New 10Be-26Al isochron burial dating informs the Pliocene and Pleistocene evolution of the lower Colorado River, southwestern United States
Links
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Open Access Version: Publisher Index Page
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
Four new 10Be-26Al isochron burial ages ranging from 4.4 to 2 Ma on ancestral Colorado River deposits in the lower Colorado River corridor (LCRC) help constrain the river’s evolution during the Pliocene and early Pleistocene. They help fill a gap between previous work that focused on older and younger deposits: Older dated deposits include the 5 Ma Bouse Formation, which records the integration of the Colorado River through a series of preexisting basins to the Gulf of California and the ca. 4.5 - 3.5 Ma Bullhead Alluvium, a 200 to 300 m thick aggregational package that immediately followed integration. The much younger, 100 - 70 ka, Chemehuevi Formation is another major aggradation package mapped throughout the LCRC. The new burial ages on the facies of Santa Fe Railway (4.37 ± 0.71 Ma), boulder conglomerate of Bat Cave Wash (2.12 ± 0.26 and 2.05 ± 0.31 Ma), and the Palo Verde alluvium (3.03 ± 0.26 Ma) partially fill in a 3.5 M.y. gap between the deposition of the Bullhead Alluvium and the Chemeheuvi Formation and document the timescales over which the Colorado River was able to remove the Bullhead aggradational package and initiate newer and smaller aggradational pulses.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | New 10Be-26Al isochron burial dating informs the Pliocene and Pleistocene evolution of the lower Colorado River, southwestern United States |
| Series title | Episodes |
| DOI | 10.18814/epiiugs/2024/024015 |
| Publication Date | July 01, 2024 |
| Year Published | 2024 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | International Union of Geological Sciences |
| Contributing office(s) | Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center |
| Description | 13 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona, California, Nevada |