Synconvergent surface-breaking normal faults of Late Cretaceous age within the Sevier hinterland, east-central Nevada

Abstract

The hinterland of the Sevier orogenic belt of western North America is widely interpreted as a Cretaceous to Paleogene orogenic plateau. Although evidence for mid-crustal extension of Late Cretaceous age within the Sevier hinterland is widespread, coeval surface-breaking normal fault systems have not been documented. New 1:12,000-scale mapping within the type section of the latest Cretaceous to Eocene Sheep Pass Formation of east-central Nevada suggests that deposition occurred in response to normal fault movement recording up to 4 km of Late Cretaceous and Paleogene stratigraphic throw. Intrabasinal normal faulting caused lateral thickness variations within the basal Sheep Pass Formation, although upper members are largely unaffected. An extensional basin setting best explains the fanning of bedding dips, the deposition of megabreccia, and the presence of syndepositional normal faults within the Sheep Pass Formation. Deposition of the basal member of the Sheep Pass Formation is bracketed between ca. 81.3 ± 3.7 Ma and 66.1 ± 5.4 Ma, based on the (U-Th)/He cooling ages of detrital zircons, and on a U-Pb carbonate age derived from the overlying lacustrine limestone member. These new data provide the strongest evidence to date for the existence of Late Cretaceous, surface-breaking normal faults in the Sevier hinterland. Normal faulting was coeval with mid-crustal hinterland extension and with continued contraction within the Sevier foreland to the east.