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Geology of the Yucca Mountain site area, southwestern Nevada

January 1, 2007

Yucca Mountain in southwestern Nevada is a prominent, irregularly shaped upland formed by a thick apron of Miocene pyroclastic-flow and fallout tephra deposits, with minor lava flows, that was segmented by through-going, large-displacement normal faults into a series of north-trending, eastwardly tilted structural blocks. The principal volcanic-rock units are the Tiva Canyon and Topopah Spring Tuffs of the Paintbrush Group, which consist of volumetrically large eruptive sequences derived from compositionally distinct magma bodies in the nearby southwestern Nevada volcanic field, and are classic examples of a magmatic zonation characterized by an upper crystal-rich (>10% crystal fragments) member, a more voluminous lower crystal-poor (

Publication Year 2007
Title Geology of the Yucca Mountain site area, southwestern Nevada
DOI 10.1130/2007.1199(03)
Authors W. Keefer, J.W. Whitney, D.C. Buesch
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title Memoir of the Geological Society of America
Index ID 70035635
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
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