zyxwvuts

zyxwvutsrqp
zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvu
1. metamorphic Geol., 1995, 13, 251 -270

40Ar/39Ar geochronology and P- T-f paths from the

Cordillera Darwin metamorphic complex, Tierra del Fuego,
Chile
M. J . K O H N , ' * F. S . SPEAR,' T. M. H A R R I S O N ' A N D I. W. D. D A L Z I E L 3
' Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12 180, USA
'Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA
lnstitute for Geophysics, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78759, USA

ABSTRACT zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvut
40Ar/39Ardata collected from hornblende, muscovite, biotite and K-feldspar constrain the P-T-t history
of the Cordillera Darwin metamorphic complex, Tierra del Fuego, Chile. These data show two periods of
rapid cooling, the first between c. 500 and c. 325" C at rates 225" C Ma-', and the second between c. 250
and C . 200" C. For high-T cooling, 40Ar/39Arages are spatially disparate and depend on metamorphic
grade: rocks that record deeper and hotter peak metamorphic conditions have younger 40Ar/39Arages.

zyxw
Sillimanite- and kyanite-grade rocks in the south-central part of the complex cooled latest: 40Ar/39Ar
Hbl = 73-77 Ma, Ms = 67-70 Ma, Bt = 68 Ma, and oldest Kfs = 65 Ma. Thermobarometry and P - T path
studies of these rocks indicate that maximum burial of 26-30 km at 575-625" C may have been followed
by as much as 10 km of exhumation with heating of 25-50" C. Staurolite-grade rocks have intermediate
40Ar/39Arages: Hbl = 84-86 Ma, Ms = 71 Ma, Bt = 72-75 Ma, and oldest Kfs = 80 Ma. Thermobarometry
on these rocks indicates maximum burial of 19-26 km at temperatures of 550-580" C. Garnet-grade rocks
have the oldest ages: Ms = 72 Ma and oldest Kfs = 91 Ma; peak P-T conditions were 525-550" C and 5-7
kbar. Regional metamorphic temperatures for greenschist facies rocks south of the Beagle Channel did
not exceed c.300-325"C from 110Ma to the present, although the rocks are only 2 km from
kyanite-bearing rocks to the north.
One-dimensional thermal models allow limits to be placed on exhumation rates. Assuming a stable
geothermal gradient of 20-25" C km-I, the maximum exhumation rate for the St-grade rocks is
c. 2.5 mm yr - I , whereas the minimum exhumation rate for the Ky + Sil-grade rocks is c. 1.0 mm yr-'.
Uniform exhumation rates cannot explain the disparity in cooling histories for rocks at different grades,
and so early differential exhumation is inferred to have occurred. Petrological and geochronological
comparisons with other metamorphic complexes suggest that single exhumation events typically remove
less than c. 20 km of overburden. This behaviour can be explained in terms of a continental deformation
model in which brittle extensional faults in the upper crust are rooted to shallowly dipping ductile shear
zones or regions of homogeneous thinning at mid- to deep-crustal levels. The P-T-r data from Cordillera
Darwin (1) are best explained by a 'wedge extrusion' model, in which extensional exhumation in the
southern rear of the complex was coeval with thrusting in the north along the margin of the complex and
into the Magallanes sedimentary basin, (2) suggest that differential exhumation occurred initially, with
St-grade rocks exhuming faster than Ky + Sil-grade rocks, and (3) show variations in cooling rate through
time that correlate both with local deformation events and with changes in plate motions and interactions.
Key words: 40Ar/39Arages; Cordillera Darwin, Chile; exhumation rates; P-T-t paths.

Kohn et al., 1993; Cunningham, 1994; Klepeis, 1994)

INTRODUCTION
The Occurrence of Cretaceous amphibolite-grade meta-
morphic rocks in the Cordillera Darwin metamorphic
complex is to our knowledge unique in the South
American Andes south of the equator. Recent structural
and petrological investigations (Dalziel & Brown, 1989;
* Present address: Department of Geology and Geophysics,
IJniversity of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
suggest that this anomalous geological feature resulted
from localized extension, that itself was caused by the
development of a transform boundary at the southern end
of South America in the Mid- to Late Cretaceous. This
interpretation has implications about the T-r paths that
are expected for different areas of the complex.
In this paper, 40Ar/'9Ar data are presented for
hornblende, muscovite, biotite and K-feldspar and used in
conjunction with previously published geochronological
data to determine the post-peak-metamorphic cooling
251
 zyxwvutsrqponml
zyxwvutsrq kjihgfedcbaZYX
zyxwvutsrqponm
zyxwvutsrqp
zyxwvutsrq
252 M. I . KOHN E T A L
history for different areas in the complex. We then use
these T-t paths in addition to previously published
petrological data (Kohn et al., 1993) to develop and
critically evaluate one-dimensional thermal models for
areas that represent different metamorphic grades. The
thermal and exhumation history of Cordillera Darwin is
then compared with that observed for several other
metamorphic complexes described in the literature, to
draw inferences about the extensional behaviour of
continental crust. Finally, a new ‘wedge extrusion’ model
for the tectonic evolution of the complex is proposed, in
which extension of the high-grade core at the southern rear
of the thickening wedge was coeval with thrusting in the
north along the toe.
GEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND
Cordillera Darwin is located at the southern terminus of
the South American Andes (Fig. la), and contains rocks
that were metamorphosed during the Cretaceous Andean
orogeny. The structural and metamorphic history of the
area, first studied by Kranck (1932), has more recently
been described in detail by Nelson et al. (1980), Dalziel &
Brown (1989), Kohn et al. (1993), Cunningham (1994) and
Klepeis (1994) and their data and interpretations are
summarized below.
zyxwvutsrqpon
The oldest unit in the region is a Palaeozoic to lower
Mesozoic metasedimentary and metavolcanic basement
complex that is believed to have been originally deposited
as an accretionary wedge on the pre-mid-Jurassic Pacific
margin of South America (Dalziel & CortCs, 1972; Nelson
et al., 1980; Dalziel, 1981, 1986). These rocks were
intruded by the Jurassic Darwin Granite Suite, which
consists of c. 160-170 Ma felsic orthogneisses that were in
turn cut by (now metamorphosed) mafic dykes of
undetermined age (HervC et al., 1979, 1981; Nelson et al.,
1980; Dalziel, 1981; Mukasa et al., 1988; S. Mukasa, pers.
comm., 1994). In the Late Jurassic, a marginal basin
opened within the rocks of the old accretionary prism
between the continental margin and the subduction-related
arc, and voluminous Jurassic and Cretaceous volcanic and
sedimentary rocks of the Tobifera and Yahgan Formations
were deposited (e.g. Hanson & Wilson, 1991). The
youngest rocks of interest are referred to here as the
Beagle Tonalite Suite, which consists of 70-90 Ma,
relatively undeformed, I-type diorites and tonalites that
cross-cut the older metamorphosed rocks (Nelson et al.,
1980; HervC et al., 1984; Mukasa et al., 1988; Suarez et al.,
1985; S. Mukasa, pers. comm., 1994).
The rocks of the basement complex retain relicts of a
pre-Andean fabric, but metamorphic conditions evidently
zyxwvut
did not exceed lower greenschist grade prior to the
Cretaceous (Nelson et al., 1980; Kohn et al., 1993). Closure
of the marginal basin after Albian-Aptian time (Dott et
al., 1977) initiated the compressional Andean orogeny, and
resulted in two major deformations (Nelson ef al., 1980).
The first ( D l ) was characterized by thrust faulting,
isoclinal folding, and strong fabric development as the
basin floor and its cover were emplaced on the continental
margin, and the second (D2) produced backfolds with a
vergence towards the Pacific (Nelson et al., 1980). The
main foliation, S1, shows a uniform southward dip that
steepens towards the south, where it becomes strongly
overprinted by steeply dipping S2. A third deformation
(D3) resulted in a minor crenulation cleavage in
metasedimentary rocks (Nelson et al., 1980 Kohn et al.,
1993).
Along the southern margin of the complex, a shear
fabric (formed by Ds) occurs in the Beagle Tonalite Suite
and older rocks and cuts S2 (Dalziel & Brown, 1989;
Moore, 1990; Cunningham, 1994; the relative timing of Ds
to D3 is unclear). Dalziel & Brown (1989) interpret Ds to
reflect significant post-D2 extension and, based on an
abrupt change in metamorphic grade across the Beagle
Channel (see below), suggest that extension in the south
was further accommodated along a major exhumational
detachment surface there. In contrast, in the north-east
part of the complex, Klepeis (1994) reports structural
evidence for emplacement of the basement of Cordillera
Darwin onto its cover through syn- to post-Dl
NE-directed, thrust-sense ductile shearing, and through
post-D2 brittle thrusting and brecciation at the basement-
J
cover contact. There is little or no evidence there for
extension.
Further north and north-east in the Magallanes basin
(Fig. la), a rapid influx of coarse sediments occurred
between c. 85 and c. 65 Ma with a western or cordilleran
source (Dott ef al., 1982). Thrusting and folding of the
basin sediments commenced at 45-50 Ma near Cordillera
Darwin and continued until at least the middle Miocene
(Winslow, 1982; Biddle et al., 1986; Alvarez-Marr6n et al.,
1993). Left-lateral strike-slip faulting has occurred from at
least the late Tertiary to the present (Winslow, 1982).
Dalziel & Brown (1989) presented a tectonic model in
which development of the Patagonian orocline and
core-complex-style exhumation of Cordillera Darwin
resulted from changes in far-field stresses during the latest
Cretaceous and earliest Tertiary. Changes in plate motions
caused a shift from compression to transpression, and this
in turn led to local extension at the southern bend in the
Andes at Tierra del Fuego. Their model has the
advantages that it explains not only why high-grade rocks
occur in Cordillera Darwin and not elsewhere along the
southern South American Andes, but also how extension
was accommodated in the south through Ds and
detachment at the Beagle Channel. Their model has the
disadvantages that the principal evidence for extension is
only along the southern margin of the complex (Dalziel &
Brown, 1989; Moore, 1990), the major foliation
everywhere has a southward dip (Nelson et al., 1980), and
more recent work shows little or no evidence for extension
in the north (Klepeis, 1994). Nonetheless, Dalziel &
Brown (1989) clearly show that any tectonic model for
Cordillera Darwin must explain the extensional fabrics in
the south as well as the occurrence of Mesozoic high-grade
metamorphic rocks in Cordillera Darwin at all.
 54" 30' S

F
........
lDarwin
z
zy
zyxwvu zy
zyxw
zyx
zyxwvut
Granite
(Jurassic)
.""".. Tobifera Fm.
..,... (Jurassic)
Yahgan Fm.
E 3 (Lower
p iBeagle
. ....
.
....:
~
Cret.)

Tonalite
.....'
(Upper Cret.)
-.
7
f l Thrust Fault +5 anticline
f l Strike-Slip
Normal Fault
or
+q syncline
Overturned

Edge of Glacier
+
+-?-
antiform
F2 SYnform
I 55"OO'S

Fig. 1. (a) Geographical and geological maps of the southern part of South America, showing the location of the Cordillera Darwin
metamorphic complex, major rock types and structures (geology after Nelson et al., 1980; Klepeis, 1994). MITB, Magallanes fold and
thrust belt, developed in the sedimentary basin to the north of Cordillera Darwin; CM and MB,continental margin and marginal basin
rocks, which comprise the deformed and metamorphosed core of Cordillera Darwin; Arc, subduction-related volcanic arc south and west
of Cordillera Darwin. (b) Cross-scctions across Cordillera Darwin from south to north showing distribution and orientation of major rock
types and structures. The major foliation in the basement rocks becomes progressively shallower from south to north. Emplacement of the
basement onto the Tobifera Formation in the north could have occurred during ductile D1 + D2, during a later brittle event, or both
(Nelson el al., 1980; Klepeis, 1994).
254 zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg
zyxwvutsrqpon
M. J . K O H N E T A L

zyxwvuts
~~

Metamorphic evolution
Figure 2 shows the distribution of metamorphic index
minerals within the complex as described by Kohn et nl.
(1993). Because of limited accessibility, continuous
isograds cannot yet be drawn. Metamorphic grade ranges
from biotite/chlorite on the margins to kyanite/sillimanite
from c.525"C and 5-7 kbar to c.625"C and 7-9 kbar,
with the notable exception of the rim pressures for two
kyanite-grade garnet amphibolites (SP-1OA). Generally,
the P - T conditions fall between 20 and 25"Ckm-'
geotherms. P - T paths from zoning in metapelitic garnets
(Fig. 3b) show that most garnet growth occurred with a
small increase in pressure and a large increase in

zy
in the south-central part of the complex. A metamorphic
discontinuity is evident across the north-west arm of the
Beagle Channel, such that kyanite-grade schists are
present on the north shore, whereas chlorite/biotite-grade
schists occur on the south shore. The discontinuity is
probably not a result of different bulk compositions
temperature during the D2 deformation (backfolding).
However, the P-T paths for the SP-1OA garnet
amphibolites and the pervasive development of sillimanite
along plagioclase grain boundaries for kyanite-grade rocks
suggest exhumation from peak metamorphic conditions by
as much as 10km with an increase in temperature of

zyxwvutsrq
because the same sedimentary and volcanic units (Tobifera
and Yahgan Formations) occur on both sides of the
channel.
The petrological results of Kohn et nl. (1993) are
summarized in Fig. 3. Thermobarometric calculations for
garnet-bearing samples (Fig. 3a) indicate that from garnet
to sillimanite grade, peak metamorphic conditions increase
25-50" C .
The rapid changes of grade combined with thermo-
barometric and P - T path analysis suggest that tectonic
exhumation of the higher grade rocks relative to their
lower grade margins was an important process leading to
the exposure of the metamorphic core. AS noted by
Dalziel & Brown (1989), the petrological discontinuity

