Geology topics

Blair Schoene

Publications and source records attributed to Blair Schoene.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Patterns of rift basin development and the fidelity of the subsidence record: Insights through Bayesian modeling of rapid tectonic subsidence in a Rio Grande rift basin, Socorro, NM, U.S.A

Characterizing tectonic subsidence rates within depositional sequences provides direct insight into the driving mechanism(s) of accommodation in a basin. However, the temporal resolution of this record is often stymied by a lack of high-precision and high-resolution ages, which enable a more complete description of basin subsidence drivers. We explore the effect of high-precision and high-resolution ages in modeling accommodation for the Miocene La Jencia Basin of the central Rio Grande rift (RGR) and interpret driving mechanism behavior from these models (e.g., lithospheric thinning). We present a new geochronologic dataset of both laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) and chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) data and use these ages in Bayesian accommodation modeling. Models constrained by high-precision and high-accuracy TIMS ages yield peak tectonic subsidence rates exceeding 220 m/Myr, and an average Miocene subsidence of ∼120 m/Myr. While timing and magnitude vary, all models suggest two pulses of rapid Miocene tectonic subsidence, which we interpret to reflect basin-bounding fault movement. Prior to peak subsidence, there was an initial period of fault linkage and organization that occurred over <1–3 Myr that produced the basin-bounding La Jencia-Cerro Colorado fault zone. A comparison of published tectonic subsidence rates to those modeled here shows that while tectonic subsidence during continental rifting is highly variable, the La Jencia Basin rates appear relatively high. However, the significant difference between peak and average La Jencia Basin rates modeled here highlights the potential for underestimation of many records of tectonic subsidence due to a lack of high-precision and high-resolution age constraints. Furthermore, age data and modeling results presented here document fault movement and consequent rates of tectonic subsidence that lower-resolution data would not, providing a high-fidelity case study of continental rift basin development.

New Mexico↗

USGS2025

RioM-1: A new calcite reference material for U-Pb LA-ICP-MS geochronology

Determining absolute ages of carbonate diagenesis, faulting, fossil formation, speleothem growth, carbonate-hosted hydrocarbon deposits, vein mineralisation and hydrothermal alteration has become increasingly accessible through LA-ICP-MS U-Pb dating of calcite, complementing traditional isotope dilution methods still applicable to certain materials (e.g., speleothems via micro-drilling). However, well-calibrated reference materials for LA-ICP-MS calcite geochronology remain scarce. Here, we characterise the Rio Maior calcite, designated ‘RioM-1’, as a potential reference material for U-Pb dating by LA-ICP-MS. Fragments (0.1 to 1 cm 3 ) from a single scalenohedral crystal were analysed by ID-TIMS (U-Pb), LA-ICP-MS (U-Pb and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr), and SIMS (O isotopes). RioM-1 displays high U mass fraction and low, though variable, proportions of common Pb. Combined ID-TIMS analyses from two independent laboratories yielded a Tera-Wasserburg lower intercept date of 63.93 ± 0.11 Ma (2 s , MSWD = 1.3, n = 16). LA-ICP-MS U-Pb data from three independent laboratories are concordant with the TIMS age, producing a pooled date of 64.10 ± 0.12/1.2 Ma (2 s , MSWD = 7.7, n = 708) and an initial 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratio of 0.85 ± 0.01. Other calcite reference materials, when normalised to RioM-1, yielded dates within uncertainty of their published values. SIMS measurements returned a mean 18 O/ 16 O of 0.002044450 ± 181 (1 s ) and δ 18 O SMOW of 19.57 ± 0.92‰ (1 s ), while LA-ICP-MS strontium isotope measurement yielded a mean 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of 0.708177 ± 9 (2 s ).

Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research↗

USGS2025

Insights from megacryst-included zircon dates on the spatial extent of magma mixing in the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, California, USA

The spatial extent of mixing between separately emplaced batches of magma is a key component in understanding the incremental assembly of plutons. Potassium feldspar megacrysts (>3 cm length) in granodioritic rocks are hypothesized to record magma mixing and transport over hundred kyr timescales. CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb dates from zircon inclusions within 11 new megacryst samples and their surrounding matrix from the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite are presented as a means of evaluating the extent of mixing across a less than two km wide gradational contact. Megacrysts from within the gradational contact yielded zircon dates consistent with mixing or transport from the older porphyritic Half Dome Granodiorite, but the zircon included in megacrysts from the younger Cathedral Peak Granodiorite show no evidence of interaction with the porphyritic Half Dome. These results, along with the trace element geochemistry of the zircon, suggest that the porphyritic Half Dome and Cathedral Peak magmas where we sampled were not comagmatic, which constrains the width of a mixing front to the kilometer scale gradational contact between these units. From within this gradational contact, we do find evidence of mixing consistent with prior studies. Differences between the core- and rim-included zircon date spectra also suggest that protracted growth is recorded in some K-feldspar megacrysts but may not be a requirement for forming them.

California↗

USGS2024

Spread and frequency of explosive silicic volcanism of the Carpathian-Pannonian Region during Early Miocene: Clues from the SW Pannonian Basin and the Dinaridesion during Early Miocene: clues from the SW Pannonian Basin and the Dinarides

Explosive silicic volcanism of the Carpathian-Pannonian Region (CPR) is increasingly recognized as the primary source of tephra across the Alpine-Mediterranean region during the Early and Middle Miocene. However, the tephrostratigraphic framework for this period of volcanic activity is still incomplete. We present new multi-proxy data from Lower Miocene ignimbrites and tephra fallout deposits from the southwestern CPR and the Dinaride Lake System and integrate them into existing datasets to better resolve the regional extent and scale of these eruptions of the CPR. Volcanic glass geochemistry indicates distal fallout tuffs deposited in the Sinj Basin are correlative with the proximal Ostoros ignimbrites from the Bükkalja Volcanic Field, indicative of regionally extensive volcanism at 17.295 ± 0.028 Ma, based on CA-ID-TIMS U Pb zircon geochronology. Based on integrated tephrostratigraphic data, newly identified 17.064 ± 0.010 Ma massive rhyolitic ignimbrite deposits from the Kalnik Volcaniclastic Complex located in the southwestern CPR are correlative with the 17.062 ± 0.010 Ma Mangó massive ignimbrite found in the Bükkalja Volcanic Field located in the northern CPR. Based on these new observations of its potential areal distribution and estimated thicknesses, these two widespread ∼17.1 Ma ignimbrites represent intermediate to large caldera-forming ignimbrites, larger than previously suggested. Finally, volcanic glass geochemistry of fallout deposits from the Dinaridic Sinj and Livno-Tomislavgrad Basins have similar volcanic glass geochemistry as the rhyolitic pumices from the lowermost part of the Bogács ignimbrite unit of the Bükkalja Volcanic Field. However, high-precision geochronology indicates that these distal ashfalls were deposited at 16.9567 ± 0.0074 Ma, significantly predating the 16.824 ± 0.028 Ma emplacement of the fiamme-bearing part of the Bogács ignimbrite. These distinct ages suggest that the Bogács unit represents multiple eruptive events and indicating that further work is required to deconvolve this portion of the CPR volcanic record. Together, these data suggest that large volume CPR ignimbrite volcanism was more frequent and widespread than previously understood, enhancing the existing volcanic framework and history of the source region for this time period.

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research↗

USGS2021

Radiometric constraints on the timing, tempo, and effects of large igneous province emplacement

There is an apparent temporal correlation between large igneous province (LIP) emplacement and global environmental crises, including mass extinctions. Advances in the precision and accuracy of geochronology in the past decade have significantly improved estimates of the timing and duration of LIP emplacement, mass extinction events, and global climate perturbations, and in general have supported a temporal link between them. In this chapter, we review available geochronology of LIPs and of global extinction or climate events. We begin with an overview of the methodological advances permitting improved precision and accuracy in LIP geochronology. We then review the characteristics and geochronology of 12 LIP/event couplets from the past 700 Ma of Earth history, comparing the relative timing of magmatism and global change, and assessing the chronologic support for LIPs playing a causal role in Earth's climatic and biotic crises. We find that (1) improved geochronology in the last decade has shown that nearly all well-dated LIPs erupted in < 1 Ma, irrespective of tectonic setting; (2) for well-dated LIPs with correspondingly well-dated mass extinctions, the LIPs began several hundred ka prior to a relatively short duration extinction event; and (3) for LIPs with a convincing temporal connection to mass extinctions, there seems to be no single characteristic that makes a LIP deadly. Despite much progress, higher precision geochronology of both eruptive and intrusive LIP events and better chronologies from extinction and climate proxy records will be required to further understand how these catastrophic volcanic events have changed the course of our planet's surface evolution.

