Detrital zircon geochronology of Upper Mississippian to Lower Pennsylvanian strata of the Ardmore Basin, Oklahoma

Abstract

Detrital zircon geochronology was used on nine Upper Mississippian to Lower Pennsylvanian sandstones of the Ardmore Basin in south-central Oklahoma and provided 1135 ages which revealed a clear transition in sediment provenance during the development of the Appalachian-Ouachita orogen. The Upper Mississippian (Chesterian) sandstones yielded a predominant middle to late Mesoproterozoic (Grenville) population, secondary middle Paleozoic (Appalachian), early Mesoproterozoic (Granite-Rhyolite), and late Paleoproterozoic (Yavapai-Mazatzal) populations, and minor Neoproterozoic to Cambrian (peri-Gondwanan) and Paleoproterozoic and older (> ~1825 Ma) age groups. Chesterian samples were likely derived from the Appalachian orogen and recycled sediment from the northern midcontinent, with an introduction of influence from the Ouachita orogen. Provenance shifted in the Early Pennsylvanian (Morrowan) where the northern part of the basin experienced significant increases in early Mesoproterozoic (Granite-Rhyolite) and late Paleoproterozoic (Yavapai-Mazatzal) midcontinent age groups, which were being supplied by the nascent Ancestral Rocky Mountains along with Appalachian sediment. The southern part of the basin continued predominantly receiving Appalachian sediment along with minor amounts of detritus from the northern midcontinent and Ouachita orogen. Recycling of sediment from the local Criner Hills uplift is recorded in the youngest (Atokan) sample in this study.