U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey 

An Outline of Tectonic, Igneous, and Metamorphic

Events in the Goshute-Toano Range Between

Silver Zone Pass and White Horse Pass,

Elko County, Nevada: A History of Superposed

Contractional and Extensional Deformation

 

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1593
M A R C H 3, 18 4 9

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE 

An Outline of Tectonic, Igneous, and Metamorph

Events in the Goshute-Toano Range Between 

Silver Zone Pass and White Horse Pass, 

Elko County, Nevada: A History of Superposed 

Contractional and Extensional Deformation

By Keith B. Ketner, Warren C. Day, Maya Elrick, 

Myra K. Vaag, Robert A. Zimmermann, Lawrence W. Snee, 

Richard W. Saltus, John E. Repetski, Bruce R. Wardlaw, 

Michael E. Taylor, and Anita G. Harris

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1593

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1998
For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Information Services

Box 25286, Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and

does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Mark Schaefer, Acting Director

An outline of tectonic, igneous, and metamorphic events in the Goshute-Toano range

between Silver Zone Pass and White Horse Pass, Elko Couty, Nevada: a history of 

superposed contractional and extensional deformation / by Keith B. Ketner . . . [et al.].

p. cm. — (U.S. Geological Survey professional paper ; 1593)

Includes bibliographical references.

Supt of Docs. No.: I 19.16:P1593

1. Geology, Structural—Nevada—Goshute Mountains. 2. Geology, Structural—

Nevada—Toano Range. 3. Rocks, Igneous—Nevada—Goshute Mountains.

4. Rocks, Igneous—Nevada—Toano Range. 5. Rocks, Metamorphic—Nevada—

Goshute Mountains. 6. Rocks, Metamorphic—Nevada—Toano Range. I. Ketner, 

Keith Brindley, 1921- . II. Series.

QE627.5.N3087 1998 

551.8′09793′16—dc21 97-52034

CIP
CONTENTS

Abstract .......................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1

Stratigraphy .................................................................................................................... 3

Structure ......................................................................................................................... 3

Structural Terms for Fault-Bounded Tracts ........................................................... 3

Silver Zone Terrane ............................................................................................... 3

Dead Cedar Terrane ............................................................................................... 5

Goshute Plate ......................................................................................................... 5

Morris Basin Block ................................................................................................ 7

Rosebud Plate ......................................................................................................... 8

Ferguson Mountain Terrane ................................................................................... 8

Anti-Ferguson Mountain Block ............................................................................. 9

Spring Gulch Complex ........................................................................................... 9

Rock-Avalanche Deposits ...................................................................................... 9

Intrusive Rocks .............................................................................................................. 10

Silver Zone Pass Pluton ......................................................................................... 10

Spring Gulch Chonolith and Related Aplitic Dikes ............................................... 10

Dikes and Small Stocks .......................................................................................... 10

Volcanic Rocks .............................................................................................................. 11

Summary ........................................................................................................................ 11

References Cited ............................................................................................................ 12

FIGURES

1. Generalized geologic map of the Goshute-Toano Range...........................................................................................

2. Stratigraphic column of Paleozoic rocks in the Goshute-Toano Range.....................................................................

3. Geologic map of the north end of the Goshute-Toano Range....................................................................................
An Outline of Tectonic, Igneous, and Metamorphic Events 

the Goshute-Toano Range Between Silver Zone Pass and 

White Horse Pass, Elko County, Nevada: 

A History of Superposed Contractional and 

Extensional Deformation

By Keith B. Ketner, Warren C. Day, Maya Elrick, Myra K. Vaag, Robert A. Zimmermann,

Lawrence W. Snee, Richard W. Saltus, John E. Repetski, Bruce R. Wardlaw,

Michael E. Taylor, and Anita G. Harris

ABSTRACT

Rocks of the Goshute-Toano Range, Elko County,

Nevada, between White Horse Pass on the south and Silver

Zone Pass on the north, record a complex Mesozoic and

Tertiary history of metamorphism, contractional and extensional deformation, and igneous activity. Paleozoic strata

comprise seven distinctive structural tracts, separated from

each other by low- or high-angle faults. These tracts are

grouped here into three structural-thermal levels separated

by low-angle faults: (1) a lower level of Cambrian to Mississippian sedimentary rocks that were strongly folded and

metamorphosed in Mesozoic time, (2) a middle level of

Cambrian to Mississippian, nonmetamorphosed sedimentary

strata that were heated moderately, weakly folded, thinned

by bedding-parallel faults, and segmented by high-angle

faults, and (3) an upper level of Pennsylvanian, Permian, and

younger rocks that were heated only slightly and, over large

areas, were broken up, tilted, and dispersed by normal faulting in Miocene time.

Lower-level rocks were intruded in Middle Jurassic

time by a granodiorite stock that transected metamorphic

fabric. Middle-level strata were intruded in the Late Jurassic

by granite bodies of extremely irregular shape and in Late

Jurassic to middle Miocene time by stocks, dikes, and sills.

Upper-level strata lack outcrops of intrusive rocks of any

kind. Extensive Miocene rhyolite flows cover parts of

middle- and upper-level strata.

The Goshute-Toano Range is replete with welldeveloped examples of contractional and superposed

extensional structures and offers abundant opportunities for

potentially very productive detailed structural studies.

INTRODUCTION

The Goshute Mountains and the Toano Rang

segments of a continuous mountain range in northe

Nevada separated only by Morgan Pass, a high divide 

central part of the range. Our investigation extends 

White Horse Pass, 32 km south of Morgan Pass, to 

Zone Pass, almost 32 km north of Morgan Pass (fig. 1)

segment is herein termed the Goshute-Toano Range

Goshute-Toano Range, as so defined, lies within a reg

Mesozoic contraction (Coats and Riva, 1983; Ketner, 

Thorman and others, 1991) and Mesozoic to Tertiary 

sion (Hodges and Walker, 1992).

