Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Plume to Plate Transition: Hadean and Archean Crustal Evolution in the Northern Wyoming Province, U.S.A.

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Evolution of Archean Crust and Early Life

Part of the book series: Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences ((MASE,volume 7))

Abstract

The 2.8–4.0 Ga record of crustal evolution preserved in the northern Wyoming Province of western North America provides insight into the role of plume- and plate-regimes in the generation of Hadean and Archean continental crust, and the associated elemental depletion of the primitive mantle. The most complete record is exposed in the Beartooth Mountains (Montana-Wyoming), which lie within the Beartooth-Bighorn magmatic zone (BBMZ) sub-province of the Wyoming Province. The BBMZ (> 100,000 km2) is characterized by a single, voluminous suite of Mesoarchean (~ 2.8–2.9 Ga) TTG (tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite) plutonic and metaplutonic rocks. In the Beartooth Mountains these Mesoarchean rocks are exposed along an ~ 100 km E-W cross-section, along which they intrude greenschist grade turbidites in the west (South Snowy block) and high grade, older gneisses in the east (Beartooth Plateau block). The most complete assemblage of pre-2.8 Ga crust is preserved as enclaves within the plutonic Mesoarchean rocks of the Beartooth Plateau block. These older gneisses consist of 3.1–3.5 Ga, tectonically interleaved meta-plutonic (principally TTG and associated migmatites) and metasupracrustal lithologies (e.g., quartzites, schists, banded iron formation, and a range of paragneisses).

The arc-like elemental abundances and enriched Pb and Nd isotopic systematics of the Mesoarchean magmatic suite and the 3.1–3.5 Ga older enclaves in conjunction with Lu-Hf data from 3.3 to 4.0 Ga detrital zircons suggest a model of crustal evolution that began with a Hadean, mafic proto-continent that likely developed over a zone of mantle upwelling. Lu-Hf systematics of the 3.6 to 4.0 Ga zircons suggest substantial recycling within the proto-continent in this interval, and that this recycling involved a low Lu/Hf (~ 0.1) system. A ubiquitous component of 3.2–3.4 Ga detrital zircons with more juvenile Hf isotopic compositions occurs throughout the northern Wyoming Province and suggests a major period of crustal growth and generation of TTG-suite rocks from more depleted sources. Following a period of relative quiescence (2.8–3.1 Ga) in the BBMZ, late Mesoarchean arc magmatism (TTG, adakites, etc.) largely reconstituted the older crust during a relatively brief period between 2.79 and 2.83 Ga; it has remained essentially undisturbed since that time.

Placing this history in a global context suggests that Hadean-Eoarchean crust formed in diachronous and spatially diverse environments that were both plume-like (e.g., Pilbara, northern Wyoming Province) and subduction-like (e.g., West Greenland). The relative importance of plume-type crustal growth declined and subduction-type growth increased through time as a consequence of a progressive decline in terrestrial heat production and mantle potential temperature, with a concomitant increase in hydrous mantle melting in subduction zones.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abbott D, Drury R, Smith W (1994) Flat to steep transition in subduction style. Geol 22:937–940

    Google Scholar 

  • Arevalo R, McDonough W (2010) Chemical variations and regional diversity of MORB. Chem Geol 271:70–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Arndt N (2003) Komatiites, kimberlites, and boninites. J Geophys Res. doi:10 1029/2002JB002157

    Google Scholar 

  • Basilevsky A, Head J (2007) Beta Regio, Venus: Evidence for uplift, rifting, and vocanism due to a mantle plume. Icarus 192:167–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell E, Harrison T, McCulloch M, Young E (2011) Early Archean crustal evolution of the Jack Hills zircon source terrane inferred from Lu-Hf, 207Pb/206Pb, and d18O systematics of Jack Hills zircons. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 75:4816–4829

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt TR, Hanson MH, Kotash AK, Mogk DW, Henry DJ, Mueller PA, Foster DA (2012) Precambrian geology of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and surrounding areas: plutonic rocks of the Slough Creek area. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 44:70

