Roberts Mountains

Roberts Mountains
Location of the Roberts Mountains within Nevada
Highest point
PeakRoberts Creek Mountain
Elevation10,133 ft (3,089 m)
Coordinates39°52.2′N 116°18.6′W / 39.8700°N 116.3100°W / 39.8700; -116.3100
Dimensions
Length16 mi (26 km) E-W
Width14 mi (23 km) N-S
Area180 sq mi (470 km2)
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateNevada
CountyEureka[1]
Geology
OrogenyAntler orogeny

The Roberts Mountains are located in central Nevada in the western United States. The mountains are found in Eureka County, east of the Simpson Park Mountains and west and southwest of the Sulphur Spring Range. The range reaches a peak at Roberts Creek Mountain at 10,133 feet (3,089 m).[2] Nevada State Route 278 passes the east margin of the range in Garden Valley and continues about 25 miles (40 km) southeast to Eureka.

Roberts Mountains was named after Bolivar Roberts, a division superintendent of the Pony Express.[3][4] The western Peak is located to the west of these mountains.

Geology

The range contains rocks deformed by the Antler orogeny of Late Devonian to early Mississippian age. Along the Roberts Mountain thrust fault, which was named for the range, a terrane of oceanic island arc volcanic rocks and sediments were emplaced over the pre-existing Devonian to Silurian carbonates, sandstones and shales of the coastal margin of the continent.[5][6]

Ecology

The Bureau of Land Management manages 99.4% of the Roberts Mountains, and 0.6% is privately held. Mammals found in the range include: the long-tailed vole, Great Basin pocket mouse, water shrew, and the big jumping mouse. The large spotted leopard lizard can also be found in the mountains.

Trees found in the range include: western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis), Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), and single-leaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla)."Roberts Mountain". Biological Resources Research Center. Archived from the original on 2005-01-21.

See also

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Roberts Mountains
  2. ^ Simpson Park Mtns, 30x60 Topo Quad USGS 1979
  3. ^ Federal Writers' Project (1941). Origin of Place Names: Nevada (PDF). W.P.A. p. 35.
  4. ^ Carlson, HS. 1974. Nevada Place Names: A Geographical Dictionary. University of Nevada Press
  5. ^ Crafford, A. Elizabeth Jones, Paleozoic tectonic domains of Nevada: An interpretive discussion to accompany the geologic map of Nevada, Geosphere, 2008, V. 4, No. 1, pp. 260-291 Abstract
  6. ^ Lageson, David R. Great Basin and Sierra Nevada Field Trip Guide Number 2 from Gls Annual Meeting in Reno 2000, Geological Society of America, 2000, pp. 281-3 ISBN 0813700027



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