Tectonics and Structure Commons^™

The Grand Tour Of The Ruby-East Humboldt Metamorphic Core Complex, Northeastern Nevada: Part 1-Introduction & Road Log, Arthur W. Snoke, Keith A. Howard, Allen J. Mcgrew, Bradford R. Burton, Calvin G. Barnes, Mark T. Peters, James E. Wright

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

The purpose of this geological excursion is to provide an overview of the multiphase developmental history of the Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range, northeastern Nevada. Although these mountain ranges are commonly cited as a classic example of a Cordilleran metamorphic core complex developed through large-magnitude, mid-Tertiary crustal extension, a preceding polyphase Mesozoic contractional history is also well preserved in the ranges. An early phase of this history involved Late Jurassic two-mica granitic magmatism, high-temperature but relatively low-pressure metamorphism, and polyphase deformation in the central Ruby Mountains. In the northern Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range, a Late Cretaceous history …

Paleoseismicity Of The North Branch Of The Newport-Inglewood Fault Zone In Huntington Beach, California, From Cone Penetrometer Test Data, Lisa B. Grant, John T. Waggoner, Thomas K. Rockwell, Carmen Von Stein

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Application of cone penetrometer testing (CPT) is a promising method for studying subsurface fault zones in stratified, unconsolidated sediment where trenching is not feasible. Analysis of data from 72 CPTs, spaced 7.5 to 30.0 m apart, and 9 borings indicates that the North Branch fault, the active strand of the Newport-Inglewood fault zone (NIFZ) in Huntington Beach, has generated at least three and most likely five recognizable surface ruptures in the past 11.7 +/- 0.7 ka. Additional smaller earthquakes similar to the M-w 6.4 1933. Long Beach earthquake may also have occurred but would not be recognizable with this method. …

The Geology And Structures In The Northern Hiko Range, Lincoln County, Nevada, Douglas D. Switzer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the northern Hiko Range, extension occurred in four temporally distinct episodes during the Cenozoic. The extensional events are (1) prevolcanic (> 27.31 ± 0. 03 Ma), (2) syn-volcanic (between 22.78 ± 0,03 and 18.5 ± 0.4 Ma), (3) Tertiary(?) post-volcanic ( < 14.7 ± 0.4 Ma), and ( 4) Pliocene(?) - Quaternary. Four fault sets are delineated based on orientation and cross-cutting relationships: (I) northeast- to northwest-striking moderately dipping prevolcanic faults, (2) east-west striking, steeply-dipping syn-volcanic faults, (3) east-west- and east-northeast-striking, steeply dipping Tertiary(?) post-volcanic faults, and (4) generally north-striking steeply dipping Pliocene (?) - Quaternary faults.

Prevolcanic faults in the northern Hiko Range are interpreted to be footwall faults to an Oligocene age extensional system. These faults increase the area affected by Oligocene extension and support existing evidence that suggests this event is widespread.

A tectonomagmatic rift model has been proposed to explain synvolcanic extension during the Tertiary in the northern Basin and Range …

Prolonged History Of Silicic Peralkaline Volcanism In The Eastern Pacific Ocean, Wendy A. Bohrson, Mary R. Reid, Anita L. Grunder, Matthew Heizler, T. Mark Harrison, Jeffrey Lee

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Socorro Island, Mexico, is an alkaline and peralkaline volcanic island located in the eastern Pacific Ocean on a mid-ocean ridge spreading center that was abandoned at ∼3.5 Ma. Silicic peralkaline rocks comprise up to 80% of the surface of the island, rendering Socorro virtually unique in the Pacific Ocean. Precise, replicate ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 21 peralkaline trachytes and rhyolites reveal a history of episodic volcanic activity from ∼540 to 370 ka that may have culminated with caldera formation; repose periods between these episodes may have had maximum duration of ∼30 kyr. After up to 200 kyr of …

Study Of Volcanic Sediments By Microbeam-Pixe Technique, Nazrul I. Khandaker, M. Ahmed, M. A. Garwan

Publications and Research

Single mineral grains in a suite of Cretaceous (85–90 Ma) volcanic sedimentary rocks were analyzed using the microbeam-PIXE technique to understand fundamental geological processes responsible for micro-scale variation in elemental composition across mineral zones, twinning, cleavage planes, fractures and grain boundaries. Distributions of major and trace elements show distinct geochemical features indicative of a specific geological setting and a subsequent diagenetic process in these volcanic sediments. Examples of mineral zoning, microstructures of variable chemistry and post-depositional fluid flow are discussed using the data on feldspar group of minerals.