    Google Scholar 

  • Bindeman I, Lundstrom C, Bopp C, Huang F (2013) Stable isotope fractionation by thermal diffusion through partially molten wet and dry silicate rocks. Earth Planet Sci Lett 365:51–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Bizzaro M, Connelly J, Thrane K, Borg L (2012) Excess hafnium-176 in meteorites and the early Earth zircon record. Geochem Geophys Geosys. doi:10 10929/2011GC004003

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady JB, Kovaric DN, Cheney JT, Jacob LJ, King JT (2004) 40Ar/39Ar ages of metamorphic rocks from the tobacco root mountains, Montana. In: Brady JB, Burger HR, Cheney JT, Harms TA (eds) Precambrian geology of the tobacco root mountains, Montana: Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 377:131–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Breuer D, Spohn T (2003) Early plate tectonics versus single-plate tectonics on Mars: evidence from magnetic field history and crust evolution J Geophys Res. doi:10 1029/2002JE001999

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler J (1969) Origin of precambrian granite gneisses in the Beartooth mountains, Montana and Wyoming. In: LH Larsen (ed) Igneous and metamorphic Geology. Geol Soc Am Mem 115:73–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Casella CJ, Levay J, Eble E, Hirst B, Huffman K, Lahti V, Metzger R (1982) Precambrian geology of the southwestern Beartooth mountains, Yellowstone National Park, Montana and Wyoming. In: Mueller P, Wooden J (eds) Precambrian geology of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming. Montana Bur Mines Geol Spec Publ 84:1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain K, Frost C, Frost BR (2003) Early Archean to Mesoproterozoic evolution of the Wyoming province: Archean origins to modern lithospheric structure. Can J Earth Sci 40:1357–1374

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain KR, Mueller PA (2007) Oldest rocks of the Wyoming Craton. In: Van Kranendonk MJ, Smithies RH, Bennett V (eds) Earth’s oldest rocks, developments in precambrian geology series vol 3, Condie K, (series ed). Elsevier, pp 775–791

    Google Scholar 

  • Chauvel C, Goldstein S, Hofmann A (1995) Hydration and dehydration of oceanic crust controls Pb evolution in the mantle. Chem Geol 126:65–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Clowes R, Burianyk M, Gorman A, Kanasewich E (2002) Crustal velocity structure from SAREX, the Southern Alberta refraction experiment. Can J Earth Sci 39:351–373

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin M, Eldholm O (1994) Large igneous provinces: crustal structure, dimensions, and external consequences. Rev Geophys 32:1–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Condie KC (1976) The Wyoming Archean province in the western United States. In: Windley BF (ed) The early history of the Earth. Wiley, London, p 499–511

    Google Scholar 

  • Condie K (2000) Episodic continental growth models: After thoughts and extensions. Tectonophys 322(1–2):153–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Debaille V, O’Neill C, Brandon A, Haenecour P, Yin Q-Z, Mattielli N, Treiman A (2013) Stagnant-lid tectonics in early Earth revealed by 142Nd variations in late Archean rocks. Earth Planet Sci Lett (in press)

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo D (1981) Neodymium isotopes in the Colorado Front Range and crust-mantle evolution in the Proterozoic. Nature 291:193–196

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaolo D, Wasserburg G (1977) The sources of island arcs as indicated by Nd and Sr isotopic studies. Geophys Res Lett 4:465–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckelmann FD, Poldervaart A (1957) Geologic evolution of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming, Part 1 Archean history of the Quad Creek area. Geol Soc Am Bull 68:1225–1262

    Google Scholar 

  • Ernst G (2009) Archean plate tectonics, rise of Proterozoic supercontinentality and onset of regional, episodic stagnant-lid behavior. Gond Res 15:243–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans K (2012) The redox budget of subduction zones. Earth Sci Rev 113:11–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Foley S (2010) A reappraisal of redox melting in the Earth’s mantle as a function of tectonic setting and time. J Petrol 52:1363–1391

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster DA, Mogk DW, Henry DJ, Mueller PA (2011) Evolution of Archean rocks of the south snowy block, Yellowstone National Park: results of an REU site project. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Minneapolis 9–12 October. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 43:435

