Cosmogenic 3He exposure ages of Pleistocene debris flows and desert pavements in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

The Quaternary history of the Capitol Reef area, Utah, is closely linked to the basaltic-andesite boulder deposits that cover much of the landscape. Understanding the age and mode of emplacement of these deposits is crucial to deciphering the Quaternary evolution of this part of the Colorado Plateau. Using cosmogenic 3He exposure age dating, we obtained apparent exposure ages for several key deposits in the Capitol Reef area. Coarse boulder diamicts capping the Johnson Mesa and Carcass Creek Terraces are not associated with the Bull Lake glaciation as previously thought, but were deposited 180±15 to 205±17 ka (minimum age) and are the result of debris flow deposition. Desert pavements on the Johnson Mesa surface give exposure ranging from 97±8 to 159±14 ka and are 34–96 kyears younger than the boulder exposure ages. The offset between the boulder and pavement exposure ages appears to be related to a delay in pavement formation until the penultimate glacial/interglacial transition or periodic burial and exposure of pavement clasts since debris flow deposition. Incision rates for the Capitol Reef reach of the Fremont River calculated from the boulder exposure ages range from 0.40 to 0.43 m kyear−1 (maximum rates) and are some of the highest on the Colorado Plateau.