Tectonic Denudation Of Mesozoic Contractile Structures By A Low-Angle Normal Fault And Associated Faults, Southern White Pine Range, Nevada, Holly Langrock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Blackrock Canyon area in the southern White Pine Range, Nevada mostly consists of the highly extended upper plate of a low-angle normal fault, the Blackrock fault. The post-31.3 Ma Blackrock fault places upper Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and overlying Tertiary volcanic rocks of the Garret Ranch Group in its hangingwall against a 50 degrees E-dipping homocline of Cambrian through Mississippian rocks in its footwall. The 15 to 30 degrees W-dipping Blackrock fault is non-planar and consists of two fault segments and a pronounced corrugation, the Bull Spring corrugation. These geometric irregularities suggest the slip direction on the fault was east-southeast …

"A Geological Interpretation Of The Stanley Fault And Other Thrust Faults In Page County, Virginia", Michael James Sarros

OES Theses and Dissertations

Paleozoic carbonate rocks flooring Page Valley (within Page County) are overthrust by Precambrian to Cambrian elastic rocks of the Blue Ridge to the east of the study area. King (1950) recognized that the Cambrian carbonate sequence of Page Valley, near Stanley, Virginia, is broken by a large transverse fault which he named the Stanley fault. King (1950) interpreted the Stanley fault as a high-angle reverse fault with oblique-slip displacement. However, detailed mapping and structural data collected in this study indicate the Stanley fault is a low angle thrust fault which cuts all pre-Alleghanian and Early Alleghanian structures.

Two previously unrecognized …

Constraints On Present-Day Basin And Range Deformation From Space Geodesy, Jeffrey Lee, Timothy H. Dixon, Stefano Robaudo, Marith C. Reheis

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We use new space geodetic data from very long baseline interferometry and satellite laser ranging combined with other geodetic and geologic data to study contemporary deformation in the Basin and Range province of the western United States. Northwest motion of the central Sierra Nevada block relative to stable North America, a measure of integrated Basin and Range deformation, is 12.1±1.2 mm/yr oriented N38°W±5° (one standard error), in agreement with previous geological estimates within uncertainties. This velocity reflects both east-west extension concentrated in the eastern Basin and Range and north-northwest directed right lateral shear concentrated in the western Basin and Range. …

Book Review: Quaternary Geology And Geomorphology Of South America By C. Clapperton, William J. Wayne

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Dr. Clapperton is to be commended for having taken on the monumental task of a review of the present state of knowledge of the Quaternary of the entire continent of South America. Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology of South America is a massive, interestingly written, but expensive volume that covers exactly what its title suggests. In spite of the paucity of information on many aspects of the Quaternary geology of this continent, which extends from north of the equator nearly to the Antarctic, the author has succeeded in reviewing and synthesizing most of the material that does exist. To do so …

Stratigraphy And Structure At The Southern End Of Lake Champlain In Benson, Vermont, Jennifer L. Granducci

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Detailed mapping and structural investigations in an area bound to the west by the Grenvillian basement of the Adirondack Mountains and to the east by the allochthonous slates of the Taconic Mountains led to the distinction of a Western Undeformed Zone and an Eastern Deformed Zone. The former is composed of the gently east-dipping shelf sequence of upper Cambrian to lower Ordovician clastics and carbonates which unconformably overlie the Precambrian basement. The latter is characterized by lower to middle Ordovician carbonates, striking roughly north-south and dipping predominantly to the east, which are overlain by well-cleaved shales and slates. The stratigraphic …

Rapid Uplift And Rotation Of Mylonitic Rocks From Beneath A Detachment Fault: Insights From Potassium Feldspar 40ar/39ar Thermochronology, Northern Snake Range, Nevada, Jeffrey Lee

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The thermal histories of mylonitic rocks from the footwall of the northern Snake Range decollement (NSRD), Nevada, were calculated using multiple diffusion domain analyses of potassium feldspar Arrhenius data and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age spectra in order to characterize the cooling (exhumation) history of these mylonitic rocks and thereby constrain the origin and movement history of the NSRD. The calculated thermal histories, along with reported apatite fission track ages, indicate the three following episodes of rapid cooling (10–55°C/m.y.) related to extensional denudation: (1) middle Eocene (48–41 Ma), (2) late Oligocene (30–26 Ma), and (3) early Miocene (20–16 Ma). The …

