Miocene evolution of the western edge of the Nevadaplano in the central and northern Sierra Nevada: palaeocanyons, magmatism, and structure

The Sierra Nevada of California is the longest and tallest mountain range in the co-terminus USA, and has long been regarded as topographically very young (<6 Ma); however, recent work has provided evidence that the range is very old (>80 Ma), and represents the western shoulder of a Tibetan-like plateau (the Nevadaplano) that was centred over Nevada. A great deal of effort has been invested in applying modern laboratory and geophysical techniques to understanding the Sierra Nevada, yet some of the most unambiguous constraints on the Sierran landscape evolution are derived from field studies of dated strata preserved in the palaeochannels/palaeocanyons that crossed the range in Cenozoic time. Our work in the Sierra Nevada suggests that neither end-member model is correct for the debate regarding youth vs. antiquity of the range. Many features of the Cenozoic palaeocanyons and palaeochannels reflect the shape of the Cretaceous orogen, but they were also affected by Miocene tectonic and magmatic events. In the central Sierra Nevada, we infer that the inherited Cretaceous landscape was modified by three Miocene tectonic events, each followed by similar to 2-5 Myr of subduction-induced magmatism and sedimentation during a period of relative tectonic quiescence. The first event, at about 16 Ma, corresponds to the westward sweep of the Ancestral Cascades arc front into the Sierra Nevada and adjacent western Nevada. We suggest that this caused thermal uplift and extension. The second event, at about 11-10 Ma, records the birth of the 'future plate boundary' by transtensional faulting and voluminous high-K volcanism at the western edge of the Walker Lane belt. The third event, at about 8-7 Ma, is associated with renewed range-front faulting in the central Sierra, and rejuvenation and beheading of the palaeocanyons. Volcanic pulses closely followed all three events, and we tentatively infer that footwall uplift of the Sierra Nevada occurred during all three events. By analogy with the similar to 11 Ma event, we speculate that high-K volcanic rocks in the southern part of the range mark the inception of yet a fourth pulse of range-front faulting at 3-3.5 Ma, which resulted in a fourth tilting and crestal uplift event. Cenozoic rocks along the western edge of the Nevadaplano record the following variation, from the central to the northern Sierra: decrease in crustal thickness (and presumably palaeoelevation), decrease in palaeorelief and attendant decrease in coarse-grained fluvial-and mass-wasting deposits, and greater degree of encroachment by Walker Lane-related faults beginning at 10-11 Ma. By mapping and dating Cenozoic strata in detail, we show that what is now the Sierra Nevada was, at least in part, shaped by the Miocene structural and magmatic events.