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster DA, Mueller P, Heatherington A, Gifford J, Kalakay T (2012) Lu-Hf systematics of magmatic zircons reveal a Proterozoic crustal boundary under the cretaceous pioneer batholith, Montana. Lithos. doi: 10 1016/j lithos 2012 03 005

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster D, Mueller P, Vogl J, Mogk D, Wooden J (2006) Proterozoic evolution of the western margin of the Wyoming Craton: Implications for the tectonic and magmatic evolution of the northern Rocky Mountains. Can J Earth Sci 43:1601–1619

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster D, Gray D (2008) Paleozoic crustal growth, structure, strain rate, and metallogeny in the Lachlan Orogen, Eastern Australia. In: Spencer JE, Titley SR (eds) Ores and orogenesis: circum-pacific tectonics, geological evolution, and ore deposits, Arizona. Geol Soc Digest 22:213–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost CD, Frost BR, Chamberlain KR, Hulsebosch TP (1998) The late archean history of the Wyoming province as recorded by granitic magmatism in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Precambrian Res 89:145–173

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost C (1993) Nd isotopic evidence for antiquity of the Wyoming Province. Geol 21:351–354

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost C, Fanning (2006) Archean geochronological framework of the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming. Can J Earth Sci 43:1391–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Frost C, Frost B, Kirkwood R, Chamberlain K (2006) The tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) to granodiorite-granite (GG) transition in the late Archean plutonic rocks of the central Wyoming province. Can J Earth Sci 43:1399–1418

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein EH, Sauer K, Harwood J, Mogk D, Henry D, Mueller P, Foster D (2011) Evolution of the precambrian rocks of Yellowstone National Park (YNP): metasedimentary rocks. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 43(4):61

    Google Scholar 

  • Gorman A, Clowes R, Ellis R, Henstock T, Spence G, Keller G, Levander A, Snelson C, Burianyk M, Kanasewich E, Asudeh I, Zoltan H, Miller K (2002) Deep probe: imaging the roots of western North America. Can J Earth Sci 39:375–398

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimes C, John B, Cheadle M, Mazdab F, Wooden J, Swapp S, Schwartz J (2009) On the occurrence, trace element geochemistry, and crystallization history of zircon from in situ ocean lithosphere. Contrib Mineral Petrol 158:757–783

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove T, Parman S (2004) Thermal evolution of the earth as recorded by komatiites. Earth Planet Sci Lett 219:173–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Guitreau M, Blichert-Toft J, Martin H, Mojzsis S, Albarede F (2012) Hafnium isotope evidence from Archean granitic rocks for deep-mantle origin of continental crust. Earth Planet Sci Lett 337–338:211–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton WB (2003) An alternative earth. GSA Today 13:4–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen V (2007) Subduction origin on early earth: a hypothesis. Geol 3:1059–1062

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargraves R (1986) Faster spreading or greater ridge length in the Archean. Geol 14:750–752

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison T, Schmitt A, McCulloch M, Lovera O (2008) Early (> 4 5 Ga) formation of terrestrial crust: Lu-Hf, δ18O, and Ti thermometry results for Hadean zircons. Earth Planet Sci Lett 268:476–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris RL Jr (1959) Geologic evolution of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming, Part 3: Gardner lake area, Wyoming. Geol Soc Am Bull 70:1185–1216

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartlaub R, Heaman L, Simonetti A, Bohm C (2006) Relicts of Earth’s earliest crust: U-Pb, Lu-Hf, and morphological characteristics of > 3.7 Ga detrital zircon of the western Canadian Shield. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 405:75–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry DJ, Mueller PA, Wooden JL, Warner JL, Lee-Berman R (1982) Granulite grade supracrustal assemblages of the Quad Creek area, eastern Beartooth Mountains, Montana. In: Mueller PA, Wooden JL, (eds) Precambrian geology of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming. Montana Bur Mines Geol Spec Publ 84:147–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Henstock T, Levander A, Deep Probe Working Group (1998) Probing the Archean and Proterozoic lithosphere of western North America. GSA Today 8:16–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Herzberg C, Rudnick R (2012) Formation of cratonic lithosphere: an integrated thermal and chemical model. Lithos 149:4–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Hildreth W, Moorbath S (1988) Crustal contribution to arc magmatism in the Andes of Central Chile. Contrib Mineral Petrol 98:455–489

