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

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 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), Vol. 19:10; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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