The Tibetan plateau is arguably the most important geological feature on Earth, yet its formation and evolution are poorly understood. This investigation utilizes Cretaceous sedimentary strata exposed in the Lhasa terrane of southern Tibet in order to constrain the paleogeography and tectonic setting of the region prior to the Indo-Asian collision. Lower Cretaceous strata consist of clastic sedimentary units that were deposited in shallow marine and fluvial environments. In northern Lhasa these sediments were deposited in a peripheral foreland basin that formed in response to the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision. The lower Cretaceous sediments in southern Lhasa are quartzose and were derived from cover strata exposed by local uplifts. A marine limestone of Aptian-Albian age overlies the lower Cretaceous clastic strata and was deposited in a shallow continental seaway. The paleogeography of the Lhasa terrane during deposition of the carbonate units was dominated by the effects of the Lhasa-Qiangtang collision, although other conditions, such as a high eustatic sea-level, influenced sedimentation as well. The Upper Cretaceous Takena Formation is composed of a basal member of marine limestone and an overlying member of fluvial red beds. The arkosic strata of the Takena Formation were deposited in a retro-arc foreland basin that formed to the north of the Gangdese magmatic arc. Collectively, the Cretaceous sedimentary strata indicate significant tectonic activity occurred in southern Tibet prior to the Indo-Asian collision. Moreover, the data suggest the crust of southern Tibet was thickened and possibly at high elevations before the Cenozoic.

A thorough understanding of Tibetan Plateau growth requires knowledge of the geological evolution of the Tibetan terranes as they were accreted to the Eurasian margin during the Phanerozoic. This dissertation research addresses the tectonic evolution of the southernmost of these, the Lhasa terrane of Tibet from the Late Jurassic to Eocene. The data and insights presented herein are the result of extensive geologic fieldwork in the northern and central Lhasa terrane of Tibet. In this work I present new geologic mapping and thermochronologic data that reveals a terrane scale passive roof thrust belt in the northern Lhasa terrane that accommodates significant upper crustal shortening without exhuming basement rocks. Through the development of a geospatially referenced database of igneous crystallization ages, I show that Cretaceous magmatism on the Lhasa terrane was not static, but exhibited significant temporal-spatial migrations. I interpret these movements as the result of variations in Neo-Tethyan slab dip and suggest that these variations are a major factor in shaping the Cretaceous tectonics of the Lhasa terrane. Finally, I present the Cretaceous-Eocene tectonic evolution of the Lhasa terrane that shows that the Lhasa terrane was above sea level and likely had attained significant elevation prior to the accretion of India to Eurasia and that the development of the high elevation Plateau developed outward from a central core, rather than from south to north as is commonly thought. These insights refute the widely held view that the Tibetan Plateau is the result of the Cenozoic Indo-Asian collision.

This dissertation consists of two parts, the first focused on the Pamir orogenic system and the second focused on the use of petrology to understand tectonic processes more generally. The Pamir Mountains are located at the western end of the Tibetan Plateau and are part of the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt. The Pamir has evolved from a Cordilleran-style orogen during the Mesozoic into a continent-continent collisional orogen during the Cenozoic. The examination of the Pamir Mountains takes an orogenic systems approach and investigates the foreland basin system, the retro- fold and thrust belt, the orogenic plateau hinterland, and the magmatic arc in the Pamir. Methods of analysis include structural geology, geochronology, thermochronology, petrology, geochemistry, sedimentology, stratigraphy, and numerical modeling, Tectonic processes and phenomena investigated include; intracontinental subduction, lithospheric delamination, crustal shortening, low-angle subduction, thrust belt evolution, subduction rollback, crustal anatexis, mantle drips, hinterland extension, high-flux events, crustal assimilation, syntectonic sedimentation, decoupled upper-lower crustal deformation, foreland basin sedimentation, subsidence dynamics, and sediment routing. The second part of the dissertation is focused on convergent orogenic systems more broadly and the development of petrologic and geochemical methods for interpreting tectonic processes. Igneous rocks and accessory minerals are studied, focusing on major and trace elements, radiogenic isotopic systems, and stable isotopic systems. Specific methods investigated include; geochemical proxies for crustal thickness, relating zircon element concentrations to whole rock compositions, interpreting the origin of spatial and temporal trends in radiogenic isotopic data, estimating mantle melt source regions, and the role of crustal assimilation in continental arcs.

