Using detrital zircon ages and Hf isotopes to identify 1.48–1.45 Ga sedimentary basins and fingerprint sources of exotic 1.6–1.5 Ga grains in southwestern Laurentia

• Connections between Australia and basins in western North America 1.48–1.45 Ga.
• Australia as a source of exotic detritus to western Laurentia ca. 1480–1450 Ma.
• Combined U-Pb and Hf isotopic data used for robust test of provenance.
• Isotopic fingerprints of the tiny 1.6–1.5 Ga zircons constrain past supercontinents.
• New occurrences of 1.48–1.45 Ga metasedimentary rocks in southwestern Laurentia.

Globally rare 1.6–1.5 Ga zircons provide an underutilized correlation tool for Precambrian supercontinent reconstructions. Detrital 1.6–1.5 Ga zircons, long known from the Belt Supergroup, have recently been discovered in multiple metasedimentary successions in southwestern North America. Few igneous or metamorphic sources in this age range are known in Laurentia, implying non-Laurentian provenance. Combined U-Pb and Hf isotopic data offer a robust test of their provenance. New U-Pb detrital zircon ages from quartzite exposed in the Defiance uplift in northeastern Arizona indicate a maximum depositional age of ca. 1476 Ma and a predominance of locally derived ca. 1655 Ma and older detritus. The quartzite contains populations at 1570, 1554, and 1519 Ma that do not have known Laurentian sources and are similar to our new and recently published data from the ca. 1474–1436 Ma Blackjack Formation in south-central Arizona. Based on similarities between age spectra and depositional age constraints, we suggest a correlation between the two stratigraphic sections and postulate that a previously unrecognized, and now largely eroded, 1475–1450 Ma sedimentary basin or set of basins may have extended across much of southwestern Laurentia. We refer to this basin as the Yankee Joe-Defiance basin. Hf isotopic analysis of ca. 1.6–1.5 Ga detrital zircons from both localities yields positive epsilon-Hf (ɛHf) values of +0.2 to +12 indicating a near-juvenile Hf fingerprint with a mean of ∼ +7. This range overlaps with, but is more juvenile than, ɛHf values of +3 to +7.5 from the Belt basin. In terms of possible non-Laurentian source regions, Hf data from both the North and South Australia cratons overlap with, but are also generally less juvenile than, ɛHf values of Laurentian zircons. Only the North Australia craton contains the full range of ages and Hf isotope values recognized in the 1.6–1.5 Ga Yankee Joe-Defiance populations. This finding supports plate reconstructions involving Australia as a source for exotic detritus in western Laurentia ca. 1480–1450 Ma.