Basin and Range

Basin and Range

Basin and range is a geologic term for a type of topography characterized by a series of separate and parallel mountain ranges with broad valleys interposed, extending over a more or less wide area. It is typified by the topography found in the Great Basin in the western United States, which is part of a larger regional topography known as the Basin and Range Province. Basin and range provinces exist in other regions of the world as well, on dry land and also on the sea floor.

Basin and range topography results from crustal extension. As the crust stretches, faults develop to accommodate the extension. Most of these faults are steeply-dipping normal faults. The basins are down-fallen blocks of crust and the ranges are relatively uplifted blocks, many of which tilt slightly in one direction at their tops. The normal arrangement in the basin and range system is that each valley (i.e., basin) is bounded on at least one side by one or more normal faults that are oriented along or sub-parallel to the range front.

Basin and range faulting is characteristic of incipient rift zones in continental crust, and also of back-arc basins.

References

* [http://www.data.scec.org/glossary.html Southern California Earthquake Data Center Glossary]


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  • Basin and Range — Ausdehnung der Basin and Range Province Die Basin and Range Province ist eine sehr weiträumige geologische Provinz, die große Teile der südwestlichen Vereinigten Staaten und des nordwestlichen Mexikos umfasst. Bestimmendes geomorphologisches… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Basin and Range Province —   [ beɪsn ənd reɪndʒ prɔvɪns], das Gebiet schmaler, lang gestreckter, meist parallel angeordneter Gebirgsketten (»ranges«) mit dazwischenliegenden meist abflusslosen Becken im Umkreis des Coloradoplateaus in den westlichen USA; umfasst das Große… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Basin and Range Province — Ausdehnung der Basin and Range Province Die Basin and Range Province ist eine sehr weiträumige geologische Provinz, die große Teile der südwestlichen Vereinigten Staaten und des nordwestlichen Mexikos umfasst. Bestimmendes geomorphologisches… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Basin and Range Province — The Basin and Range Province is a large geologic province which includes parts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, typified by basin and range topography.GeographyThe province extends east from the Sierra Nevada all the way …   Wikipedia

  • Basin and Range Province — ▪ region, United States       arid physiographic province occupying much of the western and southwestern part of the United States. The region comprises almost all of Nevada, the western half of Utah, southeastern California, and the southern… …   Universalium

  • Northern Basin and Range ecoregion — This article is about the ecoregion designated by the EPA. For the associated geographical feature, see Great Basin. Level III ecoregions in the Pacific Northwest. The Northern Basin and Range (80) borders the Sierra Nevada (5), Eastern Cascades… …   Wikipedia

  • Northern Basin and Range (ecoregion) — The Northern Basin and Range ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and California. It contains dissected lava plains, rolling… …   Wikipedia

  • Province géologique de Basin and Range — 33° N 112° W / 33, 112 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Central Basin and Range ecoregion — This article is about the ecoregion designated by the EPA. For the associated United States physiographic region, see Great Basin section. Central Basin and Range from space …   Wikipedia

  • Basin and Range Province — …   Useful english dictionary

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