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman PF (1989) Speculations on Laurentia’s first gigayear (2.0–1.0 Ga). Geol 17:135–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann A (2003) Sampling mantle heterogeneity through oceanic basalts: isotopes and trace elements. In: Carlson R, Holland H, Turekian K (eds) The mantle and core treatise on Geochemistry, vol 2. pp 61–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann A (2005) The geochemistry of sedimentary rocks from the Fig Tree Group, Barberton greenstone belt: Implications for tectonic, hydrothermal, and surface processes during mid-Archean time. Precambrian Res 143:23–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynek B, Robbins S, Sramek O, Zhong S (2011) Geological evidence for a migrating Tharsis plume on early Mars. Earth Planet Sci Lett. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2011.08.020

    Google Scholar 

  • Irvine TN, Baragar WRA (1971) A guide to the chemical classification of the common volcanic rocks. Can J Earth Sci 8:523–548

    Google Scholar 

  • James HL (1946) Chromite deposits near Red Lodge, Carbon County, Montana. US Geol Surv Bull 945-F:151–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenner F, O’Neill H (2012) Analysis of 60 elements in 616 ocean floor basaltic glasses. Geochem Geophys Geosys. doi:10 1029/2011GC0040009

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabete J, McNaughton N, Groves D, Mruma A (2012) Reconnaissance SHRIMP U-Pb zircon geochronology of the Tanzania Craton: evidence for neoarchean granitoid-greenstone belts in the Central Tanzania region and the southern East Africa orogen. Precambrian Res 216–219:232–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamber BS (2007) The enigma of the terrestrial protocrust: Evidence for its former existence and the importance of its complete disappearance. In: Van Kranendonk MJ, Smithies RH, Bennett V (eds) Earth’s oldest rocks. Developments in Precambrian Geology. Elsevier, Amsterdam. doi:10 1016/S0166–2635(07)15024–6

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamber B, Collerson K, Moorbath S, Whitehouse M (2003) Inheritance of early Archean Pb-isotope variability from long-lived Hadean protocrust. Contrib Mineral Petrol 45:25–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz R, Spiegelman M, Langmuir (2003) A new parameterization of hydrous mantle melting. Geochem Geophys Geosys. doi:10.1029/2002GC000433

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelemen P, Johnson K, Kinzler R, Irving A (1990) High field-strength element depletions in arc basalts due to mantle-magma interaction. Nature 345:521–524

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller C, Schoene B (2012) Statistical geochemistry revelas disruption in secular lithospheric evolution about 2.5 Gyr ago. Nature 485:490–493

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly K, Plank T, Farr L, Ludden J, Staudigel H (2005) Subduction cycling of U, Th, and Pb. Earth Planet Sci Lett 234:369–383

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemp A, Wilde S, Hawkesworth C, Coath C, Nemchin A, Pidgeon R, Vervoort J, Dufrane S (2010) Hadean crustal evolution revisited: New constraints from Pb-Hf systematics of the Jack Hills zircons. Earth Planet Sci Lett 296:45–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Kerrich R, Xie Q (2002) Compositional recycling structure of an Archean superplume: Nb-Th-U-LREE systematics of Archean komatiites and basalts revisited. Contrib Mineral Petrol 142:476–484

    Google Scholar 

  • Klemme S, Blundy J, Wood B (2002) Experimental constraints on major and trace element partitioning during partial melting of eclogite. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 66:3109–3123

    Google Scholar 

  • Kortenaga J (2006) Archean geodynamics and thermal evolution of the Earth. Amer Geophys Union Monograph 164:7–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramers J, Tolstikhin I (1997) Two terrestrial lead isotope paradoxes, forward transport modeling, core formation and the history of the continental crust. Chem Geol 139:75–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Krogh T, Kamo S, Hanley T, Hess D, Dahl P, Johnson R (2011) Geochronology and geochemistry of Precambrian gneisses, metabasites, and pegmatite from the Tobacco Root Mountains, northwestern Wyoming craton, Montana. Can J Earth Sci 46:161–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Larsen LH, Poldervaart A, Kirchmeyer M (1966) Geologic evolution of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming, Part 7. Structural homogeneity of gneisses in the Lonesome Mountain area. Geol Soc Am Bull 77:1277–1292