&El Hbl: 73.2

Hbl: 75.5

US:46-73

-
0
klometers
2 4 6
Fig. 2. Metamorphic index minerals, areas of geochronological interest, locations of samples for which 40Ar/'9Ar ages, fission track ages,
or P - T paths have been collected (Nelson, 1982; Grunow el a!., 1992; Kohn et al., 1993; this study), and summary of 40Ar/'9Ar mineral
ages for each area. Hbl, hornblende; Ms, muscovite; Bt, biotite; Kfs. K-feldspar; the age range for K-feldspars reflects their strong age
gradients (see Fig. 9). Detail of areas A and B shown on left. The maximum metamorphic grade observed in each area is: sillimanite (A),
kyanite (B and C), staurolite (D and E), garnet (F) and chloritelbiotite ( G ) .
 zy
zyxwvutsrqponm
Lc
n
zyxwvuts
zyxwvutsrqponm
zyxwvutsrqponmlkji
zyxwv
ca
J3
25
a
zyxwvutsrqp
Fig. 3. Petrological results of Kohn et al. (1993). (a) Thermobarometric estimates for garnet-bearing rocks from areas A-F show an
increase in P-T with increasing grade. Geothermal gradients of 25 and 20" C km-' are shown for reference. (b) P-T paths show early
minor loading with heating, followed by late exhumation with minor heating. Synkinematic inclusion trails in the outer SO-%% of
individual metapelitic garnets allow correlation of most of the early heating with the D2 deformation; a D1 origin for the lowest
temperature garnet growth cannot be. ruled out.
across the north-west arm of the Beagle Channel is a
principal line of evidence for down-to-the-south exten-
sional shearing (in present-day geographical coordinates).
Previous geochronological results
Primary crystallization ages have been determined for the
Darwin Granite Suite ( 1 5 7 f t M a , Rb-Sr whole-rock
isochron; HervC el al., 1979, 1981; 164 f 2 Ma, U-Pb
zircon, S. Mukasa, pers. comm., 1994), intrusives into the
base of the Tobifera Formation (150 f 1 Ma, U-Pb zircon;
Mukasa et al., 1988; S. Mukasa, pers. comm., 1994), and
the Beagle Tonalite Suite (c. 90 f 2 and 69 f 1 Ma, U-Pb
zircon; S. Mukasa, pen. comm., 1994). K-Ar and Rb-Sr
cooling ages for biotite and hornblende have also been
published for 10 Beagle Suite intrusions (Table 1). Plutons
1-9 occur in low-grade rocks south of the Beagle Channel,
whereas pluton 10 is on the north shore of the channel in
kyanite-grade rocks. The concordance of the biotite and
hornblende ages and the lack of excess argon in most
samples we have analysed from the region (see below)
suggest that these ages represent crystallization times for
each pluton. Individual plutons are therefore inferred to
range in age from c. 110 Ma (plutons 2 and 3) to c. 70 Ma
(pluton 10).
N o direct estimate of the age of peak metamorphism
exists for the area. Approximately 100 km to the
south-east, the youngest deformed rocks contain Albian-
Aptian fossils (c. 100-120Ma; Dott et al., 1977), and a
gabbroic clast from these rocks has a K-Ar hornblende
age of 116-+5Ma (Halpern & Rex, 1972). T h e oldest
metamorphic cooling age in Cordillera Darwin is 91 Ma
(CD-29 K-feldspar, see below), and the oldest plutons that
cross-cut the D1 and D2 fabrics are 80-90 Ma (Halpern &
Rex, 1972; Halpern, 1973; HervC et al., 1984; Suarez et al.,
1985; S. Mukasa, pers. comm., 1994). Thus, peak
metamorphism occurred between 90 and 100-120 Ma.
K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages for hornblende,
GEOCHRONOLOCY OF CORDILLERA DARWIN
12
I
255
P-TPaths
n
a
2
J3
25
10
2
400 500 600 700
800
zyxw
muscovite and biotite have been presented by Halpern
(1973), HervC et al. (1979), S. Mukasa (pers. comm., 1994)
and Grunow et al. (1992) for high-grade rocks and
intrusions in southern Cordillera Darwin. Ages ranEe from
c.80 to c.65Ma, and are described in more d e t a i below
for specific areas. Although these ages clearly establish
post-metamorphic cooling in Cordillera Darwin in the Late
Cretaceous, precise T-t curves cannot be drawn for
individual locations, and tectonic models cannot be tested.
Nelson (1982) collected fission track ages for the region
from titanite, zircon, and apatite, and these data are
summarized below for individual areas.
A A A N,
40Ar/39Ar analyses were undertaken at the State University of
New York at Albany (SUNY) and at the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA), and essentially followed the analytical
procedures described by Harrison & Fitz Gerald (1986) and
Harrison et al. (1991). Although there are differences in the line
blanks, mass spectrometers and proportions of gas inlet for
analysis, the overall accuracy and precision of the two systems
were quite similar for the data presented here. High purity
mineral separates (?Y% pure) were prepared from crushed and
sized (125-250 pm) rock powders by using conventional heavy
liquid and magnetic separation techniques. Samples were wrapped
in Sn foil, loaded into flat-bottomed quartz tubes with an
identically prepared flux monitor interspersed at regular intervals
among the samples, and irradiated in the H-5 position of the Ford
Reactor at the University of Michigan.
For samples analysed at SUNY, the irradiation time was 60 h,
the flux monitor was the intralaboratory standard Fe-mica
(age = 307.3 Ma), and correction factors for interfering nuclear
reactions were (40Ar/39Ar), = 0.0301, ('Ar/37Ar),, = 0.000216,
and (39Ar/37Ar)Ca = 0.000757. J-factors varied between 0.004656
and 0.004803. Sample masses were c. 150mg for muscovite and
biotite and c. 350 mg for hornblende. Argon was extracted in a
double-vacuum, Ta resistance furnace (precision better than
* l " C and accuracy better than +lO"C), and purified using ion
 zyxwvutsrqpon
zyxwvutsrqpon
zyxwvutsrqpozyxw zyxwvutsr
256 M. I . KOHN ETAL

zyxwvutsrqpo
Table 1. Selected geochronological results for Beagle suite intrusives of had an atmospheric argon ratio. Expansion allowed c. 50% of the
Cordillera Darwin. argon to be transferred to an automated VG 1200s mass
Pluton Mineral analysed Radiogenic system Age * 2u (Ma) Spectrometer, and analysed in electron multiplier mode.
Corrected 40Ar/39Ar, 37Ar/39Ar, =Ar/"Ar, % o ' ~ Areleased, ~
(1) Bt Rb-Sr 84*10 ratio of radiogenic 40Ar to potassium-derived 39Ar,apparent age,
Hbl K-Ar 88i5 and its standard deviation are presented in the Appendix (Table
(2) Bt Rb-Sr 1W*9 A l ) for each heating increment, along with the increment

zyxwvut
zyxw
Bt Rb-Sr 111 f 9 temperatures, sample mass, J-factor, moles of 39Ar released,
Hbl K-Ar 104*3 corrected 40Ar/36Arand 39Ar/36Arratios, and their uncertainties.

zyxwvutsr
(3) Hbl K-Ar 1W*3 Age uncertainties d o not include the uncertainty in the J-factor
Hbl K-Ar 113*6 (c. 0.5%). Unless otherwise specified, uncertainties listed below
Bt K-Ar 100f4
are at the 2 r level.
(4) Hbl K-Ar 89 f 2
Hbl K-Ar 94f5
A temperature-cycling technique (Lovera er ol., 1991) was used
Hbl K-Ar 86f4 for the K-feldspar separates in order to delineate better their
Bt Rb-Sr 89 f 7 potential domain-size distributions. Precise cooling histories can
Bt K-Ar 93 f 5 then be fit to the age spectra provided that kinetic parameters can
Bt K-Ar Y2f2 be determined. Computer programs (Lovera, 1992) were used to
Zrn U-Pb 90k2 obtain fits of ( 1 ) domain size distributions, activation energies, and
Hbl K-Ar 88f2 D,,/d to the 39Ar release data via log(r/ro) plots (see Lovera et al.,
Bt Rb-Sr 86*7 1989, 1991; Harrison et al., 1991), and (2) the individual cooling
Hbl K-Ar 91 f 3 histories (in combination with the heating schedule, domain size
Bt K-Ar 97 f 4
Hbl K-Ar
distributions, and kinetic parameters) to the age spectra.
91 f 3
Hbl K-Ar 94 f 3
Bt K-Ar 94 f 2
Hbl K-Ar
A S S I G N M E N T OF C L O S U R E
Mi5
Hbl K-Ar 82i7 TEMPERATURES
Hbl K-Ar 84i6
Hbl K-Ar 89 i 6 The assignment of closure temperatures to t h e ages obtained from
Bt K-Ar 89 f 2 minerals assumes that diffusion dominates the loss of daughter
Bt K-Ar x8i2 isotopes during cooling in nature. We assumed that argon
(9) Hbl K-Ar 86*5 diffusion behaviour was similar to that documented experimen-
Hbl K-Ar 88f6 tally by Harrison (1981) for hornblende, Robbins (1972) for
Hbl K-Ar 81 f 6 muscovite and Harrison el al. (1985) for biotite. Diffusion
Hbl K-Ar 82f4 geometries were based on those assumed in the studies:

zyxw
Bt K-Ar 76 f 4 hornblende = sphere, muscovite = plane sheet, and biotite =
Zrn U-Pb 69 f I
infinite cylinder. Recasting the experimental data in terms of
Hbl K-Ar 67 f 4
Bt Rb-Sr 62 f 6 different geometries does not lead to significantly different results.
Bt Rb-Sr 70i6 The length scales for hornblende and biotite were based on the
Bt K-Ar 68f4 experimentally derived estimates (60pm and 150 p m , respec-
Bt K-Ar 66+4 tively; Harrison, 1981; Harrison et al., 1985). A typical length scale
Bt K-Ar 65 f 4 for muscovite of 2 0 p m was based on the average half-width of
~~~

muscovite flakes observed in thin section for these rocks (see

Note: Rb-Sr biotite ages assume an initial mSr/86Srratio of 0.705 f 0.002.
Rb-Sr ages were recalculated to A@ = 1.42 X lo-" year (Steiger & Jager,
1977). Both U-Pb zircon ages are from S.'Mukasa, pen. comm., 1994. Other
referencesfordataare:Pluton(l) = Halpern(l973),Plutons(2)-(7) = Hervter
o/.(1984).Plutons(8)and(9) = Suarezera/.(198S),and Pluton(l0) = Halpern
(1973).
pumping of H,, two stages of SAES Zr-Ti getters, and the
gettering action of the hot furnace walls. 100% of the gas was
transferred using activated charcoal to an automated Nuclide
4.5-60-RSS mass spectrometer and analysed in Faraday-cup
mode. The line blank contained less than 1 X 10-'4moles 40Ar
below looo" C, and had an atmospheric argon ratio.
For samples analysed at UCLA, the irradiation time was 30 h,
the flux monitor was Fish Canyon Sanidine (age = 27.8 Ma; Miller
et al., 1985), and correction factors for interfering nuclear
reactions were ("Ar/39Ar)K = 0.0198, ('Ar/37Ar),, = 0.00023,
and (39Ar/37Ar),, = 0.0007. I-factors varied between 0.005404 and
0.005525. Sample sizes were c. 5 mg for muscovite and biotite, and
c. 15 mg for K-feldspar and hornblende. Argon was also extracted
with a double-vacuum, Ta resistance furnace, and the gas was
purified by the furnace walls and with a single SAES getter. The
40Ar line blank below looo" C was less than 1 X moles, and
below). For the cooling rates encountered in this study
(15-60" C Ma-'), these assumptions lead to closure temperature
estimates of c. 505" C for hornblende, c. 370" C for muscovite and
c. 320" C for biotite. The closure temperature of biotite to Rb-Sr
diffusional re-equilibration was assumed to be c. 300" C (e.g.
Harrison & McDougall, 1980). The closure temperatures of
titanite, zircon and apatite with respect to fission track annealing
were assumed to be c. 250" C, c. 175" C and c. loo" C, respectively
(e.g. Wagner, 1968; Naeser & Faul, 1969; Gleadow, 1978;
Harrison et al., 1979). Track length distributions were not
published for apatite, and n o refinements to apatite closure
temperature or late-stage cooling history are possible. Uncert-
ainties in all these closure temperatures were assumed to
be i 50" C except for apatite (*25" C).
For K-feldspar, temperature significance for the measured ages
was assigned according to the approach of Lovera ef a / . (1989,
1991) and Harrison et al. (1991) (see also Richter et'ol., 1991).
This approach assumes that "Ar loss during laboratory step
heating is diffusion-controlled, and that the same diffusion
mechanisms and boundaries for 40Ar loss were present as the
sample cooled in nature. Thus, the release of "Ar during
laboratory step heating is assumed to allow a direct experimental
determination of the diffusional parameters that governed the
 zyxwv
zy
zyxwvutsrqp
zyxwvutsrqp
CEOCHRONOLOCY OF CORDILLERA DARWIN 257

zyxwvutsrqp
natural closure of 'the K-feldspar to 4"Ar loss, including domain Table 2. Summary of 40Ar/'9Ar and fission-track mineral ages for specific
frequency terms (Do/r2),relative abundances of domain sizes, and areas in Cordillera Darwin.
activation energies (Lovera ef al., 1989, 1991; Harrison ef al., Total gas age Preferred age
1991). Once these parameters have been determined, a cooling Sample ID Mineral (*20) ( i2U ) [Steps. "C] Reference
history specific to the sample can be fit to the observed age

zyxwvuts
spectrum (e.g. Richter er al., 1991). For the K-feldspars studied, Arm A. sillimontre-grade
CD-163G Hbl 74.3 (0.6) 73.2 (0.6) [970-1000.
the individual domains have closure temperatures in the range of 1050-1450] This Study

zyxwv
200-325" C (see Table A2, Appendix). The sizes and distributions
of the domains are probably the result of high-T exsolution,
fracturing and dissolution-reprecipitation mechanisms (Lovera ef
al., 1991, 1993; Fitz Gerald & Harrison, 1993), and so were
probably already present before the K-feldspar started to retain
argon. An uncertainty of *25"C was assigned to the absolute
placement of the K-feldspar cooling curves associated with the
uncertainties in extrapolating the K-feldspar kinetic data down
CD-163H
CD-I63H
PIA-70
PIA-74
PIA-66
PIA-57
PIA-74
PIA-70
Mus
Bt
Ttn
Zrn
Zrn
Zm
AP
AP
70.5 (03)
69.3 (02)
69.7 (0.1) [600-1180]
68.0 (2.4) [670-3350]
52.2 (5.9)
50.1 (5.6)
41.7 (4.5)
43.6 (4.8)
21.9 (2.7)
28.8 (4.7)
This Study
This Study
Nelson (1982)
Nelson (1982)
Nelson (1982)
Nelson (1982)
Nelson (1982)
Nelson (1962)

Area 8 , kyanire-grade
temperature, in fitting the Iog(r/r") plots and age spectra, and in CD-167A Hbl 79.8 (11.5) 75.5 (2.0) [650-1450] This Study
extracting the argon (e.g. uncertainties in absolute furnace PIA-83A Mus 70 (1) Grunow er4l. (1992)
temperature, furnace hysteresis, absolute amount of 39Ar released PIA-I3A Bt 70 (1) Grunow cr a/. (1992)
for each step, etc.). The parameters used to fit the log(r/r") plots CD-168 K-fs 57.3 (0.3) This Study
and age spectra are presented in the Appendix (Table A2). For
Area C. kyanae-grade
each K-feldspar, the domains were assumed to have a single VI-IG Hbl 87.4 (3.6) 77.0 (2.2) [650-1050]
activation energy (Lovera ef al., 1989, 1991; Richter et al., 1991); 77.6 (1.2) [950-1450] This Study
each activation energy was determined from the first 20-25% of CD - N I B Mus 66.9 (0.1) 66.7 (0.6) [600-1040] This Study
the 39Ar released, as this corresponded to a well-correlated array CD-.3OIB Bt 72.9 (0.2) 73.8 (0.6) [600-1100] This Study
NB-76 Ttn 56.6 (9.5) Nelson (1982)
on Arrhenius plots. The insensitivity of the modelled age spectra NB-88 Zrn 58.5 (10.5) Nelson (1982)
to the choice of diffusion geometry and number of domains, and NB.76 Zrn 45.1 (3.7) Nelson (1982)
sensitivity to cooling history have been documented by Lovera er NB-84 Ap 29.4 (4.4) Nelson (1982)
al. (1991) and Richter ef al. (1991). NB-76 Ap 35.9 (3.9) Nelson (1982)

Area D, suturolile-grade
CD-171A Hbl 83.0 (2.4) 84.2 (2.0) [750-850,
40Ar/39Ar results 950-1015, 1110-1450] This Study
CD-171A Rt 73.3 (0.1) 73.2 (0.5) (600-1350] This Study
Seven areas of geochronological interest are outlined in Fig. 2, CD-171B Bt 71.6 (0.1) 71.8 (0.4) [Mo-I(Ho] This Study
CD-I75 K-fs 64.6 (0.4) This Study
and the locations of samples are indicated for which either new
data arc reported here or results particularly significant to this Area E, rraurolire-grade
study were obtained by Nelson (1982) or Grunow et al. (1992). CD-31A Hbl 83.1 (1.2) 85.8 (2.7) [800t950-1000t
Thcse areas also have petrological and structural interest, as each This Study
corresponds generally to a single grade of metamorphism, and so CD-MF Mus 71.7 (03) 1 IM-
71.3 (0.3)
1200l[600-1180] This Study
CD-10F Bt 74.5 (0.2) 74.9 (4.0) [670-l150] This Study
represents a region of nearly constant burial depth. Ages for CD-29 K-fs 65.6 (0.7) This
Nelson
Study
(1982)
biotite, muscovite and hornblende are presented in Table 2, and BP-122 Zrn 45.1 (4.6) Nelson (198.7)
our preferred ages correspond to standard inverse isochron BP.122 Ap 18.5 (3.3) Nelson (1982)
regressions on isotope correlation diagrams (i.e. regressions of HP-102 Ap 27.2 (5.8)
3"Ar/40Ar vs. '9Ar/40Ar, with the *-intercept reflecting the age).
Area F, garner-gradc
Because of the likelihood that K-feldspar has a distribution of BP-l29D Mus 73 (1) Grunow era/. (1992)
domain sizes, each with its own characteristic closure temperature CD-28 K-fs 80.0 (0.1) This Study
and age, no isochron age is listed in Table 2. The relevant data BP-131 Ttn 62.8 (9.2) Nelson (1982)
from Nelson (1982) and Grunow er al. (1992) are also summarized
Area G.biorir=lch/on5e.gmde
in Table 2 for each area. CD-207B. Hbl XY.7 (1.0) 89.3 (1.4) [800-1450] This Study
CD-207Bt Hbl 90.5 (1.0) 93.5 (0.3)(850-1450] This Study
CD-212 €31 90.3 (0.4) 88.9 (0.4) [600-1350] This Study
Age spectra and assignment of mineral ages SB-I2 Ttn 68.8 (7.9) Nelson ( 19x2)
SB-I2 Zrn 47.0 (6.5) Nelson (1Y82)
Figures 4-9 show age spectra for hornblende, biotite, muscovite SR-8 Zrn 48.9 (S.0) Nelson (1982)
SB-14 Ap 55.8 (12.1) Nelson ( I 982)
and K-feldspar vs. %39Ar released and isotope correlation SR-12 Ap 43.5 (7.2) Nelson (1982)
diagrams for hornblende, biotite and muscovite. Apparent K/Ca
Note: [Steps, 'C] refen to the specific gas increments expressed in terms of the
ratio vs. %39Ar released is shown for hornblende analyses and
temperature of extraction that were regressed on irotopc correlation diagrams 10
illustrates the low K/Ca that is expected for hornblende lhat is determine the preferred mArAr/"Ar age for samples analysed in this study. *Hornblende
uncontaminated by high-K minerals (K/Ca estimates are based on from a finer-grained layer (typical grain size = 0.6 mm x 0.15 mm). tHornblende from a
'7Ar/40Ar measurements: 37Ar is almost entirely produced from coarser-grained layer (typical grain size = 4.0 mm X 1.5 mm).
Ca during irradiation). With only a few exceptions, the spectra for
hornblende, biotite and muscovite are quite flat, and the isotope
correlation diagrams show little evidence for a non-atmospheric Area A , sillimanite grade
(Fig.4). Hornblende was separated from
trapped component. This suggests that previously collected K-Ar a mafic garnet amphibolite (CD-163G; grain size typically 600 p m
ages on biotite and hornblende may have chronological long and 60 p m across). Coarse-grained biotite and muscovite
significance. (typically 600pm wide and 6 0 p m thick) were separated from a
 258

2 90
zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvutsrqponm
100

80

70

60
zyxwvutsrqpon
M. J . KOHN E T A L

0
'

CD- 163G
Hornblende

Muscovite
I

20
I I
Area A

40
I
I

(Sil-Grade)

60
I I

80
I ' a-

I
-

100
n

?
W

6
&
5 70
2
3
zyx
100

60

50
zyx
90
80

zyxw
.loLC:

.01
0
I I

20
I

I,
I

g- 1
I
I

Hornblende

40
I

CD-301B

I
Biotite

60
I I

VI-IG
Hornblende

80
I

100
Cumulative % 39Ar released Cumulative % 39Ar released
.004-
C
a I I , , 8

.=CD-l63G Hbl
8 1

A=CD-I63HMs
1 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihg
8

Slcps 1-5.7-13 Steps 1-13

-
Agc=73.2+0.6 Age=69.7+0.1 -
4!4r1'6Ar,=332i26 4!4d36Ar,=302k5

*= CD- 163H Bt
-
\
Steps 2 - I I
Age=68.0+2.4

zyxwvu
4%r136Ar,=616t404 -
4 .4., -
'P. . .

.OO .02 .04 .06 .08 .10 .12 .14
39AAd40Ar
Fig. 4. 40Ar/39Ardata for area A (sillimanite-grade). (a) Age
spectra for hornblende, muscovite and biotite. Spectra are quite
flat, and similarity of ages suggests rapid cooling. (b) Apparent
K/Ca ratio vs. % o ~ released
~ A ~ for hornblende showing no
evidence for high-K contaminant in mineral separate. (c) lsotope
correlation plots for hornblende, muscovite and biotite. Lines
represent inverse isochron regressions of data for hornblende
(solid) and the micas (dashed). Open symbols represent data not
used in regressions. Note that the x-intercept ('9Ar/40Ar at
MAr/40Ar= 0) does not directly reflect relative ages between
minerals because the irradiation parameters (J-factors) are
different.
garnet + sillimanite-bearing metapelite (CD-163H). No altera-
tion was observed in either sample. All spectra are quite flat,
inverse isochron regressions indicate only an atmospheric trapped
argon component, and ages are 73.2 f 0.6 Ma (hornblende),
69.7 f 0.1 Ma (muscovite) and 68.0 f 2.4 Ma (biotite).
Area B, kyanite grade (Fig. 5). Unaltered hornblende was
separated from a titanite-rich garnet-bearing metabasite (CD-
167A), and its spectrum shows a slight gradient in apparent age
from c. 76 Ma at c. 20% gas release to c. 80 Ma at 100% gas
release. Inverse isochron regression of all the data suggests an age
.OO .02 -04 .06 .08 .10 .I2 .14
39Ar/40Ar
Fig. 5. Hornblende, biotite and muscovite "Ar/@Ar data for
areas B and C (k anite-grade). (a) Age spectra. (b) Apparent
K/Ca ratio vs. %r9Ar released for hornblendes. (c) Isotope
correlation plot for hornblende and muscovite, with inverse
isochron regressions (dashed, VI-1G hornblende; solid, CD-167A
hornblende and CD-301B muscovite). VI-1G hornblende from
area C apparently has a resolvable non-atmospheric trapped argon
component (lower dashed regression line).
of 75.5 f 2.0 Ma (Fig. 5b) and an initial 40Ar/36Ar ratio that is not
statistically different from that of air. The inverse isochron ages
rcported by Grunow et al. (1992) for muscovite (70 f 1.0 Ma) and
biotite ( 7 0 f 1.0Ma) from area B are in good agreement with
poorly constrained data from a submilligram muscovite separate
from a metapelite at location SP-9 (total gas age = 72.9 f 2.6 Ma;
inverse isochron age, all steps = 69.3 f 0.8 Ma; see Appendix), as
