Can footwall unloading explain late Cenozoic uplift of the Sierra Nevada crest?

International Geology Review

Volumn 51, Issue 9-11, 2009, Pages 986-993

  Thompson, George A ^a   Parsons, Tom ^b  

^a STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b U S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY   (United States)

Author keywords

Nevadaplano; Rift shoulders; Sierra Nevada

Indexed keywords

CENOZOIC; DISPLACEMENT; FAULTING; FINITE ELEMENT METHOD; FOOTWALL; HANGING WALL; ISOSTASY; NORMAL FAULT; RIFT ZONE; UPLIFT;

BASIN AND RANGE PROVINCE; CALIFORNIA; SIERRA NEVADA [CALIFORNIA]; UNITED STATES;

EID: 76449092372     PISSN: 00206814     EISSN: 19382839     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00206810903059156     Document Type: Article

References (20)

1. Birch, F., 1966, Compressibility; elastic constants: Geological Society of America Memoir, v. 97, p. 97-173.
2. Brothers, D.S., Kent, G.M., Driscoll, N.W., Smith, S.B., Karlin, R., Dingler, J.A., Harding, A.J., Seitz, G.G., and Babcock, J.M., 2009, New constraints on deformation, slip rate, and timing of the most recent earthquake on the West Tahoe-Dollar Point Fault, Lake Tahoe Basin, California: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 99, p. 499-519, DOI: 10.1785/0120080135.
3. Byerlee, J.D., 1978, Friction of rocks: Pure and Applied Geophysics, v. 116, p. 615-626.
4. Cassel, E.J., Graham, S.A., and Chamberlain, C.P., 2009, Cenozoic tectonic and topographic evolution of the northern Sierra Nevada, California, through stable isotope paleoaltimetry in volcanic glass: Geology, v. 37, p. 547-550, DOI: 10.1130/G25572A.1.
5. Christensen, N.I., 1996, Poisson's ration and crustal seismology: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 101, p. 3139-3156.
6. Compton, R.R., 1966, Analyses of Pliocene-Pleistocene deformation and stresses in northern Santa Lucia Range, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 77, p. 1361-1379.
7. Crowley, B.E., Koch, P.L., and Davis, E.B., 2008, Stable isotope constraints on the elevation history of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 120, p. 588-598, DOI: 10.1130/B26254.1.
8. Dingler, J., Kent, G., Driscoll, N., Babcock, J., Harding, A., Seitz, G., Karlin, B., and Goldman, C., 2009, DOI: 10.1130/B26244.1 A high-resolution seismic CHIRP investigation of active normal faulting across the Lake Tahoe Basin, California-Nevada: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 121.
9. Heiskanen, W.A., and Vening Meinesz, F.A., 1958, Faulting and Graben development as a consequence of Uniaxial Stress Release in the Crust, 390-394, The Earth and its Gravity Field: New York: McGraw Hill, 470 pp.
10. Henry, C.D., 2009, Uplift of the Sierra Nevada, California: Geology, v. 37, p. 575-576, DOI: 10.1130/focus062009.1.
11. Holmes, A., 1944, Principles of Physical Geology: Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons.
12. Klemperer, S.L., Hauge, T.A., Hauser, E.C., Oliver, J.E., and Potter, C.J., 1986, The Moho in the northern Basin and Range, Nevada, along the COCORP 40 N seismic-reflection transect: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 97, p. 603-618.
13. Lerch, D.W., Klemperer, S.L., Egger, A.E., Colgan, J.P., and Miller, E.L., 2009, The northwestern margin of the Basin-and-Range Province, part 1: reflection profiling of the moderate-angle (,308) Surprise Valley Fault: Tectonophysics, DOI: 10.1016/j.tecto.2009.05.028.
14. Lindgren, W., 1911, The Tertiary gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, v. 73, p. 1-226.
15. Mulch, A., Graham, S.A., and Chamberlain, C.P., 2006, Hydrogen isotopes in Eocene River gravels and paleoelevation of the Sierra Nevada: Science, v. 313, p. 87-89.
16. Ramelli, A., Bell, J.W., dePolo, C.M., and Yount, J.C., 1999, Large-magnitude, late Holocene earthquakes on the Genoa Fault, west-central Nevada and eastern California: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 89, p. 1458-1472.
17. Thompson, G.A., and White, D.E., 1964, Regional geology of the Steamboat Springs area, Washoe County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, v. 458A, p. A1-A52.
18. Van Buer, N.J., Miller, E.L., and Dumitru, T.A., 2009, Early Tertiary paleogeologic map of the Northern Sierra Nevada batholith and the northwestern Basin and Range: Geology, v. 37, p. 371-374, DOI: 10.1130/G25448A.1.
19. Vening Meinesz, F., 1950, Les grabens africains, résultat de compression ou de tension dans la croûte terrestre?: Institut Royal Colonial Belge, Bulletin des Séances, v. 21, p. 539-552.
20. Wakabayshi, J., and Sawyer, T.L., 2001, Stream incision, tectonics, uplift, and evolution of topography of the Sierra Nevada, California: Journal of Geology, v. 109, p. 539-562.