Abstract
A plethora of names has been applied to upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician lithostratigraphic units distributed from western Utah to southeastern and central Nevada. We report comprehensive stratigraphic analysis utilizing lithologic, conodont, brachiopod, sequence stratigraphic, and carbon isotope data from several ranges in southeastern Nevada. Those data demonstrate that upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician strata in that area belong to a variety of depositional systems that can be integrated into a comprehensive and functional depositional model that span carbonate tidal flat to shallow marine carbonate ramp to shelf to deep marine settings. Most of these strata should be placed within a single lithostratigraphic nomenclature based on the well-known Notch Peak Formation and House Limestone of western Utah. Strata of the Whipple Cave Formation in the South Egan Range, Nevada are reassigned to the three members of the Notch Peak Formation. Strata assigned to the Nopah Formation and Pogonip Group by geologic mappers who worked in the Delamar Mountains, Meadow Valley Mountains, Sheep Range, andArrow Canyon Range in Nevada are reassigned to the Notch Peak Formation and overlying House Limestone. Coeval strata farther west record a deeper marine depositional setting and are appropriately assigned to the Windfall Formation and Goodwin Limestone. Conodonts and sequence stratigraphic packages identified from slope deposits of the Hales Limestone at Tybo Canyon in the Hot Creek Range allow correlation to the Notch Peak Formation and House Limestone in western Utah.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 101-168 |
| Number of pages | 68 |
| Journal | Stratigraphy |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024, Micropaleontology Press. All rights reserved.
Funding
J.F. Miller\u2019s research was funded by National Science Foundation Grants EAR 8108621, EAR 8407281, EAR 8804352, EAR 0642405 and by several Faculty Research Grants from Missouri State University. R.L. Freeman\u2019s research was supported partially by a College Research Activity Award from the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. Repetski\u2019s conodont research was conducted during his USGS Great Basin studies in the late 1970\u2019s and early 1980\u2019s. Louise Miersch Miller, Jason Miller, and John and David Miersch all assisted with field work at various times. B.F. Dattilo acknowledges Steve Rowland, who identified the stratigraphic problem in Nevada. Dattilo also acknowledges assistance in the field from Andrew Hanson and several undergraduate geology students at University of Nevada Las Vegas, including Stephan Hlohowskyj, Stephanie Mrozek, and Kuwana Dyer-Pietras. Steve Rowland read a draft of this manuscript and suggested changes that improved the final version. Randy Orndorff also reviewed a draft of this manuscript, and his comments greatly improved the final text, and an additional anon-ymous reviewer made several suggestions that were incorporated into the final manuscript. The authors are especially indebted to John Cutler, who was a volunteer field assistant during nearly 20 years of research by Miller and Evans in Utah and Nevada. He gained an appreciation of the Great Basin as a Ph.D. candidate in geology at Columbia University when he served as field assistant to Marshal Kay in Nevada. John died in late November 2022 during preparation of this manuscript. He was 85 years old and a victim of Covid-19. John\u2019s image is shown in Miller et al. (2012, fig. 126). J.F. Miller\u2019s research was funded by National Science Foundation Grants EAR 8108621, EAR 8407281, EAR 8804352, EAR 0642405 and by several Faculty Research Grants from Missouri State University. R.L. Freeman\u2019s research was supported partially by a College Research Activity Award from the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences. Repetski\u2019s conodont research was conducted during his USGS Great Basin studies in the late 1970\u2019s and early 1980\u2019s. Louise Miersch Miller, Jason Miller, and John and David Miersch all assisted with field work at various times. B.F. Dattilo acknowledges Steve Rowland, who identified the stratigraphic problem in Nevada. Dattilo also acknowledges assistance in the field from Andrew Hanson and several undergraduate geology students at University of Nevada Las Vegas, including Stephan Hlohowskyj, Stephanie Mrozek, and Kuwana Dyer-Pietras. Steve Rowland read a draft of this manuscript and suggested changes that improved the final version. Randy Orndorff also reviewed a draft of this manuscript, and his comments greatly improved the final text, and an additional anonymous reviewer made several suggestions that were incorporated into the final manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Kuwana Dyer-Pietras | |
| Missouri Western State University | |
| University of Kentucky Graduate School, College of Arts and Sciences | |
| University of Nevada, Las Vegas | |
| Miller and Evans in Utah and Nevada | |
| John and David Miersch | |
| Columbia University | |
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program | EAR 8804352, EAR 0642405, EAR 8407281, EAR 8108621 |
| National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program |
Keywords
- brachiopods
- Cambrian–Ordovician stratigraphy
- carbon isotopes
- conodonts
- Nevada
- sequence stratigraphy
- Utah
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Paleontology
