The Piñon orogeny, a newly defined Pennsylvanian tectonic event recorded in the Basin and Range

Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

1-1-2016

Publication Title

Geological Society of America: Abstracts with Programs

Volume

48

Issue

4

Abstract

The Devonian-Mississippian Antler and Permian-Triassic Sonoma orogenies are separated by ~100 my. However, rocks containing folds and faults that are biostratigraphically bracketed to mid-Pennsylvanian age crop out in a 300 km wide zone across north-central Nevada. New and published data indicate that such structures occur in six mountain ranges across this zone. The strain gradient recorded by these structures increases westward across the zone. Comparable structures of this age do not occur in southern Nevada, providing a southern limit to deformation. We refer to the tightly constrained tectonic event that formed these structures as the Piñon orogeny, for well-exposed structures at Carlin Canyon, northern Piñon Range.

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