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1. Late Jurassic paleogeography of the U.S. Cordillera from detrital zircon age and hafnium analysis of the Galice Formation, Klamath Mountains, Oregon and California, USA

   https://doi.org/10.1130/B36810.1  

   Surpless, Kathleen D.; Alford, Ryan W.; Barnes, Calvin; Yoshinobu, Aaron; Weis, Natalee E. (August 2023, Geological Society of America Bulletin)

   The Upper Jurassic Galice Formation, a metasedimentary unit in the Western Klamath Mountains, formed within an intra-arc basin prior to and during the Nevadan orogeny. New detrital zircon U-Pb age analyses (N = 11; n = 2792) yield maximum depositional ages (MDA) ranging from ca. 160 Ma to 151 Ma, which span Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian time and overlap Nevadan contractional deformation that began by ca. 157 Ma. Zircon ages indicate a significant North American continental provenance component that is consistent with tectonic models placing the Western Klamath terrane on the continental margin in Late Jurassic time. Hf isotopic analysis of Mesozoic detrital zircon (n = 603) from Galice samples reveals wide-ranging εHf values for Jurassic and Triassic grains, many of which cannot be explained by a proximal source in the Klamath Mountains, thus indicating a complex provenance. New U-Pb ages and Hf data from Jurassic plutons within the Klamath Mountains match some of the Galice Formation detrital zircon, but these data cannot account for the most non-radiogenic Jurassic detrital grains. In fact, the in situ Cordilleran arc record does not provide a clear match for the wide-ranging isotopic signature of Triassic and Jurassic grains. When compiled, Galice samples indicate sources in the Sierra Nevada pre-batholithic framework and retroarc region, older Klamath terranes, and possibly overlap strata from the Blue Mountains and the Insular superterrane. Detrital zircon age spectra from strata of the Upper Jurassic Great Valley Group and Mariposa Formation contain similar age modes, which suggests shared sediment sources. Inferred Galice provenance within the Klamath Mountains and more distal sources suggest that the Galice basin received siliciclastic turbidites fed by rivers that traversed the Klamath-Sierran arc from headwaters in the retroarc region. Thus, the Galice Formation contains a record of active Jurassic magmatism in the continental arc, with significant detrital input from continental sediment sources within and east of the active arc. These westward-flowing river systems remained active throughout the shift in Cordilleran arc tectonics from a transtensional system to the Nevadan contractional system, which is characterized by sediment sourced in uplifts within and east of the arc and the thrusting of older Galice sediments beneath older Klamath terranes to the east. 

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2. Zircon U-Pb data for Amundsen Sea Embayment samples and compilation of West Antarctic and Transantarctic Mountain literature zircon U-Pb data

   https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17193289  

   Marschalek, James; Thomson, Stuart (October 2025, Zenodo)

   {"Abstract":["This dataset consists of detrital zircon U-Pb data from samples from the Amundsen Sea Embayment. The data are a product of the publication: "Reconstructing Eocene Antarctic river drainage from provenance analysis of Amundsen Sea Embayment sediments".\n\nIncluded are data from three Holocene sediment samples strategically located around the embayment to help characterise the detritus currently being eroded and deposited in the Amundsen Sea. Samples comprise of locations proximal to Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier, with a further sample to the north of Thwaites Glacier. A fourth sample consists of Cretaceous mudstone from a drill core from site PS104_20-2 in the Amundsen Sea Embayment.\n\nA second file contains a compilation of selected detrital zircon U-Pb dates from potential source areas around West Antarctica. These include the sedimentary rocks of the Swanson Formation and Ellsworth-Whitmore Mountains, as well as all published West Antarctic subglacial till data. Data from moraines in the Transantarctic Mountains are also included."]} 

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3. Detrital zircon geochronology and provenance of the Middle to Late Jurassic Paradox Basin and Central Colorado trough: Paleogeographic implications for southwestern Laurentia

   https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02264.1  

   Ejembi, John I.; Potter-McIntyre, Sally L.; Sharman, Glenn R.; Smith, Tyson M.; Saylor, Joel E.; Hatfield, Kendall; Ferré, Eric C. (July 2021, Geosphere)

   Abstract Middle to Upper Jurassic strata in the Paradox Basin and Central Colorado trough (CCT; southwestern United States) record a pronounced change in sediment dispersal from dominantly aeolian deposition with an Appalachian source (Entrada Sandstone) to dominantly fluvial deposition with a source in the Mogollon and/or Sevier orogenic highlands (Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation). An enigmatic abundance of Cambrian (ca. 527–519 Ma) grains at this provenance transition in the CCT at Escalante Canyon, Colorado, was recently suggested to reflect a local sediment source from the Ancestral Front Range, despite previous interpretations that local basement uplifts were largely buried by Middle to Late Jurassic time. This study aims to delineate spatial and temporal patterns in provenance of these Jurassic sandstones containing Cambrian grains within the Paradox Basin and CCT using sandstone petrography, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, and detrital zircon trace elemental and rare-earth elemental (REE) geochemistry. We report 7887 new U-Pb detrital zircon analyses from 31 sandstone samples collected within seven transects in western Colorado and eastern Utah. Three clusters of zircon ages are consistently present (1.53–1.3 Ga, 1.3–0.9 Ga, and 500–300 Ma) that are interpreted to reflect sources associated with the Appalachian orogen in southeastern Laurentia (mid-continent, Grenville, Appalachian, and peri-Gondwanan terranes). Ca. 540–500 Ma zircon grains are anomalously abundant locally in the uppermost Entrada Sandstone and Wanakah Formation but are either lacking or present in small fractions in the overlying Salt Wash and Tidwell Members of the Morrison Formation. A comparison of zircon REE geochemistry between Cambrian detrital zircon and igneous zircon from potential sources shows that these 540–500 Ma detrital zircon are primarily magmatic. Although variability in both detrital and igneous REE concentrations precludes definitive identification of provenance, several considerations suggest that distal sources from the Cambrian granitic and rhyolitic provinces of the Southern Oklahoma aulacogen is also likely, in addition to a proximal source identified in the McClure Mountain syenite of the Wet Mountains, Colorado. The abundance of Cambrian grains in samples from the central CCT, particularly in the Entrada Sandstone and Wanakah Formation, suggests northwesterly sediment transport within the CCT, with sediment sourced from Ancestral Rocky Mountains uplifts of the southern Wet Mountains and/or Amarillo-Wichita Mountains in southwestern Oklahoma. The lack of Cambrian grains within the Paradox Basin suggests that the Uncompahgre uplift (southwestern Colorado) acted as a barrier to sediment transport from the CCT. 

