Mesozoic and Cenozoic structural geology of the CP Hills, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada; and regional implications

Abstract

Detailed mapping and structural analysis of upper Proterozoic and Paleozoic rocks in the CP Hills of the Nevada Test Site, together with analysis of published maps and cross sections and a reconnaissance of regional structural relations indicate that the CP thrust of Barnes and Poole (1968) actually comprises two separate, oppositely verging Mesozoic thrust systems: (1) the west-vergent CP thrust which is well exposed in the CP Hills and at Mine Mountain, and (2) the east-vergent Belted Range thrust located northwest of Yucca Flat. West-vergence of the CP thrust is indicated by large scale west-vergent recumbent folds in both its hangingwall and footwall and by the fact that the CP thrust ramps up section through hangingwall strata toward the northwest. Regional structural relations indicate that the CP thrust forms part of a narrow sigmoidal belt of west-vergent folding and thrusting traceable for over 180 km along strike. The Belted Range thrust represents earlier Mesozoic deformation that was probably related to the Last Chance thrust system in southeastern California, as suggested by earlier workers. A pre-Tertiary reconstruction of the Cordilleran fold and thrust belt in the region between the NTS and the Las Vegas Range bears a close resemblance to other regions of the Cordillera and has important implications for the development of hinterland-vergent deformation as well as for the probable magnitude of Tertiary extension north of Las Vegas Valley. Subsequent to Mesozoic deformation, the CP Hills were disrupted by at least two episodes of Tertiary extensional deformation: (1) an earlier episode represented by pre-middle Miocene low-angle normal faults, and (2) a later, post-11 Ma episode of high-angle normal faulting. Both episodes of extension were related to regional deformation, the latter of which has resulted in the present basin and range topography of the NTS region.