Laramide exhumation of the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming:

An apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology study

Peter D. Crowley Department of Geology, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002, USA
Peter W. Reiners* Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
91125, USA
Joanna M. Reuter Department of Geology, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota 55057, USA
Grant D. Kaye Department of Geology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903, USA

ABSTRACT The exhumation history of Laramide ranges has also been inferred
We report (U-Th)/He apatite ages from the crystalline core of from thermochronometry of rocks within the ranges (Lindsey et al.,
the Bighorn Mountains and compare the exhumation history de- 1986; Cerveny and Steidtmann, 1993; Omar et al., 1994). We measured
rived from those ages with the exhumation history determined (U-Th)/He apatite ages from the crystalline core of the Bighorn Moun-
from sedimentary rocks in the adjacent Powder River and Bighorn tains of northern Wyoming to define its exhumation history and to
basins. Our (U-Th)/He apatite ages range from 62 to 369 Ma and assess how well the exhumation history indicated by (U-Th)/He ther-
represent a pre-Laramide He partial retention zone that was de- mochronology matches the exhumation history derived from the sed-
formed and uplifted at ca. 65 6 5 Ma. The geometry of the He imentary records of the adjacent intermontane basins. Our ages provide
partial retention zone indicates that the basement in the Bighorn information on the timing, magnitude, and geometry of exhumation
Mountains is deformed into a doubly plunging anticline. The pres- and suggest that burial by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentation heat-
ervation of a pre-Laramide partial retention zone in the upper few ed most regions of currently exposed basement in the Bighorn Moun-
hundred meters of Precambrian basement indicates that in general, tains only to near the closure temperature for apatite (typically ;70
the temperature at the Cambrian unconformity did not exceed the 8C; Farley, 2000).
apatite He closure temperature. This is difficult to reconcile with
evidence from adjacent basins for thick sequences of sedimentary BIGHORN MOUNTAINS
rocks (3–4 km) prior to 65 Ma, and normal modern geothermal The Bighorn Mountains (Fig. 1) are one of the easternmost Lar-
gradients. Either the range was never deeply buried (,2–3 km), amide ranges. Precambrian crystalline rocks crop out over much of the
its geothermal gradient has been low (,20 8C) since at least the core of the range; the northern part of the range core is characterized
Mesozoic, or our apatites have higher (U-Th)/He closure temper- by 2.85 6 0.03 Ga granitoids and the southern part by 2.95 6 0.1 Ga
atures (;80–90 8C) than those measured for other apatites. (Arth et al., 1980) gneissic lithologies. Near the margins of the range,
these basement rocks are overlain by Cambrian through Tertiary sed-
Keywords: Bighorn Mountains, helium, U/Th, geochronology, exhu- imentary rocks that dip toward and beneath the adjacent Powder River
mation, dating. and Bighorn basins. Structurally, the Bighorn Mountains are a northwest-
trending, doubly plunging asymmetrical anticline with a steeper eastern
INTRODUCTION limb and a gentler western limb. The eastern flank of the range is
The Laramide Ranges of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana are bounded by a moderate-angle, west-dipping thrust system that places
dominant topographic features of the Rocky Mountain foreland. These Precambrian crystalline rocks onto the strata of the Powder River basin
ranges formed in the Cordilleran foreland from Late Cretaceous to
Eocene time (Dickinson et al., 1988; Hamilton, 1988; Bird, 1998) at
distances of more than 1000 km from an active plate margin, and they
have a basement-involved thick-skinned structural geometry (Gries,
1983; Brown, 1988) that is not common in the forelands of orogenic
belts.
The timing of deformation and formation of each Laramide range
is typically defined by the sedimentary record of the adjacent inter-
montane basin (Dickinson et al., 1988; Beck et al., 1988; Steidtmann,
1993). Evidence from Cretaceous rock suggests that prior to Laramide
deformation, the Rocky Mountain foreland was inundated by the Late
Cretaceous sea and was slowly subsiding (Merewether, 1996). As a
result of changes in sea level, subsidence, and sedimentation rate, the
Cretaceous shoreline repeatedly migrated across the foreland (Lille-
graven and Ostresh, 1990). Thrusting and formation of the Laramide
Ranges interrupted this sedimentation pattern, forming the intermon-
tane basins that are seen today. In each range, thrusting created both
structural and topographic relief along the newly created mountain
front at the same time that thrust loading drove further subsidence in
the intermontane basin. Erosional exhumation of the newly created
range changed the type of sediment delivered to the basin, producing
Figure 1. Location of U-Th/He ages and age-elevation transects from
a record of range exhumation in the basin fill. Bighorn Mountains. Structure contours indicate elevation (in me-
ters) of Cambrian unconformity. Youngest ages are interpreted to
*Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale Univer- represent time of Laramide deformation and unroofing (geology af-
sity, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. ter Love and Christianson, 1985).

