Andean-scale highlands in the Late Cretaceous Cordillera of the North American western margin

From the Late Jurassic through the Cretaceous, collision between the North American and Farallon plates drove extensive thin-skinned thrusting and crustal shortening that resulted in substantial relief in the North American Cordillera. The elevation history of this region is tightly linked to the tectonic, climatic and landscape evolution of western North America but is not well constrained. Here we use an atmospheric general circulation model with integrated oxygen isotope tracers (isoCAM3) to predict how isotope ratios of precipitation would change along the North American Cordillera as the mean elevation of orogenic highlands increased from 1200 m to 3975 m. With increases in mean elevation, highland temperatures fall, monsoonal circulation along the eastern front of the Cordillera is enhanced, and wet season (generally spring and summer) precipitation increases. Simulated oxygen isotopic ratios in that precipitation are compared to those obtained from geologic materials (e.g. fossil bivalves, authigenic minerals). Quantification of match between model and data-derived δ18O values suggests that during the Late Cretaceous, the best approximation of regional paleoelevation in western North America is a large orogen on the scale of the modern Andes Mountains with a mean elevation approaching 4000 m and a north-south extent of at least 15° of latitude.

► Combined isotopic data and climate/isotope simulation can constrain paleoelevation.
► The Campanian highlands of Western North America were Andean in scale.
► Paleoelevation estimation can be practically approached geologically.