As zircon U-Pb geochronology has become a leading method in sediment provenance studies and basin analysis over the past 20 years, the volume of detrital zircon data made available in published literature has enabled researchers to go beyond source-to-sink provenance studies to explore increasingly complex geologic problems. In this review, we utilize the growing body of detrital zircon data acquired from Jurassic-Paleocene forearc and foreland basin strata of the North American Cordillera to investigate the Mesozoic to earliest Cenozoic evolution of the arc and its associated basins between 28°N and 48°N. Our compilation includes 830 detrital zircon samples (101,898 individual ages) from 70 studies published between 2000 and 2020. For comparative purposes, we also compile 1307 igneous zircon U-Pb ages that characterize the magmatic history of the arc. We place primary emphasis on detrital zircon ages between 251 and 56 Ma that we infer to be uniquely derived from magmatic sources in the arc. Informed by existing knowledge of magmatic, structural, and sedimentological processes that acted on the orogen, we investigate spatial and temporal trends in these “arc-derived zircon” to establish a detrital record of arc magmatism, investigate source-to-sink relationships between the arc and adjacent basins, and discuss controls on sediment dispersal across the orogen.

Our review shows that compilations of detrital zircon data from the Cordilleran forearc and foreland basin systems are excellent proxies for arc magmatism because the basins are enriched in arc-derived zircon and compilations provide space- and time-integrated records of crystallization ages. The compiled detrital zircon data support a history of continuous arc magmatism throughout Mesozoic and earliest Cenozoic time, characterized by low-volume magmatism from Triassic-Early Jurassic time (~251–174 Ma) and episodic higher-volume magmatism from Middle Jurassic-Late Cretaceous time (~174–66 Ma). These trends elucidate the initiation and timing of magmatic events at the orogen-scale and corroborate our understanding of cyclic arc behavior.

Detrital zircon distributions are spatially and temporally variable both within and across basins, which we discuss relative to topographic development of the orogen and attendant responses of sediment dispersal systems. Detrital zircon distributions in the forearc signal rapid transfer of sediment from the arc to basins dominantly via fluvial processes. In contrast, detrital zircon distributions across the foreland reflect the presence of topographic barriers in the hinterland region of the arc that effectively isolated parts of the foreland. The presence of hinterland topography in turn highlights the important role of ash-fall events in delivering arc-derived zircon to the foreland, underscoring the need to consider ash-fall processes in paleodrainage reconstructions. These broad regional trends, and in general the close linkage between orogenic process and sediment dispersal, emerge from our compilation because it averages out much of the local variability observed in studies of more limited geographic or temporal extent.

过去 20 年来，锆石 U-Pb 年代学已成为沉积物来源研究和盆地分析的主要方法，已发表文献中提供的大量碎屑锆石数据使研究人员能够超越源到汇的来源研究来探索日益复杂的地质问题。在这篇综述中，我们利用从北美山脉侏罗纪-古新世前弧和前陆盆地地层中获得的越来越多的碎屑锆石数据来研究弧的中生代到最早的新生代演化及其相关盆地在 28°N 和 48°之间N。我们的汇编包括 2000 年至 2020 年间发表的 70 项研究中的 830 个碎屑锆石样本（101,898 个个体年龄）。为了比较目的，我们还汇编了 1307 个表征该弧岩浆历史的火成岩锆石 U-Pb 年龄。我们主要强调 251 到 56 Ma 之间的碎屑锆石年龄，我们推断这些碎屑锆石是从弧中的岩浆源中唯一衍生出来的。根据作用于造山带的岩浆、构造和沉积学过程的现有知识，我们调查了这些“弧源锆石”的时空趋势，以建立弧岩浆作用的碎屑记录，调查这些“弧源锆石”之间的源汇关系。弧和相邻盆地，并讨论对整个造山带沉积物扩散的控制。

我们的综述表明，来自科迪勒拉弧前和前陆盆地系统的碎屑锆石数据汇编是弧岩浆活动的极好代表，因为盆地富含弧源锆石，并且汇编提供了结晶年龄的空间和时间整合记录。汇编的碎屑锆石数据支持整个中生代和最早新生代的连续弧岩浆作用历史，其特征是三叠纪-早侏罗世（~251-174 Ma）的低容量岩浆活动和中侏罗世-晚白垩纪的间歇性高容量岩浆活动时间（~174–66 Ma）。这些趋势阐明了造山带尺度岩浆事件的发生和时间，并证实了我们对循环弧行为的理解。

碎屑锆石分布在盆地内部和盆地之间在空间和时间上是可变的，我们讨论了相对于造山带的地形发展和沉积物扩散系统的伴随响应。弧前碎屑锆石分布表明沉积物主要通过河流过程从弧向盆地快速转移。相比之下，整个前陆的碎屑锆石分布反映了弧的腹地区域存在地形障碍，有效地隔离了部分前陆。腹地地形的存在反过来突出了火山灰沉降事件在将弧形锆石输送到前陆方面的重要作用，强调了在古排水重建中考虑火山灰沉降过程的必要性。这些广泛的区域趋势，