Editing Basin and Range Province

{{Short description|Physiographic region extending through western United States and Mexico}}
[[File:Basin and Range Province Boundaries and Landmarks.svg|thumb|One of various geographical definitions of the Province]]

The '''Basin and Range Province''' is a vast [[United States physiographic region|physiographic region]] covering much of the inland [[Western United States]] and [[Northern Mexico|northwestern Mexico]]. It is defined by unique [[basin and range topography]], characterized by abrupt changes in elevation, alternating between narrow faulted mountain chains and flat arid valleys or basins. The [[physical geography|physiography]] of the province is the result of [[Extensional tectonics|tectonic extension]] that began around 17 million years ago in the early [[Miocene]] epoch.

The numerous ranges within the province in the United States are collectively referred to as the "Great Basin Ranges", although many are not actually in the [[Great Basin]]. Major ranges include the [[Snake Range]], the [[Panamint Range]], the [[White Mountains (California)|White Mountains]], and the [[Sandia Mountains]]. The highest point fully within the province is [[White Mountain Peak]] in [[California]], while the lowest point is the [[Badwater Basin]] in [[Death Valley]] at {{convert|-282|ft}}.<ref name=NED>{{cite web|url=https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/usgs-national-elevation-dataset-ned-1-meter-downloadable-data-collection-from-the-national-map-|title=USGS National Elevation Dataset (NED) 1 meter Downloadable Data Collection from The National Map 3D Elevation Program (3DEP) – National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) National Elevation Data Set (NED)|publisher=United States Geological Survey|date=September 21, 2015|access-date=September 22, 2015|archive-date=March 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325085854/https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/usgs-national-elevation-dataset-ned-1-meter-downloadable-data-collection-from-the-national-map-|url-status=dead}}</ref> The province's climate is arid, with numerous [[ecoregions]]. Most [[North American deserts]] are located within it.

The Basin and Range Province should not be confused with the [[Great Basin]], a region defined by its unique hydrological characteristics (internal drainage) that overlaps much of the greater Basin and Range physiographic region. Nor should it be confused with the [[Basin and Range National Monument]], located in Southern Nevada, which is one small part of the much larger province.

==Geography==
[[File:Basin range province.jpg|thumb|NASA satellite photo of typical Basin and Range topography across central Nevada]]

The Basin and Range Province includes much of western [[North America]]. In the United States, it is bordered on the west by the eastern [[fault scarp]] of the [[Sierra Nevada]] and spans over {{convert|500|mi|km}} to its eastern border marked by the [[Wasatch Fault]], the [[Colorado Plateau]] and the [[Rio Grande Rift]]. The province extends north to the [[Columbia Plateau]] and south as far as the [[Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt]] in [[Mexico]], though the southern boundaries of the Basin and Range are debated.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Henry|first1=C|last2=Aranda-Gomez|first2=J|year=1992|title=The real southern Basin and Range: Mid- to late Cenozoic extension in Mexico|journal=Geology|volume=20|issue=8|pages=20701–04|bibcode=1992Geo....20..701H|doi=10.1130/0091-7613(1992)020<0701:TRSBAR>2.3.CO;2}}</ref> In Mexico, the Basin and Range Province is dominated by and largely synonymous with the [[Mexican Plateau]].

Evidence suggests that the less-recognized southern portion of the province is bounded on the east by the [[Laramide orogeny|Laramide]] Thrust Front of the [[Sierra Madre Oriental]] and on the west by the [[Gulf of California]] and [[Baja Peninsula]] with notably less faulting apparent in the [[Sierra Madre Occidental]] in the center of the southernmost Basin and Range Province.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dickinson|first=William R.|author-link=William R. Dickinson |title=The Basin and Range Province as a Composite Extensional Domain|journal=[[International Geology Review]] |volume=22|issue=1 |year=2002|pages=1–38|doi=10.2747/0020-6814.44.1.1|bibcode=2002IGRv...44....1D|s2cid=73617479 }}</ref>

Common geographic features include numerous [[endorheic basins]], ephemeral lakes, plateaus, and [[bolson]] valleys alternating with mountains (as described below). The area is mostly arid and sparsely populated, although there are several major metropolitan areas, such as [[Reno, Nevada|Reno]], [[Las Vegas]], [[Salt Lake City]], [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], [[El Paso]]—[[Ciudad Juárez]], [[Mexicali]], and [[Hermosillo]].

