Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Differential motion between upper crust and lithospheric mantle in the central Basin and Range

Nature Geoscience volume 4, pages 619–623 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Stretching of the continental crust in the Basin and Range, western USA1, has more than doubled the surface area of the central province2. But it is unknown whether stretching affects the entire column of lithosphere down to the convecting mantle, if deep extension occurs offset to the side, or if deeper layers are entirely decoupled from the upper crust3,4. The central Basin and Range province is unusual, compared with its northern and southern counterparts: extension began later1; volcanism was far less voluminous5; and the unique geochemistry of erupted basalts6,7,8,9,10,11 suggests a long-preserved mantle source. Here we use seismic data and isostatic calculations to map lithospheric thickness in the central Basin and Range. We identify an isolated root of ancient mantle lithosphere that is ∼125 km thick, providing geophysical confirmation of a strong, cold mantle previously inferred from geochemistry6,7,8. We suggest that the root caused the later onset of extension and prevented the eruption of voluminous volcanism at the surface. We infer that the root initially pulled away from the Colorado Plateau along with the crust, but then was left behind intact during extension across Death Valley to the Sierra Nevada. We conclude that the upper crust is now decoupled from and moving relative to the root.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Location of study area, topography and Moho depths.
Figure 2: Lack of isostatic compensation within the crust.
Figure 3: Mantle buoyancy and basalt geochemistry.
Figure 4: Tectonic history.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. McQuarrie, N. & Wernicke, B. P. An animated tectonic reconstruction of southwestern North America since 36 Ma. Geosphere 1, 147–172 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Snow, J. & Wernicke, B. Cenozoic tectonism in the Central Basin and Range: Magnitude, rate, and distribution of upper crustal strain. Am. J. Sci. 300, 659–719 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Jones, C. et al. Variations across and along a major continental rift—an interdisciplinary study of the Basin and Range province, western USA. Tectonophysics 213, 57–96 (1992).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Wernicke, B., Davis, J., Niemi, N., Luffi, P. & Bisnath, S. Active megadetachment beneath the western United States. J. Geophys. Res. 113, B11409 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Eaton, G. The Basin and Range province—origin and tectonic significance. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 10, 409–440 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. DePaolo, D. & Daley, E. Neodymium isotopes in basalts of the southwest Basin and Range and lithospheric thinning during continental extension. Chem. Geol. 169, 157–185 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Farmer, G. et al. Isotopic evidence on the structure and origin of subcontinental lithospheric mantle in southern Nevada. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 94, 7885–7898 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Asmerom, Y., Jacobsen, S. & Wernicke, B. Variations in magma source regions during large-scale continental extension, Death Valley region, western United States. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 125, 235–254 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Feuerbach, D., Smith, E., Walker, J. & Tangeman, J. The role of the mantle during crustal extension—constraints from geochemistry of volcanic rocks in the Lake Mead area, Nevada and Arizona. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 105, 1561–157 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Vaniman, D., Crowe, B. & Gladney, E. Petrology and geochemistry of hawaiite lavas from Crater Flat, Nevada. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 80, 341–357 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Rogers, N., Hawkesworth, C. & Ormerod, D. Late Cenozoic basaltic magmatism in the western Great Basin, California and Nevada. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 100, 10287–10301 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Saltus, R. & Thompson, G. Why is it downhill from Tonopah to Las Vegas? A case for mantle plume support of the high northern Basin and Range. Tectonics 14, 1235–1244 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Ligorria, J. & Ammon, C. Iterative deconvolution and receiver-function estimation. Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am. 89, 1395–1400 (1999).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Steinberger, B., Schmeling, H. & Marquart, G. Large-scale lithospheric stress field and topography induced by global mantle circulation. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 186, 75–91 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Christensen, N. & Mooney, W. Seismic velocity structure and composition of the continental-crust—a global view. