Date of Award
5-2017
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science - Geology
Department
Geology
First Advisor
Dr. Chris Barker
Second Advisor
Dr. Melinda Faulkner
Third Advisor
Dr. Liane Stevens
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Joseph Musser
Fifth Advisor
Dr. Joseph Allen
Abstract
The Sawatch Range within the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado exposes Paleoproterozoic basement and overlying Paleozoic sedimentary rocks with a complex history of ductile and brittle deformation.
The goal of this study is to conduct analyses of brittle structures that occur in the basement and cover units to determine geometric relationships between the structures, provide a detailed description of structures and refine a geologic history for structures along the basement-cover contact in the northeastern Sawatch Range along the Eagle River canyon and U.S. Highway 24 from Red Cliff to Gilman, Colorado. Paleoproterozoic basement rocks include the Cross Creek granite, diorites, and gneisses. The basement rocks are nonconformably overlain by the late Cambrian age Sawatch Formation.
Measurements of 60 fault planes were recorded and of those, 36 exhibited dip-slip or strike-slip movement. Faults exhibited an average northeast strike throughout the study area. Measurements of 151 joint planes were taken throughout the study area and joints exhibit a northwest strike on average. Structural trends observed in this area represent different orientations that were created by multiple deformational events throughout geologic history. These deformational events include the accretion of volcanic island arcs and continental crust onto Laurentia, Ancestral Rocky Mountain Uplift and the Laramide orogeny.
Repository Citation
Askelson, Kaitlin Lee, "Basement and Cover Structural Analysis Along the Eagle River Gorge, Sawatch Range, Colorado" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 92.
https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/92
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