q 2002 Geological Society of America. For permission to copy, contact Copyright Permissions, GSA, or [email protected].
Geology; January 2002; v. 30; no. 1; p. 27–30; 2 figures; Data Repository item 2002004. 27
(Blackstone, 1981; Stone, 1993). This thrust system accommodated
;10 km of shortening and produced nearly 10 km of structural relief
(Hoy and Ridgeway, 1997). The western flank of the range is largely
a gentle west-dipping homocline in which the crystalline rocks of the
Bighorns dip gently beneath strata of the Bighorn basin. However, in
the northern Bighorn Mountains, the western margin of the range is
marked by the moderate-angle, east-dipping Five Springs thrust fault
(Wise and Obi, 1992; Narr, 1993) that accommodates ,2 km of short-
ening and produces ,2 km of structural relief. The displacement on
the Five Springs thrust dies out to the south and is transferred to a
fold, the Shell Canyon monocline, before dying out.
There are ;2.8–3.9 km of Phanerozoic sedimentary rocks adja-
cent to the Bighorn Mountains in the Powder River and Bighorn basins,
;1.3–1.4 km of which are Cambrian through Jurassic shallow-marine
and terrestrial strata, and ;1.5–2.5 km of which are marine to terres-
trial Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (Darton, 1906; Blackstone, 1981;
Heasler and Hinckley, 1985). Thick sequences of Paleocene through
middle Eocene terrestrial clastic rocks are present near the margins of
the Bighorns (Seeland, 1992), implying exhumation of the range by
earliest Tertiary time.
The times of deformation and exhumation of the Bighorn Moun-
tains are defined by the sedimentary rocks in the adjacent Powder River
and Bighorn basins. Late Cretaceous isopachs (Lewis and Hotchkiss,
1981), strandlines (Lillegraven and Ostresh, 1990), and paleocurrent
directions (Connor, 1992) do not indicate the Bighorn Mountains as
either a sediment source or as a flexural load. However, by the early
to middle Paleocene, the depocenter of the Powder River basin (Lewis
and Hotchkiss, 1981; Beck et al., 1988) moved toward the Bighorn
Mountains, suggesting the emergence of the range as a flexural load
at that time. Similarly, early Paleocene changes in sandstone clast com-
position (Whipkey et al., 1991), sedimentary facies, drainage patterns
(Lillegraven and Ostresh, 1988), and paleocurrent directions (Connor,
1992) indicate the Bighorns as a clastic sedimentary source. Exhu-
mation of the Bighorn Mountains during the Paleocene and Eocene is
recorded by the clasts in channel-fill sandstones (Whipkey et al., 1991)
in the adjacent basins. These suggest stripping of Mesozoic sedimen-
tary rocks from the Bighorn Mountains by the late Paleocene and ex-
posure of the Precambrian basement by Eocene time. However, thick
Eocene orogenic clastic rocks are associated with, and cut by, faults
of the East Bighorn thrust system, suggesting a significant Eocene com-
ponent to the deformation (Hoy and Ridgeway, 1997) of the Bighorn
Mountains.

Figure 2. A: U-Th/He ages from Bighorn Mountains range from

(U-Th)/He AGES 62 to 369 Ma and overall correlate poorly with elevation. How-
(U-Th)/He ages were determined at the California Institute of ever, ages from individual elevation transects (B) do correlate
Technology for 29 samples of Archean granitoid and granitic gneiss positively with elevation. Slope of age-elevation correlation is
from five elevation transects spanning a total of 1.9 km of relief. The very low (~0.02 mm/yr) and represents fossil He partial reten-
tion zone. Ages correlate inversely with structural depth be-
relief in each of the five elevation transects is between 0.6 and 1.2 km.
neath basal Cambrian unconformity (C) and closely match dis-
Ages were determined for aliquots of five to ten inclusion-free apatite tribution expected from thermal models (solid line) for apatite
crystals. The dimensions of each crystal were measured to determine partial retention zone. Model shown represents 20 8C/km geo-
the alpha-ejection correction (Farley et al., 1996). Each aliquot was therm with 1.3 km of pre-Cretaceous subsidence and sedimen-
outgassed, and 4He abundance was determined by 3He isotope dilution tation, 1.5 km of Cretaceous subsidence and sedimentation,
and instantaneous exhumation at 65 Ma.
on a quadrupole mass spectrometer, following cryogenic purification.
After outgassing, samples were dissolved in doubly spiked (230Th,
235U) HNO , and U and Th abundances were determined by isotope with increasing elevation (Fig. 2B). Ages from one transect (Shell Can-
3
dilution inductively coupled plasma–mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). yon) vary widely and initially decrease and then increase with increas-
Apatite (U-Th)/He ages vary from 62 to 369 Ma1 (Fig. 2A); the ing elevation. The slope of the age-elevation correlations from the east
majority of the ages are younger than 90 Ma. Ages from four transects side, central, southern, and Five Springs transects is ;0.02 mm/yr.
(east side, central, southern, and Five Springs) increase systematically These age-elevation correlations either could be the result of very slow
(i.e., ;0.02 mm/yr) Cretaceous exhumation of the Bighorn Mountains
1GSA Data Repository Item 2002004, Bighorn apatite sample locations
or could represent fossil, pre-Laramide He partial retention zones. In-
and He ages, is available on request from Documents Secretary, GSA, P.O. Box
asmuch as the strata in the Powder River and Bighorn basins do not
9140, Boulder, CO 80301-9140, [email protected] or at www. support very slow Cretaceous exhumation of the Bighorn Mountains,
geosociety.org/pubs/ft2002.htm. we interpret the He age-elevation correlations as exhumed fossil partial

