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The Nevadan Orogeny was a major mountain building event that took place along the western edge of ancient North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 between the Mid to Late Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 (between about 180 and 140 million years ago). The Nevadan orogeny
Orogeny

Orogeny refers to natural mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event, and a chronological event: orogenic events cause distinctive structural phenomena and related tectonic activity, affect certain regions of rocks and crust, and happen within a specific period of time....
 was the first of three major mountain building episodes to transform Western North America between the Late Mesozoic
Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era is one of three Geologic time scale of the Phanerozoic eon . The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the 'Mesozoic' was 'Secondary' ....
 and Early Cenozoic
Cenozoic

The Cenozoic Era...
 Eras, the latter two being the Sevier
Sevier orogeny

The Sevier orogeny was a mountain-building event that affected western North America from Canada to the north to Mexico to the south. This orogeny was the result of convergent boundary tectonism between approximately 140 million years ago, and 50 Ma....
 and Laramide orogeny
Laramide orogeny

The Laramide orogeny was a period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 70 to 80 million years ago, and ended 35 to 55 million years ago....
, chronologically.






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The Nevadan Orogeny was a major mountain building event that took place along the western edge of ancient North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 between the Mid to Late Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 (between about 180 and 140 million years ago). The Nevadan orogeny
Orogeny

Orogeny refers to natural mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event, and a chronological event: orogenic events cause distinctive structural phenomena and related tectonic activity, affect certain regions of rocks and crust, and happen within a specific period of time....
 was the first of three major mountain building episodes to transform Western North America between the Late Mesozoic
Mesozoic

The Mesozoic Era is one of three Geologic time scale of the Phanerozoic eon . The division of time into eras dates back to Giovanni Arduino, in the 18th century, although his original name for the era now called the 'Mesozoic' was 'Secondary' ....
 and Early Cenozoic
Cenozoic

The Cenozoic Era...
 Eras, the latter two being the Sevier
Sevier orogeny

The Sevier orogeny was a mountain-building event that affected western North America from Canada to the north to Mexico to the south. This orogeny was the result of convergent boundary tectonism between approximately 140 million years ago, and 50 Ma....
 and Laramide orogeny
Laramide orogeny

The Laramide orogeny was a period of mountain building in western North America, which started in the Late Cretaceous, 70 to 80 million years ago, and ended 35 to 55 million years ago....
, chronologically. Much like the two orogenies that followed, the Nevadan was caused by the subduction
Subduction

In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent boundary by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate, sinking into the Earth's mantle, as the plates converge....
 of oceanic lithosphere
Oceanic crust

Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or Sima ....
 at a subduction zone running along the edge of the North American continent. This resulted in relatively cool oceanic crust
Oceanic crust

Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or Sima ....
 descending into the lithosphere
Lithosphere

File:Plates tect2 en.svgFile:Earth-crust-cutaway-english.svgThe lithosphere is the rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet....
 very quickly, and steeply beneath the edge of the continent
Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents ? they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia ....
. Due to the melting of the subducted plate, magma
Magma

Magma is molten Rock that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and may also exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and gas bubbles....
 rose from the subducted crust producing a chain of volcanoes. Due to the steep angle of the subducted plate, these were located relatively close to continent's edge.