well as with the muscovite and biotite inverse isochron ages of
c. 70 Ma from area A nearby.
Area C, kyanire grade (Fig. 5). A hornblende separate was
obtained from a pristine garnet metabasite (sample VI-lG), and
its age spectrum is slightly disturbed. Regression of steps 1-9
suggests an age of 77.0 f 2.2 Ma with an initial wAr/36Ar ratio
W
150

130

-
.0lL
0
I

-
I

I
I

20
I I

Area D

CD- 171A
Hornblende
I I

40
I

(St-Grade)

Cumulative % 39Ar released

.OO .02 .04 .06 .08 .10 .12 .14

39Ar/40Ar
I

60
I

zyxwvu
I

80

Fig. 6. Hornblende and biotite 40Ar/39Ar data for area D

I

I
a
1

zyxwvut
100

(staurolite grade). (a) Age spectra. (b) Apparent K/Ca ratio vs.
-
-
-130
4
= 110
Q)
PD
c,
G

'
a
90

70

50
-
-

0
I

z20
zyxw
I
zy
CEOCHRONOLOGY OF CORDILLERA DARWIN

zyxwI

40
'
Area E
(St-Grade)

Cumulative % 39Ar released

I

60

.OO .02 .04 .06 .08 .10 .12 .14

39Ar/40Ar
I I

80

Fig. 7. Hornblende, biotite and muscovite 40Ar/39Ar data for

area E (staurolite grade). (a) Age spectra. (b) Apparent K/Ca
259

' a-
-

100

Yo3'Ar released for hornblende. (c) Isotope correlation plot. ratio vs. Yo'~A~ rcleased for hornblende. (c) Isotope correlation
plot. Inverse isochron regressions shown by solid line

zyxwv
Inverse isochron regressions shown by solid lines (micas) and
dashed line (hornblende). Open symbols represent data not used (hornblende) and dashed lines (micas). Open symbols represent

zyxwvu
in inverse isochron regressions. data not used in regressions.

that is indistinguishable from air (294 f 18; Fig. 5c); regression of

steps 8-13 suggests a non-atmospheric trapped argon component
(initial 40Ar/36Ar ratio = 327 f 1 0 Fig. Sc), and the resulting age
of 77.6 f 1.2 Ma is not statistically different from that derived
from steps 1-9. Coarse-grained biotite (200-1500 p m wide and
60-750 p m thick) and fine-grained muscovite (150 p m wide and
20 p m thick) were separated from a garnet-bearing mctapelite
Area zyxwvut
sheared Beagle tonalite collected east of area C (S. Mukasa, pers.
comm., 1994).

D,staurolite grade (Fig.6). Hornblende (typically 3 mm long

(CD-301B), and their age spectra are flat. Biotite from the
mctapelite may contain a non-atmospheric trapped argon
component because its apparent age (c.74Ma) exceeds that of
muscovite in the same hand sample (66.7 f 0.6 Ma). Alternatively,
the small grain size of the muscovite may have resulted in a lower
closure temperature than for the coarse-grained biotite. The
muscovite age for CD-301B is similar to a 40Ar/39Ar plateau age
of 68.1 f 0.4 Ma obtained from fine-grained muscovite from
and 400 p m across) and biotite (typically 1 mm wide and 200 p m
thick) were separated from a mafic amphibolite (CD-l71A), and
biotite (typically 600pm wide and lOOpm thick) was separated
from a garnet-bearing metapelite (CD-171B). The only alteration
observed was a slight chloritization of biotite rims in CD-171A.
The age spectrum for hornblende is disturbed, and an inverse
isochron regression of selected steps suggests an age of
84.2 f 2.0 Ma with an initial 40Ar/36Ar that is indistinguishable
from air. 'I'he biotite spcctra are flat, and inverse isochron
regressions of all steps lead to ages of 73.2 f 0.5 Ma (CD-171A)
and 71.8 f 0.4 Ma (CD-171B).
 zyxwvutsrqponm
zyxwvutsrqp
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedc
zyxwvutsrqpon
260

w
zyxwvut
M. J . K O H N E T A [

zyxwvuts
Area G
(BtIChl-grade)
n

2
100

80

zyxwvuts
$110 Q)
bD
6
90
2
cd
70
7 t

zyxwvutsr ’
(area
201 ’

zyxwvut
I I I I I I I
0 20 40 60 80 100

CD-207B
Cumulative % 39Ar released

zy
Hornblendes Fig. 9. Age spectra for K-feldspars from areas B (kyanite-grade;
CD-168), D (staurolite-grade; CD-175), E (staurolite-grade;
.01 CD-29) and F (garnet-grade; CD-28). During argon extraction the
0 20 40 60 80 100 furnace was cycled to low temperature to resolve the Arrhenius
behaviour of the smaller domains, and the resulting age
Cumulative % 39Ar released determinations for these low-T steps are quite uncertain. For ease
of visualizing the age spectra, these low-T steps are not included
in the plot, resulting in small breaks in the spectra at ”Ar gas
release of 25 and 40% (CD-28), 20 and 50% (CD-29). 30 and 60%
(CD-175), and 35 and 50% (CD-168). Age gradients for samples
CD-28,CD-29 and CD-175 span c. 40 Ma, and for CD-168 the
gradient is 20 Ma.

(biotite). The old age of biotite relative to muscovite could

indicate a non-resolvable, non-atmospheric trapped argon
component in the biotite, or a relatively low closure temperature
for the fine-grained muscovite.

Area F, gurnet grade. N o new data were collected for hornblende,

.OO .02 .04 .06 .08 .10 .I2 .14
39Ar/40Ar
Fig. 8. Hornblende and biotite q’Ar/3yAr data for area G
(biotite/chlorite-grade). (a) Age spectra. (b) Apparent K/Ca ratio
vs. %39Ar released for two layers with different sized hornblende
crystals. (c) Isotope correlation plot. Inverse isochron regressions
shown by solid lines (CD-2WB coarse hornblende and CD-212
biotite) and dashed line (CD-207B fine hornblende). The biotite
age is similar to K-Ar and Rb-Sr ages for biotite and hornblende
from the same pluton (Hervk er al.. 1984), and likely reflects rapid
cooling of the pluton in relatively cold country rock.
Area E , sraurolite grade (Fig. 7). Hornblende was separated from
a deformed metabasic dyke (CD-31A; grain size typically 300 p m
to 1mm long and 30-160 p m across), and is rarely altered to
reddish-brown biotite. Biotite and muscovite were obtained from
a garnet-staurolite metapelitic schist (CDJOF) and are unaltered.
Biotite is coarse-grained (200-1200 p m wide and 50-150pm
thick), whereas muscovite is relatively fine-grained (150 p m wide
and 20 prn thick). The age spectrum for the CD-31A hornblende
is imprecise and disturbed. An inverse isochron regression of
selected steps suggests an age of 85.8f2.8Ma, and a trapped
@Ar/=Ar ratio that is indistinguishable from that of air. The age
spectra for the micas are flat, and inverse isochron regressions
result in ages of 71.3 f 0.3 Ma (muscovite) and 74.9 f 4.0 Ma
muscovite or biotite from area F. but Grunow er al. (1992) report
a muscovite 40Ar/’9Ar age of 73 f 1 Ma.
Area G, biotifelchlorite grade (Fig. 8 ) . Two hornblende separates
and a biotite separate were analysed from igneous rocks in the
biotite-grade region south of the Beagle Channel. Hornblende in
sample CD-207B occurs in two habits: in a coarsely crystalline
95% pure hornblende layer (‘coarse’; grain size = 4 mm long and
1.5 mm across), and in a finer grained hornblende + plagioclase
layer (‘fine’; grain size = W p m long and 150pm across). The
two separates yield flat spectra with similar inverse isochron ages
of 90.5 f 0.3 Ma (coarse) and 89.3 f 1.4 Ma (fine). The biotite
separate (CD-212) was obtained from a Beagle Suite tonalite that
is probably the same intrusion as analysed by Hew6 el ol., (1984;
pluton #4, Table 1). Our biotite separate gave a flat release
spectrum, and an inverse isochron age of 88.9 f 0.4 Ma. This age
corresponds well with biotite (K-Ar and Rb-Sr) and hornblende
(K-Ar) ages of c.90zt4Ma reported by Hervk et al. (1984) and
with discordant zircon U-Pb ages (c. 90 f 2 Ma; S. Mukasa, pers.
cornm., 1994), and suggests that the pluton crystallized and cooled
rapidly through biotite closure to argon diffusion.
K-feldspars (Fig.9 ) . K-feldspar separates were obtained from four
plutonic rocks of Beagle and Darwin Suite affinities from areas
B, D, E and F. All spectra show excess argon over the first 20% of
3yAr released, and contamination of samples CD-28 and CD-29 is
sufficiently significant to be seen through isochron analyses that
suggest initial “Ar/36Ar of c . 1670 (not shown). Of particular
 zyxwv
zyxwvutsrqpo
o^
"

$
L

?i
3 300
TJ
L
0
zyxwvutsrq
zyxwvutsrqponm
600

zyxwvutsrqpon
zyxwvutsrqponmlk
500

zyxwvuts
zyxwvutsrqpo
400

200

loo
- ri.\-s.:.*
\
CEOCHRONOLOCY OF CORDILLERA D A R W I N 261

zyxwvutsr
0 100 so 60 40 20 0
100 80 60 40 20 0 100 80 60 40 20 0
Time (Ma) Time (Ma) Time (Ma)
, I
600
rlnlt= Mi17 'CMa T,,,, = 6Oilh ' C M n

I t--J . .. . . . . . I

zyxwvuts
- CD29
BP 122
BP-102

O100 80 60 40 20 0 100 80 60 40 20 0
Time (Ma) Time (Ma) Time (Ma)

.. ._....'.
I . . . .
- =Constrained by
.._ . . . peochronolwy.
500 on petrology an
0 mgional ages
"v 400

3 300
$
$ 200

100

0
120 100 80 60 40 20 0 100 80 60 40 20 0
Time (Ma) Time (Ma)
Fig. 10. Thermochronolo ical constraints on T - f paths for areas A-G (a-g) and summary of calculated cooling curves (h). Boxes show
individual data for 40Ar/A Ar on hornblende (closure temperature c. 505" C), muscovite (c. 370" C), and biotite (c. 320" C), for Rb-Sr on
biotite (c. 300°C) and for fission track on titanite (250" C), zircon (175" C) and apatite (100" C) at 20 confidence level. Dashed lines in l l b ,
l l d , lle, and l l f show results of K-feldspar modelling. Patterned boxes represent data collected in other studies. Initial cooling rates
(Tni,)from c. 500" C to c. 300" C were rapid for amphibolite facies areas, but the rocks cooled progressively later with increasing
metamorphic grade (e.g. hornblende ages are youngest for sillimanite-grade area A, whereas the last-extracted K-feldspar ages are oldest
for garnet-grade area F). K-feldspar models indicate that rapid initial cooling changed to much slower cooling until c. 50 Ma. At this time,
increased cooling occurred, followed again by more uniform slow cooling.

interest is that the initial gas release shows alternating older and
younger ages, particularly for samples CD-28 and CD-29. This
oscillation is due to the fashion in which the gas was extracted,
which included a replication of a heating step at certain
temperatures (see Table Al). Although we usc these isothermal
duplicate steps primarily to establish whether trends on Arrhenius
plots are robust, it has recently been documented that K-feldspars
heated in the range 400-800" C release CI-correlated excess argon
from decrepitation of fluid inclusions (Harrison er ol., 1994). Thus,
the initial step is anomalously old because first attainment of a
new peak heating temperature causes decrepitation of inclusions
and release of CI-correlated excess 40Ar*. The second step is
correspondingly younger because most of the inclusions that were
unstable at that temperature have already decrepitated. In sample
CD-29, isothermal duplicate steps taken over the first 15% of gas
release show a strong correlation of ACI/K versus AWAr*/K (for
details, see Harrison et ol., 1994) that indicate a CI-correlated
component of excess radiogenic argon of *Ar,/CI = 1.26 f
0.06 X This allows us to 'see through' and subtract out the
contaminating effects of the CI-correlated excess 40Ar*. For
example, the two steps extracted at 600" C that yield ages of 88.9
and 38.7 Ma CI-correct to 34.1 f 2.7 and 32.2 f 0.4 Ma, respec-
tively. In general, the correction to the second isothermal steps is
small and simply extrapolating between the young apparent ages
yields a spectrum that is within c . 1-2 Ma of the presumed true
value. Nonetheless, it is interesting that the CI-correction
 zyxwvutsrq
zyxwvutsrqpon
zyxwvutsrqp
262 M. J. KOHN E T A l
approach permits precise recovery of thermal history information
accessible by such K-feldspars.
zyxwvutsr
over a temperature range (c. 250-200" C) otherwise not routinely
K-feldspars from samples CD-175, CD-28 and CD-29 reveal
gradients in their apparent age spectra that span c. 40 Ma for gas
that appears to be uncontaminated by excess 40Ar*. The age
spectrum for K-feldspar from sample CD-168 shows a smaller
gradient of only c. 20Ma, suggesting either a different kinetic
behaviour for argon retention or a different cooling history.
Samples CD-29 and CD-175 have similar ages for the last 70% of
their gas released, whereas CD-168 and CD-175 have similar ages
for the first 30% of the gas released.
Thermochronology and determination of T-t paths
zyxwvuts
Figure 10 shows the resulting thermochronological con-
straints on the cooling histories for the different areas and
a summary of the cooling curves using closure tempera-
tures as described above. In addition to the 40Ar/39Ardata
described above, we have incorporated some fission track
data of Nelson (1982), @ArfYAr data of Grunow et al.
(1992) and Rb-Sr data of Halpern (1973). Initial cooling
rates were estimated by regressing the closure tempera-
tures of hornblende, muscovite, biotite and oldest
K-feldspar against their ages using the approach of York
(1%9). Areas that reached sillimanite and kyanite grade
(areas A-C) cooled initially at rates of c.25"CMa-'
(37 f 19, 26 f 14 and 15 f 7" C Ma-', 2a), whereas
staurolite-grade areas (D and E) appear to have cooled
more rapidly (66 f 17 and 60 f 36" C Ma-'). Of additional
interest is a quite systematic dispersion of ages with grade,
such that staurolite-grade rocks cooled much earlier than
kyanite- and sillimanite-grade rocks. The old ages
measured for the most retentive domains in garnet-grade
K-feldspar (sample CD-28; area F) imply that these rocks
cooled even earlier than the staurolite-grade rocks.
K-feldspar modelling for all areas further suggests that
