http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Basin and Range Province From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search Coordinates : 33°N 112°W / 33°N 112°W / 33; -112 Basin and Range Province physiographic region The *Basin and Range physiographic province * (22) is bordered by the Pacific Mountain (23, west), Columbia Plateau (20, north), Colorado Plateau (21, east), Great Plains (13, southeast), and Pacific Border province (24, southwest); as well as physigraphic regions in Mexico. Countries United States , Mexico Location western United States - coordinates 33°N 112°W / 33°N 112°W / 33; -112 Area 170,000 sq mi (440,298 km^2 ) Biome North American Desert ecoregion The area of Basin and Range topography extends outside of the *Basin and Range province* The *Basin and Range province* is a large United States physiographic region of basin and range topography in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico . The province spans several desert and arid regions, as well as numerous ecoregions. Contents [hide ] * 1 Geography * 2 Geology o 2.1 Mineral resources * 3 Volcanism o 3.1 Notes, links and abbreviations * 4 Gallery * 5 Notes * 6 References [edit ] Geography The province extends east from the Sierra Nevada all the way to the Colorado Plateau and extends south over northern parts of the Baja California Peninsula . This covers parts of the U.S. states of Arizona , California , Idaho , New Mexico , Texas , Oregon , and Utah and virtually all of Nevada (a small northern portion of Elko County, Nevada drains to the Snake River ). Basin and Range topography also dominates large parts of the Mexican states of Sonora , Chihuahua , and Baja California . North-to-south, the province includes the Great Basin section (22a, including part of the Mojave Desert ), the Sonoran Desert (22b) & Salton Trough (22c) sections, the Mexican Highland section (22d), and Sacramento section (22e). [edit ] Geology The topography of the Basin and Range is a result of crustal extension within this part of the North American Plate . The cause of this extension is as yet not fully understood, although several hypotheses have been offered. The crust here has been stretched up to 100% of its original width,^[1] In fact, the crust underneath the Basin and Range, especially under the Great Basin , is some of the thinnest in the world. Along the roughly north-south-trending faults mountains were uplifted and valleys down-dropped, producing the distinctive alternating pattern of linear mountain ranges and valleys of the Basin and Range province.^[2] ^[3] e.g., the area between Reno, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah expanded via plate tectonics^[4] over 80 million years.^[5] [edit ] Mineral resources In addition to small amounts of Nevada petroleum , the Basin and Range province supplies nearly all the copper and most of the gold , silver , and barite mined in the United States .^[/citation needed /] See also: Copper mining in Arizona , Gold mining in Nevada , Silver mining in Arizona , and Silver mining in Nevada [edit ] Volcanism Main article: Large volume volcanic eruptions in the Basin and Range Province See also: Geologic timeline of Western North America and Yellowstone hotspot Prior to the Eocene Epoch (55.8 ±0.2 to 33.9 ±0.1 Ma) the convergence rate of the Farallon and North American Plates was fast and the angle of subduction was shallow. During the Eocene the Farallon Plate subduction -associated compressive forces of the Laramide orogeny ended, plate interactions changed from orthogonal compression to oblique strike-slip , and volcanism in the Basin and Range Province flared up. It is suggested that this plate continued to be underthrust until about 19 Ma, at which time it was completely consumed and volcanic activity ceased, in part. Olivine basalt from the oceanic ridge erupted around 17 Ma and extension began.^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] Volcanism on western USA, Yellowstone hotspot volcanic fields are not labeled Columbia River Steens Newberry Jordan Craters McDermitt S OH BJ Twin Falls Picabo Heise Yellowstone NWNV SC Twin Peaks Idaho City ID Gibbonsville ID Long Valley Minarets Medicine Lake Lassen Peak Yamsay Mountain Yucca Mountain Réveille Range Lunar Crater White Rock Marysvale Uinkaret San Francisco Chiricahua Springerville Ouray CO Gunnison CO Breckenridge CO Boulder CO La Garita Thirtynine Mile Davis Mountains Potrillo Socorro Organ Bursum Emory Raton-Clayton Mesa de Maya Ocate San Carlos Valles Mount Taylor Zuni Red Hill Pinacate Peaks Sentinel Plain Isla Guadalupe Volcanism on Western United States [edit ] Notes, links and abbreviations * Columbia River Basalt Province :^[10] o Columbia River flood basalts, eruptive loci o Steens Mountain flood basalts, eruptive loci * Trans-Challis fault system between Idaho City and Gibbonsville . Twin Peaks and Van Horn Caldera in-between. * Yellowstone hotspot o Owyhee-Humboldt volcanic field (OH) o Bruneau-Jarbidge volcanic field (BJ) o Northwest Nevada volcanic field (NWNV), it is proposed that it is part of the Yellowstone hotspot trail.