28 GEOLOGY, January 2002

retention zones. This would imply that exhumation of the Bighorn amide deformation. The ages correlate better with structural depth de-
Mountains occurred at some time after the youngest ages recorded by termined from a structure contour map that depicts both the basement
these fossil partial retention zones (ca. 65 6 5 Ma). and Cambrian unconformity folded into an asymmetrical doubly plung-
The interpretation that most of our apatite He ages represent long- ing anticline.
term partial He retention is supported by replicate analyses of aliquots, He diffusivity studies (Zeitler et al., 1987; Wolf et al., 1996; Far-
from the same samples, that show significant correlations between ley, 2000) indicate a shift from nearly quantitative He retention at tem-
crystal size and He (Reiners and Farley, 2001). Because the apatite peratures below ;40 8C to nearly complete diffusive loss at tempera-
diffusion domain size is the physical grain size (Farley, 2000), such tures above ;85 8C. Our ages require that the basement currently
large crystal-size–age correlations can only be produced by prolonged exposed in the Bighorn Mountains was not buried deeply enough to
residence in the apatite He partial retention zone. be heated to temperatures above the apatite He closure prior to Lar-
With the exception of Shell Canyon, there is a systematic increase amide exhumation. Estimates of 3–4 km thickness of pre-Tertiary sed-
in the average elevation of a given age (e.g., 75 Ma) within the age- imentary cover (Darton, 1906; Blackstone, 1981; Heasler and Hinck-
elevation correlation of the partial retention zone toward the central ley, 1985), combined with modern thermal gradients in the Bighorn
part of the range. The elevation at which 75 Ma ages are found in- and Powder River basins in the range of 22–32 8C/km (Heasler and
creases ;700 m between the east-side and central transects and an Hinckley, 1985; Naeser, 1992), imply preexhumation temperatures of
additional 250 m between the central and southern transects (Fig. 2B). ;76–140 8C. Thus, samples collected from near the Cambrian uncon-
The variation in elevation of the fossil partial retention zone reflects formity should have been near the base of the partial retention zone,
differences in the magnitude of post-Cretaceous exhumation; i.e., there if not below it, and the structurally deeper samples should have had
is more exhumation near the core of the range and less at its northern zero He ages just prior to Laramide exhumation. Our (U-Th)/He ages
and southern margins. These differences in the magnitude of exhu- require one or more of the following: (1) the pre-Tertiary thermal gra-
mation would correspond to a plunge of ;2.58 for the doubly plunging dient was significantly lower than it is today, (2) the pre-Tertiary sed-
north-northwest–south-southeast axis of the range. imentary cover over the core of the Bighorns was significantly thinner
A notable exception to the overall age-elevation trend is the Shell than it is along the flanks of the range, or (3) the closure temperature
Canyon transect. Despite some of the lowest elevations in the study, of apatite in the Bighorn basement rocks is considerably higher (80–
most of these samples are considerably older than the rest of the Big- 90 8C) than that of Durango apatite (Farley, 2000). Available data do
horns suite. These samples were collected from basement rock not not yet allow us to confidently rule out any of these possibilities as
more than ;300 m below the basal Cambrian unconformity; the lowest the explanation for the observed Bighorns partial retention zone.
and highest samples are closest to the unconformity. Overlying sedi- There is little evidence for a substantially thinner sedimentary
mentary rocks in this region form a large-scale west-dipping mono- cover over the pre-Laramide Bighorn Mountains. Assuming a minimal
cline. The distinctive trend of old-young-old ages with increasing el- preexhumation sedimentary thickness of 2.8 km, a geotherm of ,20
evation in this transect is consistent with the monoclinal structure of a 8C/km would be required to produce the temperatures ,;65 8C at the
folded fossil partial retention zone, in which ages correlate with depth top of the Precambrian crystalline section that are required to explain
below the unconformity, rather than with elevation. This suggests that the He ages. Given the relatively low thermal conductivity of the Cre-
the distribution of He ages throughout the range indicates the elevation taceous shales (Heasler and Hinckley, 1985), this gradient would in-
of the unconformity. dicate anomalously low pre-Laramide heat flow. It is also possible that
In order to test this hypothesis, a structure contour map was cre- He diffusivity in our apatite is slower than that reported for other spec-
