23 Undergraduate Research in the Rocky Mountains (Posters)
Thursday, 10 May 2012
8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Alvarado D&E
CHARACTERISTICS OF ULTRAMAFIC BODIES IN THE VIRGIN MOUNTAINS, NV
Paper number: 23-11
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM
Authors
Abstract
The Virgin Mountains contain the oldest known high pressure/high temperature metamorphic rocks in the world. Using thin section and microprobe analysis I will determine the mineralogical compositions of peridotite samples taken from Lime Kiln Canyon, south of Mesquite, NV. This will allow me to see what high temperature/high pressure conditions they formed at, and gain a better understanding of the Virgin Mountains’ past tectonic setting. If the peridotites I sampled formed at pressures greater than 4 Giga Pascals, we can strongly infer that the Virgin Mountains used to be a continent-continent collision zone.