Abstract
Stratigraphic sections of Cambrian strata in southeastern Nevada are akin to thin, cratonic facies exposed in the Grand Canyon; their structural setting is much more complicated, however, from Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonism. Paleomagnetic samples from two sections through these strata appear to have been completely remagnetized. Coarse‐grained, lightcolored sandstone from the Tapeats Sandstone yields scattered magnetizations, residing in hematite, that appear to reflect protracted diagenetic acquisition of remanence. A hematitic sandstone in the Bright Angel Shale yields relatively consistent ‘Paleozoic’ directions of magnetization, but petrographic study shows that the hematite results from diagenetic oxidation, and stratigraphic arguments suggest that the oxidation was not penecontemporaneous. Gray limestones of the Jangle and Muav Limestones yield a magnetization, residing in magnetite, that may reflect late Tertiary remagnetization, being imposed during uplift related to the onset of Basin and Range deformation. In any case, this magnetization differs greatly in direction from a hematite magnetization reported from slightly younger Muav Limestone in the Grand Canyon. Both the sampling sites also appear to have been tectonically rotated, but whether this rotation is true or a geometric artifact of the tilt correction cannot be determined from the present data. These results suggest that paleomagnetic data from rocks as old as Cambrian must be scrutinized very carefully before their magnetizations can be accepted as penecontemporaneous, and such scrutiny must include geologic data.
Published Version
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