Miocene crustal extension and uplift in southeastern Nevada: Constraints from fission track analysis

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991 · Geology; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<1013:MCEAUI>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:5964052

Fitzgerald, P G ^[1]; Fryxell, J E ^[2]; Wernicke, B P ^[3]

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1. Arizona State Univ., Tempe (United States)
2. California State Univ., San Bernardino (United States)
3. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)

The Gold Butte block of southeastern Nevada appears to be a cross section through the upper {approximately}17 km of Colorado Plateau crust, tilted eastward and tectonically denuded via top-to-the west normal faulting in Tertiary time. The east side of the block exposes a steeply dipping cratonic Paleozoic section 2 to 3 km thick; Proterozoic basement to the west is continuously exposed for an apparent thickness of {approximately}15 km structurally below the basal Cambrian unconformity. Apatite fission track dating and confirmed track-length distributions have been used to determine the time of unroofing of the Gold Butte block and hence the timing of one episode of extension in this part of the Basin and Range province. Samples collected in as east-west transect along the block indicate an abrupt transition from a period of relative thermal and tectonic stability to the onset of rapid cooling. The fission-track data indicate that the unroofing of the Gold Butte block was rapid and that the crustal section was brought to within a few kilometers of the surface at ca. 15 Ma.

• OSTI ID: 5964052
• Journal Information: Geology; (United States), Journal Name: Geology; (United States) Vol. 19:10; ISSN GLGYB; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
AGE ESTIMATION
APATITES
BASEMENT ROCK
CENOZOIC ERA
CONTINENTAL CRUST
DEFORMATION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIMENSIONS
EARTH CRUST
EROSION
FEDERAL REGION IX
FISSION TRACKS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
MAPS
MINERALS
NEVADA
NORTH AMERICA
PALEOZOIC ERA
PARTICLE TRACKS
PHOSPHATE MINERALS
PRECAMBRIAN ERA
TECTONICS
TERTIARY PERIOD
THICKNESS
USA