    Google Scholar 

  • Lesher C (1990) Decoupling of chemical and isotopic exchange during magma mixing. Nature 237:235–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Leyreloup A, Dupuy C, Andriambololona R (1977) Catazonal xenoliths in French Neogene volcanic rocks: Constitution of the lower crust. Contrib Mineral Petrol 63:283–300

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyubetskaya T, Korenaga J (2007) Chemical composition of earth’s primitive mantle and its variance: 1 methods and results. J Geophys Res. doi: 10 1029/2005JB004223

    Google Scholar 

  • Maier A, Cates N, Trail D, Mojzis S (2012) Geology, age and field relations of Hadean zircon-bearing supracrustal rocks from Quad Creek, eastern Beartooth Mountains (Montana-Wyoming). Chem Geol. doi: 10 1016/j chemgeo 2012 04 005

    Google Scholar 

  • Marks S, Mogk D, Henry D, Mueller P, Foster D, Davidson C (2012) Precambrian geology of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and surrounding areas: Mylonites and shear zones. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 44:71

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin H, Smithies R, Rapp R, Moyen JF, Champion D (2005) An overview of adakite, tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) and sanukitoid: relationships and some implications for crustal evolution. Lithos 79:1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonough W, Sun S-S (1995) The composition of the earth. Chem Geol 120:223–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogk DW (1988) Archean allochthonous units in the northern and western Beartooth Mountains, Montana. In: Lewis S, Berg R (eds) Precambrian and mesozoic plate margins, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Montana Bur Mines Geol Spec Publ 96:43–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogk DW, Henry DJ (1988) Metamorphic petrology of the northern Archean Wyoming Province, SW Montana: evidence for Archean collisional tectonics. In: Ernst W (ed) Metamorphism and crustal evolution in the western United States, proceedings of the VII Rubey colloquium on metamorphic terranes. Prentice Hall, NY, pp 362–382

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogk DW, Mueller PA, Wooden JL (1992) The nature of Archean terrane boundaries: An example from the northern Wyoming Province. Precambrian Res 55:155–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogk D, Henry D, Mueller P, Foster D (2011) Evolution of the Precambrian rocks of Yellowstone National Park (YNP): overview of an NSF/REU site project. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 43:61

    Google Scholar 

  • Mogk DW, Henry DJ, Mueller PA, Foster D (2012) Precambrian geology of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and surrounding areas: emerging science and scientists at an REU site project. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 44:70

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery C, Lytwyn J (1984) Rb-Sr systematics and ages of principal Precambrian Lithologies in the South Snowy block. J Geol 92:103–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Moyen J-F, van Hunen J (2012) Short-term episodicity of Archean plate tectonics. Geol 40:451–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Wooden JL, Schulz K, Bowes DR (1983) Incompatible-element-rich andesitic amphibolites from the Archean of Montana and Wyoming: evidence for mantle metasomatism. Geology 11:203–206

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Peterman ZE, Granath JW (1985) A bimodal Archean volcanic series, Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming. J Geol 93:701–712

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Wooden JL, Nutman AP (1992) 3.96 Ga zircons from an Archean quartzite, Beartooth Mountains, Montana. Geol 20:327–330

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Wooden JL, Mogk DW, Nutman AP, Williams IS (1996) Extended history of a 3.5 Ga trondhjemitic gneiss, Wyoming Province, USA: evidence from U-Pb systematics in zircon. Precambrian Res 78:41–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Wooden JL, Nutman AP, Mogk DW (1998) Early Archean crust in the northern Wyoming province—Evidence from U-Pb ages of detrital zircons. Precambrian Res 91:297–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller P, Burger H, Wooden J, Brady J, Cheney J, Harms T, Heatherington A, Mogk D (2005) Age and tectonic implications of Paleoproterozoic metamorphism in the northern Wyoming Province. J Geol 111:169–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Wooden JL (1988) Evidence for Archean subduction and crustal recycling, Wyoming Province, USA. Geol 16:871–874

