Geology of the Black Rock Desert area

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Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
The Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology (NBMG) is a research and public service unit of the University of Nevada and is the state geological survey. NBMG scientists conduct research and publish reports on mineral resources, engineering geology, environmental geology, hydrogeology, and geologic mapping. Current activities in geologic mapping and mineral resources include detailed geologic mapping and stratigraphic studies in Nevada, comparative studies of bulk-mineable precious-metal deposits, geochemical investigations of mining districts, metallic and industrial mineral resource assessments, igneous petrologic studies, hydrothermal experiments, and research on the origin of mineral deposits.

IDENTIFICATION OF A DISTINCT TERRANE IN THE CORDILLERA THAT IS OFFSET ALONG THE EARLY CRETACEOUS DEXTRAL MSNI FAULT SYSTEM
Mapping along the Nevada-southeast Oregon portion of the MSNI fault (this portion previously called the western Nevada shear zone; Wyld and Wright, 2001) has identified several lithotectonic assemblages that are clearly out of place with respect to geologic provinces to the east. These include (in Oregon) the Middle Jurassic continental arc assemblage of the Pueblo Mountains, and (in Nevada) Permian volcanogenic rocks at Black Rock Point, Permian and early Mesozoic carbonate, clastics and bimodal volcanogenic rocks in the Granite Range, and an assemblage of argillite, quartzite and carbonate in the Fox Range that is at least in part Late Triassic or younger. Quartzites from the Fox and Granite Ranges have a detrital zircon age signature identical to that of Jurassic erg sandstones of the Colorado plateau.