CGpaleozoicPALEOZOIC OF CALIFORNIAI. Overwhelmingly Marine depositionSeas encroached from the West extended into Great Basine.g. Cambrian--oldest and thickestII. Areas for Exposures1. Great Basin-Mojave Desert2. Sierra Nevada- (N.W Belt)3. Klamath MountainsIII. All connected at one timeIV. Paleozoic-Paleogeography1. Shallow Marine environment-Early PaleozoicExtended inland to areas now occupied by Rocky Mts. Western Cordillera2. Geosynclinal Environmenta. Shallow-MiogeosynclineDeep water-Eugeosynclineb. Existed about 400 million years (Entire Paleozoic)3. Over most of continent (Not in Death Valley), an unconformity exists between the earliest Cambrian and P-C Rocks4. Seas were warm and shallow (Fossil Evidence)e.g. Tabulate corals and Rugosa (Tetracorals)*Uniformitarianism: The present is the key to the past (Processes occurring on the Earth Today did so in the past)5. Sediments were dominantly CarbonatesLimestone=CaCO3Dolomite=CaMg(CO3)26. Oldest Paleozoic rocks (Cambrian) in North Americaa. Waucoba District in Inyo Mts and Southern Death Valley(1) Boundary between P-C and Cambrian in middle of Wood Canyon(2) Basin Subsidence (8000' thick)b. Early Cambrian-shoreline North and South through California-Nevada-Arizona Junctionc. Mid-Cambrian-shoreline near eastern Border of Arizonae.g. Wood Canyon (Death Valley)d. Late Cambrian-further to east to central New Mexico (as far east as Southern Wisconsin)7. Geosyncline was deepest in Basin and Range in Inyo-Panamint-Death Valley areaCGpaleozoic8. Ordoviciana. Same areasb. dolomite and light gray Mid-Ordovican Eureka Quartzite--widespread easily recognized; found in California and Western Nevadac. Best exposures found in isolated remnants in Sierra Nevada and Klamaths mts.9. Silurian and Devoniane.g. limestones and dolomites10. Mississippean (Mitchell Caverns in Providence mountains)e.g. limestones11. Late Miss.--Pennsylvanian seas become shallower and more muddy (shales) -uplift of land to east --mountain building=Orogenic activity12. Penn.--Permiancoarser sediments along with increasing Volcanism and unconformitiesa. indicated orogenic activity in Basin-Range, Sierra Nevada and Klamaths Areasb. Granites in Area dated as Permian13. Coast ranges and Peninsula Range areas--Paleozoic sediments were eugeosynclinal but little history preservedCGpaleozoic14. Eastern Mojave Deserta. Only find Cambrian and late Paleozoic sediments and strata Ordovician and Silurian rocks are absent15. South Western Mojavea. no lower Paleozoic and Devonianb. Mississippean and Permian represented16. Gapsa. Land above sea levelb. uplift and erosion (remove sediments)17. Coast, Transverse and Peninsular Rangesa. Scant fossil remainsb. Quartzites, schists, marblesc. Furnace limestonemarble---San Bernardino mountains about 4500ft thickbrachiopods, horn corals, and Foraminifera (Miss-Penn in age)d. Sur Series-marbles, schist, quartzsites in coast ranges late Paleozoic sediments (Metamorphosed in Mesozoic)e. Remnants of Paleozoic materials around Point Reyes west side of San Andreas faultf. San Gabriel mountainsGranite about 245 million years old18. Sierra Nevada (N.W. Belt)a. mostly granite batholiths (Mesozoic in age)b. left over Paleozoic rocks called remnants--isolated rocks are called Roof Pendantse.g. Schists, limestones, quartizites, slatec. Mount Morrison Area thickest and best known section -about 32,000 ft(1) Lower portion-Ordovician rocks(2) upper portion fossiliferous--Penn and Permian stratad. Calaveras FormationWestern foothills of Sierra NevadaEast of Mother Lode Fault zone(1) all metamorphosed but they were, shales, dark sandstones, chert, minor limestone and submarine volcanic rock(2) Northern end--metamorphosed strataSilurian-Permian in age (fossil beds)(3) Angular unconformities found betweena. Silurian and Devonianb. Permian and Triassic**uplift and erosion--orogenic activityCGpaleozoic19. Klamath Mountainsa. abundant Paleozoic stratab. Three Arc--shaped zonesEastern Klamaths25,000 ft. of Marine Sedimentary rock (Ordovician--Permian) Rocks are metamorphosed but were originally graywacke, cherts, conglomerates, rhyolites and basaltsc. Two periods of orogenic activity (unconformities)(1) first in Devonian(2) Lake Penn.throughTriassic implies emergence of land and mountain