Rescue Lineament-Bear Mountains fault zone
Encyclopedia
The Rescue Lineament-Bear Mountains fault zone, in eastern California
, is a series of co-axial faults located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
mountain range
.
The fault zone represents an ancient suture, the boundary where an ancient crustal block known as an exotic terrane
, dubbed by geologists the "Smartville Block
", collided with and attached to the North American Plate
.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, is a series of co-axial faults located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
Sierra Nevada (US)
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, between the California Central Valley and the Basin and Range Province. The Sierra runs north-to-south, and is approximately across east-to-west...
mountain range
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
.
The fault zone represents an ancient suture, the boundary where an ancient crustal block known as an exotic terrane
Terrane
A terrane in geology is short-hand term for a tectonostratigraphic terrane, which is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate...
, dubbed by geologists the "Smartville Block
Smartville Block
The Smartville Block, also called the Smartville Complex or Smartville Intrusive Complex, is a geologic zone in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in the historic Gold Country in eastern California.-Gold:...
", collided with and attached to the North American Plate
North American Plate
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, Bahamas, and parts of Siberia, Japan and Iceland. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust...
.