Introduction: Origin and Evolution of the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane
Origin and Evolution of the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane themed issue Introduction: Origin and Evolution of the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane Keith D. Putirka1,* and Cathy J. Busby2,* 1California State University, Fresno, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2345 E. San Ramon Ave., MS/MH24, Fresno, California 93720, USA 2Department of Earth Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA BACKGROUND AND HISTORY Figure 1. A map showing an outline of the Sierra Nevada This Geosphere themed issue is an outgrowth and approximate boundaries of of our Penrose Conference: Origin and Uplift the Walker Lane belt. The out- of the Sierra Nevada, California, which was line of the Walker Lane (and held in Bridgeport, California, August 16–20, its southern extension into the 2010. The theme is here expanded to include Eastern California Shear Zone) the Walker Lane (Fig. 1), since a large number is modifi ed from Faulds et al. of our Penrose abstracts were oriented to that (2005) and Oldow and Cashman topic, and because that region is no less a part (2009); we draw the western Sierra of the Sierran story than the high peaks them- boundary to coincide with the Walker selves. A fundamental question for the confer- Sierra Nevada range front; the N evada Lane ence and themed issue is “How did the Sierra Walker Lane belt is then drawn Nevada form?” The question can mean many to include the region of the things to disparate disciplines. One might refer Basin and Range province where & to the age and origin of the rocks that form the basins and ranges trend more Sierra Nevada batholith, or instead to the time N–S, rather than NE–SW.
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