Northwestern Mexico is characterized by different metallogenic provinces that are included along the Basin and Range, the Sierra Madre Occidental, and the Baja California geological provinces. With the purpose of contribute to the current understanding of the mineralizing processes, the present study focused on two important copper metallogenic provinces: the Cananea Porphyry District in Sonora, and the Sediment-hosted Stratiform Copper- and Mn-deposits in Baja California Sur. The U-Pb zircon ages from the mineralizing porphyries from Cananea district suggest a continued magmatic activity period of ~6 Ma. Also suggests a period of ~20 Ma for the entire magmatic activity in the district. The Re-Os molybdenite ages demonstrate five well-constrained mineralization events in the district; the main mineralization is constrained over a short period of time (~4 Ma). The new molybdenite age from the Pilar deposit documents the oldest mineralizing pulse, suggesting possibly the initiation of the Laramide mineralization in northern Sonora. A detailed study of Mariquita porphyry Cu and Lucy Cu-Mo deposits in the Cananea district was performed. Four hydrothermal stages were defined in Mariquita, whereas a single hydrothermal pulse characterizes Lucy. Emplacement depths between 1-1.2 km, and temperatures between 430-380ºC characterized the mineralization from Mariquita, whereas deeper emplacement depths and higher mineralization temperatures characterized Lucy. The stable isotope systematic and fluid inclusion data determined that the mineralizing fluids in Mariquita deposit are essentially magmatic during the earlier hydrothermal stages, whereas the last stage is the mixing between magmatic and winter meteoric-waters. The mineralizing fluids from Lucy deposit are magmatic in origin. A comprehensive study was performed in the Cu-Co-Zn-Mn ineralization of the Boléo District, and Mn-oxide mineralization along the eastern coast Baja California Sur. The REE and trace element in the Mn-oxides demonstrated the exhalative nature of the mineralizing hydrothermal fluids, and exclude the hydrogenous nature. The stable isotope systematic in ore and gangue minerals, along with the Cu-isotope data helped to decipher the nature of mineralizing and non-mineralizing fluids. The application of Pb, Sr and Re-Os isotope systems was applied to constrain the nature of the fluids involved during the mineralization processes and that the metal sources.

The Andes Mountains provide an ideal natural laboratory to analyze the relationship between the tectonic evolution of a subduction margin, retroarc shortening, basin morphology, and volcanic activity. Timing of initial shortening and foreland basin development in Argentina is diachronous along strike, with ages varying by 20-30 million years. The Neuquén Basin (32°S-40°S) of southern-central Argentina sits in a retroarc position and provides a geological record of sedimentation in variable tectonic settings from the Late Triassic to the early Cenozoic including: 1.) active extension and deposition in isolated rift basins in the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic; 2.) post-rift back-arc basin from Late Jurassic-Late Cretaceous; 3.) foreland basin from Late Cretaceous to Oligocene; and 4.) variable extension and contraction along-strike from Oligocene to present. The goal of this study is to determine the timing of the transition from post-rift thermal subsidence to foreland basin deposition in the northern Neuquén Basin and then assess volcanic activity and composition during various tectonic regimes. The Aconcagua and Malargüe areas (32°S and 35°S) are located in the northern segment of the Neuquén Basin and preserve Upper Jurassic to Miocene sedimentary rocks, which record the earliest phase of shortening at this latitude. This study presents new sedimentological and detrital zircon U-Pb data from the Jurassic to latest Cretaceous sedimentary strata to determine depositional environments, stratigraphic relations, provenance, and maximum depositional ages of these units and ultimately evaluate the role of tectonics on sedimentation in this segment of the Andes. The combination of provenance, basin, and subsidence analysis shows that the initiation of foreland basin deposition occurred at ~100 Ma with the deposition of the Huitrín Formation, which recorded an episode of erosion marking the passage of the flexural forebulge. This was followed by an increase in tectonic subsidence, along with the appearance of recycled sedimentary detritus, recorded in petrographic and detrital zircons analyses, as well development of an axial drainage pattern, consistent with deposition in the flexural forebulge between 95 and 80 Ma. By ca. 70 Ma the volcanic arc migrated eastward and was a primary local source for detritus. Growth structures recorded in latest Cretaceous units very near both the Aconcagua and Malargüe study areas imply 35-40 km and 80-125 km of foreland migration between 95 and 60 Ma in the Aconcagua and Malargüe areas, respectively. Strata ranging in age from Middle Jurassic to Neogene were analyzed to determine their detrital zircon U-Pb age spectra and Hf isotopic composition to determine the relationship between magmatic output rate, tectonic regime, and crustal evolution. When all detrital zircon data are combined, significant pulses in magmatic activity occur from 190-145 Ma, and at 128 Ma, 110 Ma, 69 Ma, 16 Ma, and 7 Ma. The duration of magmatic lulls increased markedly from 10-30 million years during back-arc deposition (190-100 Ma) to ~40-50 million years during foreland basin deposition (100-~30 Ma). The long duration of magmatic lulls during foreland basin deposition could be caused by flat-slab subduction events during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic or by long magmatic recharge events. There are three major shifts towards positive Hf isotopic values and all are associated with regional extension events whereas compression seems to lead to more evolved isotopic values.

