Tertiary rocks in Grant Range consists of 5,000 to 15,000 ft of rhyolitic ignimbrite sheets, nonmarine sediments and siliceous flows. Major named units are (ascending); Sheep Pass Formation, middle to upper Eocene; Railroad Valley Rhyolite (new), 36 Ma; Calloway Well Formation (new), ignimbrites; Stone Cabin Formation, ignimbrites; Windous Butte Formation, ignimbrites, 33 Ma; Currant Tuff; Needles Range Formation, ignimbrites; Horse Camp Formation, Miocene to Pliocene.
Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Menlo GNULEX).
Pg. 275 (fig. 2). Railroad Valley Rhyolite. Listed in generalized stratigraphic chart of Cenozoic section of Grant Range, Nye County, Nevada. Rhyolite, 0 to 2,700 feet thick. Underlies Blind Spring Formation (new) and overlies Sheep Pass Formation. Age is Oligocene.
Oligocene units are (ascending): Railroad Valley Rhyolite, Blind Spring Formation (new), Calloway Well Formation, Saddle Mountain Andesite (new), Stone Cabin Formation, local andesite flows, Currant Tuff, Windrous Butte Formation, Forest Home Ignimbrite (new), Needles Range Formation, and Shingle Pass Formation.
Source: US geologic names lexicon (USGS Bull. 1350, p. 610); GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Menlo GNULEX).
Massive, light-gray, porphyritic Railroad Valley Rhyolite (0 to 2500 ft thick) is oldest known Tertiary volcanic rock in eastern NV. Tops of flows are autobrecciated. Shown on geologic map of White Pine-Grant Range region. Cross-section shows unit extends to Horse Camp Basin.
Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Menlo GNULEX).
K-Ar determination on biotite from Railroad Valley Rhyolite yielded age of 33.4 +/-0.7 Ma. Sample collected at 38 deg 41' 35"N, 115 deg 26' 50"W, Grant Range, Nye Co, NV. Railroad Valley Rhyolite is only known from an area where hydrothermal alteration is extensive and unaltered material is difficult to obtain. This single age "appears a bit young when compared with the average" age of 33.2 Ma for overlying Calloway Well Formation.
Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Menlo GNULEX).
Railroad Valley Rhyolite. Sample from Lat. 38 deg. 55 min. N., Long. 115 deg. 24 min. W., White Pine County, Nevada. K-Ar age on biotite 34.0 +/-1.3 Ma.
Source: Modified from GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Menlo GNULEX).
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