Detrital thermochronology histories preserved in Paleogene strata of Utah (USA) provide distant records of Paleozoic Alleghanian orogenesis and sediment dispersal

Abstract We present new zircon U-Pb and (U-Th)/He data from sandstone cobbles of the Paleocene–Eocene Wasatch Formation of northern Utah (western United States). Provenance data demonstrate that these zircons have been recycled through at least two sedimentary cycles, deposited first as sand grains in the Pennsylvanian–Permian Weber Sandstone and second as sandstone cobbles in the Wasatch Formation. The thermal history of these grains requires rapid Late Mississippian–Pennsylvanian cooling, preserving a new, distant record of early Alleghanian orogenesis that is also a distinct provenance signature. Zircon thermochronology provides a powerful archive of ancient exhumation patterns and continental-scale sediment transport and deposition. Our study demonstrates that such thermal histories are resilient throughout multiple episodes of recycling.