COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Cretaceous-Age Crustal Discontinuity in the Black Rock Desert Region of Northwest Nevada: Kinematic Link Between the Mojave-Snow Lake Fault...

最近在北美西缘的研究表明，早白垩世沿中部地区存在大规模的右旋走滑断裂内华达山脉，这个断层系统被认为沿着边缘延伸得更远。然而，目前的年龄限制和与北方的几何关系不允许对此进行测试。先前在内华达州西北部/俄勒冈州南部的黑岩沙漠地区的工作已经发现了大位移断层的证据，这可能是莫哈韦-雪湖断层向北延伸的候选区域。它似乎与北部的大但有问题的爱达荷缝合线特征对齐。这项研究是莱斯大学和佐治亚大学的合作研究成果，将通过对黑岩沙漠早白垩纪变形的分布、运动学和时间演化的综合研究来寻求这种潜在的相关性。研究结果将对北美洲西缘中生代历史的构造重建具有重要意义。

9814308 Wright Recent research along the western margin of North America has demonstrated large-scale dextral strike-slip faulting in the early Cretaceous along the central Sierra Nevada, and this fault system has been postulated to extend much further along the margin. However, present age constraints and geometric relationships to the north do not allow this to be tested. Prior work in the Black Rock Desert region of Northwest Nevada/southern Oregon has discovered evidence for large-displacement faulting that is a likely candidate for the northward continuation of the Mojave-Snow Lake fault. It appears to be aligned with the large but problematic Idaho Suture feature to the north. This research is a collaborative effort between research at Rice University and the University of Georgia, and will pursue this potential correlation by an integrated study of the distribution, kinematics and temporal evolution of early Cretaceous deformation in the Black Rock Desert. Results will be critical to tectonic reconstruction of the Mesozoic history of the western margin of North America.