cooling below 300°C was not uniform. Specifically, a
renewed phase of rapid cooling occurred between c.250
and c. 200" C that was followed again by slower cooling. A
'knee' in the cooling history at c. 250" C was also suggested
by Nelson (1982) for area G based on fission track data,
and the 40Ar/39Ar and fission track data in area A are
consistent with a cooling curve of this general shape,
although the resolution of the fission track ages is much
zyxwvutsrqp
poorer than the K-feldspar data. A systematic dispersion
of cooling histories with grade was not observed at lower
temperature.
The correspondence between the K-feldspar models and
the muscovite and biotite data is typically not better than
about *50"C . In areas B and D, the K-feldspar cooling
zyxw
histories are most similar to those determined using the
mica '"'Ar/3yAr data, whereas in areas E and F the
correspondence is much poorer. Because we directly
estimate the K-feldspar kinetic parameters but assume
characteristic values for the micas, we are more confident
of the cooling histories derived from the K-feldspar
modelling.
In biotite/chlorite-grade area G, ages for hornblende
(K-Ar) and biotite (K-Ar, 40Ar/39Ar and Rb-Sr) for
individual intrusions are indistinguishable and range from
c. 110 Ma to at least 85 Ma and possibly to 80 Ma (plutons
1-9, Table 1). 40Ar/39Ar analyses of hornblende
(CD-207B) and biotite (CD-212) from area G show no
indication of excess argon (Fig. 8). The concordancy of
minerals with different closure temperatures from single
plutons provides strong evidence that the country rock
temperature has been below biotite closure for the K-Ar
and Rb-Sr systems (300-320°C) since 110Ma, in
agreement with the interpretation of Nelson (1982). The
low temperature during and immediately after the Andean
orogeny contrasts with the petrological and geochronologi-
cal data for kyanite-grade area C, only 2 km away across
the north-west arm of the Beagle Channel. Peak
metamorphic temperatures there were 2600" C (Kohn er
a/., 1993), and temperatures remained in excess of 500°C
until at least 80Ma. Thus, a distinct palaeothermal and
petrological discontinuity exists across the north-west arm
of the Beagle Channel (see also Nelson, 1982). The
present-day juxtaposition could have occurred through
down-to-the-south extensional shear and/or strike-slip
motion (Dalziel & Brown, 1989; Cunningham, 1993).
ONE-DIMENSIONAL THERMAL MODELS
In order to test whether there is internal consistency
among the geochronological and petrological data and to
determine what magnitude initial exhumation rates
plausibly explain the high-T data (c. 500 to c. 300" C),
one-dimensional thermal models were constructed for
rocks from the staurolite and kyanite + sillimanite
metamorphic zones (areas A-E). The reason we believe
1-D models might have some validity over this
temperature range is that the differences in cooling
histories for different areas appear to be a function of peak
metamorphic grade or burial depth, rather than distance
from geological features such as faults or plutons. This
suggests a 1-D exhumation process that relates to vertical
uplift rather than a 2-D process that relates to local heat
sources or sinks. Areas A-E were chosen because they
have the most complete and consistent petrological and
geochronological data. Simple, smooth cooling curves were
fitted to the data between 500°C and c.275"C,
emphasizing the hornblende and K-feldspar data. N o
attempt was made to fit the details of the K-feldspar
models at lower temperatures, and the thermal and
tectonic evolution below c. 275" C clearly had additional
complexity.
The principal observations we sought to reproduce in
the models were: (1) the highest grade (Ky + Sil) rocks had
maximum temperatures of 575-625" C , were buried to
depths of 30 km (8 kbar), had initial cooling rates between
500°C and 320°C of c. 25"CMa-', and cooled c. 10Ma
later than staurolite-grade rocks; (2) the staurolite-grade
rocks had maximum temperatures of 550-580" C, were
buried to depths of 25 km (6.7 kbar), and had initial
cooling rates 225" C Ma-'.
The two most significant assumptions were: (1)
thickening by thrusting ( D l ) and backfolding (D2)
 CEOCHRONOLOCY OF CORDILLERA DARWIN 263 zy
zyxwvutsrqpon
occurred at an average rate of 1 mm yr-', resulting in only
a small perturbation to the geotherm within the top 30 km
of the crust; (2) the stable geotherm was on average
20-25" c km-'. Assumption 1 was based on the flatness of
the P-T paths during backfolding, which suggests
relatively fast thermal re-equilibration compared with any
D2 loading. Assumption 2 was based on the observations
that peak P-T conditions fall between 20 and 25°C km-'
geotherms (Fig. 3), and the geotherms could have had as
depth for 13 Ma until the kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks
reached the same level. At that point, slow uniform
exhumation (c. 0.15 mm yr-I) of both staurolite- and
kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks was assumed.
Figure 11 shows that the P-T paths provide few

long as 30Ma to equilibrate. Furthermore, if the

exhumation paths derived from garnet amphibolites are
correct for area B, then the small increase in temperature
suggests that the geotherm was not strongly perturbed
when exhumation began.
Many combinations of the thermal and physical
properties of the rocks allow a stable geotherm of

zyxwvuts
20-25" C km-' to be constructed. Although nine combina-
tions of parameters were tested to see their effects on

zyxwvutsrqp
predicted T-t and P - T paths, the results were found to be

zyxwvutsrq
insensitive to the choice of parameter set. The principal I-D models
I I I I I

zyxwvutsr
thermal model results are illustrated well by the following 200 400 600 800
parameters: surface heat production (A) = 2 X
W I J - ~ , characteristic length scale for exponential Temperature ("C)
decrease of heat production with depth (I) = 23.5 km, 600
mantle heat flux (q,,,) = 30 mW m-*, thermal conductivity
( k ) = 2.25 W m-' K-', and thermal difisivity (k) =
500

zyxwvuts
0.8 mrn's-'. In each model, at 100-120 Ma a 35-km-thick
section of crust at thermal equilibrium was loaded with
20km of material and allowed to equilibrate for 20Ma.
Between 15 and 25 km of material was then stripped off
the top of the thickened crust at rates of 0.5-5 mm yr-' for
3-50 Ma. Exhumation rates were then decreased to 0.05-
0.2mmyr-', so that rocks that were buried to maximum
depths of 25-30 km would just reach the surface at 0 Ma.
The P-T-t histories of rocks that reached depths of 25
and 30km were recorded at various time intervals and
compared with the observations. We adjusted the absolute
start time for each model to fit both the staurolite-grade
+
and kyanite sillimanite-grade data as well as possible.
Thus, the absolute time of each model T - f curve shown in
Fig. 11 reflects a compromise of fitting data for two
different grades.
The sensitivity of the P-T and T-r paths to exhumation
amounts and rates is illustrated well by the results of two
thermal models. In the first model, a uniform exhumation
rate of 1.0mmyr-' (solid lines) was assumed until the
rocks reached 7.5km depth (durations of 22.5Ma for
kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks and 17.5 Ma for
staurolite-grade rocks), folloded by slow differential
erosion (<0.2 mm yr..') so that both rocks reached the
surface at the same time. In the second model (dashed
lines), it was assumed that initial exhumation of staurolite-
and kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks began simultaneously
but at different rates: 17.5 km was exhumed from the
staurolite-grade rocks at a rate of 2.5mmyr-' (7Ma
duration), whereas 20.0 km was exhumed from the
kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks at a rate of 1.0 mm yr-'
(20 Ma duration). After initial exhumation, the staurolite-
grade rocks were assumed to remain stationary at 7.5 km
0
100 80 60 40 20 0
Time (Ma)
Fig. 11. (a) Comparison of predicted F-T paths from thermal
models with observed P-Tpaths. The I-D P-Tpaths (solid lines)
are relatively insensitive to exhumation rates and are consistent
with the clockwise path determined from amphibolites from area
B (samples at SP-IOA). Two-dimensional juxtaposition of hot
lower plate rocks with cooler upper plate rocks would result in a
path with substantial cooling during exhumation (dashed line),
and this contrasts with the observed path for the SP-10A
amphibolites. (b) Comparison of predicted T - f paths from
thermal models with observed T-t paths. Because models 1 and 2
have similar initial exhumation rates and durations for
kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks (1 mm yr-' for 20-22.5 Ma), the
T - f curves are similar in shape. However, the absolute ages for
the two curves are slightly different, as a result of minimizing the
differences between model curves and data for both staurolite-
grade and kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks. Simple uniform
exhumation models (solid lines) do not produce sufficient disparity
in T - f paths for different metamorphic grades to explain the
observed T-r paths. Differential exhumation models (dashed
lines) reproduce the observed paths more closely, but
consideration of lateral heat flow effects indicates that the
differences in the modelled exhumation rates are overestimated.
See text for details.
264 zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvutsrqpon
zyxwvutsrqpon
zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvutsrqpon
M. J . K O H N € T A L
zyxwvutsrq
constraints on 1-D exhumation amount or rate, but that
the T-t results are sensitive to 1-D thermal models.
zyxw
Uniform exhumation at a rate of 1 mm yr-' does not fit the
T-t data well. The predicted differences in age between
staurolite- and kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks for any
temperature are not more than 2-5 Ma, whereas observed
differences are 10 Ma. Although models involving slower
uniform exhumation rates lead to greater disparity in the
cooling ages, predicted cooling rates between 500 and
325°C are much too slow, and predicted hornblende
closure to argon loss is not reached until 40-60Ma after
initial thickening. This long delay exceeds the limits
imposed by the palaeontological and K-Ar provenance
data. The results of the second thermal model involving
initial differential exhumation show a significantly im-
proved fit to the data. Differences in cooling ages are at
least 10 Ma, and cooling rates are uniformly high. Thus, we
believe that models of initial differential exhumation of
15-20km of material at rates of 1-2.5mmyr-' are the
most internally consistent with the petrological, geoch-
ronological and palaeontological data.
The close association of staurolite- and kyanite + DISCUSSION
sillimanite-grade rocks in the field poses a problem for the
acceptance of simple 1-D thermal modelling results. If we
accept initial exhumation rates of 1.0 mm y r f ' for
kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks and 2.5 mm yr'.' for
staurotite-grade rocks, and examine the geotherm through
time for areas A + B and D, then lateral thermal gradients
of 25-50' C km-' are implied. Obviously, such strong
lateral thermal gradients imply significant lateral heat flow
between areas D and A + B , and invalidate 1-D models.
Because there are so few constraints on the geometry and
location of structures that could have accommodated
differential uplift between the areas, we chose not to fit
2-D models to the data. Nonetheless, some comments
about the first-order effects of lateral heat flow are
warranted. Initial rapid exhumation of the staurolite-grade
rocks in area D will juxtapose them with the cooler upper
section of area A + B . This will tend to cool the
staurolite-grade rocks earlier and at a greater rate than
indicated by 1-D models. In contrast, the juxtaposition of
the hot lower crust in area D with the mid-crust in area
A + B will tend to maintain higher temperatures longer
for the kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks. Kyanite + silli-
manite-grade rocks will therefore cool later and at slower
rates than indicated by 1-D models. The fundamental
implication of lateral heat flow is that early rapid
exhumation of staurolite-grade rocks will produce greater
disparity in T-t curves for staurolite- and kyanite+
sillimanite-grade rocks than suggested by 1-D models.
With respect to Fig. 11, this implies that 2.5 mm yr-' is too
fast for staurolite-grade rocks, whereas 1.0 mm yr-' is too
slow for kyanite + sillimanite-grade rocks. That is, average
exhumation rates are bracketed between I .O and
2.5 mm yr-'.
The possibility that 2-D juxtaposition of hot high-grade
rocks in areas A-D with the cold low-grade rocks of area
G caused the observed initial cooling was also considered.
The characteristic time for thermal re-equilibration of
rocks located within 10km of a thermal boundary is
<1 Ma, or essentially instantaneous geologically. There-
fore, if fault movement occurred between 85-90 and 70 Ma