This dissertation research addresses the tectonism of continental crust during ocean basin closure, suturing between continental landmasses, and collisional orogenesis. The new data and insights presented here were gathered through localized geologic investigations of the Tibetan Plateau of central Asia. This area of central Asia is an ideal location to study these fundamental tectonic processes because it has been the locus of numerous Tethyan ocean basins and terminal collisions between continents during Phanerozoic accretion of Gondwana-derived landmasses onto the southern margin of Eurasia. In this work, I propose, in many orogens, that high-pressure (HP) metamorphism of continental rocks may mark the early stages of the suturing process between continental landmasses rather than the culmination of suturing. This insight has been acquired from a geologic-, geochronologic-, and thermochronologic-based investigation of the HP-near ultrahigh-pressure bearing Triassic metasedimentary metamorphic belt in central Tibet. This work shows near synchronous continent-continent collisions between landmass adjacent to the Paleo-Tethys ocean prior to its final closure in Late Triassic time. In addition, this work shows that Mediterranean-style tectonics may be more widespread during accretionary tectonics than previously thought. A comparison between the distribution of the HP bearing metamorphic belt, autochthonous crystalline basement, and geophysical images of Tibet suggests that a Mesozoic tectonic feature may be controlling the structure and distribution of melt within the middle crust of the Tibetan Plateau. This concept underscores the importance of inherited tectonic frameworks on the evolution of orogenic plateaus. Work in southwest Tibet, along the India-Asia suture zone, highlights the complex behavior of continental crust during collisional orogenesis. This work identifies previously undocumented magmatism, crustal antexis, and high-grade metamorphism along the India-Asia suture. In this work I attribute these observations to the initial interactions between Indian, Asian, and subducting Neo-Tethys oceanic lithosphere.

The uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau is poorly constrained in part due to its complex and extended tectonic history. This study uses basin analysis, stable isotope analysis, magnetostratigraphy, detrital zircon U-Pb dating, and paleoaltimetry, and frequency analysis to reconstruct the tectonic, spatial, and environmental evolution of the Zhada basin in southwestern Tibet since the late Miocene. The Zhada Formation, which occupies the Zhada basin and consists of ~ 850 m of fluvial, alluvial fan, eolian, and lacustrine sediments, is undeformed and lies in angular unconformity above Tethyan sedimentary sequence strata. The most negative Miocene δ¹⁸Opsw (paleo-surface water) values reconstructed from aquatic gastropods are significantly more negative than the most negative modern δ¹⁸O(sw) (surface water) values. In the absence of any known climate change which would have produced this difference, we interpret it as indicating a decrease in elevation in the catchment between the late Miocene and the present. Basin analysis indicates that the decrease in elevation was accomplished by two low-angle detachment faults which root beneath the Zhada basin and exhume mid-crustal rocks. This exhumation results from ongoing arc-parallel extension and provides accommodation for Zhada basin fill. Sequence stratigraphy shows that the basin evolved from an overfilled to an underfilled basin but that further evolution was truncated by an abrupt return to overfilled, incising conditions. This evolution is linked to progressive damming of the paleo-Sutlej River. During the underfilled portion of basin evolution, depositional environments were strongly influenced by Milancovitch cyclicity: particularly at the precession and eccentricity frequencies.

