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Isotopes and ages in the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith, southern California

January 1, 2003

Strontium, oxygen and lead isotopic and rubidium-strontium geochronologic studies have been completed on Cretaceous and Jurassic (?) granitic rock samples from the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith in southern California. Many of these samples were collected systematically and studied chemically by A. K. Baird and colleagues (Baird and others, 1979). The distribution of these granitic rocks is shown in the Santa Ana, Perris, and San Jacinto Blocks, bounded by the Malibu Coast-Cucamonga, Banning, and San Andreas fault zones, and the Pacific Ocean on the map of the Peninsular Ranges batholith and surrounding area, southern California. The granitic rock names are by Baird and Miesch (1984) who used a modal mineral classification that Bateman and others (1963) used for granitic rocks in the Sierra Nevada batholith. In this classification, granitic rocks have at least 10% quartz. Boundaries between rock types are in terms of the ratio of alkali-feldspar to total feldspar: quartz diorite, 0-10%; granodiorite, 10-35%; quartz monzonite 35-65%; granite >65%. Gabbros have 0-10% quartz.

Data for samples investigated are giv in three tables: samples, longitude, latitude, specific gravity and rock type (Table 1); rubidium and strontium data for granitic rocks of the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith, southern California (Table 2); U, Th, Pb concentrations, Pb and Sr initial isotopic compositions, and δ18O permil values for granitic rocks of the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith (table 3).

Publication Year 2003
Title Isotopes and ages in the northern Peninsular Ranges batholith, southern California
DOI 10.3133/ofr03489
Authors Ronald W. Kistler, Joseph L. Wooden, Douglas M. Morton
Publication Type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Series Title Open-File Report
Series Number 2003-489
Index ID ofr03489
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center