The Battle Mountain—Eureka trend: Evidence for a collapsed Mesozoic to early Tertiary compressional uplift

The Battle Mountain—Eureka trend (BM-ET) is a northwest aligned belt of gold
deposits and ‘lower plate windows’in north-central Nevada. The northeast boundary of
this mineral belt is a physiographic and structural feature discernible on regional geologic
maps and satellite images. This complex, northwest trending, boundary feature divides
zones of contrasting rock distribution and exposure. Strata concentrated northeast
of the boundary feature suggest basin subsidence and infill: 1) Cretaceous to
Eocene siliciclastic rocks and lacustrine limestone, and 2) late Eocene and Oligocene
pyroclastic and sedimentary rocks, and 3)mid Miocene bimodal volcanic and sedimentary
rocks. Primary rock units on the southwest side of the boundary feature include: 1)
widespread, lower Paleozoic, sedimentary rocks, 2) Jurassic to Eocene plutonic rocks,
and 3) Miocene, hypabyssal, intrusive rocks of the southernmost Northern Nevada rift.
These exposures imply erosion, as does the relative rarity of younger strata.