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of long duration that have not sustained continent/continent collisions. This tectonic setting produces a pattern of compressive uplifts and basins, with most of the deformation confined to block edges. Twelve kilometers of structural relief between basins and adjacent uplifts is not uncommon. The
35:, 80 to 70 million years ago, and ended 55 to 35 million years ago. The exact duration and ages of beginning and end of the orogeny are in dispute. The Laramide orogeny occurred in a series of pulses, with quiescent phases intervening. The major feature that was created by this
323:
According to paleontologist Thomas M. Lehman, the
Laramide orogeny triggered "the most dramatic event that affected Late Cretaceous dinosaur communities in North America prior to their extinction." This turnover event saw the replacement of specialized and highly ornamented
110:
actually caused drag on the root of the overlying continental lithosphere. One cause for shallow subduction may have been an increased rate of plate convergence. Another proposed cause was subduction of thickened oceanic crust.
745:
Schellart, W.P.; Stegman, D.R.; Farrington, R.J.; Freeman, J.; Moresi, L. (16 July 2010). "Cenozoic
Tectonics of Western North America Controlled by Evolving Width of Farallon Slab".
201:
During the
Laramide orogeny, basin floors and mountain summits were much closer to sea level than today. After the seas retreated from the Rocky Mountain region,
225:
events, including additional uplift, glaciation of the high country, and denudation and dissection of older
Cenozoic surfaces in the basin by fluvial processes.
557:
Dumitru, T.A.; Gans, P.B.; Foster, D.A.; Miller, E.L. (1991). "Refrigeration of the western
Cordilleran lithosphere during Laramide shallow-angle subduction".
268:
being the largest. Topographically, the basin floors resemble the surface of the western Great Plains, except for vistas of surrounding mountains.
232:
Topographic map of the western United States (and part of Canada) showing the
Bighorn Basin (highlighted in orange), formed by the Laramide Orogeny
138:. One result of shallow angle of subduction and the drag that it caused was a broad belt of mountains, some of which were the progenitors of the
504:
510:
134:. This particular gap may have occurred because the subducted slab was in contact with relatively cool continental lithosphere, not hotter
217:
gradually raised the entire region, including the Great Plains, to present elevations. Most of the modern topography is the result of
672:
Livaccari, Richard F.; Burke, Kevin; Sengor, AMC (1981). "Was the
Laramide orogeny related to subduction of an oceanic plateau?".
885:
815:
830:
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880:
411:
389:
236:
In the United States, these distinctive intermontane basins occur principally in the central Rocky
Mountains from
737:
578:
406:
835:
840:
303:, faulting is suspected at depth. Most bounding faults show evidence of at least two episodes of Laramide (
209:, and vast lakes developed in the basins. Drainage systems imposed at that time persist today. Since the
860:
855:
845:
627:
Lehman, T. M. (2001). "Late
Cretaceous dinosaur provinciality". In Tanke, D. H.; Carpenter, K. (eds.).
637:
875:
870:
810:
40:
514:
288:
143:
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710:
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The orogeny is commonly attributed to events off the west coast of North
America, where the
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754:
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681:
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8:
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142:. Part of the proto-Rocky Mountains would be later modified by extension to become the
711:"Segmentation of the Laramide Slab -- Evidence from the southern Sierra Nevada region"
74:
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24:
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Magmatism associated with subduction occurred not near the plate edges (as in the
636:
Liu, L.; Gurnis, M.; Seton, M.; Saleeby, J.; Müller, R.D.; Jackson, J.M. (2010).
400:
304:
159:
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that predate the Laramide orogeny. As much as 5,000 meters (16,000 ft) of
87:
68:
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325:
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135:
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The Laramide orogeny was caused by subduction of a plate at a shallow angle.
774:
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occurred in the central west of the continent, and the underlying oceanic
51:, with the easternmost extent of the mountain-building represented by the
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52:
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Jones, Craig; Farmer, Lang; Sageman, Brad; Zhong, Shijie (2012).
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by means of deformation. This style of deformation is typical of
64:
36:
638:"The role of oceanic plateau subduction in the Laramide orogeny"
337:
308:
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units dip steeply into the basins off uplifted blocks cored by
195:
48:
44:
206:
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sediments filled these orogenically-defined basins. Deformed
119:
94:. Most hypotheses propose that oceanic crust was undergoing
738:
10.1130/0016-7606(2003)115<0655:sotlsf>2.0.co;2
579:
10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019<1145:ROTWCL>2.3.CO;2
241:
403:, still earlier, in the late Jurassic—early Cretaceous era
397:, earlier than the Laramide orogeny, in the Cretaceous era
126:. Geologists call such a lack of volcanic activity near a
556:
474:
441:
67:. The Laramide orogeny is sometimes confused with the
635:
588:"The Laramide Orogeny: What Were the Driving Forces?"
671:
357:
586:English, Joseph M.; Johnston, Stephen T. (2004).
444:"Hydrodynamic mechanism for the Laramide orogeny"
822:
71:, which partially overlapped in time and space.
585:
122:, for example), but far to the east, along the
336:upland dinosaurs in the south, while northern
198:deposits record continuing orogenic activity.
631:. Indiana University Press. pp. 310–328.
