Mio-Pliocene erosional exhumation of the central Colorado Plateau, eastern Utah: New insights from apatite (uranium-thorium)/helium thermochronometry

The landscape evolution of the Colorado Plateau has been studied for over a century, yet remains poorly understood. Several low-temperature thermochronometric studies have focused on the Grand Canyon region of the southwestern plateau to study incision and erosion of the Colorado River. This study focuses on erosion in the center of the Colorado Plateau and utilizes apatite (U-Th)/ He thermochronometry to constrain the magnitude, timing, and rate of erosional exhumation in four regions of the central Colorado Plateau in eastern Utah: the Monument Uplift, Canyonlands, the Book Cliffs, and Uinta Basin. Here new thermochronometric data is presented from an integrated dataset of surface samples and core samples in order to comprehensively study erosional exhumation on the plateau. Thermochronometric data were combined with inverse thermal modeling to more quantitatively assess the timing and magnitude of erosion and test surface uplift models that make specific predictions regarding the spatial distribution of erosion in the center of the Colorado Plateau.