Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Trexler, J. H. Articles by Davydov, V. I. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Widespread effects of middle Mississippian deformation in the Great Basin of western North America

James H. Trexler, Jr.^,1, Patricia H. Cashman^,1, James C. Cole^,2, Walter S. Snyder^,3, Richard M. Tosdal^,4 and Vladimir I. Davydov^,5

¹ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557-0042, USA
² U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225, USA
³ Department of Geology and Geophysics, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho 83725, USA
⁴ Mineral Deposit Research Unit, Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
⁵ Department of Geology and Geophysics, Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Idaho 83725, USA

Stratigraphic analyses in central and eastern Nevada reveal the importance of a deformation event in middle Mississippian time that caused widespread deformation, uplift, and erosion. It occurred between middle Osagean and late Meramecian time and resulted in deposition of both synorogenic and postorogenic sediments. The deformation resulted in east-west shortening, expressed as east-vergent folding and east-directed thrusting; it involved sedimentary rocks of the Antler foredeep as well as strata associated with the Roberts Mountains allochthon. A latest Meramecian to early Chesterian unconformity, with correlative conformable lithofacies changes, postdates this deformation and occurs throughout Nevada. A tectonic highland—created in the middle Mississippian and lasting into the Pennsylvanian and centered in the area west and southwest of Carlin, Nevada—shed sediments eastward across the Antler foreland, burying the unconformity. Post oro genic strata are late Meramecian to early Chesterian at the base and are widespread throughout the Great Basin. The tectonism therefore occurred 20 to 30 m.y. after inception of the Late Devonian Antler orogeny, significantly extending the time span of this orogeny or representing a generally unrecognized orogenic event in the Paleozoic evolution of western North America.

We propose a revised stratigraphic nomenclature for Mississippian strata in Nevada, based on detailed age control and the recognition of unconformities. This approach resolves the ambiguity of some stratigraphic names and emphasizes genetic relationships within the upper Paleozoic section. We take advantage of better stratigraphic understanding to propose two new stratigraphic units for southern and eastern Nevada: the middle Mississippian Gap Wash and Late Mississippian Captain Jack Formations.

Key Words: Paleozoic • tectonics • stratigraphy • Antler • foreland • lithostratigraphy

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Cashman, J. Trexler, W. Snyder, V. Davydov, and W. Taylor Late Paleozoic deformation in central and southern Nevada Field Guides, January 1, 2008; 11(0): 21 - 42. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. H. Trexler Jr., P. H. Cashman, W. S. Snyder, and V. I. Davydov Late Paleozoic tectonism in Nevada: Timing, kinematics, and tectonic significance Geological Society of America Bulletin, May 1, 2004; 116(5-6): 525 - 538. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]