Strike-Slip Control of Basin-Range Structure Indicated by Historical Faults in Western Nevada

Research Article| December 01, 1965 Strike-Slip Control of Basin-Range Structure Indicated by Historical Faults in Western Nevada DANIEL R SHAWE DANIEL R SHAWE U. S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information DANIEL R SHAWE U. S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225 Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 31 Aug 1964 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1965, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1965) 76 (12): 1361–1377. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1965)76[1361:SCOBSI]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 31 Aug 1964 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation DANIEL R SHAWE; Strike-Slip Control of Basin-Range Structure Indicated by Historical Faults in Western Nevada. GSA Bulletin 1965;; 76 (12): 1361–1377. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1965)76[1361:SCOBSI]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Pattern and movement of historical surface faults in western Nevada—typical Basin-Range structures—suggest a control related to strike-slip faulting. Surface faults associated with seven major earthquakes in the past 60 years form a coherent arcuate linear zone (the "Churchill arc"), which appears to have resulted from a specific deformation acting at a single instant in geologic time. The Churchill arc transgresses several mountain ranges, demonstrating that Basin-Range fault-block mountains have not grown independently of one another. A progressive change from dip-slip normal faulting at the north end of the arc to dominantly right-lateral strike-slip faulting at the south end suggests a relationship to the Walker Lane at the south end. The Walker Lane is a major northwest-trending structural zone along which significant right-lateral strike-slip movement has occurred.A surface fault that formed during one other historical earthquake in this part of western Nevada, in the Excelsior Mountains, is oriented northeasterly and is characterized by left-lateral strike-slip movement.A possible relationship between block faulting and strike-slip faulting is supported by other evidence besides the historical faults. Experimental evidence of near-surface faulting related to underlying strike-slip faulting, as well as the common association of horst-and-graben structures with large-scale strike-slip faults in several places around the world, implies a genetic relationship between the two different types of structures. Moreover, geologic evidence shows an association between the two contrasting structures in several other parts of the Basin-Range province.A broad system of conjugate northwesterly and northeasterly strike-slip structures parallel to the San Andreas-Garlock system in California may be present in a large part of the western United States: if so, Basin-Range mountains in general may have formed near zones of horizontal deformation. These transverse lineaments may represent a fundamental structural framework in and near the Basin-Range province.The general northerly orientation of Basin-Range mountains may be in part related to a structural "grain" established prior to the development of the block-faulted mountains. Pre-Cenozoic structures within and along the western boundary of the Basin-Range province are dominated by nearly north-trending foliations and fold axes that are commonly almost parallel to the present ranges. A few structures older than the Basin ranges are transverse fault zones that trend northwest and northeast; these structures may be ancestral to those of the present regional conjugate strike-slip system here proposed.Most of the faults in the Churchill arc probably formed above a branch fault of the Walker Lane having right-lateral strike-slip movement. Possibly faults at the north end of the arc resulted merely from north-northeasterly propagation of an inter-montane graben along pre-existing structures. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.