@article{493c11010f614c7e92502cd13eeb6c9d,
title = "Field-trip guide to the Catalina-Rincon metamorphic core complex, Tucson, Arizona",
abstract = "The Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains north and east of Tucson, Arizona, form one of the largest core complexes on Earth. Both ranges consist primarily of Eocene leucogranites that intrude Proterozoic and late Cretaceous granitoids, and two Oligocene plutons. Mylonitic fabrics are well developed on the southern flank of the Santa Catalina Mountains and the southwestern flank of the Rincon Mountains. The corrugated form of the two ranges reflects the grooved form of the ca. 15-30 Ma Catalina{"} San Pedro detachment fault exposed primarily at the foot of the ranges. Normal displacement on two younger high-angle normal faults is responsible for much of the substantial relief of the ranges. This field guide is focused on fault rocks and mylonitic fabrics in the footwalls of the detachment fault and the high-angle Pirate normal fault, and includes description and analysis of shear-zone kinematics and processes, U-Pb geochronology of leucogranites, and core-complex geomorphology.",
author = "Davis, {George H.} and Spencer, {Jon E.} and Gehrels, {George E.}",
note = "Funding Information: In 2018–2019, SNP (RMD) obtained Geologist-in-Park (GIP) funding for three student interns to support research-based interpretation. The GIP program is run by the Geological Society of America, the National Park Service, and other partners. One of these focused on designing interpretive materials that would help visitors understand the nature and origin of metamorphic core complexes. Biologist Don Swann, SNP (RMD), supported by George Davis, advised these projects. Interpreting the nature and significance of “metamorphic core complexes” has always been a “tall order.” In many National Parks, the main geologic-based interpretive challenges commonly relate to conveying paleo-landscapes and seascapes, especially the timing of “transgression” and “regression” of shallow seas; the weathering, erosion, deposition of sediments; the faulting and folding; or the rise of magma and volcanic eruption at the surface. All these interpretive challenges are made somewhat easier because basic terminology and/or process are more familiar and easier visualized. This is decidedly not the case for explaining core complexes, which requires answering the question of how to deal with terminology impediments such as shear-zone deformation, partial melting, mylonitization, cataclasis, detachment faulting, extensional mountain building, protolith, U-Pb geochronology, and the biggest of them all, metamorphic core complexes. The challenges are in circumventing these taxonomic and conceptual impediments, telling the story in a new way, and doing so without completely “dumbing things down.” Our stop at the Visitor Center will allow us to feature some of the results of the first attempts. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.",
year = "2019",
month = sep,
day = "4",
doi = "10.1130/2019.0055(01)",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "55",
pages = "1--38",
journal = "GSA Field Guides",
publisher = "Geological Society of America",
}