== Geology ==
It is generally accepted that basin and range topography is the result of extension and thinning of the [[lithosphere]], which is composed of [[Earth's crust|crust]] and [[Upper mantle (Earth)|upper mantle]].  Extensional environments like the Basin and Range are characterized by [[Listric fault|listric normal faulting]], or faults that level out with depth. Opposing normal faults link at depth producing a [[Horst (geology)|horst]] and [[graben]] geometry, where horst refers to the upthrown fault block and graben to the down dropped fault block.

The average crustal thickness of the Basin and Range Province is approximately 30–35&nbsp;km and is comparable to extended [[continental crust]] around the world.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mooney|first1=Walter D|last2=Braile|first2=Lawrence W|chapter=The seismic structure of the continental crust and upper mantle of North America|title=The Geology of North America – An Overview|publisher=Geological Society of America|year=1989|page=42}}</ref> The crust in conjunction with the upper mantle comprises the [[lithosphere]]. The base of the lithosphere beneath the Basin and Range is estimated to be about 60–70&nbsp;km.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Zandt|first1=G|first2=S|last2=Myers|first3=T|last3=Wallace|year=1995|title=Crust and mantle structure across the Basin and Range-Colorado Plateau boundary at 37°N latitude and implications for Cenozoic extensional mechanism|journal=J. Geophys. Res.|volume=100|number=B6|pages=10529–10548|doi=10.1029/94JB03063|bibcode=1995JGR...10010529Z}}</ref> Opinions vary regarding the total extension of the region; however, the median estimate is about 100% total lateral extension.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/basinrange.html|title=Geologic Provinces of the United States: Basin and Range Province|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125163038/http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/province/basinrange.html |archive-date=2009-01-25|publisher=United States Geological Survey}}</ref> Total lateral displacement in the Basin and Range varies from 60 to 300&nbsp;km since the onset of extension in the Early [[Miocene]] with the southern portion of the province representing a greater degree of displacement than the north. Evidence exists to suggest that extension initially began in the southern Basin and Range and propagated north over time.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Stephen L|last1=Salyards|first2=Eugene M|last2=Shoemaker|author1-link=Stephen L. Salyards|author2-link=Eugene Shoemaker|year=1987|chapter=Landslide and debris-flow deposits in the Thumb Member of the Miocene Horse Spring Formation on the east side of Frenchman Mountain, Nevada: A measure of basin-range extension|publisher=Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society of America|title=Centennial Field Guide|volume=1|editor-first=Mason L|editor-last=Hill|doi=10.1130/0-8137-5401-1.49}}</ref>

