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Geology along the Yuba Pass and Highway 70 corridors: A complex history of tectonics and magmatism in the northern Sierra Nevada

May 9, 2023

This field trip traverses a cross section of northern Sierra Nevada geology and landscape along two major corridors, Highway 49 (Yuba Pass) and Highway 70. These highways, and adjacent roadways, offer roadcuts, outcrops, and overviews through diverse pre-Cenozoic metamorphic rocks along the Laurentian margin, Mesozoic batholithic rocks, and Miocene volcanic rocks. Observing this array of rocks on a single trip provides an opportunity to examine the progression of tectonic forces in this region since the Paleozoic Era. Inspiration for this trip is a 1:100,000-scale geologic map and geophysical maps of the Portola 30′ × 60′ quadrangle that integrate decades of published and unpublished mapping with new geophysical data. The quadrangle map will seamlessly depict a geologically complex region along the boundary between the Sierra Nevada and Basin and Range provinces, dominated by transtensional tectonics of the Walker Lane. This field trip highlights many of the major units of the geologic map and will also feature new geochronological data on plutonic rocks.

Publication Year 2023
Title Geology along the Yuba Pass and Highway 70 corridors: A complex history of tectonics and magmatism in the northern Sierra Nevada
DOI 10.1130/2023.0065(02)
Authors Michelle Roberts, Victoria Langenheim, Richard A. Schweickert, Richard E. Hanson
Publication Type Book Chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Index ID 70246240
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
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