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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1987; v. 28; p. 223-246;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1987.028.01.16
© 1987 Geological Society of London

Extension in the Basin and Range Province and East Pacific Margin

Tectonic heredity and the layered lower crust in the Basin and Range Province, western United States

Richard W. Allmendinger & Jack Oliver

Institute for the Study of the Continents and Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

Thomas A. Hauge, Ernest C. Hauser & Christopher J. Potter

Institute for the study of the Continents, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

COCORP deep seismic reflection data were collected in a transect at 40°N latitude across the entire Basin and Range extensional province and its boundaries, the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Colorado Plateau. In general, the data display little of the province-wide symmetry of the modern Basin and Range, and instead can be more directly related to the pre-17 Ma asymmetric orogens of the western United States, particularly in the eastern part (112–115°W) of the region. No one model of intracontinental extension is applicable to the entire province: it may be that pre-existing structure of the continental crust predisposes it to a particular mode of extension unless thermally activated processes render the crust mechanically isotropic. Such processes (e.g. enhanced ductility, magmatism, etc.) may be responsible for the development of a highly layered lower crust and pronounced reflection Moho; features not commonly seen in reflection profiles from cratonic regions.





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