Post-Mississippian tectonic evolution of the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and Midcontinent Rift System, SE Nebraska and N Kansas

The geologic structures of the central Midcontinent of the USA are largely buried and known only from geophysical datasets, coupled with sparse well control and limited outcrop. Such unconstrained geophysical models preclude a deeper assessment of possible continental interior seismic hazards, which have the potential to cause appreciable damage. Within the study area in southeastern Nebraska and northeastern Kansas is an area of elevated seismic risk, with a spatial relationship to the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and the Midcontinent Rift System. Using sequential restorations of three published cross sections within Nebraska and Kansas this study demonstrates that the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and Midcontinent Rift System have each been reactivated several times since the end of the Mississippian (the details of deformation prior to the Mississippian are not considered). Our reconstructions indicate that in addition to major Pennsylvanian-Early Permian fault reactivation during the Ancestral Rocky Mountain orogeny there was also deformation both prior to the post-Mississippian unconformity associated with uplift on the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and after the deposition of late Early-early Late Cretaceous sediments in the study area, potentially due to the Laramide orogeny. Results also indicate that the magnitude of the far-field stresses is sufficient to cause seismogenic reactivation on favorably oriented pre-existing faults. This history of reactivation of geologic structures in the central Midcontinent suggests that seismic hazards in the region in the present cannot be ruled out. Though dangerous large earthquakes are uncommon in the continental interior, seismic activity along the structures in the study area would threaten several large population centers and the potential for this activity should not be ignored

Post-Mississippian tectonic evolution of the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and Midcontinent Rift System, SE Nebraska and N Kansas

The geologic structures of the central Midcontinent of the USA are largely buried and known only from geophysical datasets, coupled with sparse well control and limited outcrop. Such unconstrained geophysical models preclude a deeper assessment of possible continental interior seismic hazards, which have the potential to cause appreciable damage. Within the study area in southeastern Nebraska and northeastern Kansas is an area of elevated seismic risk, with a spatial relationship to the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and the Midcontinent Rift System. Using sequential restorations of three published cross sections within Nebraska and Kansas this study demonstrates that the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and Midcontinent Rift System have each been reactivated several times since the end of the Mississippian (the details of deformation prior to the Mississippian are not considered). Our reconstructions indicate that in addition to major Pennsylvanian-Early Permian fault reactivation during the Ancestral Rocky Mountain orogeny there was also deformation both prior to the post-Mississippian unconformity associated with uplift on the Nemaha Tectonic Zone and after the deposition of late Early-early Late Cretaceous sediments in the study area, potentially due to the Laramide orogeny. Results also indicate that the magnitude of the far-field stresses is sufficient to cause seismogenic reactivation on favorably oriented pre-existing faults. This history of reactivation of geologic structures in the central Midcontinent suggests that seismic hazards in the region in the present cannot be ruled out. Though dangerous large earthquakes are uncommon in the continental interior, seismic activity along the structures in the study area would threaten several large population centers and the potential for this activity should not be ignored

Geologic Mapping of Nebraska: Old Rocks, New Maps, Fresh Insights

Geologic mapping in Nebraska and environs is an ongoing endeavor that has spanned more than 170 years, involved dozens of scientists, and evolved through many changes. Digital mapping has risen to dominance in the state only since 1996. Geologic mapping in Nebraska today concentrates on surficial mapping, which emphasizes materials exposed at the land surface and their relationships with landforms, and which is particularly relevant because non- bedrock geologic materials (regolith) lie at the surface across at least 87% of the state. Moreover, surfi cial geologic maps assist the understanding of groundwater and sand and gravel resources, to name a few applications. The statewide bedrock map of Nebraska, which dates to 1986, remains an important and widely used geologic map, but it needs to be revised. Notwithstanding, when contemplated deeply, Nebraska’s statewide bedrock map reveals that (1) effects of gentle geologic structure, mainly those that came to be in the past 80 million years, can be discerned, and (2) some aspects of the map patterns (not the mapped sedimentary rocks per se) probably predate the beginning of the Pleistocene Epoch, about 2.6 million years ago. The geologic mapping of Nebraska, however, is far from completed