Distinguishing between rooted and rootless detachments: A case study from the Mormon Mountains of southeastern Nevada

Journal of Geology

Volumn 114, Issue 6, 2006, Pages 645-664

  Anders, Mark H ^a   Christie Blick, Nicholas ^a   Walker, Christopher D ^a  

^a Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BRITTLE DEFORMATION; CREEP; CRUSTAL DEFORMATION; DEFORMATION MECHANISM; DETACHMENT FAULT; DIP-SLIP FAULT; PALEOZOIC;

MORMON MOUNTAINS; NEVADA; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES;

EID: 33751018863     PISSN: 00221376     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1086/507612     Document Type: Article

References (104)

1. Abers, G. A. 1991. Possible seismogenic shallow-dipping normal faults in the Woodlark-D'Entrecasteaux extensional province, Papua New Guinea. Geology 19: 1205-1208.
2. Abers, G. A.; Mutter, C. Z.; and Fang, J. 1997. Shallow dips on normal faults during rapid extension: earthquakes in the Woodlark-D'Entrecasteaux rift system, Papua New Guinea. J. Geophys. Res. 102:15,301-15,317.
3. Aharonov, E., and Anders, M. H. 2006. Hot water: a possible solution to the Heart Mountain detachment problem? Geology 34:165-168.
4. Allmendinger, R. W.; Sharp, J. W.; Von Tish, D.; Serpa, L.; Brown, L.; Kaufman, S.; Oliver, J.; and Smith, R. B. 1983. Cenozoic and Mesozoic structure of the eastern Basin and Range Province, Utah, from COCORP seismic-reflection data. Geology 11:532-536.
5. Anders, M. H. 1990. Late Cenozoic evolution of Grand and Swan Valleys, Idaho. In Roberts, S., ed. Geologic field tours of western Wyoming and parts of adjacent Idaho, Montana and Utah. Geol. Surv. Wyo. Public Inf. Circ. 29:14-25.
6. Anders, M. H.; Aharonov, E.; and Walsh, J. J. 2000. Stratification of granular media at the base of large slide blocks. Geology 28:971-974.
7. Anders, M. H.; Christie-Blick, N.; Wills, S.; and Krueger, S. W. 2001. Rock deformation studies in the Mineral Mountains and Sevier Desert of west-central Utah: implications for upper crustal low-angle normal faulting. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 113:895-907.
8. Anders, M. H.; Walsh, J. J.; and Christie-Blick, N. 1998. Fluidization events in detachment zones: evidence for catastrophic emplacement of large slide blocks. Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. 30:3.
9. Anders, M. H., and Wiltschko, D. V. 1994. Microfracturing, paleostress and the growth of faults. J. Struct. Geol. 16:795-815.
10. Anderson, R. A. 1948. Reconnaissance survey of the geology and ore deposits of the south-western portion of the Lemhi Range, Idaho. Idaho Bur. Mines Geol. Pamph. 80, 18 p.
11. Anderson, R. E., and Barnhard, T. P. 1993. Heterogeneous Neogene strain and its bearing on horizontal extension and horizontal and vertical contraction at the margin of the extensional orogen, Mormon Mountains area, Nevada and Utah. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 2011: 43.
12. Armstrong, R. L. 1972. Low-angle (denudation) faults, hinterland of the Sevier orogenic belt, eastern Nevada and western Utah. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 83:1729-1754.
13. Axen, G. J. 1984. Thrusts in the eastern Spring Mountains, Nevada: geometry and mechanical implications. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 95:1202-1207.
14. Axen, G. J. 1993. Ramp-flat detachment faulting and low-angle normal reactivation of the Tule Springs thrust, southern Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 105:1076-1090.
15. Axen, G. J. 1999. Low-angle normal fault earthquakes and triggering. Geophys. Res. Lett. 26:3693-3696.
16. Axen, G. J. 2004. Mechanics of low-angle normal faults. In Karner, G. D.; Taylor, B.; Driscoll, N. W.; and Kohlstedt, D. L., eds. Rheology and deformation of the lithosphere at continental margins. New York, Columbia University Press, p. 46-91.
17. Axen, G. J., and Wernicke, B. P. 1989. Comment and reply on "On the role of isostasy in the evolution of normal fault systems." Geology 17:775-776.
