Geologic Map of Windy Peak 7.5' quadrangle, White Pine County, Nevada

Miller, Elizabeth L.; Gans, Phillip B.; Grier, S.P.

doi:10.3133/ofr94687

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The light gray to white, fine-grained Prospect Mountain quartzite forms the top 60 m of the section. This unit conformably overlies the metamorphosed Osceola Argillite [Miller et al, 1995]. The top of the McCoy Creek Group beneath the Osceola Argillite is characterized by fineto medium-grained quartzite about 25-30 m thick that overlies a garnet-bearing schist (see stratigraphic column on Figure 7).…”

Section: Hendry's Creekmentioning

confidence: 78%

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Oligo‐Miocene extensional tectonics and fluid flow across the Northern Snake Range detachment system, Nevada

Gébelin¹,

Mulch²,

Teyssier

et al. 2011

Tectonics

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[1] The Northern Snake Range (Nevada) represents a spectacular example of a metamorphic core complex and exposes a complete section from the mylonitic footwall into the hanging wall of a fossil detachment system. Paired geochronological and stable isotopic data of mylonitic quartzite within the detachment footwall reveal that ductile deformation and infiltration of meteoric fluids occurred between 27 and 23 Ma. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages display complex recrystallization-cooling relationships but decrease systematically from 26.9 ± 0.2 Ma at the top to 21.3 ± 0.2 Ma at the bottom of footwall mylonite. Hydrogen isotope (dD) values in white mica are very low (−150 to −145 ‰) within the top 80-90 m of detachment footwall, in contrast to values obtained from the deeper part of the section where values range from −77 to −64 ‰, suggesting that time-integrated interaction between rock and meteoric fluid was restricted to the uppermost part of the mylonitic footwall. Pervasive mica-water hydrogen isotope exchange is difficult to reconcile with models of 40 Ar loss during mylonitization solely by volume diffusion. Rather, we interpret the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of white mica with low-dD values to date syn-mylonitic hydrogen and argon isotope exchange, and we conclude that the hydrothermal system of the Northern Snake Range was active during late Oligocene (27-23 Ma) and has been exhumed by the combined effects of ductile strain, extensional detachment faulting, and erosion.

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Section: Hendry's Creekmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…This core complex is bounded by the Northern Snake Range Detachment (NSRD) (Figure 2), which strikes N-S and extends over 150 km from the southern Snake Range to Kern Mountains and Deep Creek Range in the North Lee et al, 1999aLee et al, , 1999bLee et al, , 1999cMiller et al, 1999b).…”

Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oligo‐Miocene extensional tectonics and fluid flow across the Northern Snake Range detachment system, Nevada

Gébelin¹,

Mulch²,

Teyssier

et al. 2011

Tectonics

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“…1, 5) . It includes rocks that range in age from Neoproterozoic to Tertiary Lee et al, 1999aLee et al, , 1999cMiller et al, 1994Miller et al, , 1999bMiller and Gans, 1999;McGrew and Miller, 1995;Miller and Grier, 1995). Two basic structural elements are typically recognized in the SR core complex: (1) an upper tier of sedimentary and volcanic rocks, and (2) a lower tier of metamorphic and plutonic rocks (Figs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Comparative anatomy of core-complex development in the northeastern Great Basin, U.S.A.

Snoke

2007

Rocky Mountain Geology

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Three metamorphic core complexes, Ruby Mountains-East Humboldt Range (R-EH), Albion MountainsRaft River Mountains-Grouse Creek Mountains (A-RR-GC), and Snake Range (SR) are exposed in the northeastern Great Basin (Nevada, Utah, and Idaho). Their structural, magmatic, and metamorphic histories are synthesized and compared to evaluate fundamental tectonic processes in this area in which large-magnitude crustal contraction was followed by large-magnitude crustal extension. Throughout the region, contraction and magmatism began in the Late Jurassic, and in the R-EH and SR areas culminated at ~80-90 Ma. The A-RR-GC core complex experienced multiple episodes of Late Cretaceous tectonic denudation beginning at ~105 Ma, and it records no Mesozoic magmatism, apparently due to an infertile lower crust. The R-EH core complex also underwent tectonic denudation in latest Cretaceous/early Tertiary time. This illustrates the importance of syncontractional adjustments to thickened orogenic wedges and that these adjustments need not occur simultaneously throughout an orogen. Syncontractional extension and denudation in the A-RR-GC and R-EH areas also limited the amount, extent, and distribution of subsequent Tertiary extension.Eocene magmatism was immediately followed by an intense pulse of crustal extension in all three areas. However, late Oligocene and early Miocene extension throughout the region was diachronous and was not always coincident with a widespread mid-Oligocene magmatic event, suggesting that Oligocene magmatism and extension are not entirely linked. The magnitude of tectonic denudation in the R-EH and SR core complexes varies along the strike of the core complex. In the R-EH area, this variation may be due to the restriction of Late Cretaceous(?) and middle Eocene episodes of extension to the northern part of the core complex. In the SR core complex this variation may be the result of a lateral ramp in the structural surface of the Snake Range décollement. These intra-core complex variations in tectonic denudation appear to be partly accommodated by solid-state flow of the lower crust into regions of high mid-to upper-crustal extension, and they require a complex, three-dimensional pattern of lower-crustal redistribution and magmatism. Oppositely vergent extensional fault systems in the A-RR-GC metamorphic core complex may have developed because the rigid Archean lower crust in this area could not flow into highly extended domains.

