Sedimentary record of Late Paleozoic tectonism in the Monitor Range, central Nevada: Implications for convergence along the western Laurentian margin

Abstract

A growing body of work from upper Paleozoic records along the western margin of Laurentia has shown that the margin was subjected to ongoing deformation from at least Late Devonian through early Permian (Cisuralian) time. However, the geographic extent of this deformation and its effect on basin subsidence along the western Laurentian margin remains poorly constrained. Here, we present geologic mapping, detailed sedimentologic analysis, detrital zircon U-Pb data, and fusulinid and conodont biostratigraphy from a section of virtually unstudied lower Permian to Permian-Triassic sedimentary rocks currently exposed in the Monitor Range of central Nevada. These data suggest (1) coarse-grained sedimentation adjacent to uplifted topography from earliest Permian through earliest Triassic time, (2) early-middle Permian sedimentation that started as deposition of proximal limestone boulders and cobbles and transitioned to a system dominated by far-traveled aeolian sand, and (3) that strata preserved in the Monitor Range record possible wedgetop sedimentation associated with the Permian-Triassic Sonoma Orogeny.