Late Miocene exhumation and uplift of the Washington Cascade Range

Peter W. Reiners, Todd A. Ehlers, John I. Garver, Sara Gran Mitchell, David R. Montgomery, Joseph A. Vance, Stefan Nicolescu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

101 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Washington Cascade Range is a complex, polygenetic mountain range that dominates the topographic, climatic, and cultural configurations of Washington State. Although it has been the locus of ongoing are magmatism since the Eocene, most of the range is distinct from the southern part of the arc in Oregon and California in that bedrock uplift has produced high surface elevations and topographic relief, rather than volcanic burial or edifice construction. (U-Th)/He and fission-track ages of bedrock samples on the east flank of the range record relatively rapid cooling in the early Tertiary, but slow exhumation rates (∼0.2 km/m.y.) through most of the Oligocene. Samples on the west flank suggest rapid cooling in the late Miocene (8-12 Ma), and age variations in vertical transects are consistent with a pulse of rapid exhumation (0.5-1.0 km/m.y.) at that time. Apatite He ages as young as 1-5 Ma in several areas suggest that high cooling and possibly exhumation rates persist locally. Accelerated exhumation rates ca. 10 Ma are also observed in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia and southeast Alaska, ∼1500 km to the north, suggesting a large-scale mechanism for the exhumation pulse at that time.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)767-770
Number of pages4
JournalGeology
Volume30
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2002
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • (U-Th)/He
  • Apatite
  • Cascades
  • Thermochronology
  • Washington

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geology

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