and caused cooling of all rocks to c. 325' C , then for peak
temperatures of c.625'C (area A), c.600°C (B and C)
and c. 575" C (D), we would expect to find nearly linear
and constant cooling rates of c . 15-20' C Ma-' (area A),
c. 14-18' C Ma-' (B and C) and c . 12-16' C Ma-' (D). We
would also expect P - T paths to involve substantial cooling
during exhumation, so that their retrograde paths (dashed
line, Fig. 11) would nearly track back down their prograde
paths. Although the observed cooling rates for areas A-C
can be reconciled with this model, the observed cooling
rate for area D is much faster than predicted. More
importantly, the P -T paths from amphibolites in area B
(SP-IOA) show exhumation with heating, and this strongly
argues against a simple 2-D shear model to explain the
high-T cooling (see Fig, 11). Possibly, the present
juxtaposition of low-grade and high-grade rocks across the
Beagle Channel occurred at lower temperatures.
Comparison with T-t paths from other metamorphic
complexes: implications for crustal rheology . The cooling
history of Cordillera Darwin was compared with that of
the Waterman terrane (Henry & Dokka, 1992), the
Funeral Mountains (DeWitt et al., 1986; Holm & Dokka,
1991), the northern Chemehuevi Mountains (Foster et af.,
1990), the Old Woman Mountains (Foster et al., 1989) and
the Big Maria Mountains (Hoisch et a[., 1988), all in south-
eastern California; the Ruby Mountains in north-eastern
Nevada (Dallmeyer el al., 1986); the Valhalla +
Monashee complexes in south-eastern British Columbia
(Sevigny et al., 1990, Heaman & Pamsh, 1991, and
references therein); the Salmon River suture zone in
western ldaho (Lund & Snee, 1988; also see summary of
Selverstone et of., 1992); the Diancang Shan in the Yunnan
province of China (Leloup et af., 1993); and the
D'Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua New Guinea (Baldwin el
al., 1993). These areas were chosen for three reasons.
First, like Cordillera Darwin they all exhibit high-grade
metamorphic cores that rapidly decrease in metamorphic
grade structurally upward and outward. Second, high-
quality geochronological data for many minerals with
different closure temperatures have been collected for a
single outcrop or small area in each complex, so that
precise T-t curves could be drawn. Third, they all have
been studied petrologically to determine pre-exhumational
burial depths and temperatures. The compilation is
intended to be illustrative of metamorphic complexes in
general rather than an exhaustive documentation of
published T-t histories for core complexes. Most of the
areas chosen have additional geochronological data that
bear on regional cooling patterns, but are less specific for
cooling histories of single outcrops or groups of outcrops.
Furthermore, the areas are not all metamorphic core
complexes, in that some do not show a simple jump in
metamorphic grade across low-angle detachment faults.

600
500
400
300
zy
zyx
zyxwvu
200
zyxwvutsrqponm
100
n the complexes: it is early in the Diancang Shan, but late in
zyxwvuts
"120 100 80 60 40 20
Time (Ma)
Fig. 12. Comparison of the cooling history of kyanite +
sillimanite-gradeand staurolite-grade rocks of Cordillera Darwin
(CD) with cooling histories for specific locations in other
metamorphic complexes. Slopes for cooling rates of 10,20, and
50" C Ma-' shown for reference. Two types of cooling histories
are observed: Type I complexes show two fast cooling segments
zyxwv
separated by a period of slow cooling (e.g. Funeral Mountains).
Type I1 complexes show simple fast cooling from peak
metamorphic temperatures at a rate that is constant or decreasing
with time (e.g. Old Woman Mountains). References for data are
listed in text.
zyxwvutsrqp
T-t curves are shown in Fig. 12, with the representative
curves for kyanite + sillimanite-grade and staurolite-grade
rocks of Cordillera Darwin.
Overall, the T-f curves show two trends. The first trend
('Type 1') shows a period of relatively slow cooling at a
temperature of 37.5-250" C between two fast cooling
segments, and is represented by the Waterman terrane, the
Diancang Shan, the Funeral Mountains and Cordillera
Darwin. Type I1 T-f paths show simple progressive
cooling from peak metamorphic temperatures, typically
with rates that decrease with time, and include the
D'Entrecasteaux Islands, the Old Woman Mountains and
the Ruby Mountains. Other similar paths are observed for
the Salmon River suture, the Big Maria Mountains, the
Valhalla + Monashee complexes and the northern Cheme-
huevi Mountains, although the absence of published low-T
thermochronological data for some of the specific localities
chosen does allow for later periods of rapid cooling (i.e.
some of the latter areas may be Type I).
It is not surprising that studies of several metamorphic
complexes show multiple-stage (Type I) exhumation
histories. Geometric heterogeneities will cause any major
fault system to expose different levels of the crust.
Wherever there have been multiple episodes of fault
movement, there is some likelihood that two different aged
fault systems will tend to expose deep levels of the crust in
the same area, leading to locally anomalous exposure of
high-grade rocks. Because petrological and geochronologi-
cal attention is commonly biased towards the highest-grade
metamorphic rocks, exposures of the deepest rocks
preferentially receive detailed study, and multiple-stage
cooling histories should often be observed.
zyxwvu
C E O C H R O N O L O C Y OF CORDILLERA D A R W I N
There are two common tectonometamorphic elements to
265
Type I complexes. They all have intermediate to high
initial metamorphic pressures (Waterman Terrane c. 11
kbar, Henry & Dokka, 1992; Diancang Shan c. 7 kbar,
Leloup et al., 1993; Funeral Mountains c. 7 kbar, Hodges
& Walker, 1990; Cordillera Darwin c. 8 kbar, Kohn et QI.,
1993), and all are associated with strike-slip faults
(Waterman Terrane = Lane Mountain Fault, Dokka, 1989;
Diancang Shan= Red River Fault zone, Leloup et al.,
1993; Funeral Mountains = Furnace Creek Fault zone, e.g.
Stewart, 1967; and Cordillera Darwin = Beagle Channel
lineament, e.g. Dalziel & Brown, 1989). However, the
relative timing of strike-slip motion is not the same in all
0 the Funeral Mountains, Waterman terrane and Cordillera
Darwin.
There are fewer common tectonic elements for Type I1
areas. N o major strike-slip faults were active during
cooling of the Type I1 complexes, although early .strike-slip
motion was important for the Salmon River suture (Lund
& Snee, 1988; Selverstone et al., 1992). Several complexes
were metamorphosed at shallow levels: Old Woman
Mountains, 4-5kbar (Foster ef al., 1989); Big Maria
Mountains, c . 3 kbar (Hoisch ef al., 1988); northern
Chemehuevi Mountains, 23 kbar (Foster et al., 1990).
However, others were metamorphosed at deeper crustal
levels: Ruby Mountains, 5-6.5 kbar (Hodges et al., 1992);
Salmon River suture, 8-10 kbar (Selverstone et al., 1992);
Valhalla + Monashee complexes, 7-8 kbar (Sevigny &
Ghent, 1986, 1989; F. Spear, unpubl. data),
D'Entrecasteaux Islands, 28 kbar (Hill & Baldwin, 1993).
The variety of metamorphic and cooling histories
exhibited by the various metamorphic complexes promotes
few generalizations. We assign little significance to the
correspondence of Type I complexes with large-scale
strike-slip faulting. Although (oblique) transcurrent mo-
tion was certainly important for exhumation, the variability
in timing of strike-slip motion and the occurrence of other
types of faulting for some Type I complexes seem to rule
out any direct genetic relationship between the complexity
of the cooling history and local structural style. Perhaps of
greater importance is that the Type I complexes are all
high pressure, and the amount of exhumation associated
with most extensional events for both Type I and Type I1
areas was typically 20 km or less (see also Hodges, 1988).
The three exceptions are the Salmon River suture, the
D'Entrecasteaux Islands and the Valhalla + Monashee
complexes. However, the tectonic settings of the first
two areas are radically different from most other meta-
morphic complexes. The Salmon River suture is inter-
preted to have undergone lithospheric root detachment
soon after the peak of metamorphism, and there is no
evidence that the rapid cooling observed is the result of
regional extension (Selverstone et al., 1992). The
D'Entrecasteaux Islands occupy an incipient spreading
system immediately west of a westward-propagating
oceanic ridge (Davies & Warren, 1988), and the
extraordinarily large amount of crustal thinning there may
be atypical for most metamorphic complexes. A second
266 M. zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvutsrqpon
zyxwvutsrqp
I . KOHN
zyxwvutsr
ET AL
cooling event also cannot be ruled out for the Salmon
River suture, and the late tectonic and cooling history for
at least the Monashee complex may have involved
thrusting as well as normal faulting (Sevigny et al., 1990).
zyxwvutsrqpo
It is interesting to explore the possibility that major fault
systems excise less than c. 20 km of overburden, because
this limit can be readily explained in terms of the
fundamental rheological variations in continental crust that
control the shape and behaviour of extensional systems.
Lister & Davis (1988) have summarized many of the
relevant observations and discussions that relate crustal
rheology to fault geometry and style in continental
extensional areas, and the following discussion is largely
based on that paper and the references therein (especially
Chen & Molnar, 1983; Jackson & McKenzie, 1983). The
most important feature of continental crustal rheology is
an increase of strength with depth towards the
brittle/ductile transition and a subsequent decrease of
strength within the ductile regime towards the
crust/mantle boundary. Major earthquakes nucleate in a
zone of maximum strength at the brittle/ductile transition
(c. 8-12 km depth), and resulting brittle slip occurs
between the surface and 15-16km depth. Imaging of
extensional faults shows them to be planar to a depth of
10-16 km, and below c. 15 km brittle movement along a
major planar fault clearly cannot be the means by which
continental crust extends.
One explanation of these observations is that lower-
crustal ductile deformation is diffuse and distributed. If so,
then mid- to lower-crustal rocks will tend to deform
laterally along low-angle, distributed shear zones or
through homogeneous thinning rather than through
high-angle shear. In terms of uplift rates, brittle extension
in the upper crust is an efficient exhumative agent, because
extension directly translates into fault movement, and a
significant component of that fault movement results in
exhumation. In contrast, distributed extension in the
middle and lower crust is an inefficient exhumative agent,
because extension there has a very small vertical
component (i.e. it is almost entirely lateral). These
considerations imply that tectonic exhumation of 215-
20km of material requires operation of more than one
fault system or shear zone, and that shallowly and deeply
metamorphosed complexes will typically have single-stage
and multiple-stage exhumation histories, respectively.
These thermochronological implications are in general
accord with T-t histories described above.
If instead lower crustal deformation is accommodated
along lithosphere-scale discrete ductile shear zones (e.g.
Wernicke, 1985), then there is no theoretical limit on the
amount of exhumation that can occur in a single event. In
this case, we would expect to see less correlation between
the number of exhumation events and depth of burial. This
model better explains the single-stage thermal histories of
the deeply metamorphosed D'Entrecasteaux Islands,
Salmon River Suture and possibly the Valhalla + Mona-
shee complexes, but overall there is less geochronologi-
cal and petrological support for lithosphere-scale discrete
zyxwvu rebounding block and a relatively stable adjacent block,
ductile shear zones than for mid-crustal distributed shear.
Regional tectonic implications for Cordillera D a w i n . The
geochronological and petrological data from Cordillera
Darwin combined with thermal modelling allow a new
evaluation of the metamorphic core complex model of
Dalziel & Brown (1989). The transition from rapid,
spatially disparate cooling rates (c. 25" C Ma-') to slower,
more uniform rates (average of c.4"CMa-') and the
observed P-T paths involving exhumation with heating are
consistent with initial rapid exhumation (1-2 mm yr-') that
was succeeded by much slower exhumation (average of
c. 0.1 mm yr-I). Although rapid erosion rather than
extension can equally well explain the geochronological
and petrological data, the Occurrences of intermediate-T
(300-500"C) kinematic indicators with extensional shear
senses along the southern margin of the complex (Dalziel
& Brown, 1989; Moore, 1990; Cunningham, 1994) clearly
allow extension to be linked temporally with cooling and
exhumation. Thus, the simplest explanation of the high-T
data from the southern part of the complex is one
