Permian and Triassic rocks near Quinn River Crossing, Humboldt County, Nevada, consist of four structural blocks: (1) a Lower Permian volcanic block; (2) a Permian(?) chert-arenite block; (3) a Lower Permian limestone block; and (4) a Permian and Triassic block. The contacts between the Permian volcanic block and the others are interpreted as thrust faults or glide surfaces. None of these rocks are metamorphosed, in contrast to those of the surrounding mountain ranges. Each of the blocks is lithically similar in some respects to rocks of the Osgood Mountains area 80 km to the southeast. The fusulinid and brachiopod faunas of two of the blocks display affinities to those of the McCloud Limestone of northern California and the Coyote Butte Limestone of central Oregon, and the fauna of another block has elements in common with autochthonous rocks of eastern Nevada and Utah.
All four blocks probably are allochthonous with respect to the rocks exposed in the surrounding mountain ranges, but their points of origin remain obscure. The rocks at Quinn River Crossing provide a link among the Permian rocks of north-central Nevada, northern California, and central Oregon and a possible key to their original relations, but more comparative data are needed.
