Introduction: Geodynamics and Consequences of Lithospheric Removal in the Sierra Nevada, California

摘要

The Sierra Nevada of California has longncontained paradoxes between the age of thenrange and the cause of uplift. In the 19th century,nJ.D. Whitney and J. LeConte disagreednabout the interpretation of late Cenozoic incisionnevident in the Sierra. Whitney (1880, 1882)nviewed the incision of Pliocene and older rocksnas a result of climatic changes. LeConte (1880,n1886) argued that the recent incision refl ected antilting of the Sierra, which also caused uplift ofnthe crest of the range. LeConte’s view was basicallynupheld and amplifi ed by further geologicalnwork (e.g., Christensen, 1966; Huber, 1981,n1990; Lindgren, 1911; Matthes, 1930).