18. Axen, G. J.; Wernicke, B. P.; Skelly, M. F.; and Taylor, W. J. 1990. Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonics of the Sevier thrust belt in the Virgin River Valley area, southern Nevada. In Wernicke, B. P., ed. Basin and range extension tectonics near the latitude of Las Vegas, Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 176:123-153.
19. Beutner, E. C. 1968. Structure and tectonics of the southern Lemhi Range Idaho. PhD dissertation, Pennsylvannia State University, College Station.
20. Beutner. E. C. 1972. Reverse gravitative movement on earlier overthrusts, Lemhi Range, Idaho. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 83:839-846.
21. Beutner, E. C., and Craven, A. E. 1996. Volcanic fluidization and the Heart Mountain detachment, Wyoming. Geology 24:595-598.
22. Beutner, E. C., and Gerbi, G. P. 2005. Catastrophic emplacement of the Heart Mountain block slide, Wyoming and Montana, U.S.A. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 117: 724-735.
23. Bohannon, R. G.; Grow, J. A.; Miller, J. J.; and Blank, R. H., Jr. 1993. Seismic stratigraphy and tectonic development of Virgin River depression and associated basins, southeastern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 105:501-520.
24. Boyer, S. R., and Allison, M. L. 1987. Estimates of extension in the Basin and Range Province. Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. Program 19:597.
25. Boyer, S. E., and Hossack, J. R. 1992. Structural features and emplacement of surficial gravity-slide sheets, northern Idaho-Wyoming thrust belt. In Link, P. K.; Kuntz, M. A.; and Platt, L. B., eds. Regional geology of eastern Idaho and western Wyoming. Geol. Soc. Am. Mem. 179:197-213.
26. Brock, W. G., and Engelder, T. 1977. Deformation associated with the movement of the Muddy Mountain overthrust in the Buffington window, southeastern Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 88:1667-1677.
27. Campbell, C. S.; Cleary, P. W.; and Hopkins, M. 1995. Large-scale landslide simulations: global deformation velocities and basal friction. J. Geophys. Res. 100: 8267-8283.
28. Carpenter, J. A., and Carpenter, D. G. 1994. Analysis of basin-range and fold-thrust structure, and reinterpretation of the Mormon Peak detachment and similar features as gravity slide systems; southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwest Arizona. In Dobbs, S. W., and Taylor, W. J., eds. Structural and stratigraphic investigations and petroleum potential of Nevada, with special emphasis south of the Railroad Valley producing trend. Nev. Pet. Soc. Conf. Vol. 2, p. 15-52.
29. Carpenter, D. G.; Carpenter, J. A.; Bradley, M. D.; Franz, U. A.; and Reber, S. J. 1989. Comment and reply on "On the role of isostasy in the evolution of normal fault systems." Geology 17:774-775.
30. Chester, F. M.; Evans, J. P.; and Biegel, R. L. 1993. Internal structure and weakening mechanisms of the San Andreas fault. J. Geophys. Res. 98:771-786.
31. Chester, F. M., and Logan, J. M. 1986. Implications for mechanical properties of brittle faults from observations of the Punchbowl fault zone. Pure Appl. Geophys. 124:79-106.
32. Collettini, C., and Sibson, R. H. 2001. Normal faults, normal friction? Geology 29:927-930.
33. Cook, E. F. 1960. Breccia blocks (Mississippian) of the Welcome Spring area, southwest Utah. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 71:1709-1712.
34. Cowan, D. S. 1999. Do faults preserve a record of seismic slip? a field geologist's opinion. J. Struct. Geol. 21:995-1001.
35. Cowan, D. S.; Cladouhos, T. T.; and Morgan, J. K. 2003. Structural geology and kinematic history of rocks formed along low-angle normal faults, Death Valley, California. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 115:1230-1248.
36. Davis, G. A., and Friedmann, S. J. 2005. Large-scale gravity sliding in the Miocene Shadow Valley supra-detachment basin, eastern Mojave Desert, California. Earth-Sci. Rev. 73:149-176.
37. Day, S. J.; Carracedo, J. C.; and Guillou, H. 1997. Age and geometry of an aborted rift flank collapse: the San Andres fault system, El Hierro, Canary Islands. Geol. Mag. 134:523-537.
38. Diehl, S. F. 2000. Channeled fluid flow and massive dissolution along low-angle normal faults, eastern Basin and Range. PhD dissertation, Colorado School of Mines, Golden.