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“…The lower plate of the NSR MCC is composed of a thick succession of gently dipping quartzite, schist, and marble units intruded by a diverse suite of plutons, dikes, and sills of various ages (Miller et al., 1983, 1988). Although originally interpreted as pre‐Cambrian basement by Misch (1960), the footwall metasedimentary rocks have been confidently correlated to Eocambrian through upper Cambrian units of the miogeoclinal succession observed in adjacent ranges (Gans, Miller, Huggins, et al., 1999; Gans, Miller & Lee, 1999; Hose & Blake, 1976; Hose and Whitebread, 1981; Lee, Gans, et al., 1999a, 1999b; Lee, Miller, et al., 1999; Miller et al., 1983; Miller, Dumitru, et al., 1999; Miller, Gans, et al., 1999) based on the match of compositions, stratigraphic order, relative thicknesses, and distinguishing characteristics. Throughout much of the range, lower plate units dip gently eastward and broadly parallel the NSRD (Miller et al., 1983).…”

Section: Unit Descriptions and Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These limitations are not as severe in the northern Snake Range (NSR) MCC of east‐central Nevada (Figure 1), offering an opportunity to better characterize the Mesozoic shortening history of an MCC. The footwall is composed predominantly of metasedimentary units of the well‐studied Eocambrian to upper‐Cambrian miogeoclinal succession (Miller et al., 1983; Gans, Miller, Huggins, et al., 1999; Gans, Miller & Lee, 1999; Lee, Gans, et al., 1999a, 1999b; Lee, Miller, et al., 1999; Miller, Dumitru, et al., 1999; Miller, Gans, et al., 1999). Pelitic units within the metasedimentary stratigraphy host mineral assemblages well‐suited for thermobarometry and P‐T results can be directly compared to burial estimates derived from structural observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Cretaceous Crustal Shortening in the Northern Snake Range Metamorphic Core Complex: Constraints on the Structural Geometry and Magnitude of Pre‐Extensional Footwall Burial

2021

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Detailed geologic mapping and structural investigation of the footwall of the northern Snake Range (NSR) metamorphic core complex reveal km‐scale Late Cretaceous fold and thrust relationships of the northern Snake Range Fold and Thrust System (NSRFTS) that are broadly coeval with the deep burial and amphibolite facies metamorphism of Eocambrian strata. The O'Neill Peak Recumbent Syncline (OPRS) ‐ an NNW‐trending, non‐cylindrical, eastward‐opening, inclined to recumbent syncline and its overlying anticlinal closure, the O'Neill Peak Anticline, affect the entire Middle to Upper Cambrian stratigraphy, effectively doubling its structural thickness from ∼3.5 to ∼8 km. West of the OPRS, pervasive isoclinal folding in lower Cambrian schistose units and local thrust duplication of lower and middle Cambrian units of the Eightmile Thrust System record layer‐parallel shear and shortening. Detailed cross sections are used to create an interpretive pre‐extensional reconstruction of the NSR that integrates the NSRFTS with associated supracrustal shortening structures now exposed in the Confusion Range to the east. We conclude that the NSRFTS and overlying structures accommodated ≥10 km of horizontal shortening, resulting in ≥7 km of structural burial of the deepest structural levels in the NSR footwall, thus explaining the localized kyanite‐grade metamorphism and elevated thermobarometric P‐T estimates. This burial was apparently quite localized as evidenced by decreasing metamorphism to the north and south. The highest magnitude of subsequent extensional exhumation of the NSR footwall appears to coincides with the area of deepest burial, suggesting that Mesozoic crustal thickening influenced both the magnitudes and geometry of subsequent Cenozoic extensional exhumation.

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Geologic Map of Windy Peak 7.5' quadrangle, White Pine County, Nevada

Abstract: We also thank all of the undergraduate students and graduate student teaching assistants who energetically and enthusiastically contributed to the making of the preliminary geologic maps of the region over the years.

Cited by 7 publications

References 3 publications

Oligo‐Miocene extensional tectonics and fluid flow across the Northern Snake Range detachment system, Nevada

Oligo‐Miocene extensional tectonics and fluid flow across the Northern Snake Range detachment system, Nevada

Comparative anatomy of core-complex development in the northeastern Great Basin, U.S.A.

Late Cretaceous Crustal Shortening in the Northern Snake Range Metamorphic Core Complex: Constraints on the Structural Geometry and Magnitude of Pre‐Extensional Footwall Burial

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