The biotite bearing Schultze Granite (Globe-Miami district) and the biotite-hornblende bearing Ruby Star Granodiorite (Pima district) compose two intrusive centers that produced multiple porphyry copper deposits during the Laramide orogeny. Both magmatic-hydrothermal systems were dismembered and tilted by Tertiary extension, as indicated by tilted Tertiary sedimentary rocks, paleomagnetic data, and geobarometry, thereby producing extraordinary exposures of these magmatic-hydrothermal systems: ~ 1 to ~10 km (Globe-Miami district) and <1 to>12 km (Pima district). Ages of emplacement range from 68 to 61 Ma for the Schultze Granite and 64 to 58 Ma for the Ruby Star Granodiorite. The plutons were formed by rapid accumulation of magma within short periods of time (~1 m.y.). The Schultze Granite is a high-silica granite and did not evolve chemically with time, except during formation of late porphyry and aplite dikes. Phases of the Ruby Star pluton range from granodiorite to granite, but appear to be distinct intrusive events separated in time by several million years. Each pluton is chemically homogenous with depth, probably due to convection. The low iron contents of biotites suggest that magmas related to porphyry copper deposits have higher oxidation states than typical granitic bodies. Hydrothermal alteration was associated with most phases of each pluton, with multiple alteration types overlapping to create complex centers. Veins persist to >10 km beneath porphyry copper deposits. Deep styles of alteration differ in the two plutons. The Schultze Granite contains biotite veins and greisen veins (coarse-grained muscovite) (~10 km). The Ruby Star Granodiorite contains sodic-calcic alteration (4-8 km) and greisen veins (4-12 km). The sodic-calcic alteration is asymmetrically distributed on the eastern side of the Sierrita deposit and is interpreted to have been created by influx of external sedimentary brines from Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that only are present on the eastern side of the pluton. Greisen alteration occurs late in the hydrothermal history and may be the last fluids that were exsolved from the magma as the magma chamber completely crystallized. These deep alteration styles can be used to predict where porphyry copper deposition may have occurred, which can lead to discoveries in extended terranes.

The Laramide Rocky Mountains in western U.S.A is an important topographic feature in the continental interior, yet its formation and evolution are poorly constrained. This study uses the oxygen and strontium isotope geochemistry of freshwater bivalve fossils from six Laramide basins in order to reconstruct the spatial evolution of the paleotopography and Precambrian basement erosion in late Cretaceous-early Eocene. In addition it uses the sedimentology, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, and isotope paleoaltimetry of early Eocene sedimentary strata to constrain the tectonic setting, paleogeography and paleoclimate of the Wind River basin. Annual and seasonal variation in ancient riverwater δ¹⁸O reconstructed from shell fossils shows that the Canadian Rocky Mountains was 4.5±1.0 km high in late Cretaceous-early Paleocene, and the Laramide ranges in eastern Wyoming reached 4.5±1.3 km high, while the ranges in western Wyoming were 1-2 km high in late Paleocene. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of riverwaters reconstructed from the same fossils show that Proterozoic metamorphic carbonates in the Belt-Purcell Supergroup were not exposed in the Canadian Rocky Mountains during Late Cretaceous-early Paleocene, but that Precambrian silicate basement rock was exposed and eroded in the Laramide ranges during late Paleocene-early Eocene. The sedimentary environment of the early Eocene Wind River basin changed from gravelly fluvial and/or stream-dominated alluvial fan to low-sinuosity fluvial systems. Tectonic uplift of the Washakie and Wind River Range in early Eocene formed the modern paleodrainage system, although the elevation of the basin floor was only ~500 m high at that time, and early Eocene paleoclimate is more humid than modern climate.

In east-central Arizona, overlapping sets of Tertiary normal faults dismembered, variably extended, and exposed up to 15 km of the upper crust including portions of several Late Cretaceous to Paleocene (Laramide) igneous centers and their associated porphyry copper systems. These exposures enable both a rigorous evaluation of the nature of extension in the upper crust and systematic reconstruction of the 3-dimensional distribution of several major porphyry copper centers.Synthesis of existing geological data and new mapping provide the basis for reconstructions of district and regional scale cross sections through an area comprising about 4,000 km2 centered on the Dripping Spring Mountains of east-central Arizona. The study area is located within a highly extended portion of the Basin and Range province and encompasses the Globe-Miami, Superior, and Mineral Creek (Ray) mining districts and numerous other deposits and related occurrences.The field evidence and the reconstructions demonstrate that sequential sets of initially steeply dipping normal faults generated multiple half-grabens and associated sedimentary fill. Complex overlap of >10 sets of these half-grabens led to aggregate extension of about 100% across the study area, but the amount of extension locally varies from less than 20% to well over 400% depending on the amount of overlap and direction and amount of displacement on the various fault sets. These fault sets were not kinematically linked and do not merge into a master fault at depth, but are inferred to feather into a broader zone of mid-crustal flow, which may resemble the characteristics of nearby metamorphic core complexes.Reconstructions at regional (10's of kms) to copper deposit (a few kms) scales demonstrate that multiple deposits, prospects, and other hydrothermal features in the Globe-Miami, Superior and Ray districts are dissected portions of originally fewer, larger hydrothermal centers. These restorations delineate exposures ranging from near paleosurface to locally >10 kms paleodepth and enable comparisons of different systems and of well mineralized portions along with their roots, tops, and margins.