Our investigation began in 1984 as an effort spon

by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to asse

mineral potential of the Bluebell and Goshute Peak W

ness Study Areas, which occupy much of the Goshute-T

Range. That task, which involved mapping the entire 

between White Horse and Silver Zone Passes, 

completed in 1986. Recently, part of the mapped are

revised in an attempt to understand more fully the 

features of the structural and igneous history. The ge

of large parts of the Goshute-Toano Range was des

previously (Day and others, 1987; Ketner 1987; Ketn

others, 1987). The geology north of Silver Zone Pas

mapped and described by Glick (1987); the area immed

south of the pass within the Silver Zone Pass quadrang

mapped by D.M. Miller (unpub. mapping).

Acknowledgments.—Paleontological age deter

tions by Olgerts L. Karklins and Raymond C. Douglas

indispensable and greatly appreciated. Richard H. Bla

assisted in the gravity survey. Scott Gum, Dirk Ho
2 TECTONIC, IGNEOUS, AND METAMORPHIC EVENTS, GOSHUTE-TOANO RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVA

0

0

5

8

10 Mi

4 16 Km

D U D

U

D

U

D

U

D

U

D U

D

D

U

U

114°15'

114°15'

40°45'

40°30'

SILVER ZONE PASS

Silver Zone Pass

pluton

AntiFerguson

Mountain

block

Silver

Zone

terrane 

Morris

Basin

block

Morris

Basin

block Rosebud plate

Quaternary

deposits

Quaternary

deposits

Goshute plate

Spring Gulch

complex

MORGAN PASS

Goshute

plate

Goshute

plate

Goshute plate

Ferguson Mountain

terrane

WILDCAT PEAK

FERGUSON

MOUNTAIN

WHITE HORSE PASS

Quaternary

deposits Ferguson Mountain terrane

Dead Cedar

terrane

7 1/2 minute quadrangles

White Horse

Mountain

White Horse

Pass

Utah

Peak

Goshute

Peak

Ferguson

Mountain

Ferguson

Flat

Lion

Spring

Spring

Gulch

Morgan

Pass Ola

West

Morris

Basin

Pilot

Silver Zone

Pass

Leppy

Peak

Wendover

Wendover

S.E.

NEVADA

ELKO

COUNTY

GoshuteToano

Range

Deep

Creek

Range

D

U

EXPLANATION

Contact

High-angle fault—U, upthrown side;

 D, downthrown side

Low-angle fault—Barbs on upper plate

Axis of anticline in Goshute plate
STRUCTURE 

Robert Walker, and Robert Yambrick assisted in the

mapping. David M. Miller permitted use of unpublished

data from his map of the Silver Zone Pass quadrangle in the

northern part of the range. John E. Welsh freely shared his

deep knowledge of the stratigraphy and structure of the

region and permitted use of data from his detailed maps of

the Ferguson Mountain and Ferguson Flat quadrangles adjacent to the southern part of the range. R.A. Zimmermann

determined the fission track dates herein, and L.W. Snee

determined the Ar/Ar dates. Leroy Brown provided safe,

efficient helicopter service. Suggestions by David M.

Miller, Constance J. Nutt, James K. Otton, Christopher J.

Potter, and Charles H. Thorman greatly improved presentation and interpretation of the data.

STRATIGRAPHY

The Goshute-Toano Range is composed of Middle

Cambrian to Lower Triassic marine sedimentary rocks,

Jurassic to Miocene intrusive rocks, Tertiary sedimentary

deposits including rock-avalanche deposits, and Miocene

volcanic rocks. Quaternary unconsolidated deposits of

gravel and lake sediments form fans and flats on both sides

of the range. Descriptions of the strata comprising the

Goshute-Toano Range are given by Day and others (1987),

and descriptions of Cambrian rocks are given by McCollum

and Miller (1991). The Paleozoic and Triassic sedimentary

rocks in the Goshute-Toano Range constitute a miogeoclinal

shallow-water sequence similar to that of many other ranges

in the Basin and Range Province of western Utah and eastern Nevada (fig. 2). However, the Permian and Middle to

Upper Devonian intervals are unusually thick, and, owing to

structural attenuation, many stratigraphic units are locally

abnormally thin. The thickness of Devonian strata given in

Day and others (1987) is erroneously high; figure 2 of the

present report depicts the corrected thickness. Mississippian shale, in comparison with correlatives in adjacent

ranges, is abnormally thin throughout the range. Triassic

rocks are sparsely and poorly exposed in the Goshute-Toano

Range, and their original thickness can only be inferred to be

about the same as in the neighboring Pequop Mountains,

about 900 m. Jurassic and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks

were not identified. Tertiary sedimentary units are

incompletely exposed but apparently were deposited in local

lacustrine basins or as fans on the flanks of the mountain

range, and their thicknesses vary widely.

STRUCTURE

The Goshute-Toano Range records a history of in

Mesozoic contraction overprinted by intense Tertiary

possibly older, extension. The contraction is express

large-scale folding and thrust faulting; the extensi

expressed as pervasive normal faulting, stratigr

attenuation, tilting of fault blocks, and formation of 

deposits and rock-avalanche deposits.

The Goshute-Toano Range is herein divided into 

structural tracts on the basis of data from the geologic 

of part of the range (Day and others, 1987), detailed ma

selected areas (Ketner, 1997), and unpublished mappi

Ketner. The seven tracts, all in fault contact with 

another, are shown in figure 1 and are herein described 

structurally lowest to structurally highest.

