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How did the Sierra Nevada form?

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About 10 Ma, the Sierra Nevada started to form: a block of crust between the Coast Range and the Basin and Range Province and started to tilt to the west as heat from the Basin and Range extension thinned the eastern part of the block, making it more buoyant than the western eportion of the block. read more

One of the fascinating things about the history of the Sierra Nevada is that portions of the rocks that make up the mountain range date back to the Cambrian period and come from metamorphic rocks laid down long ago (500–600 million years ago). The granite that forms much of the mountain range began to form in the Triassic period. read more

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