IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-40147-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Basin record of a Miocene lithosphere drip beneath the Colorado Plateau

Author

Listed:
  • John J. Y. He

    (University of Arizona)

  • Paul Kapp

    (University of Arizona)

Abstract

The sinking of gravitationally unstable lithosphere beneath high-elevation plateaus is proposed to be a key driver of their uplift. Numerical geodynamic models predict that lithosphere removal can lead to transient, dynamic topographic changes that could be preserved in the surface record, particularly in sedimentary deposits of lakes or playas that are subsequently inverted. However, few such examples have been documented. Here we show that the Miocene Bidahochi Basin, which was partially and intermittently filled by the Hopi Paleolake, preserves a record of the quasi-elliptical surface response to a viscous drip of lithosphere >100 km beneath the Colorado Plateau. New detrital zircon U-Pb, Lu-Hf, and trace-element data reveal systematic isotopic, geochemical, temperature and fO2 transitions in magmatism proximal to the basin. Integration of geophysical, geochemical, and geological evidence supports a spatially and temporally varying record of subsidence and uplift that is consistent with models of progressive dripping beneath plateaus with thick lithosphere. We demonstrate that dynamic topography at the scale of individual lithosphere drips can be recognized on the Colorado Plateau, despite the strength of its lithosphere.

Suggested Citation

  • John J. Y. He & Paul Kapp, 2023. "Basin record of a Miocene lithosphere drip beneath the Colorado Plateau," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-40147-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40147-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40147-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-40147-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Min Chen & Fenglin Niu & Jeroen Tromp & Adrian Lenardic & Cin-Ty A. Lee & Wenrong Cao & Julia Ribeiro, 2017. "Lithospheric foundering and underthrusting imaged beneath Tibet," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, August.
    2. George Zandt & Hersh Gilbert & Thomas J. Owens & Mihai Ducea & Jason Saleeby & Craig H. Jones, 2004. "Active foundering of a continental arc root beneath the southern Sierra Nevada in California," Nature, Nature, vol. 431(7004), pages 41-46, September.
    3. A. Levander & B. Schmandt & M. S. Miller & K. Liu & K. E. Karlstrom & R. S. Crow & C.-T. A. Lee & E. D. Humphreys, 2011. "Continuing Colorado plateau uplift by delamination-style convective lithospheric downwelling," Nature, Nature, vol. 472(7344), pages 461-465, April.
    4. Oğuz H. Göğüş & Russell N. Pysklywec & A. M. C. Şengör & Erkan Gün, 2017. "Drip tectonics and the enigmatic uplift of the Central Anatolian Plateau," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haijiang Zhang & Qing-Tian Lü & Xiao-Lei Wang & Shoucheng Han & Lijun Liu & Lei Gao & Rui Wang & Zeng-Qian Hou, 2023. "Seismically imaged lithospheric delamination and its controls on the Mesozoic Magmatic Province in South China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. A. Julia Andersen & Oguz Hakan Göğüş & Russell N. Pysklywec & Ebru Şengül Uluocak & Tasca Santimano, 2024. "Multistage lithospheric drips control active basin formation within an uplifting orogenic plateau," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Xiang-Chao Wang & Jin-Ting Wang & Chu-Han Zhang, 2023. "Deterministic full-scenario analysis for maximum credible earthquake hazards," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Bingfeng Zhang & Xuewei Bao & Yingkai Wu & Yixian Xu & Wencai Yang, 2023. "Southern Tibetan rifting since late Miocene enabled by basal shear of the underthrusting Indian lithosphere," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Matthijs A. Smit & Kira A. Musiyachenko & Jeroen Goumans, 2024. "Archaean continental crust formed from mafic cumulates," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    6. Sebastian Buntin & Irina M. Artemieva & Alireza Malehmir & Hans Thybo & Michal Malinowski & Karin Högdahl & Tomasz Janik & Stefan Buske, 2021. "Long-lived Paleoproterozoic eclogitic lower crust," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-40147-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.