Neogene Deformation between Central Utah and the Mojave Desert

Book excerpt: "This book is a must-read for researchers interested in extensional tectonics in general and the Neogene tectonics of the Basin and Range in particular, because it challenges, on the basis of more than 50 years of field studies, the existing paradigm of province-wide uniformly large extension and replaces it with a model integrating extension with extension-normal shortening-both as primary strains. The first chapter takes the reader on two journeys southwestward from central Utah through the Lake Mead area: the first to emphasize the lack of uniformly distributed or integrated extension and the second to highlight left-lateral shear at 13 localities along the east margin of the Basin and Range that is kinematically compatible with right-lateral shear along the west margin. The compatibility provides a basis for understanding the extreme Neogene tectonics of the Lake Mead area. The second chapter summarizes multifaceted field evidence from the well-studied eastern Lake Mead area as a focused example of the need for a complete revision of the extensional paradigm." -- Publisher's description.