Collaborative Research: Late Cenozoic Evacuation of the Rocky Mountain Orogenic Plateau

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0106029 Heller0106223 DethierWidespread remnants of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in the central Rocky Mountains may indicate the former presence of a large post-Laramide basin fill that has subsequently been largely removed. If such a regional basin fill can be demonstrated, it would provide a regional marker for determining the extent and rate of sediment removal and provide a marker for vertical tectonic movement during the late Cenozoic. This project will combine mapping fission-track and cosmogenic nuclide geochronometry to attempt to determine the former extent and continuity of the post-Laramide basin fill, and to search for possible tectonic or geologic causes of the observed changes. Results will help clarify the competing effects of tectonic verses climatically driven uplift.