^[11] ^[12] * Santa Rosa-Calico volcanic field (SC).^[10] * Great Basin volcanism: o Southwestern Nevada volcanic field (SWNVF) o Réveille Range and Lunar Crater volcanic field o Indian Peak volcanic field (Indian Peak Caldera, White Rock Caldera, Caliente Caldera), NV /UT o Marysvale volcanic field , UT * Colorado Mineral Belt : Ouray , Gunnison , Breckenridge , Boulder . * San Juan volcanic field : La Garita Caldera . * Central Colorado volcanic field : Thirtynine Mile volcanic area . * Mogollon-Datil volcanic field : Bursum, Emory, Organ (Las Cruces , Doña Ana Mountains , Organ Mountains ), and Socorro calderas. * The Jemez volcanic lineament (Raton hotspot ): San Carlos volcanic field , Springerville volcanic field , Red Hill volcanic field ,^[13] Zuni-Bandera volcanic field , Mount Taylor volcanic field , Jemez volcanic field and maybe (Ocate volcanic field , Raton-Clayton volcanic field , and Mesa de Maya). * Trans-Pecos volcanic field : Big Bend National Park , Davis Mountains . [edit ] Gallery This section *looks like an image gallery*. Wikipedia policy discourages galleries of random images of the article subject; please improve or remove the section accordingly, moving freely licensed images to Wikimedia Commons if not already hosted there. Kingston Range in the Mojave Desert , California The basin and ranges of central Nevada are seen in this photo, along with Walker Lake, Nevada, Mono Lake, California, and the Sierra Nevada in the upper right of photograph Basin and Range scenery in Nevada Typical road across central Nevada stretching from one range, across the basin, to another range [edit ] Notes Question book-new.svg This section *needs additional citations for verification .* Please help improve this article by adding reliable references . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . /(December 2007)/ 1. *^ * "Geologic Provinces of the United States: Basin and Range Province" . USGS. http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/basinrange.html. Retrieved 9 November 2009. 2. *^ * Faulds, J.E., and Varga, R.J. (1998), "The role of accommodation zones and transfer zones in the regional segmentation of extended terranes", in Fauds, J. E., and Stewart, J. H., /Accomodation Zones and Transfer Zones: The Regional Segmentation of the Basin and Range Province/, *Special Paper 323*, Geological Society of America, pp. 1–45 3. *^ * "Digital Geology of Idaho, Basin and Range Province - Tertiary Extension" . Idaho State University. http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module9/mod9.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-30. 4. *^ * Stanley, Steven M (1999). "Earth System History" (Google Books). W.H. Freeman and Company. pp. 537,540-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=jd01mugCR7EC&pg=PA495. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 5. *^ * McPhee, John (1990). "Basin and Range" . Noonday Press. http://www.johnmcphee.com/basinrange.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-06. 6. *^ * McKee, E. H. (1971). "Tertiary Igneous Chronology of the Great Basin of Western United States–Implications for Tectonic Models" . /Geological Society of America Bulletin/ *82* (12): 3497–3502. http://bulletin.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/82/12/3497. Retrieved 09-04-2010. 7. *^ * "Northwest Origins, An Introduction to the Geologic History of Washington State, Catherine L. Townsend and John T. Figge" . The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington. http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/geo_history_wa/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 8. *^ * "Oregon: A Geologic History" . Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries. http://www.oregongeology.com/sub/publications/ims/ims-028/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-26. 9. *^ * "Digital Geology of Idaho, Laura DeGrey and Paul Link" . Idaho State University. http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module1/mod1.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-10. 10. ^ ^/*a*/ ^/*b*/ Figure from Matthew E. Brueseke and William K. Hart (2008). /Geology and Petrology of the Mid-Miocene Santa Rosa-Calico Volcanic Field, northern Nevada/ . Reno, Nevada: Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering College of Science, University of Nevada. http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/b113/Text.pdf. Retrieved 2010-05-04. 11. *^ * Matthew A. Coble, and Gail A. Mahood (2008). /New geologic evidence for additional 16.5-15.5 Ma silicic calderas in northwest Nevada related to initial impingement of the Yellowstone hot spot/. Collapse Calderas Workshop, IOP Conf. Series. doi :10.1088/1755-1307/3/1/012002 . 12. *^ * Brueseke, M.E.; Hart, W.K., and M.T. Heizler (2008). "Chemical and physical diversity of mid-Miocene silicic volcanism in northern Nevada" . /Bulletin of Volcanology/ *70*: 343–360. doi :10.1007/s00445-007-0142-5 . http://www.springerlink.com/content/v7736k18t2257135/. 13. *^ * Wood, Charles A.; Jűrgen Kienle (1993). /Volcanoes of North America/. Cambridge University Press . pp. 284–286. ISBN 0-512-43811-X .