STRUCTURAL TERMS FOR

FAULT-BOUNDED TRACTS

In this report, the term terrane is used for exte

tracts of undetermined thickness that conform to the d

tion in Bates and Jackson (1987): “...a fault-bounded 

of rock of regional extent, characterized by a geo

history different from that of contiguous terranes...;

term plate is used for fault-bounded tracts that are lat

extensive relative to thickness; block is used for tract

are of relatively small extent in relation to thickness. 

term listric fault is used for high- to low-angle, cu

downward-flattening, normal faults. These may be c

on one axis (cylindrical or snow-shovel-shaped) or 

(ovoidal or spoon-shaped)—in either case, the listric 

resulted in tilted beds that toe into the fault. The term p

fault is used for normal faults that appear to be uncu

Bedding-parallel or attenuation faults are planar 

nearly parallel to bedding that commonly result in thi

or omission of strata.

In accordance with the above definitions, the 

bounded tracts of the Goshute-Toano Range are desig

as the Silver Zone terrane, Dead Cedar terrane, Go

plate, Morris Basin block, Rosebud plate, Ferg

Mountain terrane, and anti-Ferguson Mountain block.

SILVER ZONE TERRANE

The Silver Zone terrane, at the north end o

Goshute-Toano Range, consists of Cambrian and Or

cian carbonate and shale sequences deformed into 

scale, northeast-plunging folds (fig. 3) (Ketner, 1997)

rocks are metamorphosed to greenschist grade and lo

display small-scale, penetratively deformed beds. L

stone has been bleached and marbleized; shale has been 

verted to phyllite and, in some places, to coarse musc

Figure 1 (previous page). Generalized geologic map of the

Goshute-Toano Range showing seven structural tracts: Silver Zone

terrane, Dead Cedar terrane, Goshute plate, Morris Basin block,

Rosebud plate, Ferguson Mountain terrane, and anti-Ferguson

Mountain block.
4 TECTONIC, IGNEOUS, AND METAMORPHIC EVENTS, GOSHUTE-TOANO RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVA

Gerster Limestone

Plympton Formation

Kaibab Limestone

Arcturus Formation

(Loray Formation )1

Pequop Formation 1

1 Ferguson Mountain Formation

Ely Limestone

?

Chainman Shale, Needle Siltstone Member

Joana Limestone

Diamond Peak Formation and Chainman Shale, undivided

Upper member

Middle member

Lower member

Guilmette Formation

Simonson Dolomite

Sevy Dolomite

Laketown Dolomite

Fish Haven Dolomite

Eureka Quartzite

Lehman Formation

Kanosh Shale

Pogonip Group,

lower part

Notch Peak Limestone

Dunderberg Shale

Oasis Formation

Shafter Formation

Decoy Limestone

Morgan Pass Formation

Clifside Limestone

Toano Limestone

Pilot Shale

PERMIAN

PENNSYLVANIAN

MISSISSIPPIAN

DEVONIAN

SILURIAN

ORDOVICIAN

CAMBRIAN

FEET METERS

2000

1000

0 0

2000

4000

6000

Vertical Scale

1Steele (1960)

Figure 2. Stratigraphic column of Paleozoic rocks in the Goshute-Toano Range modified from Day and others (1987

and from McCollum and Miller (1991). The thickness of the Guilmette Formation is corrected from the erroneou

figure in Day and others (1987). The thicknesses of the Cambrian units are from the Silver Zone terrane, and they

therefore differ from those in Day and others (1987), which are from the Goshute plate. Triassic and Tertiary

sedimentary rocks are present, but because their thicknesses are totally unknown, they are not shown. Low-angle

faulting is pervasive and has affected the original thicknesses of all Paleozoic stratigraphic units to a greater or lesse

degree.
STRUCTURE 

schist. Some strata appear to be significantly thinner than

correlative unmetamorphosed strata in the central part of the

range, possibly owing to tectonic attenuation.

The Silver Zone terrane consists of two structural

plates separated by a poorly defined, approximately horizontal fault zone. Strata of the upper plate, composed of

Cambrian and Ordovician rocks, are folded into a northeastplunging, upright syncline. Strata of the lower plate,

composed of the same strata, are folded into a southeast-vergent, overturned anticline. The lower plate displays northto northwest-dipping overturned beds passing northward

through vertical to upright strata that dip to the southeast.

The overturned bedding attitude in southern exposures is

indicated especially by inverted stratigraphic order but also

by sparse inverted cross-beds, borings, and stromatolites.

The upright orientation of strata in northern exposures of the

lower plate is indicated by conspicuous, abundant, upright

cross-bedding.

The map-scale folding and subsequent duplication of

the Cambrian and Ordovician sequences are interpreted as

contractional features of probable Jurassic age. The normal

planar and listric faults are extensional structures of Tertiary

age. The horizontal fault zone is undated.

The Silver Zone terrane was intruded by the Middle

Jurassic Silver Zone Pass pluton (Miller and others, 1990).

This stock transects greenschist-grade metamorphic fabric

of the terrane, indicating that the metamorphism is Jurassic

or older.

DEAD CEDAR TERRANE

The Dead Cedar terrane is sporadically exposed

beneath the Ferguson Mountain terrane to the east and

southeast of Ferguson Mountain. Exposures consist principally of Middle and Upper Devonian carbonate rocks that

display large-scale upright folds, locally with vertical

limbs. Metamorphism and ductile deformation are

expressed as bleached marble, penetratively deformed

beds, stretched fossils, and microscopic foliation. The two

relatively large exposures of this terrane shown on figure 1

display northwest- and southeast-plunging anticlines. Several other exposures near Ferguson Mountain are outlined

on an unpublished detailed map of the Ferguson Mountain

quadrangle by John E. Welsh, consulting geologist. The

various outcrops of the Dead Cedar terrane are similar in

degree of deformation and metamorphism to the Silver

Zone terrane, but, because (1) these exposures are

geographically far from Silver Zone Pass, (2) the terrane

differs in orientation of folds, and (3) it consists of

different Paleozoic strata, it is given a different name.

GOSHUTE PLATE

The Goshute plate, which crops out extensively over

the southern two-thirds of the Goshute-Toano Range, is

composed of Cambrian to Mississippian shallow-

deposits totaling at least 4,500 m in thickness. The we

boundary of the Goshute plate consists of north-str

west-dipping basin-range normal faults not clearly ex

but identified by both physiographic and gravity data

eastern boundary of the plate is arbitrarily placed in fig

at the western margin of the Ferguson Mountain terran

two tracts actually overlap.

Rocks of the Goshute plate are relatively free 

folds and are not visibly metamorphosed. How

conodont color alteration indices (CAI) of Cambri

Mississippian strata indicate that the plate has been hea

a relatively high temperature. (Note: CAI values can 

from 1 to 7 or more. In undeformed sequences of sed

tary rocks free from igneous intrusions, they comm

correlate with depth of burial as indicated by stratigr

thicknesses of the original overlying rock column.) 

values in the Cambrian to Mississippian interval o

Goshute plate range randomly from 4 to 6, regardle

geographic or stratigraphic position (Karklins and o

1989). The lack of correlation between the tempera

attained as indicated by the CAI values and the dep

burial as indicated by stratigraphic position suggests th

original array of CAI values was thermally altered by 

sive rocks. We consider that tectonic frictional heat

probably too ephemeral to be an important factor in al

the original CAI values.

The sharp contrast in degree of folding and meta

phism between the Goshute plate and the Silver Zone 

and Dead Cedar terranes requires juxtaposition by fau

Unfortunately, the Silver Zone terrane is now c

separated from other tracts by high-angle faults of pro

Tertiary age, and the contact between the Dead Ceda

rane and other tracts is obscure. Tentatively, the Go

plate is herein interpreted to be underlain by extensio

the Silver Zone and Dead Cedar terranes, with a low-

fault contact. This interpretation implies duplicati

thick stratigraphic sequences and therefore contrac

deformation. Faults nearly parallel to bedding are pr

throughout the Goshute plate but are most common 

Middle to Upper Ordovician strata and in the Mississi

shale. Such faults are here interpreted to be extensiona

tures because they eliminate strata or result in signi

reduction in their thickness. If these interpretation

valid, the assumed contractional sole fault and the v

extensional internal faults must be genetically unrelate

satisfactory understanding of the apparent disparity bet

the nature of the sole fault and internal bedding-pa

faults awaits further study. The age of the internal e

sional faults can be inferred to be of Tertiary a

described under the heading “Ferguson Mountain Terr

Most of the Goshute plate has been warped into a n

trending, low-amplitude anticline and is cut by abu

incipient listric faults and bedding-parallel faults. It i

cut by a conspicuous set of convergent, planar, ve
6 TECTONIC, IGNEOUS, AND METAMORPHIC EVENTS, GOSHUTE-TOANO RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVA

R. 67 E. R. 68 E.

114°22'30" 

40°50'

40°52'30"

30

40

45 45

35

45 20 30

35

60

30

55 40

55

40 40

40

30

30

30

10 25

30 25

50

35

25

35 15

35

60 65

35

70 50

60

65

45

50

55

65

45

65

55

45

55

65 85

60

70

40

60

55 40

40

30 35

35

40

40

50

50

40

60

3065

20

20

70 30

30

40 25

25

50

45

35

25

QT

QTac

QTac Jsz

Cs

Cs

Cs

Cs

Os

Os

Os

Os

Ta

Ta

Mcd

Ps

PMs

MOs

Phs

Phs

Phs

 SILVER ZONE PASS PLUTON

SILVER ZONE TERRANE

(upper plate)

MORRIS BASIN BLO

ROSEBUD PLATE

SILVER ZONE TERRANE

(lower plate)

ANTI-FERGUSON MOUNTAIN BLOCK

SILVER ZONE

PASS QUAD

WEST MORRIS

BASIN QUAD

0

0

1 2 MILES

1 2 3 KILOMETERS

0.5

0.5

faults. The anticlinal axis, located by means of bedding

attitudes that do not appear to be strongly tilted by listric

faults, follows a sinuous path that trends northward, ending

at the southern margin of the Rosebud plate. Incipient listric

faults in the Goshute plate dip toward the east on the east

side of the anticlinal axis and to the west on the west side.

The relation of the anticline in the Goshute plate to

detachment faulting in younger strata is discussed 

heading “Ferguson Mountain Terrane.”

The planar vertical faults in the Goshute plate 

toward the Spring Gulch complex on the east s

range. Vertical offsets on these faults in the south

the array indicate relative uplift on the north side

the northern part of the array indicate uplift on 

Figure 3 (above and facing page). Geologic map of the north end of the Goshute-Toano Range, showing the anti-Ferguson 

block, the Silver Zone Pass pluton, and both upper and lower plates of the Silver Zone terrane. The Silver Zone terrane w

metamorphosed, and intruded by the Silver Zone Pass pluton in Jurassic time. The anti-Ferguson Mountain block is a listric f

of Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks derived from the Rosebud plate that broke loose and rotated down-to-the-east in Tertiary 

block includes tilted beds of avalanche, alluvium, and lake deposits derived principally from the Pennsylvanian and Permian roc

rotation of the block.
STRUCTURE 

DESCRIPTION OF MAP UNITS

MAP SYMBOLS

Alluvium and colluvium (Quaternary and Tertiary)—Unconsolidated sand and gravel

Avalanche and alluvial deposits (Tertiary)—Coarse breccia composed of clasts mainly from

 the anti-Ferguson Mountain block, alluvial conglomerate, and lake deposits. Much of this

 complex deposit is separated from underlying Mississippian and Cambrian strata by a curved

 fault; unit is tilted to the east

Silver Zone Pass pluton (Jurassic)—Grandodiorite stock that intruded metamorphosed

 Cambrian strata; intrusion age is 162 Ma and cooling age is 152 Ma (Miller and others, 1990)

Sedimentary rocks (Permian)—Silty, sandy limestone, dolomite, phosphatic and cherty rocks

Sedimentary rocks (Permian and Pennsylvanian)—Limestone and silty sandy limestone

Sedimentary rocks (Permian, Pennsylvanian, and Mississippian)—Limestone, dolomite,

 conglomerate, phosphatic, cherty rocks; part of Rosebud plate

Diamond Peak Formation and Chainman Shale, undivided (Mississippian)—Shale and

 conglomerate; probably separated from underlying Cambrian strata by a low-angle

 extensional fault

Sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks (Mississippian to Ordovician)—Limestone,

 dolomite, shale, quartzite, and conglomerate; part of the Morris Basin block; some strata are

 significantly metamorphosed and penetratively deformed 

Metasedimentary rocks (Ordovician)—Limestone, dolomite, shale, and quartzite; forms part

 of the Silver Zone terrane; slightly metamorphosed and, in places, penetratively deformed;

 folded to form a northeast-plunging syncline

Metasedimentary rocks (Cambrian)—Limestone, marble, shale, phyllite, and siltstone; forms

 part of Silver Zone terrane; metamorphosed and penetratively deformed; divided into two

 parts by thrust fault; strata below the thrust fault form part of an overturned anticline; strata

 above the thrust fault form part of a northeast-plunging syncline

QTac

Jsz

Cs

Os

Ta

Mcd

Ps

PMs

MOs

Phs

45

65

Contact

Normal fault—Ball on downthrown side

Thrust fault—Sawteeth on upper plate

Trough line of syncline—Showing direction of plunge

Attitude of beds—Showing degree of dip 

Upright

Overturned

Vertical

sides. As a result, the central part of the plate has been

elevated by these faults relative to the southern and northern

parts, and exposures in the center of the plate therefore contain the oldest stratigraphic units. The anticlinal axis is cut,

but not measurably offset, by all but one of these faults. The

most northerly vertical fault does appear to offset the axis,

however, and the evidence of age of the anticline in relation

to the age of the radial faults is therefore ambiguous. Crosscutting relations with other faults indicate that the radial

faults are of Tertiary age. The radial faults transect listric

and bedding-parallel faults that are confidently interpreted to

be of Tertiary age, but they do not cut the upper Miocene

rocks in the Spring Gulch complex.

MORRIS BASIN BLOCK

The Morris Basin block is an Ordovician to Miss

pian sequence separated from other principal struc

units by high-angle faults and segmented by low-

faults nearly parallel to bedding. Aligned mineral fab

the Devonian beds indicate some degree of metamorp

whereas the Ordovician and Mississippian beds are 

fected. Beds are less strongly folded than those of the S

Zone terrane. Although the block displays features of 

the Silver Zone terrane and the Goshute plate, the la

either large-scale folds or pervasive metamorphism a

more closely with the Goshute plate. Additional stu

required to resolve this ambiguity.
8 TECTONIC, IGNEOUS, AND METAMORPHIC EVENTS, GOSHUTE-TOANO RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVA

ROSEBUD PLATE

The Rosebud plate covers the Goshute plate in much of

the northern third of the Goshute-Toano Range. It lies

extensively on attenuated Mississippian shale and, less

extensively, on older carbonate rocks of the Goshute plate

with a low-angle fault contact.

The plate is composed mainly of earliest Pennsylvanian to mid-Permian strata that total more than 2,200 m in

thickness. Mississippian rocks may form part of the plate in

one area as described below. Triassic rocks are exposed

extensively in northeastern Nevada, and small remnants are

present within and near the Goshute-Toano Range. Prior to

their removal by erosion, the Rosebud plate undoubtedly

included extensive Triassic strata and probably younger

rocks as well. The Rosebud plate is segmented by steep,

incipient, listric and planar normal faults of small displacement but remains essentially intact.

Rocks of this plate are not metamorphosed, and, with

one exception, CAI values range from 1 to 3, representing

relatively low temperatures in contrast to uniformly higher

CAI values in the underlying Goshute plate.

The contact between the Goshute and Rosebud plates is

interpreted to be a low-angle fault nearly parallel with bedding. The evidence is in (1) the extreme attenuation and

elimination of Mississippian strata of the Goshute plate

immediately underlying the Rosebud plate, (2) local truncation of beds immediately above the contact, and (3) an

abrupt contrast in CAI values across the contact that

separates the plates.

The stratigraphic position of the contact between the

Rosebud and Goshute plates along the western margin of the

Rosebud plate north of lat 40°45′N. is uncertain. South of

this point, the underlying Mississippian strata are extremely

attenuated and consist mainly of shale and sandstone—the

contact with the overlying Rosebud plate is clearly a fault.

North of this point, the exposed Mississippian rocks are

composed of a relatively thick sequence of limestone and

conglomerate, and clear evidence of a fault along their contact with the overlying Pennsylvanian beds is lacking. In

this area, the sole fault may cut down-section and disappear

under Quaternary sediments. The Rosebud plate may, as a

result, include Mississippian strata at its base. More detailed

stratigraphic studies and more paleontological dating are

needed for a solution to this problem.

FERGUSON MOUNTAIN TERRANE

The Ferguson Mountain terrane lies to the east and

southeast of the southern part of the Goshute-Toano Range

and extends southeastward toward the Deep Creek Range,

covering an area of as much as 1,000 km2. Some of it almost

certainly lies buried under Quaternary sediments of the

Bonneville Salt Flats, which extend eastward from the

Goshute-Toano Range. Unpublished detailed geol

of the Ferguson Mountain and Ferguson Flat quad

John E. Welsh, consulting geologist, are the princ

mentation for the nature and extent of the Fergus

tain terrane, but structures in the Spring Gulch 

mapped by us are representative (Day and others, 

ner, 1997).

The terrane consists of tilted blocks, mainly o

vanian and Permian strata identical to those of th

plate and apparently derived from a former extens

plate. The blocks now lie widely dispersed, com

attenuated Mississippian shale of the Goshute pl

metamorphosed and strongly folded strata of the D

terrane. In addition to Pennsylvanian and Perm

some of the blocks include limestone beds of Tr

and limestone, tuff, sandstone, and rock-avalanch

of Tertiary age.

Nearly all of the blocks are tilted to the 

toward the Goshute-Toano Range or toward expos

Goshute plate south of White Horse Pass. The 

bounded by faults that are either curved or straig

view. Ferguson Mountain, a single very promi

block of 4 km2, is the largest block but in most oth

is typical. It is composed of Pennsylvanian an

strata, lies on attenuated Mississippian rocks, and 

the west.

The direction of Tertiary extension during fo

the Ferguson Mountain terrane is predominantly N

indicated by the strike of bedding in most of the tilt

The southern part of the Goshute plate adjac

Ferguson Mountain terrane is almost entirely d

upper Paleozoic and Triassic rocks of the Rose

Although it is not clear whether extensive translati

blocks of the Ferguson Mountain terrane has taken 

juxtaposition of the denuded part of the Goshute 

that terrane is suggestive. The denuded part of th

plate seems to be a probable source for some of the 

this terrane. The Ferguson Mountain terrane is 

absent adjacent to the northern part of the Gosh

Range where the Rosebud plate remains intact.

Formation of the Ferguson Mountain terrane

the anti-Ferguson Mountain block in the northern 

range, took place in the Tertiary, probably in th

middle Miocene. Tilted strata of the anti-Fergus

tain block in Silver Zone Basin were dated at abou

(40Ar/39Ar, sanidine). We dated a dike in the Gos

at 46.6±5.1 Ma (fission track, zircon) and 17.

(fission track, apatite)—these ages are here inte

indicate, respectively, the times of intrusion and o

unroofing of that plate.

Unroofing of the Goshute plate and tilting 

comprising the Ferguson Mountain terrane were 

prior to late Miocene, as indicated by stratigraphic

relations at Wildcat Peak. There, Pennsylvanian s
STRUCTURE 

to a near-vertical position are overlain by horizontal rhyolite

flows of 10.7±1.4 Ma (fission track, biotite).

The Rosebud plate in the northern part of the GoshuteToano Range is virtually intact, and, although it lies on

greatly attenuated Mississippian strata, it does not display

notable internal attenuation. However, many of the rotated

fault blocks comprising the Ferguson Mountain terrane

include abnormally thin Pennsylvanian and Permian strata

(John E. Welsh, consulting geologist, unpub. mapping). We

infer that the abnormally thin strata had been attenuated by

bedding-parallel faulting in part of the Rosebud plate prior

to its breakup.

The breakup of the Rosebud plate could take place only

during, or soon after, extension of the Goshute plate, which

removed laterally confining support and created the lateral

space into which blocks, spalled from the Rosebud plate,

could rotate and disperse. Because the rotation and dispersal are of Tertiary age, the stretching of the underlying

Goshute plate by attenuation faulting is most likely to be of

Tertiary age also.

As stated previously, the Goshute plate is warped to

form a north-trending anticline of low amplitude. The

question arises: what is the relation of the anticline to the

breakup of the Rosebud plate and formation of the Ferguson

Mountain terrane? Two hypotheses are suggested: (1) the

anticline is older than the breakup and caused the Rosebud

plate to break up and disperse both east and west, or (2) the

anticline is younger than the breakup and represents

isostatic rebound due to tectonic unroofing. A corollary of

the first hypothesis is that the late Paleozoic Rosebud plate

remains intact in the northern part of the range because the

anticline died out to the north. A corollary of the second

hypothesis is that the continued presence of the unextended

Rosebud plate in the northern part of the range accounts for

the northern termination of the anticline.

ANTI-FERGUSON MOUNTAIN BLOCK

The anti-Ferguson Mountain block in the northern

part of the Goshute-Toano Range is a tilted fault block

composed of a core of Pennsylvanian and Permian strata

derived from the Rosebud plate and a poorly stratified

mass of Tertiary deposits (fig. 3). The Paleozoic component of the block is segmented by a number of nested listric faults. The block lies partly on a Mississippian

remnant of the Goshute plate and partly on Cambrian and

Ordovician metamorphic rocks of the Silver Zone terrane.

Its structural position is analogous to that of the Ferguson

Mountain terrane, which lies partly on attenuated Mississippian shale of the Goshute plate and partly on metamorphosed rocks of the Dead Cedar terrane—an analog of the

Silver Zone terrane. The fault block is similar to Ferguson

Mountain in its Paleozoic stratigraphy and size, but it lies

on the west side of the range rather than the east side and is

tilted to the east rather than to the west—hence 

Ferguson Mountain”—a term invented for the purpo

discussion only.

The Tertiary component of the anti-Ferguson Mou

block consists of rock-avalanche, alluvial, and lake dep

Most large clasts of the avalanche and alluvial deposi

composed of Pennsylvanian and Permian rock derived 

the anti-Ferguson Mountain block, but a small propo

was derived from Cambrian rocks of the Silver Zone te

The Tertiary deposits of the anti-Ferguson Mountain 

are tilted to the east in the same manner as the Pale

strata comprising most of the block. The older Tertiary 

deposits dip about 40° to 45°, but the younger ones dip 

20° to 30°. This indicates the deposits accumulated i

trough formed between the rotating block and its sub

during rotation and, as they accumulated, became part 

rotating block.

We dated a tuff bed among tilted lake deposits i

upper part of the Tertiary sequence that dip about 30° a

Ma (40Ar/39Ar, sanidine). This dates rotation of the 

block as at least partly of middle Miocene or younger 

SPRING GULCH COMPLEX

The northwestern corner of the Ferguson Mountai

rane and part of the adjacent Goshute plate is designat

the Spring Gulch complex because it is the site of a 

intrusive body; tilted lake beds; tilted giant-clast, 

avalanche deposits; and a high concentration of Mi

volcanic rocks.

ROCK-AVALANCHE DEPOSITS

Avalanche deposits composed partly of giant cla

both upper and lower Paleozoic rock constitute part o

Ferguson Mountain terrane and the anti-Ferguson Mou

block. They constitute a large part of the Ferguson Mou

terrane in the Spring Gulch complex. Clasts of the dep

are generally angular and range in size from sand to 

than 1 km in greatest dimension. Those comprising p

the anti-Ferguson Mountain block are composed main

upper Paleozoic rocks, but those in the area of the S

Gulch complex were derived mainly from lower Pale

formations, commonly of Devonian age. The source of 

of the clasts in the vicinity of the anti-Ferguson Mou

block was the block itself as previously stated. Appar

as the block rotated, the slope of its oversteepened eas

was progressively reduced by repeated avalanches.

Avalanche deposits in the Spring Gulch area pro

were derived from adjacent exposures of the Goshute 

and it seems likely that they originated as rockfalls fro

upthrown sides of the vertical radial faults that segmen

plate and that converge toward the Spring Gulch 

(Ketner, 1994, 1997).
10 TECTONIC, IGNEOUS, AND METAMORPHIC EVENTS, GOSHUTE-TOANO RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVA

Most of the rock-avalanche deposits are interbedded

with Tertiary lake deposits. Evidently, lake sediments were

deposited in closed depressions on the surfaces of earlyformed avalanche deposits and were buried by subsequent

avalanches. Many of the avalanche deposits with their

enclosed lake beds are tilted by normal faulting, and, in one

place, Tertiary lake beds enclosed in avalanche deposits

were contorted possibly during emplacement of the overlying deposit or by later, renewed movement of the entire

mass.

INTRUSIVE ROCKS

SILVER ZONE PASS PLUTON

The Silver Zone Pass pluton is a coarse-grained biotitehornblende granodiorite stock exposed at the north end of

the mapped area and beyond (Glick, 1987). The geophysical

data of Grauch and others (1988) indicate the pluton extends

well beyond its outcrop area.

The pluton intruded Cambrian rocks of the Silver Zone

terrane, which, in this area, had been previously deformed

and metamorphosed to greenschist facies. Petrographic

features of the pluton, as well as its age, are discussed by

Miller and others (1990), whose data indicate a Middle

Jurassic age.

SPRING GULCH CHONOLITH AND

RELATED APLITIC DIKES

The Spring Gulch chonolith is a fine-grained leucocratic granite, perhaps more properly termed aplite. It forms

extensively exposed hypabyssal intrusive bodies centered in

the Spring Gulch complex. Geophysical evidence (Grauch

and others, 1988) and our gravity data indicate the chonolith

may extend well beyond the outcrop area in all directions.

The term “chonolith,” rather than sill or stock, is used

because of its complex shape as revealed in outcrops. Outcrops of the chonolith are commonly associated with

exposures of Mississippian shale and appear to lie mainly

within or just below the shale.

Phenocrysts, 1–3 mm in diameter, constituting as much

as 15 percent of the rock, are composed of anhedral quartz,

alkali feldspar, plagioclase, garnet, and abundant muscovite

set in a fine-grained groundmass of similar composition.

Ferromagnesian minerals are eliminated or altered almost

beyond recognition. Euhedral, oxidized pyrite is common.

Iron and manganese oxides form characteristic dendrites

along fractures in the generally very light colored rock.

Similar muscovite granites of various ages extend from

Canada to Mexico (Miller and others, 1987; Miller and

others, 1988; Miller and Bradfish, 1980).

The Spring Gulch chonolith is probably a 

two-mica granite as determined by microscopic c

with the two-mica Toano Springs pluton (Miller a

1990) (“Toana Range” pluton of Lee and oth

1986), which crops out just north of the map ar

Toano Springs pluton, muscovite contains biotite 

parallel with cleavage. In the more altered Spr

chonolith, layers of opaque matter in the muscov

to cleavage are interpreted to be the remains of bi

chonolith contrasts with the very coarse grain

Springs pluton, however, because the chonoli

grained and intensely bleached; it locally displa

argillic alteration; and its age is different.

Some dikes and small plugs within the Gos

are composed of leucocratic aplite. Although fin

size, these dikes are probably genetically associ

and correlative with, the Spring Gulch chonolith

their similar chemistry and mineralogy.

We determined the Spring Gulch chonolith to 

Jurassic age (156.4±0.23 Ma, 40Ar/39Ar, muscovit

DIKES AND SMALL STOCKS

Rhyodacite dikes and small granodiorite 

concentrated mainly in lower Paleozoic rocks of th

plate. The dikes are medium- to fine-graine

plagioclase rhyodacite porphyry. Phenocrysts inc

dral to subhedral glomerocrysts of plagioclase, 

biotite, and subhedral hornblende. Moderate to hi

of alteration of both groundmass and phenocryst

duced chlorite after biotite and hornblende, sericit

cite after plagioclase. A rhyodacite dike in the Go

yielded fission track ages of 46.6±5.1 Ma (zi

17.6±2.6 Ma (apatite). We interpret these ages t

respectively, a middle Eocene time of intrusion an

Miocene time of tectonic unroofing. The latt

important as an indicator of the time of format

Ferguson Mountain terrane by breakup and dispe

Rosebud plate.

Eocene granodiorite forms a very few smal

lower Paleozoic rocks of the Goshute plate. These 

smaller than the granodioritic Silver Zone Pass pl

a higher ratio of hornblende to biotite, and are muc

A granodiorite stock in the southern part of the ran

ages of 36.9±4.6 Ma (fission track, apatite) and 36

(zircon).

Widely scattered, small, irregular and tab

bodies intruding the Goshute plate range from 

diorite. The mafic rocks are in the form of dikes in 

strata and sills in the Mississippian shale. They 

moderately altered, coarse-grained thatches of a

pyroxene, and plagioclase set in a small amount of 

fine-grained quartz and feldspar.
SUMMARY 

VOLCANIC ROCKS

Volcanic rocks are extensively exposed along the eastern side of the Goshute-Toano Range but are concentrated in

the Spring Gulch complex near the center of the range.

