Reconnaissance geochemistry of the early Jurassic Sailor Canyon formation: Implications for paleotectonic setting and the use of trace element provenance-discrimination diagrams
The Lower Jurassic Sailor Canyon Formation crops out north of Interstate 80 In the northern Sierra Nevada of California. It consists of several kilometers of mostly tuffaceous sandstone turbldltes and arglllltes. Most turbldltes display either Tbc or Tbcd Bouma turbldlte Intervals, and thus were probably deposited In a marine basin a I setting. Trace element data d erlved from tuffaceous sandstones when plotted on the La-Th-Zr/10 and La-Th-Sc provenance-discrimination diagrams of M. R. Bhatia and K.A.W. Crook plot In or near the field characterslstlc of sediment derived from Island arcs composed of Intermediate composition volcanic material. Such an Interpretation is also Indicated by La versus Th and Ti/Zr versus La/Sc relationships, as well as by chondrlte-normallzed rare earth element data. Thus, data and observations made during this study support paleotectonlc models which portray the Saller Canyon Formation as being deposited In a forearc basin which had developed along the leading edge of North American during the Early Jurassic.
