Roc Doc Travel

Sevier Thrust Faults in Southern Nevada Thrust faults in southern Nevada formed because of tectonic collisions during the Sevier orogeny (Cretaceous, about 160-60 million years), which shoved continental shelf and margin sedimentary rock layers eastward by at least 50 km.   Watch this video flyover on YouTube by clicking on the picture or the link:  https://youtu.be/tsIOEjypEcQ Wheeler Pass Thrust See in YouTube:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFzsFXEs6aA This thrust places the early Proterozoic (1.6 to 2.5 billion years) Stirling Quartzite over the much younger Mississippian and Pennsylvanian strata (between 360 and 300 million years).  A close-up view of the thrust in Wheeler Pass. Looking northeast from Wheeler Pass along the fault.  The Stirling Quartzite is the lighter colored rocks above the thrust. Gass Peak Thrust To the east of Wheeler Pass is Gass Peak and its namesake thrust, which are interpreted as correlative. The current Google aerial...

 Mountain Pass, California Sevier-Laramide Project See the southernmost exposures of the Cretaceous Sevier orogeny! Mountain Pass in southeastern California is the site of America's most important rare earth element (REE) mine.  The mine lies in the footwall just below the early to mid-Cretaceous Keystone thrust, part of the Sevier orogeny and one of North America's largest thrust faults.   Mountain Pass is on Interstate 15 between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  Las Vegas is shown at the upper right; the closed solar plant at Ivanpah is the three dark blotches in the valley NE of the pass.  Millions have seen this location as they drive by, but few have know the site's significance. Looking north from west of the mine, the Keystone thrust (red) places Cambrian strata over the Proterozolic granitic rocks, including the unusual rock called carbonatite that hosts the REEs. The carbonatite intruded into this leucogranite, which contains almost no dark minerals....

  Sevier-Laramide Project Introduction The Sevier-Laramide Project is a publicly-accessible archive of photos, videos, maps, and papers that document exposures of Sevier and Laramide faults and folds from southern California to northern Montana.  They were acquired by Dr. Robert W. Clayton, professor of Geology at Brigham Young University - Idaho during a 2025 Sabbatical.  All materials here and on YouTube are copyrighted, but rights are hereby granted for photos and videos to be used for personal or educational, non-commercial use in homes, classrooms, seminars, and museums.  Maps and papers from the USGS and Forest Service are free to use, but papers from professional societies and scientific publishers should be fully cited as being from their publishers. What's Are The Sevier and Laramide Orogenies? An "orogeny" is a mountain-building event. The Sevier orogeny took place in the western U.S. between about 140 and 60 million years ago along a band that roughly para...

Cody, Wyoming Area Yellowstone Region: East Entrance Explore spectacular folded mountain ranges and one of Earth's biggest prehistoric landslides!

  Watkins Glen State Park, New York Google Earth view looking upstream, eastward, from Watkins Glen. Geology of Watkins Glen State Park Surficial geologic map of the Watkins Glen area. Glen Creek cuts across glacial gravels and down through the ancient bedrock.        Glacial deposits are orange, light pink, purple, and brownish orange, and are made of gravel.  The red pattern is the bedrock seen in the canyon. The olive color around Seneca Lake is river deposits.      During the last ice age, this area was covered by the continental ice sheet flowing southeastward out of Canada.  Where the ice was able to carry sediments and loose bedrock away, it carved out the 11 Finger Lakes.        Contrary to popular thought, glaciers are not like "bulldozers" -- they are not dense enough to push large amounts of sediment and rock.  Instead, they are very effective conveyor belts that drag material along their bot...