[[Clarence Dutton]] famously compared the many narrow parallel mountain ranges that distinguish the unique topography of the Basin and Range to an "army of caterpillars crawling northward."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dutton|first=Clarence|date=1885|title=Mount Taylor and the Zuni Plateau|url=https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_92540.htm|journal=Sixth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey to the Secretary of the Interior, 1884-1885|publisher=United States Geological Survey|pages=113–198|doi=10.3133/ar6|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Tectonics===
[[File:MtMoriahNV.jpg|thumb|[[Snake Range]]]]
The tectonic mechanisms responsible for lithospheric extension in the Basin and Range province are controversial, and several competing hypotheses attempt to explain them. Key events preceding Basin and Range extension in the western United States include a long period of compression due to the [[subduction]] of the [[Farallon plate]] under the west coast of the North American continental plate which stimulated the thickening of the crust. Most of the pertinent tectonic plate movement associated with the province occurred in the [[Neogene]] period (23.03-2.58 million years ago) and continues to the present. By the Early [[Miocene]] sub-epoch (23.03-15.97 million years ago), much of the Farallon plate had been consumed, and the [[seafloor spreading ridge]] that separated the Farallon plate from the [[Pacific plate]] ([[Pacific-Farallon Ridge]]) approached North America.<ref name=Riney>{{cite web|last=Riney|first=Brad|url=http://www.oceanoasis.org/fieldguide/geology1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102140209/http://www.oceanoasis.org/fieldguide/geology1.html|archive-date=2011-01-02|title=Plate Tectonics|work=Ocean Oasis Field Guide|publisher=San Diego Natural History Museum|year=2000|access-date=5 Dec 2010}}</ref> In the Middle [[Miocene]] (15.97-11.63 million years ago), the Pacific-Farallon Ridge was subducted beneath North America ending [[subduction]] along this part of the Pacific margin; however, the Farallon plate continued to subduct into the [[Earth's mantle|mantle]].<ref name=Riney/> The movement at this boundary divided the Pacific-Farallon Ridge and spawned the [[San Andreas Fault|San Andreas]] [[transform fault]], generating an oblique [[strike-slip]] component.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module9/mod9.htm|work=Digital Geology of Idaho|title=Basin and Range Province – Tertiary Extension|access-date=5 Dec 2010|archive-date=11 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911200732/http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module9/mod9.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Today, the Pacific plate moves north-westward relative to North America, a configuration which has given rise to increased shearing along the [[continental margin]].<ref name=Riney/>

The tectonic activity responsible for the extension in the Basin and Range is a complex and controversial issue among the geoscience community. The most accepted hypothesis suggests that crustal [[Shear (geology)|shearing]] associated with the [[San Andreas Fault]] caused spontaneous extensional faulting similar to that seen in the Great Basin.<ref name=Stanley>{{cite book|last=Stanley|first=SM|year=2005|title=Earth system history|location=New York|publisher=Freeman}}</ref> However, plate movement alone does not account for the high elevation of the Basin and Range region.<ref name=Stanley/> The western United States is a region of high [[heat transfer|heat flow]] which lowers the density of the lithosphere and stimulates [[isostasy|isostatic]] [[Uplift (geology)|uplift]] as a consequence.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031185845/http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/basin-range-topography|url=http://www.enotes.com/earth-science/basin-range-topography|archive-date=2010-10-31|title=Basin and Range Topography|work=World of Earth Science|editor-first1=Lee|editor-last1=Lerner|editor-first2=Brenda Wilmoth|editor-last2=Lerner|first=Gale|last=Cengage|year=2003|publisher=eNotes.com|access-date=5 Dec 2010}}</ref> Lithospheric regions characterized by elevated heat flow are weak and extensional deformation can occur over a broad region. Basin and Range extension is therefore thought to be unrelated to the kind of extension produced by [[mantle convection|mantle upwelling]] which may cause narrow rift zones, such as those of the [[Afar triple junction]].<ref>{{citation|last=Stern|first=Robert J|type=Class Notes|title=Rifts|work=Physics and Chemistry of the Solid Earth|publisher=University of Texas at Dallas|location=Dallas, Texas|date=2010-09-01}}</ref> Geologic processes that elevate heat flow are varied, however some researchers suggest that heat generated at a subduction zone is transferred to the overriding plate as subduction proceeds. Fluids along fault zones then transfer heat vertically through the crust.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Makoto|last1=Yamano|first2=Masataka|last2=Kinoshita|first3=Shusaku|last3=Goto|title=High heat flow anomalies on an old oceanic plate observed seaward of the Japan Trench|journal=International Journal of Earth Sciences|year=2008|volume=97|issue=2|pages=345–352|doi=10.1007/s00531-007-0280-1|bibcode=2008IJEaS..97..345Y|s2cid=129417881}}</ref> This model has led to increasing interest in [[Geothermal gradient|geothermal systems]] in the Basin and Range, and requires consideration of the continued influence of the fully subducted Farallon plate in the extension responsible for the Basin and Range Province.

