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Colorado Orogeny
The Colorado orogeny was an episode of mountain building (an ''orogeny'') in Colorado and surrounding areas. This took place from 1780 to 1650 million years ago (Mya (unit), Mya), during the Paleoproterozoic (Statherian Period). It is recorded in the Colorado orogen, a >500-km-wide belt of oceanic volcanic arc, arc rock that extends southward into New Mexico. The Colorado orogeny was likely part of the larger Yavapai orogeny. Description The Colorado orogen, formerly called the Colorado province (geology), province, is a >500-km-wide belt of oceanic volcanic arc, arc rock (1.78–1.65 Ga) that extends southward into New Mexico and composes a major part of the Proterozoic provinces of southwestern United States. This transcontinental collisional event occurred during the Paleoproterozoic (Statherian Period).http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0364/colo_of_text.html#Co_orogeny USGS Open-File Report 01-0364: Preliminary Precambrian Basement Map of Colorado The Wyoming sector of the Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Building
Mountain formation refers to the geological processes that underlie the formation of mountains. These processes are associated with large-scale movements of the Earth's crust (tectonic plates). Folding, faulting, volcanic activity, igneous intrusion and metamorphism can all be parts of the orogenic process of mountain building. The formation of mountains is not necessarily related to the geological structures found on it. The understanding of specific landscape features in terms of the underlying tectonic processes is called '' tectonic geomorphology'', and the study of geologically young or ongoing processes is called ''neotectonics''. From the late 18th century until its replacement by plate tectonics in the 1960s, geosyncline theory was used to explain much mountain-building. Types of mountains There are five main types of mountains: volcanic, fold, plateau, fault-block and dome. A more detailed classification useful on a local scale predates plate tectonics and adds t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
