Extensional Tectonics, Basin and Range

We have carried out numerous projects related to lithospheric extension in the Basin and Range province--from the study of metamorphic core complexes to the slip histories of normal faults that cut the brittle crust, producing the corrugated topography of the province today. Read more about our specific projects listed under "research" and in the papers listed under publications.

Mountains and landscape of Basin & Range province, northern NV — You can see forever: View across the northwestern Basin and Range province, northern Nevada

Seismic reflection of geological cross-section — A Basin and Range normal fault and associated basin in geologic cross-section and as imaged by seismic reflection profiling from Lerch et al. (2009).

Publications

Colgan, Joseph P., Trevor A. Dumitru, Peter W. Reiners, Joseph L. Wooden, and Elizabeth L. Miller. 2006. “Cenozoic Tectonic Evolution of the Basin and Range Province in Northwestern Nevada.” AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 306 (8). AMER JOURNAL SCIENCE: 616–54. DOI: 10.2475/08.2006.023

Lerch, D. W., J. MG Glen, D. A. Ponce, E. L. Miller, and J. P. Colgan. 2007. “Crustal Structure of the Northwestern Basin and Range Province and Its Transition to Unextended Volcanic Plateaus.” GEOCHEMISTRY GEOPHYSICS GEOSYSTEMS 8. AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. DOI: 10.1029/2006GC001429

Colgan, J. P., T. A. Dumitru, and E. L. Miller. 2004. “Diachroneity of Basin and Range Extension and Yellowstone Hotspot Volcanism in Northwestern Nevada.” GEOLOGY 32 (2). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC: 121–24. DOI: 10.1130/G20037.1

Miller, E.L., E. L., and Survey Stanford Geological. 2007. Digital Geologic Map of Great Basin National Park and Vicinity, Nevada (NPS, GRD,GRE, GRBA). Stanford Geological Survey Maps. Stanford Geological Survey.

Konstantinou, Alexandros, and Elizabeth Miller. 2015. “Evidence for a Long-Lived Accommodation/Transfer Zone beneath the Snake River Plain: A Possible Influence on Neogene Magmatism?” TECTONICS 34 (12). AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION: 2387–98. DOI: 10.1002/2015TC003863

Egger, Anne E., and Elizabeth L. Miller. 2011. “Evolution of the Northwestern Margin of the Basin and Range: The Geology and Extensional History of the Warner Range and Environs, Northeastern California.” GEOSPHERE 7 (3). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC: 756–73. DOI: 10.1130/GES00620.1

Konstantinou, Alexandros, John Valley, Ariel Strickland, Elizabeth L. Miller, Chris Fisher, et al. 2013. “Geochemistry and Geochronology of the Jim Sage Volcanic Suite, Southern Idaho: Implications for Snake River Plain Magmatism and Its Role in the History of Basin and Range Extension.” GEOSPHERE 9 (6). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC: 1681–1703. DOI: 10.1130/GES00948.1

Mattinson, C. G., J. P. Colgan, J. R. Metcalf, E. L. Miller, J. L. Wooden, et al. 2007. Late Cretaceous to Paleocene Metamorphism and Magmatism in the Funeral Mountains Metamorphic Core Complex, Death Valley, CA. Edited by M. Cloos, W. D. Carlson, M. C. Gilbert, J. G. Liou, S. S. Sorenson, et al. Convergent Margin Terranes and Associated Regions: A Volume in Honor of W. G. Ernst. Geological Society of America Special Paper. Geological Society of America.

Konstantinou, Alexandros, Ariel Strickland, Elizabeth L. Miller, and Joseph P. Wooden. 2012. “Multistage Cenozoic Extension of the Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek Metamorphic Core Complex: Geochronologic and Stratigraphic Constraints.” GEOSPHERE 8 (6). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC: 1429–66. DOI: 10.1130/GES00778.1

Gashawbeza, Ewenet M., Simon L. Klemperer, Charles K. Wilson, and Elizabeth L. Miller. 2008. “Nature of the Crust beneath Northwest Basin and Range Province from Teleseismic Receiver Function Data.” JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH 113 (B10). AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. DOI: 10.1029/2007JB005306

Miller, E. L., T. A. Dumitru, R. W. Brown, and P. B. Gans. 1999. “Rapid Miocene Slip on the Snake Range-Deep Creek Range Fault System, East-Central Nevada.” GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN 111 (6). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC: 886–905.

Dumitru, T. A., P. B. Gans, D. A. Foster, and E. L. Miller. 1991. “REFRIGERATION OF THE WESTERN CORDILLERAN LITHOSPHERE DURING LARAMIDE SHALLOW-ANGLE SUBDUCTION.” GEOLOGY 19 (11). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMERICA: 1145–48.

Strickland, A., E. L. Miller, and J. Wooden. 2011. “Syn-Extensional Crustal Melting and Plutonism in the Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek Metamorphic Core Complex.” Journal of Geology 119,

Konstantinou, Alexandros, Ariel Strickland, Elizabeth Miller, Jeffrey Vervoort, Christopher M. Fisher, et al. 2013. “Synextensional Magmatism Leading to Crustal Flow in the Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek Metamorphic Core Complex, Northeastern Basin and Range.” TECTONICS 32 (5). AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION: 1384–1403. DOI: 10.1002/tect.20085

Lerch, Derek William, Elizabeth Miller, Michael McWilliams, and Joseph Colgan. 2008. “Tectonic and Magmatic Evolution of the Northwestern Basin and Range and Its Transition to Unextended Volcanic Plateaus: Black Rock Range, Nevada.” GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN 120 (3-4). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC: 300–311.

10.1130/B26151.1

Strickland, Ariel, Elizabeth L. Miller, and Joseph L. Wooden. 2011. “The Timing of Tertiary Metamorphism and Deformation in the Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek Metamorphic Core Complex, Utah and Idaho.” JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY 119 (2). UNIV CHICAGO PRESS: 185–206. DOI: 10.1086/658294

Colgan, J. P., T. A. Dumitru, M. McWilliams, and E. L. Miller. 2006. “Timing of Cenozoic Volcanism and Basin and Range Extension in Northwestern Nevada: New Constraints from the Northern Pine Forest Range.” GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA BULLETIN 118 (1-2). GEOLOGICAL SOC AMER, INC: 126–39. DOI: 10.1130/1325681.1

Surpless, B. E., D. F. Stockli, T. A. Dumitru, and E. L. Miller. 2002. “Two-Phase Westward Encroachment of Basin and Range Extension into the Northern Sierra Nevada.” TECTONICS 21 (1). AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. DOI: 10.1029/2000TC001257