home   Printer friendly version Add to site
Advanced search
Time & Space Fossil Gallery Famous Flora & Fauna
Careers Resources K-12 Collections PaleoPeople

The Quaternary in Nevada, US

Quaternary in Nevada map

undifferentiated rock units help

Choose a time period:

Quaternary
Tertiary
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic
Permian
Carboniferous
Devonian
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
Precambrian

Quaternary Fossils
Fossil photos from Quaternary in Nevada

Previous (3 slides) Next
Search the fossil gallery

Paleontology and geology

The Sierra Nevada Mountains rose to their majestic heights during the Quaternary, creating a rain shadow and arid desert conditions to the east. As a result, Nevada’s climate could no longer support the vegetation and animals of earlier times. Glaciers sculpted the highest peaks of the mountain ranges across the state, and as tectonic processes stretched the continental crust, valleys continued to grow wider and fill with sediment. During cooler and wetter intervals, lakes filled many parts of these valleys and mammoths, horses, camels, and giant ground sloths roamed along their shores. Volcanic eruptions continued throughout the state, depositing ash flows and lava. This map shows Quaternary deposits in the lowland areas throughout the state.

Links to more on the Quaternary in Nevada

Education and Exhibits | Resources

Education and Exhibits

Physical Exhibits (showing 1 of 1 listings)

The Pleistocene Nevada Exhibit: The Nevada State Museum in Carson City maintains an exhibit on the Pleistocene in Nevada including a look at the paleoecology of that time.

top Top of List

Resources

Image Collections (showing 1 of 1 listings)

Some Fossil Brachiopods: Images of several fossil brachiopods, dating in geologic age from early Cambrian to Pleistocene, with explanatory text.

top Top of List


California State Map
Arizona State Map
Utah State Map
Idaho State Map
Oregon State Map