Track of the Yellowstone hotspot: Young and ongoing geologic processes from the Snake River Plain to the Yellowstone Plateau and Tet
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Published:January 01, 2008
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CiteCitation
L. A. Morgan, K. L. Pierce, W. C. Pat Shanks, 2008. "Track of the Yellowstone hotspot: Young and ongoing geologic processes from the Snake River Plain to the Yellowstone Plateau and Tet", Roaming the Rocky Mountains and Environs: Geological Field Trips, Robert G. Raynolds
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Abstract
This field trip highlights various stages in the evolution of the Snake River Plain- Yellowstone Plateau bimodal volcanic province, and associated faulting and uplift, also known as the track of the Yellowstone hotspot. The 16 Ma Yellowstone hotspot track is one of the few places on Earth where time-transgressive processes on continental crust can be observed in the volcanic and tectonic (faulting and uplift) record at the rate and direction predicted by plate motion. Recent interest in young and possible renewed volcanism at Yellowstone along with new discoveries and synthesis of previous studies, i.e., tomographic, deformation, bathymetric, and seismic...
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Contents
Roaming the Rocky Mountains and Environs: Geological Field Trips

Prepared following the 2007 GSA Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, these 15 guides illustrate the latest geological and archeological thinking on a variety of current research themes. Regional-scale topics include landscape responses to dynamic processes of volcanism and uplift in Yellowstone and western Colorado, geomorphic evolution along the Front Range of Colorado and on the High Plains of South Dakota, and geoarchaeological research in central Colorado and western Nebraska. A series of papers illustrates tectonic and stratigraphic processes through time and space, with discussions of Precambrian structures in western Colorado, Jurassic deposition in south-central Colorado, and near-shore stratigraphic patterns in the Cretaceous strata of the Book Cliffs. One paper reviews potential seismic signatures in Cretaceous and Early Tertiary strata in northern Wyoming and Montana, and another discusses patterns of extension in southern Nevada and adjacent portions of California. Other topics in this well-rounded volume include the history of volcanism and gold mineralization at Cripple Creek, development of coalbed methane resources in the Powder River Basin, and a long-lived subsurface coal fire in western Colorado. Follow in the footsteps of these field trips, and see for yourself the patterns and evidence discussed.
GeoRef
- brittle deformation
- Cambrian
- Central Rocky Mountains
- Colorado
- deformation
- faults
- field trips
- Garfield County Colorado
- Laramide Orogeny
- metamorphic rocks
- North America
- orientation
- Paleozoic
- Phanerozoic
- plastic deformation
- Precambrian
- Proterozoic
- reactivation
- road log
- Rocky Mountains
- shear zones
- tectonics
- United States
- uplifts
- upper Precambrian
- White River Plateau
- Glenwood Canyon
- Grizzly Creek shear zone