Ordovician-Silurian tectonism in northern California:The Callahan event

Middle Ordovician to Early Silurian volcanism, plutonism, metamorphism, deformation, and sedimentation in the Yreka and Trinity terranes, eastern Klamath Mountains, northern California, are considered to be related phenomena that occurred in response to an episode of tectonism known as the Callahan event. A diverse array of evidence is used to construct a tectonic model for the Callahan event that involves a subduction zone, a magmatic arc, and a back-arc spreading center, and to show that tectonism likely occurred within the framework of the North American continental margin. Evidence pertaining to subduction polarity is meager, but is consistent with an eastward dip. The Callahan event represents the earliest Phanerozoic convergent-margin tectonic event recognized within the U.S. Cordillera.