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Shuster R, Wooden J, Erslev E, Bowes D (1993) Age and composition of Archean crystalline rocks from the southern Madison Range: Implications for crustal evolution in the Wyoming craton. Geol Soc Am Bull 105:437–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller P, Heatherington A, Kelley D, Wooden J, Mogk D (2002) Paleoproterozoic Crust within the Great Falls Tectonic Zone: Implications for the Assembly of Southern Laurentia. Geol 30:127–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller P, Wooden J, Heatherington A, Burger H, Mogk D, D’Arcy K (2004) Age and evolution of the Precambrian crust of the Tobacco Root Mountains. In: Brady JB, Burger HR, Cheney JT, Harms TA (eds) Precambrian geology of the Tobacco Root Mountains, Montana. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 377:181–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller P, Frost C (2006) The Wyoming Province: A distinctive Archean craton in Laurentian North America. Can J Earth Sci 43:1391–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Wooden JL, Mogk DW, Henry DJ, Bowes DR (2010) Rapid growth of an Archean continent by arc magmatism. Precambrian Res 183:70–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Mueller PA, Wooden JL (2012) Trace element and Lu-Hf systematics in Hadean-Archean detrital zircons: implications for crustal evolution. J Geol 120:15–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullen ED (1983) MnO/TiO2/P2O5: a minor element discriminant for basaltic rocks of oceanic environments and its implications for petrogenesis. Earth Planet Sci Lett 62:53–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Munker C, Worner G, Yogodzinski G, Churikova T (2004) Behaviour of high field strength elements in subduction zones: constraints from Kamchatka-Aleutian arc lavas. Earth Planet Sci Lett 204:275–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Naeraa T, Schersten A, Rosing M, Kemp A, Hofmann J, Kokfelt T, Whitehouse M (2012) Hafnium isotope evidence for a transition in the dynamics of crustal growth 3.2–3.5 Gyr ago. Nature Geosci 485:627–630

    Google Scholar 

  • Nair R, Chacko T (2008) Role of oceanic plateaus in the initiation of subduction and origin of continental crust. Geol 36:583–586

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebel O, Vroon P, van Westreren M , Iizuka T, Davies G (2011) The effect of sediment recycling in subduction zones on the Hf isotope character of new arc crust, Banda arc, Indonesia. Earth Planet Sci Lett 303:240–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Nebel-Jacobsen Y, Munker C, Nebel O, Gerdes A, Mezger K, Nelson D (2010) Reworking of Earth’s first crust: constraints from Hf isotopes in Archean zircons form Mt Narryer, Austalia. Precambrian Res 182:175–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Nutman A, Friend C (2009) New 1:20,000 scale geological maps, synthesis and history of investigation of the Isua supracrustal belt and adjacent orthogneisses, southern West Greenland: a glimpse of Eoarchean crust formation and orogeny. Precambrian Res 172:189–211

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill J, Lopez D (1985) Character and regional significance of Great Falls tectonic zone, east-central Idaho and west-central Montana. Am Assoc Petroleum Geol Bull 69:437–447

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne C, Baldwin J, Henry D, Mogk D, Mueller P, Foster D (2011) Evolution of the precambrian rocks of Yellowstone National Park (YNP): low-pressure metamorphism of the Jardine metasedimentary sequence. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 43:62

    Google Scholar 

  • Palme H, O’Neill H (2003) Cosmochemical estimates of mantle composition. In: Carlson R (ed) The mantle and core, In: Holland H, Turekian K (eds), Treatise on Geochemistry 2:1–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Parai R, Mukhopadhyay S (2012) How large is the subducted water flux? New constraints on mantle regassing rates. Earth Planet Sci Lett 317–318:396–406

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA, Harris NBW, Tindle AG (1984) Trace element discrimination diagrams for the tectonic interpretation of granitic rocks. J Petrol 25:959–978