Do Microplates In Subduction Zones Leave A Geological Record?, Jeffrey Lee, Joann M. Stock

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Active microplate boundaries in ocean-continent subduction zones may induce deformation of the overlying plate and spatial or geochemical variations in the volcanic arc. We discuss two modern cases. The first is the South Gorda-Juan de Fuca plate boundary in the Cascadia subduction zone, where there is little or no effect on the overriding plate and the oceanic plate takes up much of the deformation. The second case is the Cocos-Rivera plate boundary in the Middle America trench, where the overlying Colima graben contains substantial deformation in a zone extending from the trench to the volcanic arc and the sub-duction-related volcanism …

Structural Analysis Of The Hurricane Fault In The Transition Zone Between The Basin And Range Province And The Colorado Plateau, Washington County, Utah, Meg E. Schramm

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study defines fault segments and segment boundaries along the Hurricane fault in southwestern Utah and determines the geometric and kinematic relationship to other regional structures. Fault segment identification is critical for understanding fault processes and seismic risk; segment length is the maximum earthquake rupture length along a fault. Segment boundaries may act as barriers to earthquake propagation.

Normal fault segmentation only recently has received attention and has never been studied along the Hurricane fault. The fault changes strike along its length, and is thus a segmented fault. This study documents one nonconservative segment boundary and two fault segments, the …

The Champlain Thrust System In Northwestern Vermont - Structure And Lithology Of The Taconic Foreland Sequence In The Highgate Center Quadrangle, Michael Roger Haschke

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The Champlain Thrust System, responsible for the final emplacement of the Taconic Allochthon, and which represents the surface trace of the main detachment under the Taconic suite, can be traced throughout the study area in northwestern Vermont, northward into southern Quebec. In the Highgate and St. Albans area this imbricated assemblage consists of 3 main carbonate thrust slices (Highgate Springs-, Philipsburg-, Rosenberg slice), each of which contain rocks deposited during some part of early Cambrian to medial Ordovician time. The Highgate Springs sequence comprises a mildly deformed early to medial Ordovician carbonate-shale succession. Late Cambrian to early Ordovician carbonates of …

Structure And Tectonic Significance Of Deformed Medial Ordovician Flysch And Melange Between Albany And Saratoga Lake And In The Central Hudson Valley, New York, Andreas Plesch

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The belt of medial Ordovician deformed flysch west of the traditionally defined Taconic boundary thrust was investigated by detailed mapping in the Capital District, from Albany to Saratoga Lake, and large scale compilation of the central Hudson Valley, between Glens Falls and Middletown. Maps and detailed sections are presented. Mapping recognized a two-fold division into a western belt of folded and faulted flysch and an eastern belt which is dominated by tectonic melange. The Folded and Faulted Flysch unit shows northward fining from greywacke-dominated to shale-dominated. Isoclinal folding and incipient melanges are characteristic in the south, whereas in the north …

The Origin And Evolution Of The Southern Snake Range Decollement, East Central Nevada, Allen J. Mcgrew

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Regional and local stratigraphic, metamorphic, and structural constraints permit reconstruction of the southern Snake Range extensional deformational system in east central Nevada. The dominant structure of the range, the southern Snake Range décollement (SSRD), operated during Oligocene and Miocene extensional deformation to exhume a footwall of multiply deformed metasedimentary and plutonic rocks. Intrusion of three plutons (∼160 Ma, 79.1 ± 0.5 Ma, and 36 ± 1 Ma, respectively) and development of two cleavages preceded the onset of extensional deformation. Plastic deformation of lower plate metasedimentary rocks accompanied the early phases of regional extension and produced bedding-parallel grain shape foliations and …

A Paleoseismic Investigation Of The Mcgregor Fault, East-Central New York, Steven J. Tice

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The structural disposition and movement potential of the McGregor Fault System in Eastern New York State are reviewed from the perspective of a paleoseismic investigation. The McGregor Fault zone has been located beneath deltaic sediments west of West Glens Falls using commercial and residential bore hole data and microgravity surveys. A 34 m long trench was excavated in overburden near the western margin of the McGregor Fault zone to a depth of 3.2 m. Stratified fluvially deposited sediments were exposed which showed no evidence of earthquake induced deformation or offset. However, the overburden present here does not possess optimal qualities …