39. Ellis, B. J. 1985. Thin-skinned extension superposed on frontal Sevier thrust faults, Mormon Mountains, southern Nevada. MS thesis, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
40. Engelder, T. 1974. Cataclasis and the generation of fault gouge. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 85:1515-1522.
41. Friedmann, S. J. 1997. Rock-avalanche elements of the Shadow Valley basin, eastern Mojave Desert, California: processes and problems. J. Sediment. Res. 67:792-804.
42. Hauge, T. A., 1993. The Heart Mountain detachment, northwestern Wyoming: 100 years of controversy. In Snoke, A. W.; Steidtmann, J. R.; and Roberts, S. M., eds. Geology of Wyoming. Geol. Surv. Wyo. Mem. 5: 530-571.
43. Hintze, L. F. 1986. Stratigraphy and structure of the Beaver Dam Mountains, southwestern Utah. In Griffin, D. T., and Phillips, W. R., eds. Thrusting and extensional structures and mineralization in the Beaver Dam Mountains, southwestern Utah. Utah Geol. Assoc. Publ. 15:1-36.
44. House, W. M., and Gray, D. R. 1982. Cataclasites along the Saltville thrust, USA, and their implications for thrust-sheet emplacement. J. Struct. Geol. 4:257-269.
45. Jackson, J. A., and White, N. J. 1989. Normal faulting in the upper continental crust: observations from regions of active extension. J. Struct. Geol. 11:15-36.
46. Jackson, M. P. A.; Roberts, D. G.; and Snelson, S. 1995. Salt tectonics: a global perspective. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Mem. 65, 454 p.
47. James, N. P., and Choquette, P. W., eds. 1988. Paleokarst. New York, Springer, 416 p.
48. Johnson, B. 1978. Blackhawk landslide, California, U.S.A. In Voight, B., ed. Rockslides and avalanches (vol. 1): natural phenomena. New York, Elsevier, Dev. Geotech. Eng. 14A:481-504.
49. Jones, R. W. 1963. Gravity structures in the Beaver Dam Mountains, southwest Utah. Intermount. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Guidebook 12:90-95.
50. Karson, J. A.; Brooks, C. K.; Storey, M.; and Pringle, M. S. 1998. Tertiary faulting and pseudotachylytes in the East Greenland volcanic rifted margin: seismogenic faulting during magmatic construction. Geology 26: 39-42.
51. Krieger, M. H. 1977. Large landslides, composed of megabreccia, interbedded in Miocene basin deposits, southeastern Arizona. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 1008, 25. p.
52. Lister, G. S., and Davis, G. A. 1989. The origin of metamorphic core complexes and detachment faults formed during Tertiary continental extension in the northern Colorado River region, U.S.A. J. Struct. Geol. 11:65-94.
53. Losh, S. 1997. Stable isotope and modeling studies of fluid-rock interaction associated with the Snake Range and Mormon Peak detachment faults, Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 109:300-323.
54. Magloughlin, J. F. 1992. Microstructural and chemical changes associated with cataclasis and frictional melting at shallow crustal levels: the cataclasite pseudotachylyte connection. Tectonophysics 204:243-260.
55. Magloughlin, J. F., and Spray, J. G. 1992. Frictional melting processes and products in geological material: introduction and discussion. Tectonophysics 204:197-206.
56. Malone, D. H.; Hauge, T. A.; and Beutner, E. C. 1999. Field guide for the Heart Mountain detachment and associated structures, northeast Absaroka Range, Wyoming. In Lageson, D. R.; Lester, A. P.; and Trudgill, B. D., eds. Colorado and adjacent areas. Geol. Soc. Am. Field Guide 1:177-201.
57. Masch, L.; Wenk, H. R.; and Preuss, E. 1985. Electron microscopy study of hyalomylonites: evidence for frictional melting in landslides. Tectonophysics 115:131-160.
58. Miller, M. G. 1999. Gravitational reactivation of an extensional fault system, Badwater Turtleback, Death Valley, California. In Wright, L. A., and Troxel, B. W., eds. Cenozoic basins of the Death Valley region. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap. 333:367-376.
59. Moore, D. W.; Oriel, S. S.; and Mabey, D. R. 1987. A Neogene (?) gravity-slide block and associated slide phenomena in Swan Valley graben, Wyoming and Idaho. In Beus, S. S., ed. Centennial Field Guide (vol. 2): Rocky Mountain section. Boulder, CO, Geol. Soc. Am., p. 113-116.