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfander J, Munker C, Stracke A, Mezger K (2007) Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf in ocean island basalts—Implications for crust-mantle differentiation and the fate of Niobium. Earth Planet Sci Lett 254:158–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Philbrick K, Ware B, Henry D, Mogk D, Mueller P, Foster D (2011) Evolution of the Precambrian rocks of Yellowstone National Park (YNP): late Archean felsic plutons. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 43:62

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter K, White W (2009) Deep mantle subduction flux. Geochem Geophys Geosys. doi: 10 1029/2009GC002656

    Google Scholar 

  • Reese C, Solomatov V, Baumgardner J, Stegman J, Vezolainen A (2004) Magmatic evolution of impact-induced Martian mantle plumes and the origin of Tharsis. J Geophys Res. doi: 10 1029/2003JE002222

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson J, Bleacher J, Glaze L (2013) The volcanic history of Syra Planun, Mars. J Vol Geotherm Res. doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2012.11.007

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts H, Dahl P, Kelley S, Frei R (2002) New 207Pb-206Pb and 40Ar-39Ar ages from SW Montana, USA: constraints on the Proterozoic and Archean tectonic and depositional history of the Wyoming Province. Precambrian Res 117:119–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Robin C, Bailey R (2009) Simultaneous generation of Archean crust and sub-cratonic roots by vertical tectonics. Geol 37:523–526

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowan LC (1969) Structural geology of the Quad-Wyoming-Line Creeks area, Beartooth Mountains, Montana. Geol Soc Am Mem 115:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudnick R, Gao S (2003) Composition of the continental crust. In: Rudnick R (ed) The crust. In: Holland H, Turekian K (eds) Treatise on geochemistry 3:1–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Salters V, Strracke A (2004) Composition of the depleted mantle. Geochem Geophys Geosys. doi: 10 1029/2003GC000597

    Google Scholar 

  • Shirey S, Kamber B, Whitehouse M, Mueller P, Basu A (2008) A review of the geochemical evidence for mantle and crustal processes in the Hadean and Archean: Implications for the onset of plate tectonic subduction. Geol Soc Am Mem 440:1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Skinner WR (1969) Geologic evolution of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming: part 8. Ultramafic rocks in the Highline Trail Lakes area, Wyoming. Geol Soc Am Mem115:19–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Smithies R, Van Krankendonk M, Champion D (2005) It started with a plume-early Archean basaltic proto-crust. Earth Planet Sci Lett 238:284–397

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer EW (1969) Geologic evolution of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming, Part 2. Fracture patterns. Geol Soc Am Bull 70:467–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Stacey JS, Kramers JD (1975) Approximation of terrestrial lead isotope evolution by a two-stage model. Earth Planet Sci Lett 26:381–399

    Google Scholar 

  • Staffenberg J, Mueller P, Mogk D, Henry D, Wooden J (2011) Testing a model of 2 8 Ga arc genesis with trace elements. Geol Soc Am Abst Progr 43:435

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson RK, Patchett PJ (1990) Implications for the evolution of continental crust from the Hf isotope systematics of Archean detrital zircons. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 54:1683–1698

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor S, McLennan S (1995) The geochemical evolution of the continental crust. Rev Geophys 33:241–265

    Google Scholar 

  • Thurston PB (1986) Geochemistry and provenance of Archean metasedimentary rocks in the southwestern Beartooth Mountains. MS thesis, Montana State University

    Google Scholar 

  • Tian Y, Zhao D (2012) P-wave tomography of the western United States: insights into the Yellowstone hotspot and Juan de Fuca slab. Phys Earth Planet Int 200–201:72–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Valley J, Lackey J, Cavosie A, Clechenko C, Spicuzza M, Basei M, Bindeman L, Frerreira V, Sial A, King E, Peck W, Sinha A, Wei C (2005) 4.4 billion years of crustal maturation: oxygen isotope ratios of magmatic zircons. Contrib Mineral Petrol 150:561–580

    Google Scholar 

  • van Keken P, Hacker B, Syracuse E, Abers G (2011) Subduction factory: 4. depth-dependent flux of H2O from subducting slabs worldwide. J Geophys Res. doi:10.1029/2010JB007922