involving Late Cretaceous extensional exhumation, as
suggested by Dalziel & Brown (1989). In the north,
however, extensional fabrics are extremely rare or absent.
Instead, thrust-sense deformation may have continued into
a low-T brittle regime (Klepeis, 1994) and, consequently,
we prefer to consider alternatives to the core-complex
model.
Cunningham (1994) recently proposed a lithospheric
root detachment model for the exhumation history of
Cordillera Darwin, similar to that described by Selverstone
et al. (1992) for the Salmon River Suture zone of Idaho. In
Cunningham's model, closure of the marginal basin during
D1 caused partial southward subduction of the northern
basin floor and possibly the edge of the South American
margin. Detachment of this dense lithospheric root at
80-95 Ma caused isostatic rebound and rapid exhumation
of southern Cordillera Darwin, whereas thrusting was
unaffected in the north. Cunningham infers the Beagle
Channel to mark a major structure that accommodated
differential uplift between southern Cordillera Darwin and
basin rocks to the south. The prediction of different
deformation styles for southern and northern Cordillera
Darwin is in better accord with structural observations
(Nelson et af., 1980 Moore, 1990; Cunningham, 1994;
Klepeis, 1994), but implications for cooling histories are
not supported by the geochronological data. For example,
Selverstone et al. (1992) describe how lithospheric root
detachment would likely cause a monotonic change in
cooling ages and rates away from the structure that
accommodates differential uplift between an isostatically
and they summarized compelling geochronological evid-
ence for just such systematic changes away from the
Salmon River suture zone in Idaho. In contrast, there is no
monotonic change in cooling rates and ages away from any
geographical or geological feature of Cordillera Darwin,
including the Beagle Channel, and this suggests that
accommodation of uplift along a major structure during
initial cooling of the complex did not occur. Furthermore,
a lithospheric root detachment model does not explain why
 ~
GEOCHRONOLOGY OF CORDILLERA DARWIN
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA
267 zy
zyxwvut
other areas of the southern South American Andes that Simplified Tectonic Model
also experienced closure of the marginal basin, such as the Southern Northern
Sarmiento complex to the north, d o not contain similarly Cordillera Darwin Cordillera Darwin
high-grade metamorphic rocks.
As an alternative to both the core complex model of
Dalziel & Brown (1989) and the lithospheric root
detachment model of Cunningham (1994), we propose a
'wedge extrusion' model (i.e. internal extension f
underplating; Platt, 1986) as a viable explanation of the
kinematic and P-T-t data. As described by Dahlen (1984)
and Yin (1993), within an overall compressional regime
both non-cohesive critical coulomb and elastic wedges can
zyxwvu 3verthrusting
(>90Ma) A
c
-
A

exhibit rearward extension or thickening, with the type of

deformation depending on the mechanical properties of
the wedge and its boundaries. For example, if the basal
friction or basal thrust angle changes, then the upper
portion of a deforming wedge can stop thickening and fail
extensionally. We believe that such systematic changes in

zyxwvutsrqpon
mechanical properties, geometries and/or stresses through
time caused systematic changes in deformation styles in
southern Cordillera Darwin from early thickening to later
extension, as summarized in Fig. 13 and as follows.
(a) r 9 0 M a . Overthrusting and isoclinal folding of the
marginal basin sediments produced a strong shallowly
inclined fabric in the rocks (Fig. 13a), caused most of the
thickening and initiated the formation of the wedge. A
shallowly inclined basal thrust is shown (dashed line) to
emphasize the overall wedge geometry; there is no direct
evidence for or against such a thrust.
Exhumation 2
(b) 290 Ma. South-directed backfolding (Fig. 13b) was (60-40Ma)
synchronous with peak amphibolite facies metamorphism
of the metapelites, but P-T paths suggest there was little
thickening in southern Cordillera Darwin (Kohn el af.,
1993; Fig. 3b). Instead, rocks were either passively warped
at deep structural levels or backfolded at shallow structural
levels with minor shallowly dipping backthrusts (structural
data from Nelson et al., 1980). At this time, the rear of the Fig. 13. Model of the tectonic evolution of Cordillera Darwin.
Note shift in structural style from (a) major thickening to (b)
wedge may have reached some critical thickness beyond predominantly lateral movement and backfolding to (c) extension.
which it was mechanically unstable to thicken or thin. This is interpreted to be the result of changes in the mechanical
properties of the deforming wedge and its boundaries through
(c) 70-90 Ma. Initial rapid cooling and extension of at least time. The Beagle Channel is interpreted to have accommodated
the southern part of the high-grade metamorphic core only late extension and strike-slip movement (d).
likely resulted from a change in the mechanical behaviour
of the wedge or its boundaries. Because cooling patterns basin from the high-grade core (Fig. 13d), and thinned the
are not consistent with extension along a discrete major rear of the wedge to a new stable geometry. This episode

zyxwvuts
detachment fault, we believe extension was distributed at
relatively high structural levels (Fig. 13c). Thrusting
continued at lower structural levels and towards the toe of
the wedge in the north.
of cooling corresponds with lengthening of the wedge
through the initiation of thrusting in the Magallanes basin
in the north (Winslow, 1982; Biddle et a f . , 1986).

zy
0-40Mn (not shown). A shift to slow cooling at average
(d) 60-4OMu. The detailed models of K-feldspar argon rates of 3-5"CMa-' suggests a change from extension in
release spectra show a complex T-t history in this period the south to simple block uplift and mechanical

zyxwvut
(temperatures of 325-200" C), including rapid cooling at
c. 50 Ma between two slow cooling segments. A specific
structural mechanism for rapid exhumation and cooling at
c. 50 Ma remains somewhat enigmatic, but a normal
component of movement on t h e Beagle Channel fault
system could have stripped the remnants of the marginal
stabilization of the wedge. Thrusting until at least 15 Ma is
documented in the sedimentary rocks of the Magallanes
basin (Winslow, 1982; Biddle et a!., 1986; Alvarez-Marr6n
el al., 1993).
Our new interpretation of a progressive shift from
thickening and backfolding (290Ma) to 'wedge extrusion'
268 M. zyxwvutsrqponm
zyxwvutsrqpo
zyxwvuts
I. KOHN ETAL
(40-%Ma) has the advantages that it explains: (1) the
extensional textures, P-T paths and rapid initial cooling
observed in the south; (2) the continued thrusting in the
north; and (3) the southward dip of the dominant fabric.
zyxwvuts
The location of anomalously high-grade rocks in Cordillera
Darwin but not elsewhere along the Andes could then still
be genetically related to far-field stresses and the
development of the Patagonian orocline in the latest
Cretaceous and earliest Tertiary as first suggested by
Dalziel & Brown (1989; see also Cunningham et al., 1991;
Grunow et al., 1992; Cunningham, 1993). Corresponding
changes of local stress and strain geometry in Cordillera
Darwin could have led to a shift in basal shear stresses or
basal thrust slope, and thus initiated extension in the
southern part of the complex while maintaining thrusting
in the north.
Within the larger context of plate motions and
interactions, a shift from slow to fast spreading rates in the
South Atlantic and Pacific during the mid- to Late
Cretaceous (e.g. Larson, 1991; see also Dalziel, 1986)
probably initiated closure of the marginal basin, producing
the Andean orogeny and forming the thickened wedge in
Cordillera Darwin. Similarly, changes in far-field stresses
accompanying a shift towards diffuse transform and
zyxwvutsr
divergent motion between the South American and
Antarctic plates between 90 and 40 Ma (e.g. Cunningham
& Dalziel, 1992) caused changes in the mechanical
behaviour of the thickened wedge to produce extension
and rapid cooling in the southern part of the complex and
thrusting in the north into the Magallanes basin. Finally,
development within the last 40 Ma of discrete faults
between South America and Antarctica (e.g. the North
Scotia Ridge transform fault immediately east of
Cordillera Darwin and the Bransfield Strait spreading
centre immediately north of the Antarctic Peninsula)
caused a change to relatively quiet block uplift of
Cordillera Darwin. Thus, we find that there is good
internal consistency among structural, petrological, geoch-
ronological and geodynamic data for this area, and that a
relatively simple wedge model involving crustal thickening
followed by initial rearward extension and final block uplift
can be interpreted in terms of tectonic interactions from
local to oceanic/continental plate scales.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks are due M. Heizler for his assistance and
training with argon isotopic analysis and interpretation.
We thank the captains and crews of the R / V Polar Duke
for their help in collecting samples, and S. Mukasa and A.
Grunow for divulging U-Pb and 40Ar/3yArages from the
area'before publication and for supplying crushed rock for
K-feldspar separates. M.J.K. thanks: M. Roden, 0.
Lovera, M. Grove, D. Foster and P. Copeland for their
advice and help in separating minerals, collecting analyses,
interpreting data and modelling K-feldspar spectra; the
Heizler and Hamson families for their generous hospitality
in Los Angeles; K. Klepeis and D. Cunningham for
discussing the structural geology of Cordillera Darwin; and
T. Spell for restarting a dead Honda. D. Henry, J.
Selverstone, and an anonymous reviewer helped sig-
nificantly to clarify the presentation and concepts of the
paper. This work represents a portion of the PhD and
post-doctoral research of M.J.K., and was funded by
National Science Foundation grants DPP 8643441 and
EAR 9005495 (I.W.D.D.), EAR 8803785 and EAR
9004241 (F.S.S.), and by National Science Foundation
doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships to M.J.K. Final
preparation of the manuscript was supported by NSF grant
EAR 9316349 (M.J.K).
zyxwvu
zy
REFERENCES
Alvarez-Marr6n, J., McClay, K. R., Harambour, S., Rojas, L. &
Skarmeta, J., 1993. Geometry and evolution of the frontal part
of theMagallanes foreland thrust and fold belt (Vicuiia area),
Tierra del Fuego, southern Chile. American Association of
Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 77,1904-191.
Baldwin, S. L., Lister, G. S., Hill, E. J., Foster, D. A. &
McDougall, I.. 1993. Thermochronologic constraints on the
tectonic evolution of active metamorphic core complexes,
D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Papua New Guinea. Tectonics, U,
611-628.
Biddle, K. T.. Uliana. M. A., Mitchum, R. M., Fitzgerald, M. R.
& Wright, R. C., 1986. The stratigraphic and structural
evolution of the central and eastern Magallanes basin, southern
South America. In: Foreland Basins (eds Allen, P. A. &
Homewood, P.), International Association of Sedimentologists
Special Publication, 8,41-61.
Chen, W-P. & Molnar, P., 1983. The depth distribution of
intracontinental and intraplate earthquakes and its implications
for the thermal and mechanical properties of the lithosphere.
Journal of Geophysical Research, 88,4183-4214.
Cunningham, W . D., 1993. Strike-slip faults in the southernmost
Andes and the development of the Patagonian orocline.
Tectonics, U,169-186.
Cunningham, W. D., 1994. Orogenesis at the southern tip of the
Americas: the structural evolution of the Cordillera Darwin
metamorphic complex, southernmost Chile. Tectonophysics, in
press.
Cunningham, W. D. & Dalziel, I. W. D., 1992. Quantification of
southern South America-Antarctic Peninsula relative motion
since 90 Ma: implications for Scotia arc tectonics. EOS, 73, 507.
Cunningham, W. D., Klepeis, K., Gose, W. & Dalziel, I. W. D.,
1991. The Patagonian orocline: New paleomagnetic data from
the Andean magmatic arc in Tierra del Fuego. Journal of
Geophysical Research, %, 16061-16067.
Dahlen, F. A., 1984. Noncohesive critical coulomb wedges: an
exact solution. Journal of Geophysical Research, 89, 10125-
10133.
Dallmeyer, R. D., Snoke, A. W. & McKee, E. H., 1986. The
Mesozoic-Cenozoic tectonothermal evolution of the Ruby
Mountains, East Humboldt Range, Nevada: a cordilleran
metamorphic core complex. Tectonics, 5, 931-954.
Dalziel, 1. W. D., 1981. Back-arc extension in the southern Andes:
A review and critical reappraisal. Philosophical Transactions of
the Royal Society of London, A m ,319-335.
Dalziel, 1. W. D., 1986. Collision and Cordilleran orogenesis: an
Andean perspective. In: Collision Tectonics (eds Coward, M. P.
& Ries, A. C.), Geological Society Special Publication, 19,
389-404,.
Dalziel, 1. W. D. & Brown, R., 1989. Andean core complex
evolution related to marginal basin collapse: implications for
