Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Eureka! It's Lone Mountain!

Lone Mountain, in Eureka County, central Nevada, is the site of a fantastic stratigraphic section of Ordovician and Devonian rocks.
First of all, though, let's get our names straight: there are three, count 'em, three Lone Mountains in Nevada. The second Lone Mountain is near Tonopah; the third is near Las Vegas. We won't, however, be discussing those other two Lone Mountains right now.
hi! Our Lone Mountain is located here (MSRMaps location). Also, click this enlarged air-photo view: Lone Mountain is semi-circular in form, although I don't have the vaguest idea why.
Most importantly for our stratigraphic interests, Lone Mountain is less than 50 miles from Eureka, Nevada - the county seat of Eureka, County, and a bustling speed trap - placing it within the original type area of the Eureka Quartzite as defined by Hague in 1883.

Lone Mountain is north of Highway 50, and can be accessed via several 2WD and 4WD dirt roads. A good viewing point is from the Antelope Valley road, a major graded dirt road going south from Highway 50 toward the Antelope Range. Do not pull out onto this road when it is excessively muddy!

References:
Hague, Arnold, 1883, Abstract of report on the geology of the Eureka district, Nevada: U. S. Geol. Survey 3d Ann. Rept., p. 237-272.

Eureka Quartzite according to GEOLEX (via @aboutgeology)

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