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Kranendonk M, Ivanic T, Wingate M, Kirkland C, Wyche S (in press) long-lived, authocthonous development of the Archean Murchison Domain and implications for Yilgarn Craton tectonics. Precamb Res

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Kranendonk M (2011) Two types of Archean continental crust: plume and plate tectonics on early Earth. Am J Sci 310:1187–1209

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Rouse R, Essene E, Peacor D, Zhang Y (2000) Carmichaelite, a new hydroxyl-bearing titanite from Garnet Ridge, Arizona. Am Mineral 85:1792–2000

    Google Scholar 

  • White W (1993) 238U/204Pb in MORB and open system evolution of the depleted mantle. Earth Planet Sci Lett 115:211–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson L, Scott E, Head J (2001) Evidence for episodicity in the magma supply to the large Tharsis volcanoes. J Geophys Res 106:1423–1433

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittig N, Pearson DG, Webb M, Ottley CJ, Irvine GJ, Kopylova M, Jensen SM, Nowell GM (2008) Origin of cratonic lithospheric mantle roots: A geochemical study of peridotites from the North Atlantic Craton, West Greenland. Earth Planet Sci Lett. doi:10 1016/j epsl 2008 06 034

    Google Scholar 

  • Wooden JL, Mueller PA (1988) Pb, Sr, and Nd isotopic compositions of a suite of Late Archean igneous rocks, eastern Beartooth Mountains: implications for crust-mantle evolution. Earth Planet Sci Lett 87:59–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Wooden JL, Mueller PA, Mogk DW (1988) A review of the geochemistry and geochronology of the Archean rocks of the northern part of the Wyoming Province. In: Ernst WG (ed) Metamorphism crustal evolution of the Western United States vol 7:pp 383–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Wooden JL, Mueller PA, Mogk DW, Bowes DR (1988) A review of the geochemistry and geochronology of Archean rocks of the Beartooth Mountains, Montana and Wyoming. In: Lewis SE, Berg RB (eds) Precambrian and mesozoic plate margins, Montana Bur Mines. Geol Spec Publ 96:23–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Workman R, Hart S (2005) Major and trace element composition of the depleted MORB mantle. Earth Planet Sci Lett 231:53–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Wyman D, Kerrich R (2002) Formation of Archean lithospheric roots: the role of mantle plumes. Geol 30:543–546

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao L, Huang J, Christensen P, Greely R, Williams D, Zhao J, He Q (2012) Ancient volcanism and its implications for thermal evolution of Mars. Earth Planet Sci Lett 323–324:9–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuan H, Romanowicz B (2010) Lithospheric layering in the North American craton. Nature 466:1063–1067

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeh A, Gerdes A, Klemd R, Barton J (2008) U-Pb and Lu-Hf isotope record of detrital zircon grains from the Limpopo belt-evidence for crustal recycling at the Hadean to early-Archean transition. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 72:5304–5329

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the financial support of the N.S.F. (EAR-8211828, 8618885, 9219645, 0538133, 0546751, and 0609948), NASA, and the U.S.G.S. Data and observations pertinent to the South Snowy block benefited from the contributions of 24 undergraduate students supported by an NSF REU site project (EAR-0851934, 0851752, and 0852025). The support and cooperation of the staff of Yellowstone National Park are also gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, 32611,, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Paul A. Mueller

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, 59717, Bozeman, MT, USA

    David W. Mogk

  3. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, 70803, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Darrell J. Henry

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA, USA

    Joseph L. Wooden

  5. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, 32611, Gainesville, FL, USA

    David A. Foster

Authors
  1. Paul A. Mueller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David W. Mogk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Darrell J. Henry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joseph L. Wooden
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. David A. Foster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul A. Mueller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Geology & Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA

    Yildirim Dilek

  2. Department of Earth Science & Centre for Geobiology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Harald Furnes

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mueller, P., Mogk, D., Henry, D., Wooden, J., Foster, D. (2014). The Plume to Plate Transition: Hadean and Archean Crustal Evolution in the Northern Wyoming Province, U.S.A.. In: Dilek, Y., Furnes, H. (eds) Evolution of Archean Crust and Early Life. Modern Approaches in Solid Earth Sciences, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7615-9_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation