Earth Sciences Commons^™

Lithofacies Control In Detrital Zircon Provenance Studies: Insights From The Cretaceous Methow Basin, Southern Canadian Cordillera, Kathleen Surpless, J. Mahoney, Joseph Wooden, Michael Mcwilliams

Kathleen D. Surpless

High-frequency sampling for detrital zircon analysis can provide a detailed record of fine-scale basin evolution by revealing the temporal and spatial variability of detrital zircon ages within clastic sedimentary successions. This investigation employed detailed sampling of two sedimentary successions in the Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin of the southern Canadian Cordillera to characterize the heterogeneity of detrital zircon signatures within single lithofacies and assess the applicability of detrital zircon analysis in distinguishing fine-scale provenance changes not apparent in lithologic analysis of the strata. The Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin contains two distinct stratigraphic sequences of middle Albian to Santonian clastic sedimentary rocks: submarine-fan deposits of the …