A Kinematic Study Of The Summit Valley Plutonic Complex, Klamath Mountains, California, Nancy E. Griesau

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The Summit Valley plutonic complex (SVPC) is a multi-phase intrusive body of Late Jurassic age. Crystallization age for a zircon of 150±1 Ma and a cooling age for a hornblende of 144±1 Ma indicate a protracted period of high temperature. The SVPC is irregularly shaped, covers <15 km², and is believed to be in the western limb of a post-Nevadan syncline, with an easterly dip estimated at about 45°. The SVPC penetrated the Orleans Fault and intruded and contact metamorphosed the upper and lower plates of the thrust. The Orleans Fault is a major tectonic boundary separating the Western Paleozoic …

The Geology Of The Vermont Valley And The Western Flank Of The Green Mountains Between Dorset Mountain And Wallingford, Vermont, Rolf Herrmann

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The carbonate sequence of the Vermont Valley has been generally believed to lie on the east limb of a major unfaulted syncline ("Middlebury Synclinorium"), and the exposed Precambrian basement and overlying cover rocks of the Green Mountain massif on the west limb of the adjacent major unfaulted anticline ("Green Mountain Anticlinorium"). Except for the Basal Thrust of the Taconic Allochthon, all faults shown on previous maps die out north of Dorset Mountain.
In contrast, detailed mapping for this thesis in the Vermont Valley and the western flank of the Green Mountain massif has revealed several major north/south trending thrust faults, …

Regional Tectonic Deformation Of The Northern Oregon Coast As Recorded By Pleistocene Marine Terraces, Richard Alan Mulder

Dissertations and Theses

Pleistocene marine terraces of the northern Oregon coast are an important factor in understanding the tectonics and paleoseismicity of the central Cascadia subduction zone. The lowest marine terrace, tentatively correlated to 80,000 year old Whiskey Run terrace of southern Oregon, is intermittently exposed in the present day sea cliff along an 80 km section of coastline between Tillamook Head and Cape Kiwanda. Terrace sediments consist largely of fine material such as clay, silt and fine sand with several locations containing large amounts of gravel derived from nearby headlands and steep bedrock hills. The terrace sediments are interpreted to be deposited …

Plate Tectonics, Space, Geologic Time, And The Great Plains: A Primer For Non-Geologists, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

For most Americans, "The Great Plains" evokes images of grasslands, dust storms, prairie fires, Native Americans on horseback, cowboys and wheat lands, and perhaps flat valleys crossed by braided rivers carrying a heavy load of sand and gravel, extremes of weather, and a climate typified by an alternation of droughts and wetter periods. Geologists picture such general images, too, but they also see radical changes in the landscape over periods expressed in millions rather than hundreds of years. Geologically speaking, human activities on the Great Plains are too recent to have much of a place in the broad geologic history …

Slickenside Petrography: Slip-Sense Indicators And Classification, Young-Joon Lee

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Petrographic study has been carried out on slickenside thin sections, to find out reliable microstructures for determining the slip-sense of faults, and to classify slickensides morphologically. Thin sections are made cut parallel to the striation and perpendicular to the slip plane. Many useful slip-sense indicators are found in thin section even though such indicators may be absent in hand specimens. They are (1) off-set or bending of once-continuous bodies such as veins, layers, grains or twin lamellae, (2) crystal fibers growing nearly parallel to the slip direction, (3) extensional fractures aligned oblique to the slip plane, (4) S-C geometries in …

Evaluation Of Computational Methods Of Paleostress Analysis Using Fault-Striation Data, Steven Henry Schimmrich

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 12 years, many different computational methods or variations of existing methods have been proposed for determining paleostress tensors from fault populations and their slip directions. These methods are all based upon well-known relationships between stress and shear and use iterative, non-linear mathematical algorithms which seek to minimize the angles between the calculated maximum shear stress direction and the observed movement directions on each fault plane in a population. The solution returned is the best-fit paleostress tensor for the population.
By taking the Coulomb failure criterion into account, several paleostress analysis programs have been able to use linear, …

Eolian Sand Deposits In Maine, Joshua Katz

Maine Collection

Eolian Sand Deposits in Maine

by Joshua Katz - Timson, Schepps & Peters, Inc., Hallowell, Maine

Planning Report No.91, August 1990.

