Jurassic Barrovian metamorphism in a western US Cordilleran metamorphic core complex, Funeral Mountains, California

Large-magnitude retroarc shortening of Cretaceous age is well documented in the Sevier orogenic belt of the western United States, and has been associated with eastward Franciscan subduction that began in the Middle-Late Jurassic, but evidence for major Late Jurassic retroarc shortening has been lacking. Here we report new Lu-Hf garnet geochronology, pressure-temperature (P-T) paths, and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology data that document tectonic burial of Late Jurassic age in a Barrovian metamorphic terrain, the Funeral Mountains metamorphic core complex, California, located in the hinterland of the Sevier orogenic belt. The P-T paths determined from growth-zoned garnets in upper greenschist facies pelitic schist show steep P-T trajectories consistent with metamorphism during thrust loading. The age of thrust loading is constrained by a five-point Lu-Hf garnet isochron to be 158.2 +/- 2.6 Ma (2 sigma). Partial exhumation, recorded in 146-153 Ma 40Ar/39Ar muscovite cooling ages, closely followed garnet growth. Late Jurassic Barrovian metamorphism has not been previously recognized in Cordilleran metamorphic core complexes, possibly due to being obscured by Late Cretaceous to Tertiary deformation, magmatism, and metamorphism. This study finds that the period of large-magnitude crustal shortening in the retroarc extended into the Late Jurassic, and may have closely followed the formation of the coherent orogenic system associated with east-dipping Franciscan subduction.