Cenozoic evolution of the Sierra Nevada

Late Cenozoic Uplift

Cenozoic Elevation Loss

Late Cenozoic Relief Increase

 

In the image above, click the green right arrow to go forward and the red left arrow to go back in time. When going forward, the old land surface rises up as a black outline, showing how much erosion is occuring. A large orange arrow indicates the tectonic uplift (change in forces supporting the range, as opposed to uplift in response to erosion) since 50 Ma (blue arrow indicates tectonic subsidence). The color bars in the mountains are each about 1 km thick. The reddish solid line indicates the mean elevation. Click on the title of each panel to get more details on that history.

 

Please send mail to cjones@terra.colorado.edu if you encounter any problems or have suggestions.

C. H. Jones | CIRES | Dept. of Geological Sciences | Univ. of Colorado at Boulder

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