is similar to that of the western Basin and Range Province (1350–1450 °C). In combination with the E-W-trending early Jurassic rock-association in the Nanling Range, it is herein proposed that the early Jurassic igneous rocks most likely formed in an intra-continental extension setting in response to the asthenospheric upwelling.

We derive surface velocities from GPS sites in the interior Northwest U.S. relative to a fixed North American reference frame to investigate surface tectonic kinematics from the Snake River Plain (SRP) to the Canadian border. The Centennial Tectonic Belt (CTB) on the northern margin of the SRP exhibits west-directed extensional velocity gradients and strain distributions similar to the main Basin and Range Province (BRP) suggesting that the CTB is part of the BRP. North of the CTB, however, the vergence of velocities relative to North America switches from westward to eastward along with a concomitant rotation of the principal stress axes based on available seismic focal mechanisms, revealing paired extension in the northern Rockies and shortening across the Rocky Mountain Front. This change in orientation of surface velocities suggests that the change in the boundary conditions on the western margin of North America influences the direction of gravitational collapse of Laramide thickened crust. Throughout the study region, fault slip rate estimates calculated from the new geodetic velocity field are consistently larger than previously reported fault slip rates determined from limited geomorphic and paleoseismic studies.

We use new and existing data to compile a record of ∼18 latest Quaternary large-magnitude surface-rupturing earthquakes on 7 fault zones in the northwestern Basin and Range Province of northwestern Nevada and northeastern California. The most recent earthquake on all faults postdates the ca. 18–15 ka last glacial highstand of pluvial Lake Lahontan and other pluvial lakes in the region. These lacustrine data provide a window in which we calculate latest Quaternary vertical slip rates and compare them with rates of modern deformation in a global positioning system (GPS) transect spanning the region. Average vertical slip rates on these fault zones range from 0.1 to 0.8 mm/yr and total ∼2 mm/yr across a 265-km-wide transect from near Paradise Valley, Nevada, to the Warner Mountains in California. We converted vertical slip rates to horizontal extension rates using fault dips of 30°–60°, and then compared the extension rates to GPS-derived rates of modern (last 7–9 yr) deformation. Our preferred fault dip values (45°–55°) yield estimated long-term extension rates (1.3–1.9 mm/yr) that underestimate our modern rate (2.4 mm/yr) by ∼21%–46%. The most likely sources of this underestimate are geologically unrecognizable deformation from moderate-sized earthquakes and unaccounted-­for coseismic off-fault deformation from large surface-rupturing earthquakes. However, fault dip values of ≤40° yield long-term rates comparable to or greater than modern rates, so an alternative explanation is that fault dips are closer to 40° than our preferred values. We speculate that the large component of right-lateral shear apparent in the GPS signal is partitioned on faults with primary strike-slip displacement, such as the Long Valley fault zone, and as not easily detected oblique slip on favorably oriented normal faults in the region.