511:National Aeronautics and Space Administration
283:rocks. The eroded steeply dipping units form
811:Maps, animation, detailed information (UCLA)
435:
16:Period of mountain building in North America
154:The Laramide orogeny produced intermontane
43:, with evidence of this orogeny found from
792:"I thought that was the Laramide orogeny!"
318:
171:basins contain several thousand meters of
459:
299:. Although other boundaries appear to be
102:at a shallow angle. As a consequence, no
227:
73:
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311:) movement, suggesting both thrust and
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823:
789:
718:Geological Society of America Bulletin
626:
539:
527:
488:
486:
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430:
479:
13:
59:. The phenomenon is named for the
14:
902:
804:
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497: This article incorporates
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412:Geology of the Pacific Northwest
374:
360:
886:Geology of the Rocky Mountains
533:
521:
468:
424:
407:Geology of the Rocky Mountains
1:
549:
291:. Many of the boundaries are
592:International Geology Review
417:
7:
796:Utah's Sevier Thrust System
506:Wyoming Intermontane Basins
353:
10:
907:
831:Orogenies of North America
612:10.2747/0020-6814.46.9.833
252:and are best developed in
798:. Utah Geological Survey.
790:Willis, Grant C. (2000).
41:thick-skinned deformation
866:Cretaceous United States
629:Mesozoic Vertebrate Life
144:Basin and Range Province
881:Paleogene United States
767:10.1126/science.1190366
709:Saleeby, Jason (2003).
346:with a greatly reduced
319:Ecological consequences
315:types of displacement.
90:were sliding under the
31:, which started in the
499:public domain material
233:
79:
368:Earth sciences portal
231:
124:Colorado Mineral Belt
77:
23:was a time period of
836:Cretaceous orogenies
816:U. Wisconsin article
340:became dominated by
271:At most boundaries,
150:Basins and mountains
96:flat-slab subduction
92:North American Plate
841:Paleogene orogenies
759:2010Sci...329..316S
730:2003GSAB..115..655S
686:1981Natur.289..276L
657:2010NatGe...3..353L
604:2004IGRv...46..833E
571:1991Geo....19.1145D
475:Dumitru et al. 1991
382:Paleontology portal
301:monoclinal flexures
461:10.1130/GES00575.1
234:
215:epeirogenic uplift
168:convergent margins
164:continental plates
80:
861:Cretaceous Mexico
856:Cretaceous Canada
846:Paleocene geology
753:(5989): 316–319.
680:(5795): 276–278.
645:Nature Geoscience
565:(11): 1145–1148.
180:sedimentary rocks
156:structural basins
61:Laramie Mountains
39:was deep-seated,
25:mountain building
898:
876:Paleogene Mexico
871:Paleogene Canada
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694:10.1038/289276a0
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513:. Archived from
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401:Nevadan orogeny
380:
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305:Late Cretaceous
160:mountain blocks
152:
140:Rocky Mountains
128:subduction zone
88:Farallon Plates
33:Late Cretaceous
17:
12:
11:
5:
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851:Eocene geology
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805:External links
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651:(5): 353–357.
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598:(9): 833–838.
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517:on 2011-06-17.
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395:Sevier orogeny
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330:lambeosaurines
320:
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297:reverse faults
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69:Sevier orogeny
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158:and adjacent
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29:North America
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515:the original
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262:Powder River
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166:adjacent to
153:
132:magmatic gap
116:volcanic arc
113:
81:
57:South Dakota
47:to northern
20:
18:
891:Black Hills
724:: 655–668.
540:Lehman 2001
528:Lehman 2001
431:Willis 2000
350:community.
343:Triceratops
313:strike-slip
281:Precambrian
256:, with the
246:Uinta Basin
223:Pleistocene
213:, episodic
203:floodplains
108:lithosphere
98:, that is,
63:of eastern
53:Black Hills
27:in western
825:Categories
550:References
503:Hegde, M.
454:(1): 183.
266:Wind River
184:Cretaceous
100:subduction
620:129901811
448:Geosphere
418:Footnotes
348:hadrosaur
289:flatirons
277:Paleogene
273:Paleozoic
211:Oligocene
192:Paleocene
173:Paleozoic
104:magmatism
783:12044269
775:20647465
702:27153755
354:See also
332:by more
285:hogbacks
275:through
238:Colorado
219:Pliocene
188:Cenozoic
177:Mesozoic
755:Bibcode
747:Science
726:Bibcode
682:Bibcode
653:Bibcode
600:Bibcode
567:Bibcode
559:Geology
258:Bighorn
254:Wyoming
250:Montana
118:of the
65:Wyoming
37:orogeny
781:
773:
700:
674:Nature
618:
338:biomes
309:Eocene
293:thrust
264:, and
207:swamps
196:Eocene
49:Mexico
45:Canada
779:S2CID
714:(PDF)
698:S2CID
641:(PDF)
616:S2CID
501:from
334:basal
248:) to
120:Andes
771:PMID
328:and
307:and
287:and
242:Utah
240:and
221:and
194:and
186:and
175:and
86:and
84:Kula
19:The
763:doi
751:329
734:doi
722:115
690:doi
678:289
661:doi
608:doi
575:doi
456:doi
295:or
55:of
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244:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