"A report prepared for the Maine Critical Areas Program, State Planning Office."

Contents: List of Figures / List of Maps and Tables / Acknowledgements / Introduction / Inland Eolian Sand Deposits / Research Methods / Rating Methods / Significant Criteria / Summary of Results / Significant Eolian Deposits in Maine / Site Descriptions / Recommendations / Glossary / References Cited

Geology And Structure Of The Rocks Associated With The Basal (Madstone) Thrust Of The Josephine Ophiolite In Southwestern Oregon: Evidence For A Metamorphic Sole, Kristin A. Grady

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Many ophiolites have amphibolite at their base which contains a sharp inverted grade of metamorphism. These metamorphic soles are thought to have formed during the detachment and emplacement of the ophiolite. In addition to the sharp inverted grade of metamorphism, other characteristics of metamorphic soles include 1). a highly strained peridotite unit of the hanging wall which has concordant structures with underlying amphibolite and 2). an underlying melange sequence and continental rocks.
The Madstone thrust displaces the Josephine peridotite (Josephine ophiolite-162 Ma) onto amphibolites and underlying deformed gabbros of the Chetco Intrusive Complex. The rocks associated with the Madstone thrust …

The Geology Of Taconic Thrust Sheets And Surrounding Carbonates Of The West Central Vermont Marble Belt, North Of Rutland, Vermont, Kay Bierbrauer

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The carbonates of the Vermont Valley and the overlying rocks of the Taconic sequence have been generally believed to lie on the east limb of a major unfaulted syncline (Middlebury Synclinorium). In this view a westward dipping, north-south trending basal Taconic overthrust must be exposed somewhere along the eastern margin of the Taconic Range.
In contrast, this study based on detailed mapping at the north end of the Taconic Allochthon suggests that a folded overthrust surface is only locally seen in fensters; more commonly the basal obduction surface of the Taconic Allochthon has been truncated by later cross-cutting thrust faults. …

Significant Bedrock Features Of The Maine Coast : Boothbay To Calais, Carol White, A. M. Hussey Ii

Maine Collection

Significant Bedrock Features of the Maine Coast : Boothbay to Calais

Carol White and A.M.Hussey II

Planning Report # 85

A Report Prepared for the Maine Critical Areas Program, Maine State Planning Office, 184 State Street, Augusta, Maine 04333 (September 1989).

Contents: Introduction / Types of Significant Features / Description and Interpretation of Geologic Features / Overview of the Geology of Coastal Maine / Criteria for Significant Geological Localities / Inventory Methods / Area Descriptions / Site Descriptions / Conclusions and Recommendations / References

The Geology And Structural Significance Of The Arch Mountain Area, Northern Black Mountains, Mohave County, Arizona, Edward Eschner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Arch Mountain area of northwestern Mohave County, Arizona, is typified by rocks that range from Precambrian to Quatemary in age. Arch mountain is a north-trending horst bounded on the west by the Petroglyph Wash graben and on the east by the Virgin Basin. A low-angle normal fault, herein named the Arch Mountain detachment fault, is exposed for 6 km along strike just below the ridge crest of Arch Mountain, and it is typified by a 2-20 cm thick zone of hematite-impregnated breccia and cataclasite. The detachment fault places an upper plate of Precambrian gneiss, Paleozoic quartzite, shale and dolomite, …

The Style Of Late Cenozoic Deformation At The Eastern Front Of The California Coast Ranges, Carl M. Wentworth, Mark D. Zoback

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The 1983 Coalinga earthquake occurred at the eastern boundary of the California Coast Ranges in response to northeast directed thrusting. Such movements over the past 2 Ma have produced Coalinga anticline by folding above the blind eastern tip of the Coalinga thrust zone. The 600-km length of the Coast Ranges boundary shares a common structural setting that involves westward upturn of Cenozoic and Cretaceou strata at the eastern front of the Coast Ranges and a major, southwest facing step in the basement surface beneath the western Great Valley. Like Coalinga anticline, Pliocene and Quaternary folding and faulting along the rest …

Ua66/8/2 Earthquake Risk Assessment For Warren County, Kentucky, Wku Center For Local Government, Nicholas Crawford, Thomas Tweddell, Shaun Winter, Peter Erlenbach, Amy Huot, Grant Whittle

WKU Administration Documents

Earthquake risk assessment report for Bowling Green and Warren County, Kentucky. Include illustrations and maps.