===Metamorphic core complexes===
In some localities in the Basin and Range, metamorphic basement is visible at the surface. Some of these are [[metamorphic core complex]]es (MCC), an idea that was first developed based on studies in this province. A metamorphic core complex occurs when lower crust is brought to the surface as a result of extension. MCCs in the Basin and Range were not interpreted as being related to crustal extension until after the 1960s. Since then, similar deformational patterns have been identified in MCCs in the Basin and Range and has led geologists to examine them as a group of related geologic features formed by crustal extension during the [[Cenozoic]] era (66.0 million years ago to present). The study of metamorphic core complexes has provided valuable insight into the extensional processes driving Basin and Range formation.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rystrom|first=VL|url=http://www.colorado.edu/GeolSci/Resources/WUSTectonics/CoreComplex/5700.html|title=Metamorphic Core Complexes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101103161632/http://www.colorado.edu/GeolSci/Resources/WUSTectonics/CoreComplex/5700.html |archive-date=2010-11-03|year=2000|access-date=5 Dec 2010}}</ref>

=== Volcanism ===
{{main|List of large volume volcanic eruptions in the Basin and Range Province}}
{{See also|Geologic timeline of Western North America|Yellowstone hotspot}}

Prior to the Eocene Epoch (55.8 ±0.2 to 33.9 ±0.1&nbsp;Ma) the convergence rate of the Farallon and North American plates was fast, the angle of subduction was shallow, and the slab width was huge. During the [[Eocene]] the [[Farallon plate]] [[subduction]]-associated compressive forces of the [[Laramide orogeny|Laramide]], [[Sevier orogeny|Sevier]] and [[Nevada orogeny|Nevada]] orogenies ended, plate interactions changed from orthogonal compression to [[Fault (geology)|oblique strike-slip]], and volcanism in the Basin and Range Province flared up ([[Mid-Tertiary ignimbrite flare-up]]). It is suggested that this plate continued to be underthrust until about 19&nbsp;Ma, at which time it was completely consumed and volcanic activity ceased, in part. [[Olivine basalt]] from the [[oceanic ridge]] erupted around 17&nbsp;Ma and [[extension (geology)|extension]] began.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last= McKee |first= E. H.   |year= 1971 |title= Tertiary Igneous Chronology of the Great Basin of Western United States – Implications for Tectonic Models |journal= Geological Society of America Bulletin |volume= 82 |issue= 12 |pages= 3497–3502 |doi = 10.1130/0016-7606(1971)82[3497:ticotg]2.0.co;2|bibcode = 1971GSAB...82.3497M }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/geo_history_wa/index.htm
 |title = Northwest Origins, An Introduction to the Geologic History of Washington State, Catherine L. Townsend and John T. Figge |publisher = The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington |access-date = 2010-04-10 }}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url = http://www.oregongeology.com/sub/publications/ims/ims-028/index.htm |title = Oregon: A Geologic History |publisher = Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries |access-date = 2010-03-26 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100128052050/http://www.oregongeology.com/sub/publications/IMS/ims-028/index.htm |archive-date = 2010-01-28 |url-status = usurped }}
</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module1/mod1.htm |title = Digital Geology of Idaho, Laura DeGrey and Paul Link |publisher = Idaho State University |access-date = 2010-04-10 |archive-date = 2018-07-21 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180721185108/http://geology.isu.edu/Digital_Geology_Idaho/Module1/mod1.htm |url-status = dead }}</ref>