Book chapter↗

USGS2020

Geologic evidence for an icehouse Earth before the Sturtian global glaciation

Snowball Earth episodes, times when the planet was covered in ice, represent the most extreme climate events in Earth’s history. Yet, the mechanisms that drive their initiation remain poorly constrained. Current climate models require a cool Earth to enter a Snowball state. However, existing geologic evidence suggests that Earth had a stable, warm, and ice-free climate before the Neoproterozoic Sturtian global glaciation [ca. 717 million years (Ma) ago]. Here, we present eruption ages for three felsic volcanic units interbedded with glaciolacustrine sedimentary rocks from southwest Virginia, USA, that demonstrate that glacially influenced sedimentation occurred at tropical latitudes ca. 751 Ma ago. Our findings are the first geologic evidence of a cool climate teetering on the edge of global glaciation several million years before the Sturtian Snowball Earth.

Virginia↗

USGS2018

GHR1 Zircon – A new Eocene natural reference material for microbeam U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotopic analysis of zircon

We present multitechnique U-Pb geochronology and Hf isotopic data from zircon separated from rapakivi biotite granite within the Eocene Golden Horn batholith in Washington, USA. A weighted mean of twenty-five Th-corrected 206 Pb/ 238 U zircon dates produced at two independent laboratories using chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) is 48.106 ± 0.023 Ma (2 s analytical including tracer uncertainties, MSWD = 1.53) and is our recommended date for GHR1 zircon. Microbeam 206 Pb/ 238 U dates from laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) laboratories are reproducible and in agreement with the CA-ID-TIMS date to within < 1.5%. Solution multi-collector ICP-MS (MC-ICP-MS) measurements of Hf isotopes from chemically purified aliquots of GHR1 yield a mean 176 Hf/ 177 Hf of 0.283050 ± 17 (2 s , n = 10), corresponding to a εHf 0 of +9.3. Hafnium isotopic measurements from two LA-ICP-MS laboratories are in agreement with the solution MC-ICP-MS value. The reproducibility of 206 Pb/ 238 U and 176 Hf/ 177 Hf ratios from GHR1 zircon across a variety of measurement techniques demonstrates their homogeneity in most grains. Additionally, the effectively limitless reserves of GHR1 material from an accessible exposure suggest that GHR1 can provide a useful reference material for U-Pb geochronology of Cenozoic zircon and Hf isotopic measurements of zircon with radiogenic 176 Hf/ 177 Hf.

Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research↗

USGS0202

High-precision U-Pb data and reference age for Emerald Lake apatite

New isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-Pb data for Emerald Lake apatite demonstrate its potential as a reference material for geochronology. A three-dimensional 238 U/ 206 Pb- 207 Pb/ 206 Pb- 204 Pb/ 206 Pb isochron produces a 95.2 ± 1.1 Ma date with an initial Pb isotopic composition of 206 Pb/ 204 Pb = 18.85 ± 0.19 and 207 Pb/ 204 Pb = 15.68 ± 0.10 (n = 5, MSWD = 9.5). These data yield a weighted mean initial Pb-corrected 206 Pb/ 238 U date of 95.18 ± 0.10 Ma (n = 5, MSWD = 1.5) and a weighted mean initial Pb-corrected 207 Pb/ 235 U date of 95.20 ± 0.17 Ma (n = 5, MSWD = 0.5). The new high-precision U-Pb age of Emerald Lake apatite further enables its utility as a reference material for in situ U-Pb apatite geochronology. Aliquots of Emerald Lake apatite are available for distribution for use in future studies.

Data in Brief↗