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Late Cretaceous Extensional Collapse Of The Southern Cordillera: Evidence From The Bristol And Granite Mountains, Se California, Lee Hess

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Demonstrating the regional extent of Late Cretaceous extensional collapse of western North America’s southern Cordillera is important to understanding the tectonic evolution of the Sevier-Laramide orogens, and the geodynamics of ancient and modern orogens and synconvergent extension. Documenting Late Cretaceous extension in the southern Cordillera requires looking through the extensive overprint by Cenozoic structures. Late Cretaceous extension in the eastern Mojave region has been inferred from geochronology and thermochronology studies, which document Late Cretaceous cooling of Mesozoic granitoid rocks, some of which were emplaced in the middle crust. Cooling histories from these rocks have also been interpreted to be a …