60. Moores, E. M. 1968. Mio-Pliocene sediments, gravity slides, and their tectonic significance, east-central Nevada. J. Geol. 76:88-98.
61. Moores, E. M.; Scott, R. B.; and Lumsden, W. W. 1968. Tertiary tectonics of the White Pine-Grant Range region, east-central Nevada, and some regional implications. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 79:1703-1726.
62. Morris, T. H., and Hebertson, G. F. 1996. Large-rock avalanche deposits, eastern Basin and Range, Utah: emplacement, diagenesis, and economic potential. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Bull. 80:1135-1149.
63. Newman, J., and Mitra, G. 1994. Fluid-influenced deformation and recrystallization of dolomite at low temperatures along a natural fault zone, Mountain City window, Tennessee. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 106:1267-1280.
64. Olmore, S. D. 1971. Style and evolution of thrusts in the region of the Mormon Mountains, Nevada. PhD dissertation, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
65. Peterson, G. L. 1968. Flow structures in sandstone dikes. J. Sediment. Geol. 2:177-190.
66. Philip, H., and Ritz, J.-F. 1999. Gigantic paleolandslide associated with active faulting along the Bogd fault (Gobi-Altay, Mongolia). Geology 27:211-214.
67. Pierce, W. G. 1957. Heart Mountain and South Fork detachment thrusts of Wyoming. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Bull. 41:591-626.
68. Pierce, W. G. 1979. Clastic dikes of Heart Mountain fault breccia, northwest Wyoming, and their significance. U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap. 1133:1-25.
69. Pierce, W. G. 1980. The Heart Mountain break-away fault, northwestern Wyoming. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 91:272-281.
70. Pouliquen, O., and Vallance, J. W. 1999. Segregation induced instabilities of granular fronts. Chaos 9:621-630.
71. Reber, S. J. 1952. Stratigraphy and structure of the Beaver Dam Mountains. Intermt. Assoc. Pet. Geol. Guidebook 7:101-108.
72. Rietbrock, A.; Tiberi, C.; Scherbaum, F.; and Lyon-Caen, H. 1996. Seismic slip on a low angle normal fault in the Gulf of Corinth: evidence from high-resolution cluster analysis of microearthquakes. Geophys. Res. Lett. 23:1817-1820.
73. Ross, C. P. 1961. Geology of the southern part of the Lemhi Range, Idaho. U.S. Geol. Surv. Bull. 1081-F: 189-260.
74. Schmitt, K. R. 1991. Sandstone intrusions in the Andean fold-thrust belt (51°-54° S): implications for the paleohydrogeologic evolution of the southernmost Andes. PhD dissertation, Columbia University, New York.
75. Scholz, C. H. 2002. The mechanics of earthquakes and faulting (2nd ed). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 471 p.
76. Scholz, C. H.; Dawers, N. H.; Yu, J.-J.; Anders, M. H.; and Cowie, P. A. 1993. Fault growth and scaling laws: preliminary results. J. Geophys. Res. 98:21,951-21,961.
77. Secor, D. T., Jr. 1963. Geology of the central Spring Mountains, Nevada. PhD dissertation, Stanford University, Stanford, CA.
78. Shaller, P. J. 1991. Analysis and implications of large Martian and terrestrial landslides. PhD dissertation, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
79. Sibson, R. H. 1975. Generation of pseudotachylyte by ancient seismic faulting. Geophys. J. R. Astro. Soc. 43: 775-794.
80. Sibson, R. H. 1985. A note on fault reactivation. J. Struct. Geol. 7:751-754.
81. Sibson, R. H.; Robert, F.; and Poulsen, K. H. 1988. High-angle reverse faults, fluid-pressure cycling, and mesothermal gold-quartz deposits. Geology 16:551-555.
82. Skelly, M. F. 1987. The geology of the Moapa Peak area, southern Mormon Mountains, Clark and Lincoln Counties, Nevada. MS thesis, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff.
83. Snoke, A. W.; Tullis, J.; and Todd, V. R. 1998. Fault-related rocks: a photographic atlas. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 617 p.
84. Streit, J. E. 1998. Multiple generations cataclasites. In Snoke, A. W.; Tullis, J.; and Todd, V. R., eds. Fault-related rocks: a photographic atlas. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, p. 54-55.