Cordilleran tectonics. Geology, 17, 699-703.
Dalziel, 1. W. D. & Cortks, R., 1972. Tectonic style of the
 zy
zyxwvutsrqp
zyxwvutsrqpo
southernmost Andes and the Antarctandes. 24th International
Geological Congress, section 3, 316-327.
Davies, H. L. & Warren, R. G., 1988. Origin of eclogite-bearing,
domed, layered metamorphic complexes (‘core complexes’) in
zyxwvuts
the D’Entrecasteaux Islands, Papua New Guinea. Tectonics, 7,
1-21.
DeWitt, E., Sutter, J. F., Wright, L. A. & Troxel, B. W., 1986.
Ar-Ar chronology of early Cretaceous regional metamorphism,
Funeral Mountains, California - a case study of excess argon.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program, u),A16.
Dokka, R. K., 1989. The Mojave Extensional Belt of southern
California. Tectonics, 8, 363-390.
Dott, R. H., Winn R. D., Dewit M. J. & Bruhn R. L., 1977.
zyxwvutsrqp
Tectonic and sedimentary significance of Cretaceous Tekenika
beds of Tierra del Fuego. Nature, 266,620-622.
Dott, R. H., Jr, Winn, R. D., Jr & Smith, C. H. L., 1982.
Relationship of Late Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic sedimenta-
tion to the tectonic evolution of the southernmost Andes and
Scotia arc. In: Antarctic Geoscience (ed. Craddock, C.), pp.
193-202. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI.
Fitz Gerald, J. D. & Harrison, T. M., 1993. Argon diffusion
domains in K-feldspar I: Microstructures in MH-10.
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology. 113, 367-380.
Foster, D. A., Harrison. T. M. & Miller, C. F., 1989. Age,
inheritance, and uplift history of the Old Woman-Piute
Batholith, California and implications for K-feldspar age
spectra. Journal of Geology, 97,232-243.
Foster, D. A., Harrison, T. M., Miller, C. F. & Howard, K. A,,
1990. The 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of the eastern Mojave
Desert, California, and adjacent western Arizona with
implications for the evolution of metamorphic core complexes.
Journal of Geophysical Research, 95,20005-20024.
Gleadow, A. J. W., 1978. Anisotropic and variable track etching
characteristics in natural sphenes. Nuclear Track Detection, 2,
zyxwvu
105-117.
Grunow, A. M., Dalziel, 1. W. D., Harrison, T. M. & Heizler, M.
T., 1992. Structural geology and geochronology of subduction
complexes along the margin of Gondwanaland: New data from
the Antarctic Peninsula and southernmost Andes. Geological
Sociery of America Bulletin, 104, 1497-1514.
Halpern, M., 1973. Regional geochronology of Chile south of 50“
latitude. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 84, 2407-2422.
Halpern, M. & Rex, D. C., 1972. Time of folding of the Yahgan
Formation and age of the Tekenika Beds, Southern Chile,
zyxwvutsrq
South America. Geological Sociery of America Bulletin, 83,
1881-1886.
Hanson, R. E. & Wilson, T. J., 1991. Submarine rhyolitic
volcanism in a Jurassic proto-marginal basin; southern Andes,
Chile, and Argentina. In: Andean Magmatism and its Tectonic
Setting (eds Harmon, R. S. & Rapela, C. W.), GSA special
paper, 2.65, 13-27.
Harrison, T. M., 1981. Diffusion of 40Ar in hornblende.
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 78, 324-331.
Harrison, T. M., Armstrong, R. L., Naeser, C. W. & Harakal, J.
E., 1979. Geochronology and thermal history of the Coast
Plutonic complex, near Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 16,400-410.
Harrison, T. M., Duncan, I. & McDougall, I., 1985. Diffusion of
40Ar in biotite: Temperature. pressure and compositional
effects. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acfa, 45,2461-2460.
Harrison, T. M. & Fitz Gerald J. D., 1986. Exsolution in
hornblende and its consequences for 40Ar/’9Ar age spectra and
closure temperatures. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 50,
247-253.
Harrison, T. M., Heizler, M. T., Lovcra, 0. M., Chen, W. &
Grove, M., 1994. A chlorine disinfectant for excess argon
released from K-feldspar during step heating. Earrh and
Plonetary Science Letters, l23, 95- 104.
Harrison, T. M., Lovera, 0. M. & Heizler, M. T., 1991. 40Ar/39Ar
results for alkali feldspars containing diffusion domains with
differing activation energy. Geochirnica et Cosmochimica Acta,
55, 1435-1448.
GEOCHRONOLOGY OF CORDILLERA D A R W I N 269
Harrison, T. M. & McDougall, I., 1980. Investigations of an
intrusive contact, northwest Nelson, New Zealand - I. Thermal
chronological and isotopic constraints. Geochimica et Cos-
mochimica Acta, 44, 1985-2003.
Heaman, L. & Parrish, R., 1991. U-Pb geochronology of accessory
minerals. In: Applications of Radiogenic Isotope Systems to
Problem in Geology. Short Course Handbook 19 (eds Heaman,
L. & Ludden, J. N.), pp. 59-102. Mineralogical Association of
Canada, Toronto, Canada.
Henry, D. J. & Dokka, R. K., 1992. Metamorphic evolution of
exhumed middle to lower crustal rocks in the Mojave
Extensional Belt, southern California, USA. Journal of
Metamorphic Geology, 10.347-364.
HervC, F., Nelson, E. & Suarez, M., 1979. Radiometric ages of
granitic and metamorphic rocks of the Cordillera Darwin,
region XII, Chile. Rev. Geol. Chile, 7 , 31-40.
HervC, F., Nelson, E., Kawashita, K. & Suarez, M., 1981. New
isotopic ages and the timing of orogenic events in the Cordillera
Darwin, southernmost Chilean Andes. Earth and Planetary
Science Letters, 55, 257-265.
Herv6, M., Suarez, M. & Puig, A., 1984. The Patagonian
Batholith S of Tierra del Fuego, Chile: timing and tectonic
implications. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 141,
909-917.
Hill, E. J. & Baldwin, S. L., 1993. Exhumation of high pressure
metamorphic rocks during crustal extension in the
D’Entrecasteaux region. Papua New Guinea. Journal of
. Metamorphic Geology, 11,261-277.
Hodges, K. V., 1988. Metamorphic and geochronologic constraints
on the uplift history of cordilleran metamorphic core
complexes. Geological Society of America Abstracts with
Program, 20, A18.
Hodges, K. V. & Walker, J. D., 1990. Petrologic constraints on
the unroofing history of the Funeral Mountain metamorphic
core complex, California. Journal of Geophysical Research, 95,
8437-8445.
Hodges, K. V., Snoke, A. W. & Hurlow, H. A., 1992. Thermal
evolution of a portion of the Sevier hinterland: the northern
Ruby Mountains - East Humboldt Range and Wood Hills,
northeastern Nevada. Tectonics, 11, 154-164.
Hoisch, T. D., Miller, C. F., Heizler, M. T., Harrison, T. M. &
Stoddard, E. F., 1988. Late Cretaceous regional metamorphism
in southeastern California. In: Metamorphism and Crustal
Evolution in the Western Cordillera, Conterminous United
States: Rubey volume 7 (ed. Ernst, W. G . ) , pp. 538-571.
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Holm, D. K. & Dokka, R. K., 1991. Major late Miocene cooling of
the middle crust associated with extensional orogenesis in the
Funeral Mountains, California. Geophysical Research Letters,
18,1775-1778.
Jackson, J. & McKenzie, D., 1983. The geometrical evolution of
normal fault systems. Journal of Structural Geology, 5,471-482.
Klepeis, K., 1994. Relationship between uplift of the metamorphic
core of the southernmost Andes and shortening in the
Magallanes foreland fold and thrust belt, Tierra del Fuego,
Chile. Tectonics, 13, 882-904.
Kohn, M. J., Spear F. S . & Dalziel 1. W. D., 1993. Metamorphic
P-T paths from Cordillera Darwin, a core complex in Tierra
del Fuego, Chile. Journal of Petrology, 34, 519-542.
Kranck, E. H., 1932. Geological investigations in the Cordillera of
Tierra del Fuego. Acta Geographica, HeLsinki, 4, 1-231.
Larson, R. L., 1991. Latest pulse of Earth: evidence for a
mid-Cretaceous superplume. Geology, 19,547-550.
Leloup, P. H., Hamson, T. M., Rycrson, F. J., Wcnji, C., Qi, L.,
Tapponnier, P. & Lacassin, R., 1993. Structural, petrological
and thermal evolution of a Tertiary ductile strike-slip zone,
Diancang Shan, Yunnan. Journal of Geophysical Research, 98,
67 15-6743.
Lister, G. S. & Davis, G. A., 1988. The origin of metamorphic
core complexes and detachment faults formed during Tertiary
continental extension in the northern Colorado River region,
U.S.A. Journal of Sfructural Geology, 11, 65-94.
270 zyxwvutsrq
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedc
zyxwvutsrqponm
zyxwvutsrq
M. J . KOHN E T A L
Lovera, 0. M., 1992. Computer programs to model 40Ar/39Ar
zyxwvu
diffusion data from multidomain samples. Computers &
Geosciences, 7,789-813.
Lovera, 0. M., Heizler, M. T. & Harrison, T. M., 1993. Argon
dihsion domains in K-feldspar 11: Kinetic properties of MH-10.
Contributioru to Mineralogy and Petrology, 113, 381-393.
Lovera, 0. M., Richter, F. M. & Harrison, T. M., 1989. The
“Ar/”Ar thennochronometry for slowly cooled samples having
a distribution of diffusion domain sizes. Journal of Geophysical
Research, 94, 17917-17935.
Lovera, 0. M., Richter, F. M. & Harrison, T. M.,1991. Diffusion
domains determined by 39Ar released during step heating.
JOUrMl of Geophysical Research, 96,2057-2069.
Lund, K. & Snee, L. W., 1988. Metamorphism, structural
development, and age of the continent-island arc juncture in
west-central Idaho. In: Metamorphirm and Crustal Evolution in
the Western Cordillera, Conterminous United States, Rubey
volume 7 (ed. Ernst, W. G . ) , pp. 297-331. Rentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Miller, D. S., Duddy, P. F., Hurford, A. J. & Naeser, C. W., 1985.
Results of interlaboratory comparison of fission-track age
standards. Fission-Track Workshop-1984: Nuclear Tracks, 10,
383-391.
Moore, T. K., 1990. A metamorphic and kinematic study of the
Cordillera Darwin metamorphic core complex, southwestern
Chile. BSc Thesis, Carleton University.
Mukasa, S. B., Dalziel, 1. W. D. & Brueckner, H. K., 1988. Zircon
U-Pb constraints on the kinematic evolution of the northern
Scotia Arc. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with
Program, 20, A12.
Naeser, C. W. & Faul, H., 1969. Fission-track annealing in apatite
and sphene. Journal of Geophysical Research, 74,705-710.
Nelson, E. P., 1982. Post-tectonic uplift of the Cordillera Darwin
orogenic core complex: evidence from fission-track geochronol-
ogy and closing temperature-time relationships. Journal of the
Geological Society of London, 139,755-761.
Nelson, E. P., Dalziel, 1. W. D. & Milnes, A. G., 1980. Structural
geology of the Cordillera Darwin - collisional-style orogenesis
in the southernmost Chilean Andes. Eclogue Geologicae
Helvefiae, 73,727-751.
Platt, J. D., 1986. Dynamics of orogenic wedges and the uplift of
high-pressure rocks. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 97,
1037-1053.
Richter, R. M., Lovera, 0. M., Harrison, T. M. & Copeland, P.,
1991. Tibetan tectonics from 40Ar/39Ar analysis of a single
K-feldspar sample. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 105,
266-278.
Robbins, G. A., 1972. Radiogenic argon diffusion in muscovite
under hydrothermal conditions. MS Thesir, Brown University.
Selverstone, J., Wernicke, B. P. & Aliberti, E. A., 1992.
lntracontinental subduction and hinged unroofing along the
Salmon River suture zone, west central Idaho. Tectonics, 11,
124-144.
Sevigny, J. H. & Ghent, E. D., 1986. Metamorphism in the
northern Adams River area, northeastern Shuswap metamor-
phic complex, British Columbia. Current Research: Geological
Survey of Canada Paper, 87-1B, 693-698.
Sevigny, J. H. & Ghent, E. D., 1989. Pressure, temperature, and
fluid conditions during amphibolite facies metamorphism of
pelitic rocks, Howard Ridge, British Columbia. Journal of
Metamorphic Geology, 7,497-505.
Sevigny, J. H., Parrish, R. R., Donelick, R. A., & Ghent, E. D.,
1990. Northern Monashee Mountains, Omineca crystalline belt,
British Columbia: timing of metamorphism, anatexis, and
tectonic denudation. Geology, 18,103-106.
Steiger, F. H. & Jager, E., 1977. Subcommission on geochronol-
ogy: convention on the use of decay constants in geo- and
cosmochronology. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 36,
359-362.
zyxw
Stewart, J. H., 1967. Possible large right-lateral displacement
along fault and shear zones in the Death Valley - Las Vegas
area, California and Nevada. Geological Society of Americu
Bulletin, 78, 131-142.
Suarez, M., Hervk, M. & Puig, A., 1985. Plutonismo diapirico del
Cretacico en Isla Navarino. IV Congreso Geologico Chileno,
4-549-4-563
Wagner, G . A., 1968. Fission-track dating of apatites. Earth and
Planetary Science Letters, 4, 41 1-415.
Wernicke, B., 1985. Uniform-sense normal simple shear of the
continental lithosphere. Canadian Journal of Earth Science, 22,
108- 125.
Winslow, M. A., 1982. The structural evolution of the Magallanes
basin and neotectonics in the southernmost Andes. In: Anfarctic
Geoscience (ed. Craddock, C.), pp. 143-154. University of
Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI.
Yin, A., 1993. Mechanics of wedge-shaped fault blocks 1. An
elastic solution for compressional wedges. Journal of Geophysi-
cal Research, 98, 14245-14256.
York, D., 1969. Least squares fitting of a straight line with
correlated errors. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 5,
320-324.
Received 7 January 1994; revision accepted 5 July 1994.