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4. Detrital zircon geochronology and provenance of glaciogenic strata of the Middle Carboniferous San Eduardo Formation, Calingasta-Uspallata Basin, NW Argentina

   https://doi.org/10.1130/abs/2019AM-337940  

   Malone, J. E. (September 2019, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs)

   The Calingasta-Uspallata Basin preserves a near continuous sequence of glaciomarine deposition from the middle to late Carboniferous, represented by five separate formations. Correlation between these formations have been achieved using index marine invertebrates, which also provides some implications for max-depositional ages. However, no isotopic dating analyses have been sought in this basin to further constrain the age of deposition or provide a source of provenance for sediments. The San Eduardo formation near the El Leoncito Astronomical Complex, San Juan Province, Argentina, was deposited within the Calingasta—Upsallata Basin on the western margin of the Proto-precordillera during the late Mississippian to early Pennsylvanian. This succession preserves a complete sequence of proximal glaciomarine, nearshore, and fluvial systems deposited at the beginning of the late Paleozoic ice age. Samples were collected from various stages throughout the sequence for detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology to determine sediment provenance as a way of isolating different glacier sources. Results indicate multiple stages of glaciation, with at least three distinct source areas. The lowermost stage includes locally sourced basement and recycled underlying Silurian, represented by similar Famatinian (500-460 mya) and Grenville peaks (1250-1000 mya) peaks, where the Grenville source likely originating from the Western Sierras Pampeans, which would represent a breaching of the Proto-precordillera from the east. The middle stage shows a population distinct unto itself, with a peak during the Mississippian (330-360 mya). A volcanic island arc was situated along the Andean margin during the late Paleozoic, likely resulting in the influx of Carboniferous aged volcanic sediments. The lower most stage shows relations based on K-S results to formations within the Paganzo basin to the northeast, likely serving as the outwash of these distant glaciers through braided fluvial systems. This study will expand upon current chronologic knowledge within the Calingasta-Uspallata basin and will be supported by sandstone petrology and mineralogic composition, pebble counts and composition of dropstones. 

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5. A lithofacies analysis of a South Polar glaciation in the Early Permian: Pagoda Formation, Shackleton Glacier region, Antarctica

   https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2021.004  

   Ives, Libby R.W.; Isbell, John L. (June 2021, Journal of Sedimentary Research)

   ABSTRACT The currently favored hypothesis for Late Paleozoic Ice Age glaciations is that multiple ice centers were distributed across Gondwana and that these ice centers grew and shank asynchronously. Recent work has suggested that the Transantarctic Basin has glaciogenic deposits and erosional features from two different ice centers, one centered on the Antarctic Craton and another located over Marie Byrd Land. To work towards an understanding of LPIA glaciation that can be tied to global trends, these successions must be understood on a local level before they can be correlated to basinal, regional, or global patterns. This study evaluates the sedimentology, stratigraphy, and flow directions of the glaciogenic, Asselian–Sakmarian (Early Permian) Pagoda Formation from four localities in the Shackleton Glacier region of the Transantarctic Basin to characterize Late Paleozoic Ice Age glaciation in a South Polar, basin-marginal setting. These analyses show that the massive, sandy, clast-poor diamictites of the Pagoda Fm were deposited in a basin-marginal subaqueous setting through a variety of glaciogenic and glacially influenced mechanisms in a depositional environment with depths below normal wave base. Current-transported sands and stratified diamictites that occur at the top of the Pagoda Fm were deposited as part of grounding-line fan systems. Up to at least 100 m of topographic relief on the erosional surface underlying the Pagoda Fm strongly influenced the thickness and transport directions in the Pagoda Fm. Uniform subglacial striae orientations across 100 m of paleotopographic relief suggest that the glacier was significantly thick to “overtop” the paleotopography in the Shackleton Glacier region. This pattern suggests that the glacier was likely not alpine, but rather an ice cap or ice sheet. The greater part of the Pagoda Fm in the Shackleton Glacier region was deposited during a single retreat phase. This retreat phase is represented by a single glacial depositional sequence that is characteristic of a glacier with a temperate or mild subpolar thermal regime and significant meltwater discharge. The position of the glacier margin likely experienced minor fluctuations (readvances) during this retreat. Though the sediment in the Shackleton Glacier region was deposited during a single glacier retreat phase, evidence from this study does not preclude earlier or later glacier advance–retreat cycles preserved elsewhere in the basin. Ice flow directions indicate that the glacier responsible for this sedimentation was likely flowing off of an upland on the side of the Transantarctic Basin closer to the Panthalassan–Gondwanide margin (Marie Byrd Land), which supports the hypothesis that two different ice centers contributed glaciogenic sediments to the Transantarctic Basin. Together, these observations and interpretations provide a detailed local description of Asselian–Sakmarian glaciation in a South Polar setting that can be used to understand larger-scale patterns of regional and global climate change during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. 

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