AIPG/AWG Luncheon Speaker - 5 May 2009 - Cabin Ross - University of St. Thomas

 Abstract: Mapping of the Lake Mead Region in Nevada 
 
The Lake Mead Region in Nevada is unique within the Basin and Range of the western U.S. due to both major normal and strike-slip faults that accommodate large-magnitude extension. Much debate has focused on the relative importance of each type of fault, the role of young contractional features, and the tectonic drivers for deformation in this region. To address these issues, a 1:10,000 scale mapping project of the Bitter Spring Quad (BSQ), located north of the left-lateral Lake Mead Fault System (LMFS), was developed by the University of Saint Thomas (UST) Geology Department. Undergraduate students have worked collaboratively with UST faculty mapping and collecting structural data to examine the relation between varying sizes of faults and to better understand the timing of the various sets of faults.

Currently, there are three sets of faults: northeast-trending faults (these include the largest faults), north-south trending faults (these are usually smaller in length and magnitude of offset), and northwest-trending faults. The northeast-trending faults appear to be en-echelon faults accommodating and transferring strain between two larger strands (the White Basin and Longwell Faults) of the LMFS, and they may help explain the presence of ridges in a typically low-elevation area. The north-south and northwest-trending faults may be related to the termination of the White Basin and Longwell Faults. The various sets of faults are inconsistent in cross-cutting relationships creating a complex structural pattern, which may be associated with multiple phases of extension.

Bio:

Cabin Ross is a student at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul. She will be graduating in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Mathematics. She will be working toward her Master's degree in Geology at the University of Minnesota Duluth starting this fall. Cabin is pursuing a career in mineral exploration with an emphasis in structural geology.

Her interests in structure come from the Bitter Spring Quadrangle mapping project started by Drs. Lisa Lamb and Tom Hickson of the UST Geology Department. She is one of many students at UST who has developed an undergraduate research project in this area.