ABSTRACT Hafnium isotope ratios in Late Jurassic zircon from the Summit Gabbro provide geochemical evidence for rifting at ca. 148 Ma through the southern Sierra Nevada arc crust. Previous evidence for intra-arc extension includes a linear distribution of early Mesozoic volcano-sedimentary deposits located within the regional footprint of the ~600-km-long Independence dike swarm. In this study, latest Jurassic rifting through the entire thickness of the arc crust is supported by an abrupt, 40-εHf i -unit isotopic pull-up that records the incorporation of depleted-mantle partial melts into basaltic magmas that rapidly migrated into the upper arc crust. Isotopic context for this latest Jurassic pull-up is provided by Permian through Cretaceous zircon xenocrysts sampled by ca. 85–78 Ma dikes and sills that sampled the crust underlying the eastern Sierra Nevada range crest. Summit Gabbro bodies define a northwest-trending lineament paralleling the Kern Plateau shear zone, a geometry consistent with previous interpretations that the Kern Plateau shear zone originated as a late Paleozoic sinistral transform fault that evolved to a normal fault accommodating early Mesozoic intra-arc extension. New zircon U-Pb geochronology data coupled with field observations and whole-rock geochemistry serve as the basis to reclassify Summit gabbros and diorites as latest Jurassic and to motivate definition of the bimodal Summit igneous complex (151.0 ± 1.7–146.1 ± 1.2 Ma; N = 15) as also including coeval gabbro-granite dikes of the Osa Creek ring complex and the newly defined Tübatulabal hypabyssal-volcanic series. Tight age constraints support correlation of the Summit igneous complex to the regionally extensive, ca. 148 Ma Independence dike swarm. Multiple lines of evidence support latest Jurassic Sierran arc magmagenesis within a north-northwest–trending, sinistral transtensional regime, including: (1) subparallel orientations of the Independence dike swarm and aligned Summit Gabbro intrusions; (2) overlapping and bimodal compositions in both suites; and (3) the dramatic Hf isotope pull-up in zircons from Summit gabbro-diorites, recording a short-lived increase in the proportion of isotopically primitive mafic magmas intruding into the shallow arc crust. Though clearly differentiated, the composition of one gabbroic dike is the most primitive composition reported in the Sierra Nevada arc to date. The footprint of an intra-arc graben produced by early Mesozoic extension in eastern California is constrained by the Independence dike swarm, the Kern Plateau shear zone, and the Summit igneous complex, along with distributions of Triassic–Jurassic volcano-sedimentary deposits. Coupling the history of motion along the Kern Plateau shear zone with evidence for local extension beginning in the Permian–Triassic arc, we hypothesize that Mesozoic intra-arc faulting was strongly influenced by north-northwest–trending structures inherited from a mid- to late Paleozoic sinistral transpressional-transtensional plate boundary that extended for thousands of kilometers along the western boundary of Laurentia. We assemble a Permian–Jurassic time line of intra-arc extension within the plate margin locally transitioning from sinistral transform to convergent, one that culminated in latest Jurassic rifting through the entire crust underlying the Kern Plateau.

Abstract The Cauvery Basin in East India represents a failed rift zone in the west and transform-related termination in the east. The deformation associated with a westward-propagating rift zone involves stretching and necking-related deformation from west to east. The rift axis and the flanks exhibit maximum and minimum deformation. In this study, we document the increasing role of buoyancy-driven processes and the development of the rift asymmetry during the advanced stages of rifting in a magma-poor setting. We use a series of reflection seismic profiles intersecting the failed rift zone maturing eastward. The onset of buoyancy-controlled extension correlates with the localized extension. It creates a relatively symmetrical axial dome, and exhibits rift flank rotations and central up-warping. This permanent uplift is associated with lower crustal ductile flow. Notably, the deep-seated syn-rift buoyancy forces progressively operate eastward. We deduce the associated transient dome uplift and its subsequent dissipation using a seismic flattening technique. The axial dome formation is associated with an upwelling asthenosphere and lower lithospheric mantle. This correlates with localized contraction within flat-lying fault blocks at its flanks, concurrently forming the typical hanging-wall and footwall geometry. The multiple shallow- to deep-seated mechanisms promote strain acceleration in the uplifted regions along the rift zone.