=== Volcanic areas ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Great Basin]] volcanism:
** [[Yucca Mountain|Southwestern Nevada volcanic field]] (SWNVF)
** [[Reveille Range|Réveille Range]] and [[Lunar Crater volcanic field]]
** [[Indian Peak volcanic field]], [[Nevada]]/[[Utah]]
** [[Marysvale Volcanic Field|Marysvale volcanic field]], [[Utah]]
* [[Mogollon-Datil volcanic field]]:
** [[Bursum calderas|Bursum]]
** [[Emory calderas|Emory]]
** [[Organ calderas|Organ]] ([[Las Cruces, New Mexico|Las Cruces]], [[Doña Ana Mountains]], [[Organ Mountains]])
** [[Socorro caldera]]s
* The [[Jemez Lineament]]:
** [[San Carlos volcanic field]]
** [[Springerville volcanic field]]
** [[Red Hill volcanic field]]<ref>{{cite book | last = Wood | first = Charles A. |author2=Jűrgen Kienle | title = Volcanoes of North America | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | year = 1993 | pages = 284–86 | isbn = 978-0521438117 }}</ref>
** [[Zuni-Bandera volcanic field]]
** [[Mount Taylor (New Mexico)|Mount Taylor volcanic field]]
** [[Jemez Mountains|Jemez volcanic field]]
* [[Trans-Pecos|Trans-Pecos volcanic field]]:
** [[Big Bend National Park]]
** [[Davis Mountains]]
{{div col end}}

== Mineral resources ==
In addition to small amounts of [[Nevada]] [[petroleum]], the Basin and Range Province supplies nearly all the [[copper]] and most of the [[gold]], [[silver]], and [[barite]] mined in the United States.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}
{{See also|Copper mining in Arizona|Gold mining in Nevada|Silver mining in Arizona|Silver mining in Nevada}}

==See also==
* [[Cascade-Sierra province]]
* [[Intermontane Plateaus#Basin and Range Province|Intermontane Plateaus § Basin and Range Province]]
* [[United States physiographic region|List of United States physiographic regions]]
* [[Mesa]]
* [[Northern Snake Range metamorphic core complex]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|first=W. Scott |last=Baldridge|title=Geology of the American Southwest: A Journey Through Two Billion Years of Plate Tectonic History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rae4CaERGE8C|date=13 May 2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521016667}}
* {{cite book|first=Bill|last=Fiero|title=Geology of the Great Basin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWwMEPhRp2UC|year=2009|publisher=University of Nevada Press|isbn=978-0874177909}}
* {{cite book|last1=Plummer|last2=McGeary|last3=Carlson|title=Physical Geology|edition=Eighth|location=Boston|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1999|pages=[https://archive.org/details/physicalgeology00char/page/321 321, 513, 514]|isbn=978-0697374042|url=https://archive.org/details/physicalgeology00char/page/321}}
* {{cite book|last1=McPhee|first1=John|author1-link=John McPhee|title=Basin and Range|location=New York|publisher=Farrar Straus & Giroux|year=1982|isbn=978-0374516901|url=https://archive.org/details/basinrange00mcph_0}}
* {{Cite journal |first1=W.P.|last1=Schellart |first2=D.R.|last2=Stegman |first3=R.J.|last3=Farrington |first4=J.|last4=Freeman |first5=L.|last5=Moresi|author5-link=Louis Moresi |title=Cenozoic Tectonics of Western North America Controlled by Evolving Width of Farallon Slab |journal=Science |date=16 July 2010 |volume=329 |issue=5989 |pages=316–19 |doi=10.1126/science.1190366 |pmid=20647465|bibcode = 2010Sci...329..316S |s2cid=12044269 }}
* {{cite journal|last=Dickinson|first=William R.|author-link=William R. Dickinson |title=Geotectonic Evolution of the Great Basin|journal=Geosphere |volume=2 |issue=7 |date=December 2006|pages=353–68|doi=10.1130/GES00054.1 |bibcode=2006Geosp...2..353D |doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
* {{commons and category inline}}

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[[Category:Basin and Range Province| ]]
[[Category:Physiographic provinces]]
[[Category:Geologic provinces of the United States]]
[[Category:Geology of Mexico]]
[[Category:Physiographic regions of Mexico]]
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[[Category:Cenozoic rifts and grabens]]
[[Category:Seismic faults of the United States]]
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[[Category:Regions of the Western United States]]