Roadside Geology of Nevada

Roadside Geology of NevadaFrank DeCourten and Norma Biggar Driving through Nevada, you may be miles from nowhere, but you are never far from an interesting rock, the shoreline of an ice age lake, or an active or historic mine. The Silver State has some of the most diverse geology in the United States, and much of it lies in plain sight thanks to the arid climate of the Great Basin. Geologic forces continue to shape Nevada, stretching it apart and bringing magma near the

Frank DeCourten and Norma Biggar

Driving through Nevada, you may be miles from nowhere, but you are never far from an interesting rock, the shoreline of an ice age lake, or an active or historic mine. The Silver State has some of the most diverse geology in the United States, and much of it lies in plain sight thanks to the arid climate of the Great Basin. Geologic forces continue to shape Nevada, stretching it apart and bringing magma near the surface. Earthquakes periodically rock its lonely outposts, creating some of the biggest fault scarps in the world. With the help of Roadside Geology of Nevada, you can appreciate geologic features along more than thirty of Nevada’s highways.
Some of Nevada’s Geologic Highlights

• Great Basin National Park’s limestone caverns
• Virginia City and the Comstock Lode
• Tule Springs Fossil Beds
• Valley of Fire’s bright red rock
• Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park’s fossil reptiles
• Lake Tahoe’s granitic eastern shore
• Pyramid Lake’s tufa towers
• Ruby Mountains’ glacially carved Lamoille Canyon
• Red Rock Canyon’s Jurassic sandstone
• Alamo’s extraterrestrial impact
• Virgin Valley’s fossils and opal
• Cathedral Gorge’s lakebed badlands
• Frenchman Mountain’s Great Unconformity
• Hoover Dam’s tough tuff

416 pages, 6 x 9, paper
Item 200, ISBN 978-087842-672-0

Geological Society of America