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 100, 9761–9788 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lachenbruch, A. & Morgan, P. Continental extension, magmatism and elevation—formal relations and rules of thumb. Tectonophysics 174, 39–62 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Ghiorso, M., Hirschmann, M., Reiners, P. & Kress, V. The pMELTS: A revision of MELTS for improved calculation of phase relations and major element partitioning related to partial melting of the mantle to 3 GPa. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 3, 1030 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Workman, R. & Hart, S. Major and trace element composition of the depleted MORB mantle (DMM). Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 231, 53–72 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Wang, K., Plank, T., Walker, J. & Smith, E. A mantle melting profile across the Basin and Range, SW USA. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 107, 2017 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Biasi, G. P. Lithospheric evolution of the Pacific-North American Plate Boundary considered in three dimensions. Tectonophysics 464, 43–59 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Schmandt, B. & Humphreys, E. Seismic heterogeneity and small-scale convection in the southern California upper mantle. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 11, Q05004 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Yogodzinski, G., Naumann, T., Smith, E., Bradshaw, T. & Walker, J. Evolution of a mafic volcanic field in the central Great Basin, south central Nevada. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 101, 17425–17445 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Luffi, P., Saleeby, J. B., Lee, C-T. A. & Ducea, M. N. Lithospheric mantle duplex beneath the central Mojave Desert revealed by xenoliths from Dish Hill, California. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 114, B03202 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Guest, B., Niemi, N. & Wernicke, B. Stateline fault system: A new component of the Miocene-Quaternary Eastern California shear zone. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 119, 1337–1346 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Elkins-Tanton, L. T. Continental magmatism, volatile recycling, and a heterogeneous mantle caused by lithospheric gravitational instabilities. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 112, B03405 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Zandt, G. et al. Active foundering of a continental arc root beneath the southern Sierra Nevada in California. Nature 431, 41–46 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Lowry, A., Ribe, N. & Smith, R. Dynamic elevation of the Cordillera, western United States. J. Geophys. Res.-Solid Earth 105, 23371–23390 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Kistler, R. & Peterman, Z. Variations in Sr, Rb, K, Na, and initial Sr-87-Sr-86 in mesozoic granitic rocks and intruded wall rocks in Central California. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 84, 3489–3511 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Farmer, G. & DePaolo, D. Origin of Mesozoic and Tertiary granite in the western United States and implications for pre-Mesozoic crustal structure: 2. Nd and Sr isotopic studies of unmineralized and Cu-mineralized and Mo-mineralized granite in the Precambrian craton. J. Geophys. Res. 89, 141–160 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Coleman, D., Barth, A. & Wooden, J. Early to Middle Proterozoic construction of the Mojave province, southwestern United States. Gondwana Res. 5, 75–78 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank P. Luffi for providing density, entropy, and thermobarometry calculations; B. Schmandt for providing a tomographic model; G. L. Farmer for discussions; B. Wernicke for comments; A. Dean, M. Pettit, J. Ball and C. Vockrodt for assistance with data processing and plots; and the US National Science Foundation for support. A. Dean and M. Pettit were funded in part by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology’s summer internship program. Maps were produced with GMT.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA

    Vera Schulte-Pelkum, Anne Sheehan & Craig Jones

  2. Seismological Laboratory, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA

    Glenn Biasi

Authors
  1. Vera Schulte-Pelkum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Glenn Biasi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anne Sheehan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Craig Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

A.S. and G.B. initiated the seismic data exchange. G.B. contributed SGBDSN data and tomographic models. A.S. assisted with initial seismic data acquisition and analysis. C.J. pointed out the geographic correspondence between the isostatic results and basalt geochemistry and contributed the compilation of refraction experiment results. V.S-P. performed the seismic and isostatic analysis and wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vera Schulte-Pelkum.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Information (PDF 6858 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schulte-Pelkum, V., Biasi, G., Sheehan, A. et al. Differential motion between upper crust and lithospheric mantle in the central Basin and Range. Nature Geosci 4, 619–623 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1229

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1229

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing