Paleobotanical evidence for high altitudes in Nevada during the Miocene

Jack A. Wolfe, Howard E. Schorn, Chris E. Forest, Peter Molnar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

168 Scopus citations

Abstract

Leaf physiognomy provides estimates of environmental parameters, including mean annual enthalpy, which is a thermodynamic parameter of the atmosphere that varies with altitude. Analyses of 12 mid-Miocene floras from western Nevada indicate that this part of the Basin and Range Province stood ~3 kilometers above sea level at 15 to 16 million years ago, which is 1 to 1.5 kilometers higher than its present altitude. Much, if not all, of the collapse to present-day altitudes seems to have been achieved by ~13 million years ago. The crust in much of this area has been extended and thinned throughout the past 40 to 50 million years, and the isostatic balance of a thinning crust requires subsidence, not uplift as suggested by previous paleobotanical work.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1672-1675
Number of pages4
JournalScience
Volume276
Issue number5319
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 13 1997

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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