• DOI:10.1130/L150.1
• Corpus ID: 43582869

Mantle-driven dynamic uplift of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau and its surface response: Toward a unified hypothesis

@article{Karlstrom2012MantledrivenDU,
  title={Mantle-driven dynamic uplift of the Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau and its surface response: Toward a unified hypothesis},
  author={Karl E. Karlstrom and David Coblentz and Kenneth G. Dueker and William B. Ouimet and Eric Kirby and J. Wijk and Brandon Schmandt and Shari A. Kelley and Gregory D. Lazear and Laura J Crossey and Ryan S. Crow and Andres Aslan and Andrew L. Darling and Richard C. Aster and Jonathan MacCarthy and S. Hansen and Joshua C. Stachnik and Daniel Fritz Stockli and R. V. Garcia and M. Hoffman and Ryan McKeon and J. D. Feldman and Matthew T. Heizler and Magdalena S. Donahue},
  journal={Lithosphere},
  year={2012},
  volume={4},
  pages={3-22}
}

• K. Karlstrom, D. Coblentz, +21 authors M. Donahue
• Published 1 February 2012
• Geology
• Lithosphere

The correspondence between seismic velocity anomalies in the crust and mantle and the differential incision of the continental-scale Colorado River system suggests that significant mantle-to-surface interactions can take place deep within continental interiors. The Colorado Rocky Mountain region exhibits low-seismic-velocity crust and mantle associated with atypically high (and rough) topography, steep normalized river segments, and areas of greatest differential river incision. Thermochronologic and geologic data show that regional exhumation accelerated starting ca. 6–10 Ma, especially in regions underlain by low-velocity mantle. Integration and synthesis of diverse geologic and geophysical data sets support the provocative hypothesis that Neogene mantle convection has driven long-wavelength surface deformation and tilting over the past 10 Ma. Attendant surface uplift on the order of 500–1000 m may account for ∼25%–50% of the current elevation of the region, with the rest achieved during Laramide and mid-Tertiary uplift episodes. This hypothesis highlights the importance of continued multidisciplinary tests of the nature and magnitude of surface responses to mantle dynamics in intraplate settings.