News Release

GSA special paper presents new studies of Western US earth motion

Book Announcement

Geological Society of America

Special Paper 447

image: This is the cover of "Late Cenozoic Structure and Evolution of the Great Basin–Sierra Nevada Transition," by John S. Oldow and Patricia H. Cashman (editors). view more 

Credit: Geological Society of America

Boulder, CO, USA – The Great Basin–Sierra Nevada transition zone has received substantial attention over the past decade, due in part to the recognition that nearly 25% of the relative motion between the Pacific and North American plates is accommodated along this tectonic boundary. This Geological Society of America Special Paper presents new research and results on the geology, geophysics, geodesy, and paleontology of areas within this tectonic boundary zone, which stretches from southern California to central Oregon.

This tectonic boundary, originally recognized by Augustus Locke and colleagues in 1940, evolved during the Late Cenozoic as relative plate motion was broadly distributed from the California borderland into the Mojave Desert and the Basin and Range Province.

Volume editors John Oldow of the University of Texas at Dallas and Patricia Cashman of the University of Nevada–Reno have assembled 16 chapters that reflect the broad scope of topical studies underway in this region. Constraints and insights into the zone's Neogene structure and evolution are documented and illustrated through a range of analytic strategies, including biostratigraphic, stratigraphic, and structural analysis of Tertiary basin deposits, seismologic investigations of active deformation, and calculations of velocity and strain fields as determined from space geodesy.

###

Individual copies of the volume may be purchased through the Geological Society of America online bookstore, http://rock.geosociety.org/Bookstore/default.asp?oID=0&catID=9&pID=SPE447, or by contacting GSA Sales and Service, gsaservice@geosociety.org.

Book editors of earth science journals/publications may request a review copy by contacting Jeanette Hammann, jhammann@geosociety.org.

Late Cenozoic Structure and Evolution of the Great Basin–Sierra Nevada Transition
John S. Oldow and Patricia H. Cashman (editors)
Geological Society of America Special Paper 447
2009, 372 pages, US$70.00, GSA member price US$49.00
ISBN 978-0-8137-2447-8

www.geosociety.org


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.