Late Cenozoic Structure and Evolution of the Great Basin-Sierra Nevada Transition
Late Miocene to Pliocene vertical-axis rotation attending development of the Silver Peak–Lone Mountain displacement transfer zone, west-central Nevada
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Published:April 01, 2009
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CiteCitation
Michael S Petronis, John W Geissman, John S Oldow, William C McIntosh, 2009. "Late Miocene to Pliocene vertical-axis rotation attending development of the Silver Peak–Lone Mountain displacement transfer zone, west-central Nevada", Late Cenozoic Structure and Evolution of the Great Basin-Sierra Nevada Transition, John S. Oldow, Patricia H. Cashman
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Paleomagnetic data from three regionally extensive Oligocene ignimbrite sheets, two sequences of Miocene andesite flows, and ten sequences of Upper Miocene to Pliocene basaltic andesite flows in the Candelaria Hills and adjacent areas, west-central Nevada, provide further evidence that, since the late Miocene, and possibly between latest Miocene and earliest Pliocene time, the broad region that initially facilitated Neogene displacement transfer between the Furnace Creek and central Walker Lane fault systems experienced some 20° to 30° of clockwise vertical-axis rotation. The observed sense and magnitude of rotation are similar to those previously inferred from paleo-magnetic data from different parts of the Silver Peak Range to the south. We propose that clockwise rotation within the transfer zone formed in response to horizontal components of simple and pure shear distributed between early-formed, northwest-striking right-lateral structures that initiated in mid- to late Miocene time. Notably, the spatial distribution of the early-formed transfer zone is larger and centered south of the presently active stepover, which initiated in the late Pliocene and is characterized by a trans-tensional deformation field and slip on east-northeast–oriented left-oblique structures that define the Mina deflection. The sense and magnitude of rotation during this phase of deformation, which we infer to be of pre–latest Pliocene age, are inconsistent with the geodetically determined regional velocity field and seismologically determined strain field for this area. As a consequence, the longer-term kinematic evolution of the stepover system, and the adjoining parts of the Furnace Creek and Walker Lane fault systems, cannot be considered as a steady-state process through the Neogene.
- accommodation zones
- andesites
- basalts
- Cenozoic
- correlation
- Esmeralda County Nevada
- faults
- igneous rocks
- ignimbrite
- lava flows
- Mineral County Nevada
- Miocene
- Neogene
- Nevada
- paleomagnetism
- Pliocene
- pole positions
- pyroclastics
- rotation
- Silver Peak Mountains
- Tertiary
- transtension
- United States
- upper Miocene
- volcanic rocks
- Walker Lane
- west-central Nevada
- Lone Mountain
- Candelaria Hills