A new formation of the Cambrian Tonto Group, Grand Canyon formally named for Frenchman Mountain

[Oxytropidoceras]

Frenchman Mountain Dolostone: 500 million-year-old Grand

Canyon rock layer finally gets a name. UNLV geologists name

ancient rock layer after Las Vegas mountain that contains 

similar strata; research published in the journal Geosphere.

 

New Study Links Geologic Features of Las Vegas’ Frenchman 

Mountain with Grand Canyon. Las Vegas Valley rock layer

matches that of a famous interval of rocks at the Grand Canyon; 

findings reported in the Journal Geology. 

University of Nevada at Las Vegas, May 1 , 2020

 

The open access paper is:

 

Rowland, S.M., Korolev, S., Hagadorn, J.W. and Ghosh, K., 

2023. Frenchman Mountain Dolostone: A new formation of

the Cambrian Tonto Group, Grand Canyon and Basin and

Range, USA. Geosphere.

 

Supplemental Material: Frenchman Mountain Dolostone:

A new formation of the Cambrian Tonto Group, Grand Canyon

and Basin and Range, USA, Geological Society of America

 

Another paper is:

 

Karlstrom, K.E., Mohr, M.T., Schmitz, M.D., Sundberg, F.A.,

Rowland, S.M., Blakey, R., Foster, J.R., Crossey, L.J.,

Dehler, C.M. and Hagadorn, J.W., 2020. Redefining the 

Tonto Group of Grand Canyon and recalibrating the Cambrian

time scale. Geology, 48(5), pp.425-430.

 

Related papers:

 

Rowland, S.M., 2022, Geology of Frenchman Mountain 

and Rainbow Gardens, southern Nevada, USA, in Jiang, 

G.Q., and Dehler, C., eds., Field Excursions from Las Vegas, 

Nevada: Guides to the 2022 GSA Cordilleran and Rocky 

Mountain Joint Section Meeting: Geological Society of 

America Field Guide 63, p. 23– 43.

 

Rowland, S.M., 1987, Paleozoic stratigraphy of Frenchman 

Mountain, Clark County, Nevada, in Hill, M.L., ed., 

Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society of 

America: Geological Society of America Centennial 

Field Guide 1, p. 53– 56.

 

Hollingsworth, J.S., Sundberg, F.A. and Foster, J.R.,

2011. Cambrian stratigraphy and paleontology of

Northern Arizona and Southern Nevada. Museum of

Northern Arizona Bulletin, 67, pp.1-321.

 

PDFs of more trilobite papers.

 

Videos

 

Wild Speaker Series: The Amazing Geology of Frenchman

Mountain and Rainbow Gardens. Friends Of Nevada Wilderness

 

Frenchman Mountain Loop | Bordering Lake Mead National

 

Nevada Trilobites, Frenchman Mountain

 

Yours,

Paul H.

Edited May 14, 2023 by Oxytropidoceras
clarify title and fixed typos

[Arizona Chris]

Thanks, Im working on a new book on the cambrian in Arizona - This is perfect!