Tracking the spatial and temporal links between late Cenozoic extension and magmatism in the Death Valley region (California, USA)

The relationship between late Cenozoic magmatism and extension in the central Basin and Range province (western United States) is complex, necessitating high-precision geochronology to understand its spatiotemporal connections. In the Death Valley region (California), the lack of high-precision U-Pb zircon ages has limited our understanding of the timing of pluton formation and its links to regional extension. We present new high-precision chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry 206Pb/238U zircon ages and trace element analyses for eight Death Valley plutons. Our findings reveal three distinct phases of intrusive magmatism: (1) emplacement of shallow rapakivi granites at 13.2 Ma, (2) construction of the mid-crustal Black Mountains intrusive complex at 11.3 Ma, and (3) late emplacement of shallow, compositionally diverse intrusions at 8.2 Ma. A gap in zircon crystallization between 10 Ma and 8.2 Ma coincides with exhumation of the Black Mountains and a transition from sill to dike emplacement. The dominance of rapakivi granites in the Death Valley region, which is rare among Cenozoic granitoids, is likely a result of rapid crustal extension that induces adiabatic decompression. A comparison of the timing of volcanism, plutonism, and tectonic events in Death Valley reveals that intrusive magmatism closely tracks the locus of extension, underscoring the plutonic record as a vital link for understanding regional tectonics and changes in plate boundary dynamics during this period.