The displaced eugeoclinal rocks in the El Paso Mountains and northern Mojave Desert: A Triassic sliver

Conference · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5019456

Miller, J S; Glazner, A F ^[1]; Walker, J D; Martin, M W ^[2]

---

1. Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (United States). Dept. of Geology
2. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States). Dept. of Geology

Many workers have drawn attention to the displaced eugeoclinal rocks in the northern Mojave Desert and El Paso Mountains and their importance in models for the development of an active continental margin in the western Cordillera. Existing models can generally for either strike-slip juxtaposition or thrust emplacement. New field data, U-Pb zircon geochronology, and isotopic data for metasedimentary rocks and plutons in the northern Mojave Desert and El Paso Mountains shed light on the timing and mechanism of emplacement of the eugeoclinal allocthon. The observations and data above indicate that Early Triassic plutons in the northern Mojave Desert came through oceanic lithosphere but later Jurassic plutons intercepted continental lithosphere. The authors suggest a model where eugeoclinal rocks were deposited on oceanic crust which was initially brought southward along a strike-slip fault and later thrust eastward over the cratonal assemblage. Permian thrusting is incompatible with their data and observations. Intrusion of lower Triassic strata by Early Triassic plutons in the Lane Mountain area permits some Early Triassic thrusting but the oceanic affinity of the plutons implies that thrusting did not involve continental lithosphere.

• OSTI ID: 5019456
• Report Number(s): CONF-9305259--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 25:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
AGE ESTIMATION
CALIFORNIA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EARTH CRUST
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOLOGY
IGNEOUS ROCKS
ISOTOPE DATING
ISOTOPE RATIO
ISOTOPES
LEAD ISOTOPES
MESOZOIC ERA
MINERALS
NORTH AMERICA
OCEANIC CRUST
PETROGENESIS
PETROLOGY
PLATE TECTONICS
PLUTONIC ROCKS
ROCKS
SILICATE MINERALS
TECTONICS
TRIASSIC PERIOD
URANIUM ISOTOPES
USA
ZIRCON