85. Tarasewicz, J. P. T.; Woodcock, N. H.; and Dickson, J. A. D. 2005. Carbonate dilation breccias: examples from the damage zone to the Dent Fault, northwest England. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 117:736-745.
86. Taylor, W. J. 1984. Superposition of thin-skinned normal faulting on Sevier orogenic belt thrusts, northern Mormon Mountains, Lincoln County, Nevada. MS thesis, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
87. Templeton, A. S.; Sweeney, J.; Manske, H.; Tilghman, J. F.; Calhoun, S. C.; Violich, A.; and Chamberlain, C. P. 1995. Fluids and the Heart Mountain fault revisited. Geology 23:929-932.
88. Tschanz, C. M., and Pampeyan, E. H. 1970. Geology and mineral deposits of Lincoln County, Nevada. Nev. Bur. Mines Bull. 73, 188 p.
89. Tuttle, O. F. 1949. Structural petrology of planes of liquid inclusions. J. Geol. 57:331-356.
90. Vallance, J. W., and Scott, K. M. 1997. The Osceola mud-flow from Mount Rainier: sedimentology and hazard implications of a huge clay-rich debris flow. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 109:143-163.
91. Vermilye, J. M., and Scholz, C. H. 1998. The process zone: a microstructural view of fault growth. J. Geophys. Res. 103:12,223-12,237.
92. Voight, B., and Pariseau, W. G. 1978. Rockslides and avalanches: an introduction. In Voight, B., ed. Rockslides and avalanches (vol. 1): natural phenomena. Elsevier, New York, Dev. Geotech. Eng. 14A:1-67.
93. Walker, C. D.; Anders, M. H.; Nagel, T.; and Christie-Blick, N. 2004. Using field evidence to distinguish between rooted and rootless detachment faults in the Mormon Mountains, southeastern Nevada. Geol. Soc. Am. Abstr. 36:548.
94. Wernicke, B. P. 1982. Processes of extensional tectonics. PhD dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
95. Wernicke, B. P. 1992. Cenozoic extensional tectonics of the U.S. Cordillera. In Burchfiel, B. C.; Lipman, P. W.; and Zoback, M. L., eds. The Cordilleran Orogen: conterminous United States (Geology of North America, Vol. G-3). Boulder, CO, Geol. Soc. Am., p. 553-581.
96. Wernicke, B. P. 1995. Low-angle normal faults and seismicity: a review. J. Geophys. Res. 100:20,159-20,174.
97. Wernicke, B. P., and Axen, G. J. 1988. On the role of isostasy in the evolution of normal fault systems. Geology 16:848-851.
98. Wernicke, B. P.; Axen, G. J., and Snow, J. K. 1988. Basin and Range extensional tectonics at the latitude of Las Vegas. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 100:1738-1757.
99. Wernicke, B. P.; Snow, J. K.; Axen, G. J.; Burchfiel, B. C.; Hodges, K. V.; Walker, J. D.; and Guth, P. L. 1989. Extensional tectonics in the Basin and Range Province between the southern Sierra Nevada and the Colorado Plateau. In Hanshaw, P. M., ed. Sedimentation and tectonics of western North America. 28th Int. Geol. Congr., Vol. 3, Field Trip T138:1-80.
100. Wernicke, B. P.; Walker, J. D.; and Beaufait, M. S. 1985. Structural discordance between Neogene detachments and frontal Sevier thrusts, central Mormon Mountains, southern Nevada. Tectonics 4:213-246.
101. Wills, S., and Anders, M. H. 1999. Tertiary normal faulting in the Canyon Range, eastern Sevier Desert. J. Geol. 107:659-682.
102. Wojtal, S., and Mitra, G. 1986. Strain-harding and strain softening in fault zones from foreland thrusts. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 97:674-687.
103. Yarnold, J. C. 1993. Rock-avalanche characteristics in dry climates and the effect of flow into lakes: insights from mid-Tertiary sedimentary breccias near Artillery Peak, Arizona. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 105:345-360.
104. Yarnold, J. C., and Lombard, J. P. 1989. A facies model for large rock-avalanche deposits formed in dry climates. In Colburn, I. P.; Abbott, P. L.; and Minch, J., eds. Conglomerates in basin analysis: a symposium dedicated to A. O. Woodford. Soc. Econ. Paleontol. Mineral. (Pac. Sec.) 62:9-31.