Rhyolitic flows and domes are greatly predominant over

intercalated rhyolitic tuffs and lahar deposits.

Almost all of the volcanic rocks were erupted after tilting of structural blocks had ceased. Fission-track dates of

samples from untilted flows at six scattered localities

indicate that the rhyolite flows and domes erupted during the

middle and late Miocene. These determinations, which are

closely clustered, have a mean age of 11.4±1.0 Ma.

A thin tuff bed in a moderately tilted deposit of landslides, alluvium, and lake deposits in Silver Zone Basin

yielded a middle Miocene age, as previously stated.

SUMMARY

Three principal structural levels separated by major

low-angle faults are recognized among Paleozoic rocks in

the Goshute-Toano Range. The Silver Zone and Dead Cedar

terranes are interpreted as the footwall rocks of an extensive

low-angle fault and comprise the lowest of the three structural levels. The overlying Goshute plate represents the middle structural level. The Rosebud plate, the Ferguson

Mountain terrane, and the anti-Ferguson Mountain block

constitute the uppermost of the three levels. The rocks of all

three levels were brittlely deformed by low- and high-angle

planar faults and by listric faults.

The three structural levels correspond to three thermal

levels. Rocks of the lowest structural level have been metamorphosed to the greenschist grade. Carbonate rocks are

recrystallized to marble; shales are phyllitic and locally

schistose. Locally, some beds are penetratively deformed.

Rocks of the middle structural level, the Goshute plate, were

heated to moderate levels according to their relatively high

CAI values but were not significantly recrystallized or

penetratively deformed. Upper Paleozoic rocks of the upper

structural level were only slightly heated and are completely

free from any recrystallization or penetrative deformation.

Lower-level rocks were intruded in Middle Jurassic

time by the Silver Zone Pass pluton, a granodiorite stock that

transected metamorphic fabric. Middle-level strata were

intruded in Late Jurassic time by fine-grained two-mica

granitic bodies of irregular shape and in Late Jurassic to middle Miocene time by stocks, dikes, and sills. Upper-level

strata lack outcrops of intrusive rocks of any kind.

Map-scale folds, metamorphism, and outcrop-scale

penetrative deformation in the Silver Zone terrane represents deformation at relatively great depth. Duplication of

the Cambrian and Ordovician sequences by thrusting within

the Silver Zone terrane represents more brittle deformation

and probably took place at shallower depth. In any event,

map-scale folds, especially if they are overturned

repetition of strata commonly are considered to be co

tional features, and we interpret those features display

the Silver Zone terrane as such. The folds and metamo

fabric of the Silver Zone terrane were cut by the Ju

Silver Zone Pass pluton and are therefore older. D

evidence for a more precise date is lacking in the Gos

Toano Range, but evidence from the region generally p

to a Jurassic age (Miller and others, 1987; Thorman 

others, 1991).

Attenuation faults in the Goshute plate are interp

to represent extensional deformation. Breakup of the 

bud plate and dispersal of the resulting blocks could 

place only during or immediately after extension of the 

strate by near-bedding-parallel faulting. Such fa

removed laterally confining support and created spac

the blocks to occupy. Because the rotation of block

their dispersal is of Tertiary age, the extension o

Goshute plate by attenuation faulting, especially evid

the Mississippian strata but present at lower levels al

most likely to be of Tertiary age also.

If the Goshute plate structurally overlies the S

Zone and Dead Cedar terranes on a low-angle fault as 

tentatively interpreted, the resulting repetition of 

sequences of Paleozoic strata must be regarded as a co

tional feature. More data are needed to resolve the dis

ancy between the apparently contractional nature o

putative sole fault of the Goshute plate and the extens

nature of the internal attenuation faults. Although it s

likely that the internal attenuation faults are of Tertiary 

the time of assumed emplacement of the Goshute plate 

substrate cannot be determined without more data.

Although strata of the Rosebud plate are genera

normal stratigraphic sequence with those of the under

Goshute plate, we interpret the contact to be tectonic be

the Mississippian strata at the top of the Goshute pla

greatly attenuated, overlying strata are truncated locally

there is an abrupt contrast between the CAI values abov

below the contact. The attenuation of the Mississi

strata and the younger-on-older relation are interpret

indicate the sole fault is an extensional feature rather t

contractional one.

The part of the original Rosebud plate remaining 

in the northern part of the range does not appear 

reduced in thickness by bedding-parallel faults. In con

some strata in some of the rotated blocks derived fro

Rosebud plate, and now forming part of the Ferguson M

tain terrane, are abnormally thin. Evidently they had 

thinned by near-bedding-parallel faults before fault 

movement, but why this had taken place in the souther

of the range and not in the northern part is unknown.

The Ferguson Mountain terrane and the anti-Ferg

Mountain block clearly display several near-su

extensional features including dispersal of structural bl

tilting of the blocks toward their source area, stratigr
12 TECTONIC, IGNEOUS, AND METAMORPHIC EVENTS, GOSHUTE-TOANO RANGE, ELKO COUNTY, NEVA

attenuation of the substrate of the blocks, and attenuation of

strata within the blocks.

The age of extension is clear. The Goshute plate was

unroofed in the early Miocene: rocks as young as middle

Miocene are included in tilted blocks, and late Miocene

volcanic rocks are untilted.

Near-vertical radial faults of the Goshute plate are latephase features. They cut Tertiary, probably Miocene, extensional faults but do not cut late Miocene volcanic rocks.

Topographic relief caused by vertical movement on the

radial faults are the probable cause of the mega-block

avalanche deposits, which are concentrated at the radialfault focal point in the Spring Gulch complex.

The nature and origin of many structural features of the

Goshute-Toano Range remain obscure, and the range

provides exciting opportunities for future research.

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