Ediacaran-Ordovician magmatism and REE mineralization in the Wet Mountains, Colorado, USA: Implications for failed continental rifting

Tectonics
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Abstract

Structures associated with Ediacaran-Ordovician alkaline magmatism and the timing of rare earth element (REE) mineralization in the Wet Mountains, CO, were analyzed using field, geophysical, and U-Th-Pb isotope methods to interpret their tectonic setting in the context of previously proposed rift models. The Wet Mountains are known for thorium and REE mineralization associated with failed rift-related, Ediacaran-Ordovician alkaline intrusions and veins. Structural field data indicate that alkaline dikes and mineralized veins are controlled by a system of northwest-striking, high-angle faults and tension fractures formed in a 040°-directed extensional regime. Magnetic and surface expressions of Democrat Creek and McClure Mountain complexes show tectonic elongation toward ∼045°, consistent with NE-directed extension. Magnetic data also suggest the existence of a fourth, previously unrecognized mafic-ultramafic complex of inferred Cambrian age with a similar elongated orientation. Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) 208Pb/232Th analysis of low-uranium zircon from carbonatite dikes and in situ 206Pb/238U LA-ICP-MS analysis of monazite in mineralized dikes yielded 465 ± 18 Ma and 489 ± 33 Ma ages, respectively. These ages are consistent with the expected age based on slightly older, cross-cut syenite dikes and the hypothesized Ordovician end to failed rift-related magmatism. The Ediacaran-Ordovician age of alkaline magmatic rocks and the associated northeast-directed extension direction are similar to those of the along-strike, Ediacaran-Cambrian Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen. Therefore, the failed rift system in the Wet Mountains is interpreted to be a northwestern continuation of the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen with carbonatite magmatism and thorium/REE mineralization representing late intrusive phases.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Ediacaran-Ordovician magmatism and REE mineralization in the Wet Mountains, Colorado, USA: Implications for failed continental rifting
Series title Tectonics
DOI 10.1029/2022TC007674
Volume 42
Issue 4
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Contributing office(s) Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
Description e2022TC007674, 28 p.
Country United States
State Colorado
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