ated of the basal Cambrian unconformity in the Bighorn Mountains imens. If this is correct, it is possible that the extremely old age and
(Fig. 1). The elevation of the unconformity was determined from its low-temperature thermal history of these rocks play a role. Both Wolf
surface location depicted on the bedrock geological map of Wyoming et al. (1996) and Farley (2000) noted irreversible changes in He dif-
(Love and Christianson, 1985), and its location in the subsurface was fusion in apatite at temperatures above ;265 8C; Farley interpreted
determined from the mapped locations and thicknesses of younger these as a possible reflection of the influence of radiation-damage–
units. Over the crest of the range, where Precambrian rocks were ex- induced structural defects. It is possible that in samples with long-term
posed, the elevation of the unconformity was assumed to be above but low-temperature histories such as the Bighorn apatites, this damage is
generally within a few hundred meters of the summits of the highest manifested as lower He diffusivity and higher closure temperature.
peaks. Our structure contour map is very similar to the basement map
of Blackstone (1993). From our structure contour map, the elevation CONCLUSIONS
of the Cambrian unconformity above each of our samples was esti- Our (U-Th)/He ages define a fossil pre-Laramide He partial reten-
mated and the structural depth of the sample beneath the unconformity tion zone and indicate that most of the basement exposed in the Big-
was determined. Our (U-Th)/He ages correlate fairly well with struc- horn Mountains has been colder than the apatite (U-Th)/He closure
tural depth (Fig. 2C). The youngest ages occur in samples collected temperature (;70 8C) for all of Phanerozoic time. The youngest ages
from depths greater than 500 m, and the ages become progressively in the partial retention zone suggest exhumation of the range at 65 6
older approaching the Cambrian unconformity. Furthermore, the slope 5 Ma. Variations in the magnitude of exhumation can be inferred from
of the age-depth correlation becomes progressively shallower near the differences in the elevation of any given age from the partial retention
unconformity. The general shape of the age–structural depth correlation zone. These differences support a structural model for the Bighorn
in Figure 2C is very similar to that of He partial retention zones ob- Mountains in which the basement is folded along with its sedimentary
served in modern boreholes (House et al., 1999; Warnock et al., 1997). cover. The presence of a fossil apatite He partial retention zone in the
Bighorns basement to depths of 0.5–1.0 km below the Cambrian un-
IMPLICATIONS OF APATITE (U-Th)/He conformity requires one or more of the following. (1) Pre-Laramide
THERMOCHRONOLOGY sedimentary cover over the basement was thinner than suggested by
Our apatite He ages help define not only the timing but also the evidence from adjacent basins. (2) The geothermal gradient was ex-
geometry of basement exhumation and deformation in the Bighorn tremely low (,20 8C/km). (3) Bighorn Mountains apatites have lower
Mountains. Overall, He ages correlate poorly with modern elevation, He diffusivity, and therefore higher closure temperatures, than Durango
suggesting that the basement did not act as a rigid block during Lar- apatite (Farley, 2000).

GEOLOGY, January 2002 29

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and Wyoming. U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map
Part of this work took place on a Keck Geology Consortium undergraduate I-1317, scale 1:1 000 000.
research project funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation, the National Science Lillegraven, J.A., and Ostresh, L.M., 1988, Evolution of Wyoming’s early Ce-
Foundation (EAR9732474), the Exxon Education Foundation, the American nozoic topography and drainage patterns: National Geographic Research,
Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation, and the 12 Keck Consortium v. 4, p. 303–327.
member institutions. We thank Kenneth Farley for the use of his He lab; Mark Lillegraven, J.A., and Ostresh, L.M., 1990, Late Cretaceous (earliest Campan-
Garcia and Raymond Donelick for helping to prepare apatite mineral separates; ian–Maastrichtian) evolution of western shorelines of the North American
and Robert Giegengack for supplying us with some of the apatite mineral sep- Western Interior Seaway in relation to known mammalian faunas, in
arates used in this study. Bown, T.M., and Rose, K.D., eds., Dawn of the age of mammals in the
northern part of the Rocky Mountain Interior, North America: Geological
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30 GEOLOGY, January 2002