Geology of North America
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2008-07-08T23:14:31Z
Kyle the bot
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robot Adding: [[fr:Géologie des États-Unis]]
[[Image:North america rock types.jpg|thumb|100px|right|[[:Image:North america rock sedimentary.jpg|Sedimentary]], [[:Image:North america rock volcanic.jpg|volcanic]], [[:Image:North america rock plutonic.jpg|plutonic]], [[:Image:North america rock metamorphic.jpg|metamorphic]] rock types of [[North America]].]]
The [[geology]] of [[North America]], like most topics of scientific study, is undergoing progressive investigation by numerous [[public sector|public-]] and [[private sector|private-sector]] [[Earth science|earth scientists]], academicians, and students. In that regard, the detailed picture is subject to revision and change as knowledge advances.
==Geologic provinces==
The [[Continental United States|lower 48 U.S. states]] can be divided into roughly five [[physiography|physiographic]] provinces:
# The [[American cordillera]].
# The [[Canadian Shield]].
# The stable platform.
# The coastal plain.
# The [[Appalachian]] [[orogeny|orogenic]] belt.
The geology of [[Alaska]] is typical of that of the cordillera, while the major islands of [[Hawaii]] consist of [[Neogene]] [[volcano|volcanics]] erupted over a [[hot spot]].
[[Image:Hoodoos in Cedar Breaks.jpeg|thumb|left|Cedar Breaks National Monument, [[Utah]].]]
The American cordillera extends roughly from the [[Great Plains]] westward to the [[Pacific Ocean]], narrowing somewhat from north to south. It includes the [[Cascades]], [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]], and [[Basin and Range]] province; the [[Rocky Mountains]] are sometimes excluded from the cordillera proper, in spite of their tectonic history. The geology of this region is complex, having gone through numerous orogenies, with their associated deformation, [[faults|faulting]], [[volcano|volcanic]] activity, and periods of uplift separated by intervals of erosion. Much of the cordillera consists of [[terrane]]s, ancient microcontinents and [[island arc]]s that were "welded" onto the [[North American craton]] during the [[Paleozoic]] and [[Mesozoic]] eras. Such a convoluted history is typical of convergent plate boundaries, as has characterized the cordillera through most of the [[Phanerozoic]]. Although the [[Colorado Plateau]] is near the cordillera, it has remained tectonically stable, with little deformation.
The [[Canadian Shield]] consists of surficial, deeply eroded [[Precambrian]] rocks, exhumed by past [[glaciation]]s. Consisting of a variety of rocks from [[igneous]] to ancient [[sedimentary]], it is well-exposed only in the [[Great Lakes]] region.
A large part of the center of the lower 48 consists of the stable (or continental) platform. Here, the Precambrian rocks of the Shield are buried beneath sedimentary Phanerozoic strata. Tectonic activity is minor to nonexistent, with occasional broad [[dome (geology)|domes]] and [[basin (geology)|basins]] that reveal mild epeirogenic deformation.
[[Image:Rockies USA1.jpg|thumb|300px|Colorado Rockies]]
The coastal plain extends from the southern tip of [[Texas]] across the northern [[Gulf of Mexico]] and into the [[Mississippi embayment]], and northeast through the [[Mid-Atlantic]] states. A classic passive [[continental margin]], it consists of a deep [[clastic wedge]] of sediment eroded from the platform and mountain belts; it first formed during the opening of the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and Gulf of Mexico during the [[Jurassic]] and [[Cretaceous]] periods.
The Appalachian orogenic belt extends from well into [[New England]] south into [[Mississippi]] and [[Alabama]]. The [[Ouachita Mountains]] of [[Arkansas]], and even the [[Marathon uplift]] of Texas are also part of the same province, having all formed in the [[Alleghenian orogeny]] that took place when [[Pangea]] assembled during the late Paleozoic. Once lofty, they have been heavily weathered since the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. The Appalachians proper consist of deformed sedimentary rocks, cut through by numerous thrust faults; as in the western cordillera, the Appalachians experienced several orogenies over the course of the Paleozoic, making their geologic history difficult to interpret.
==[[Geology of the Rocky Mountains]]==
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*[[Burgess Shale]]
*[[Cloverly Formation]]
*[[Columbia Icefield]]
*[[Dakota Hogback]]
*[[Dakota Sandstone]]
*[[Denver Basin]]
*[[Geology of the Grand Teton area]]
*[[Gold mining in Colorado]]
*[[Grand Mesa]]
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*[[Great Divide Basin]]
*[[Green River Formation]]
*[[La Garita Caldera]]
*[[Lance Formation]]
*[[Laramide orogeny]]
*[[Morrison Formation]]
*[[Pikes Peak granite]]
*[[Powder River Basin]]
*[[Raton Basin]]
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*[[Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists]]
*[[Rocky Mountain Trench]]
*[[Silver mining in Colorado]]
*[[Sundance Sea]]
*[[Triple Divide Peak]]
*[[Uranium mining in Colorado]]
*[[Uranium mining in Wyoming]]
*[[Western Interior Seaway]]
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{{wide image|Grand Canyon - North Rim Panorama - Sept 2004.jpg|1111px|View from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon}}
==Seismic faults==
*[[Basin and Range Province]]
*[[Clarendon-Linden fault system]]
*[[Humboldt fault]]
*[[Moab Fault]]
*[[New Madrid Seismic Zone]]
*[[Seattle Fault]]
*[[Wasatch Fault]]
===Faults in California===
[[Image:Sanandreas.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Map of the [[San Andreas Fault]], showing relative motion.]]
*[[Calaveras Fault]]
*[[Clayton-Marsh Creek-Greenville Fault]]
*[[Elsinore Fault Zone]]
*[[Garlock Fault]]
*[[Hayward Fault Zone]]
*[[Healdsburg Fault]]
*[[Mendocino Fracture Zone]]
*[[Monta Vista Fault]]
*[[Newport-Inglewood Fault]]
*[[Raymond Fault]]
*[[San Andreas Fault]]
*[[San Gabriel Fault]]
*[[Sierra Nevada Fault]]
*[[Silver Creek Fault]]
*[[Tesla Fault]]
*[[White Wolf Fault]]
*[[Whittier Fault]]
==Mines==
*[[:Category: Coal mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Copper mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Diamond mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category: Gold mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Iron mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Mercury mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Quarries in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Silver mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Sulfur mines in the United States]]
*[[:Category:Zinc mines in the United States]]
==Geology of U.S. states==
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*[[Geology of Alabama]]
*[[Geology of Connecticut]]
*[[Geology of Delaware]]
*[[Geology of Georgia (U.S. State)|Geology of Georgia]]
*[[Geology of Idaho]]
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*[[Geology of Illinois]]
*[[Iowa geology|Geology of Iowa]]
*[[Geology of Kansas]]
*[[Geology of Minnesota]]
*[[Geology of New Jersey]]
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*[[Geology of Oklahoma]]
*[[Geology of Pennsylvania]]
*[[Geology of Tennessee]]
*[[Geology of Texas]]
*[[Geology of West Virginia]]
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== Related images ==
<gallery>
Image:North america terrain 2003 map.jpg|[[North America]] bedrock and terrain.
Image:North america basement rocks.png|[[North America]]n [[craton]]s and basement rocks.
Image:Pleistocene north ice map.jpg|The maximum extent of [[ice age|glacial ice]] in the north polar area during [[Pleistocene]] time.
Image:US cretaceous general.jpg|Generalized geographic map of the [[United States]] in [[Late Cretaceous]] time.
Image:US pennsylvanian general.jpg|Generalized geographic map of the [[United States]] in Middle [[Pennsylvanian]] time.
</gallery>
==See also==
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*[[Geology of the Pacific Northwest]]
*[[Geology of the Yosemite area]]
*[[Absaroka sequence]]
*[[Acadian orogeny]]
*[[Anadarko Basin]]
*[[Chazy Formation]]
*[[:Category:Driftless Area]]
*[[Fort Payne Formation]]
*[[Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel]]
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*[[Geology of the Appalachians]]
*[[Geothermal features of Yellowstone]]
*[[Hawaiian Islands]]
*[[Ice Age National Scientific Reserve]]
*[[Laurentide ice sheet]]
*[[Kaskaskia sequence]]
*[[Laramide orogeny]]
*[[Meramec (series)]]
*[[Mountain peaks of North America]]
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*[[Queenston Delta]]
*[[Ridge-and-valley Appalachians]]
*[[Sauk sequence]]
*[[Sevier orogeny]]
*[[St. Louis Limestone]]
*[[Ste. Genevieve Limestone]]
*[[Taconic orogeny]]
*[[Tejas sequence]]
*[[Tippecanoe sequence]]
*[[Western Interior Seaway]]
*[[Zuñi sequence]]
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==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Marshak, Stephen. (2001) ''Earth: Portrait of a Planet'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-97423-5. pp. 339-44, 401-2.
==External links==
*[http://geology.about.com/od/usageologicmaps/ Geologic Maps of the U.S. from About.com]
* [http://tapestry.usgs.gov/Default.html A Tapestry of Time and Terrain: The Union of Two Maps - Geology and Topography (USGS)]
[[Category:Regional geology|North America]]
[[Category:Natural history of North America]]
[[Category:Geography of North America]]
[[fr:Géologie des États-Unis]]