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Late Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution of Northeastern Nevada: Evidence from the Sedimentary Basins

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Late Cenozoic Paleogeographic Evolution of Northeastern Nevada: Evidence from the Sedimentary Basins Late Cenozoic paleogeographic evolution of northeastern Nevada: Evidence from the sedimentary basins Alan R. Wallace* U.S. Geological Survey, MS 176, Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA Michael E. Perkins* Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA Robert J. Fleck* U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefi eld Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA ABSTRACT lier faults are more pronounced east of the hot-spring deposits formed at and near the Tuscarora Mountains, possibly refl ecting a paleosurface in the Chimney, Ivanhoe, and Field and geochronologic studies of Neo- hanging-wall infl uence related to uplift of the Carlin basins as those basins were forming. gene sedimentary basins in northeastern Ruby Mountains-East Humboldt core com- The Neogene geologic and landscape evolu- Nevada document the paleogeographic and plex on the east side of the Elko basin. The tion had variable effects on all of these depos- geologic evolution of this region and the later faults are concentrated along the north- its, including uplift, weathering, supergene effects on major mineral deposits. The broad northwest–trending northern Nevada rift enrichment, erosion, and burial, depending area that includes the four middle Miocene west of the Tuscarora Mountains. The area on the events at any particular deposit. As basins studied—Chimney, Ivanhoe, Car- west of the rift contains major tilted horsts such, this study documents the importance of lin, and Elko, from west to east—was an and alluvium-fi lled grabens, and differential evaluating post-mineralization processes at upland that underwent prolonged middle extension between this more highly extended both regional and local scales when exploring Tertiary exposure and moderate erosion. region and the less extended area to the east for or evaluating the diverse mineral deposits All four basins began to retain sediments produced the intervening east-northeast– in this area and other parts of the Basin and at ca. 16 Ma. Eruption of volcanic fl ows in striking faults. Range region. the Chimney and Ivanhoe basins produced The Humboldt River drainage system short-lived (ca. 2 Ma), lacustrine-dominated formed as the four basins became integrated Keywords: sedimentary basins, tectonics, geo- basins before the dams failed and the streams after ca. 9.8 Ma. Flow was into northwestern morphology, Nevada, Miocene, Pliocene, gold, drained to the southwest. In contrast, early, Nevada, the site of active normal faulting and Humboldt River. high-angle, normal faulting induced fl uvial graben formation. This faulting lowered the to lacustrine sedimentation in the Carlin base level of the river and induced substantial INTRODUCTION and Elko basins, and volcanic fl ows further erosion in upstream regions. Erosion pref- blocked drainage in the Carlin basin until erentially removed the poorly consolidated Any physiographic map of northern Nevada the basin drained at ca. 14.5 Ma. The Elko Miocene sediments, progressively reexposed clearly shows numerous elongate mountain basin, with continued synsedimentary fault- the pre-middle Miocene highlands, and trans- ranges separated by sedimentary basins, per- ing, retained sediments until ca. 9.8 Ma and ported the sediments to downstream basins. fect examples of the Basin and Range physio- then drained west into the Carlin basin. Sedi- Thus, some ranges in the upstream region graphic province. Quaternary alluvium derived ment buildup in all basins progressively bur- are exhumed older highlands rather than from the ranges blankets many of the basins, ied existing highlands and created a subdued newly formed horsts. In addition, the drain- and Pliocene and Miocene sediments comprise landscape. age system evolution indicates that northern part of the underlying Tertiary sedimentary Relatively minor post-sedimentation exten- Nevada has become progressively lower than sequence (Stewart and Carlson, 1978; Effi moff sion produced early north-northwest–strik- central Nevada since the middle Miocene. and Pinezich, 1981; Gordon and Heller, 1993; ing normal faults with variable amounts Mineral belts with large Eocene gold Hess, 2004; Wallace, 2005). Historically, the for- of offset, and later east-northeast–striking deposits are exposed in uplands and con- mation of these basin-range pairs has been attrib- normal faults with up to several kilometers cealed beneath Neogene basin units in the uted to crustal extension and faulting that began of vertical and left-lateral offset. The ear- study area. Also, numerous epithermal in the middle Miocene and has continued to the *[email protected]; [email protected]; fl [email protected] Geosphere; February 2008; v. 4; no. 1; p. 36–74; doi: 10.1130/GES00114.1; 14 fi gures; 2 tables. 