Lineaments and their tectonic implications in Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains region
Two orthogonal sets of lineaments in Phanerozoic rocks of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains region probably reflect recurrent structural movement along corresponding fractures in the underlying igneous and metamorphic rocks. The lineaments seem to have been primarily paleotopographic features that affected the depositional and erosional margins, thicknesses, and the distribution of lithofacies of Phanerozoic strata. One set is oriented approximately N5-15/sup 0/E and N75-85/sup 0/W; the other set is oriented about N50-60/sup 0/E and N30-40/sup 0/W. At small scales, the crosscutting lineaments of either set indicate primarily vertical movements of rectangular blocks along through-going rectilinear fractures in the basement rocks. At larger scales, the differential movement of these blocks apparently was propagated upward through the strata and formed a variety of structures, many of which are en echelon. Blocks in the region moved at different times, and they commonly rotated about horizontal axes, as indicated by lateral differences in rates of associated sedimentation and by structural features along the lineaments. Through most of the Phanerozoic, the movements seem to have been mainly along the diagonal set (northeast, northwest) of lineaments, but the cardinal set (north-south, east-west) also influenced the development of Laramide structures and the present landscape in the Rocky Mountain region. The structural stresses, which were released along the two sets of lineaments, may reflect plate movements, and they probably are related to orogenies caused either by plate collisions or by rifting and continental fragmentation.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO
- OSTI ID:
- 6269575
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8506201-
- Journal Information:
- Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Vol. 69:5; Conference: AAPG Rocky Mountain Section meeting, Denver, CO, USA, 2 Jun 1985
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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