Raising the Colorado Plateau

Abstract

Research Article| January 01, 2000 Raising the Colorado Plateau Nadine McQuarrie; Nadine McQuarrie 1Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Clement G. Chase Clement G. Chase 1Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Nadine McQuarrie 1Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Clement G. Chase 1Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 21 May 1999 Revision Received: 27 Sep 1999 Accepted: 05 Oct 1999 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2000) 28 (1): 91–94. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)028<0091:RTCP>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 21 May 1999 Revision Received: 27 Sep 1999 Accepted: 05 Oct 1999 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Nadine McQuarrie, Clement G. Chase; Raising the Colorado Plateau. Geology 2000;; 28 (1): 91–94. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)028<0091:RTCP>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Shallow-marine rocks exposed on the 2-km-high, 45-km-thick Colorado Plateau in the western United States indicate that it was near sea level during much of the Phanerozoic. Isostatic calculations, however, illuminate the difficulty in maintaining a 45-km-thick crust at or near sea level. We propose that an isostatically balanced, 30-km-thick, proto–Colorado Plateau crust was thickened during the Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary by intracrustal flow out of an overthickened Sevier orogenic hinterland. This plateau would have been supported by a thick (>70 km) crustal root, which is proposed to have been the source region for hot and weak mid-crustal material that flowed eastward from the plateau toward the low-elevation proto–Colorado Plateau. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.