36 For permission to copy, contact [email protected] © 2008 Geological Society of America Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article-pdf/4/1/36/3342460/i1553-040X-4-1-36.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 Late Cenozoic paleogeography, northeastern Nevada present. Until recently, however, little work be relicts of early Tertiary uplands (Haynes, extends across north-central Nevada from the has focused on the actual ages of the horsts 2003; Wallace, 2005). In addition, some fault- Santa Rosa Range east to the western base of and grabens. ing events did not produce major uplift (Gordon the Ruby Mountains (Fig. 1). The primary goal Recent fi eld and thermochronologic studies and Heller, 1993; Wallace, 1993, 2005; Colgan of the study was to use the facies relations and have demonstrated that the ages of basin-range et al., 2008). ages of the sedimentary units to defi ne the evo- pairs in this area are diverse. The Ruby Moun- These relations indicate that the history of lution of the late Cenozoic paleogeography and tains (Fig. 1) experienced major uplift at ca. 15– “basin-range” tectonics is not straightforward. the relative effects of faulting, uplift, sedimen- 14 Ma (Colgan and Metcalf, 2006), other ranges To begin to understand the late Cenozoic his- tation, and erosion during long-term landscape did not begin to form until ca. 10 Ma (Wallace, tory of the area, this study has examined the evolution. While this paper does not attempt to 1991, 2005; Colgan et al., 2004, 2006), and Neogene geology, with a focus on the sedimen- explain the broader Basin and Range region, it some ranges, such as the Adobe Range, may tary basins, along a 200-km-long transect that does provide process-oriented information that may be applicable to the region, as a whole, and extensional terrains, in general. The study area includes world-class, Paleo- gene and older mineral deposits in the base- ment rocks and Miocene epithermal deposits in or adjacent to the Miocene basins (Fig. 1). Consequently, northern Nevada is the third-larg- est producer of gold in the world. An important goal of the study was to determine the effects of late Cenozoic landscape evolution on these mineral deposits, with implications for the for- mation and modifi cation of the deposits and deposit- to regional-scale mineral exploration and assessment. The study area includes four middle and late Miocene sedimentary basins. From west to east, they include what are referred to in this paper as the Chimney, Ivanhoe, Carlin, and Elko basins, which were actively receiving sediments between ca. 16.5 and 9.8 Ma (Figs. 1 and 2). All of the Miocene strata in each basin were examined on at least a reconnaissance basis, and appropriate samples of the sedimentary and coeval volcanic rocks were collected and dated to provide a time-stratigraphic framework. In addition, the Neogene sedimentary units in Pine and Independence Valleys (Fig. 1) were studied and dated on a reconnaissance basis. This paper describes the geology and histo- ries of the basins from the early Miocene to the present, including their paleogeographic setting, sedimentation, faulting, erosion, and any coeval volcanism. Later sections of the paper discuss the similarities and differences between the basins, leading to a synthesis of the late Ceno- zoic evolution of the study area as a whole, its Figure 1. Locations of the Miocene Elko, Carlin, Ivanhoe, Chimney, and adjacent sedimen- effect on mineral deposits, and implications for tary basins, shown with the light blue color, and major geographic features in northeastern the more regional paleogeographic evolution. Nevada. Areas with the “v” pattern are underlain by middle Miocene rhyolitic and basaltic Each major section begins with a short sum- volcanic rocks; JR—Jarbidge Rhyolite; NNR—northern Nevada rift; SR-C—Santa Rosa– mary of the details presented in the ensuing Calico volcanic fi eld. The dotted yellow lines indicate the major late Eocene gold-deposit descriptions. trends; BM-E—Battle Mountain–Eureka; C—Carlin; G—Getchell; J—Jerritt Canyon. In all of the basins, the two principal compo- The solid red circles are the locations of middle Miocene epithermal systems that were active nents of the sediments are air-fall ash and pum- at the same time as the sedimentary basins; other epithermal systems beyond the limits ice that were derived from distal to, less com- of this study area are not shown. Abbreviated geographic locations: B—Beowawe; EH— monly, local eruptions, and materials that were Elko Hills; LT—Lone Tree mine; MC—Mule Canyon; MM—Marys Mountain; P—Preble eroded from pre-Miocene bedrock exposures in mine; PH—Peko Hills; PV—Paradise Valley; R—Rain mine; TC—Twin Creeks mine. R- uplands that surrounded the basins. The bed- EH—Ruby Mountains–East Humboldt Range detachment and high-angle faults. Inset map rock-derived materials are generically referred shows the location of the study area (gray); W—Winnemucca; PF—Pine Forest Range. to as epiclastic sediments to highlight their more Geosphere, February 2008 37 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article-pdf/4/1/36/3342460/i1553-040X-4-1-36.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 Wallace et al.
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