Matt Brueseke
@matttg.bsky.social
Cubs fan. 🌋 & magma, mineral resources, tectonics, wilderness, pawpaws, outdoor gear, 🏝⛰🏕, Rectal cancer survivor. Views and opinions expressed are mine. #geology #earthscience #geoscience ⚒️
No doubt. This is such a fun discussion!
November 29, 2025 at 2:17 PM
No doubt. This is such a fun discussion!
The high elevation plateaus around Yellowstone are really interesting. Pics are plateau at ~11.5k ft elevation across the valley from the Wind River range, in Absarokas. Flat surface on Eocene Absaroka volcanics, <10 ma local volcanism on that surface. Some kind of Yellowstone-related uplift also?!
November 29, 2025 at 2:16 PM
The high elevation plateaus around Yellowstone are really interesting. Pics are plateau at ~11.5k ft elevation across the valley from the Wind River range, in Absarokas. Flat surface on Eocene Absaroka volcanics, <10 ma local volcanism on that surface. Some kind of Yellowstone-related uplift also?!
That’s a good post !
November 29, 2025 at 2:05 PM
That’s a good post !
Ahh yeah the border.. this would be cool out on the plains-rockies transition for sure.
November 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Ahh yeah the border.. this would be cool out on the plains-rockies transition for sure.
Oh this would be so cool. We need that kind of constructive science! It would help the issues of why kimberlites exist 25 minutes from my house (edge effects seem to be- but no good high res tomography) and so much more. Plus need better constraints on Yellowstone, away and to the east of the park
November 29, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Oh this would be so cool. We need that kind of constructive science! It would help the issues of why kimberlites exist 25 minutes from my house (edge effects seem to be- but no good high res tomography) and so much more. Plus need better constraints on Yellowstone, away and to the east of the park
I met her way back on a job interview at UALR - ended up further north that same year. It does seem more broadly like as @brandontbishop.bsky.social states under the broad “dynamic topography.” I’d love to see something more concrete!!
November 29, 2025 at 4:06 AM
I met her way back on a job interview at UALR - ended up further north that same year. It does seem more broadly like as @brandontbishop.bsky.social states under the broad “dynamic topography.” I’d love to see something more concrete!!
My point originally was just that the tertiary seds are really just a thin veneer (of mostly coarse-grained stuff) across the plains, so you don’t need much up or down to help deposition. But it’s such an understudied area for these issues you outline.
November 29, 2025 at 4:02 AM
My point originally was just that the tertiary seds are really just a thin veneer (of mostly coarse-grained stuff) across the plains, so you don’t need much up or down to help deposition. But it’s such an understudied area for these issues you outline.
I can buy Farallon effects, but have a really hard time with Yellowstone aside from say perhaps just peripheral to the region (eg, wind river basin, bighorn region). So speculative !
November 29, 2025 at 3:59 AM
I can buy Farallon effects, but have a really hard time with Yellowstone aside from say perhaps just peripheral to the region (eg, wind river basin, bighorn region). So speculative !
We don’t need more plumes or plumelets :)
November 29, 2025 at 3:53 AM
We don’t need more plumes or plumelets :)
I’ve always wondered what’s up with the high heat flow in southern-eastern South Dakota (and presumably NE) - like what’s the cause? Does this influence anything we are discussing? Like you said, lots of work still remains!
November 29, 2025 at 3:49 AM
I’ve always wondered what’s up with the high heat flow in southern-eastern South Dakota (and presumably NE) - like what’s the cause? Does this influence anything we are discussing? Like you said, lots of work still remains!
There is lots of post-Laramide magmatism though, some Rio grande rift related (up to Dotsero), some slab-roll back (Southern Rocky mtn) & all the Cenozoic alkaline stuff all over, some Jemez lineament (nearly to Kansas!). Definitely not thrusting, but not technically quiet either.
November 29, 2025 at 3:47 AM
There is lots of post-Laramide magmatism though, some Rio grande rift related (up to Dotsero), some slab-roll back (Southern Rocky mtn) & all the Cenozoic alkaline stuff all over, some Jemez lineament (nearly to Kansas!). Definitely not thrusting, but not technically quiet either.
Yep.. High plains just going for a ride and seds moving downslope. With some tephras coming in from the west someplace
November 29, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Yep.. High plains just going for a ride and seds moving downslope. With some tephras coming in from the west someplace
First one is more key- uplift continuing into recent-ish & seds being deposited. You don’t need a big basin, just a broad “area” to deposit the seds. Don’t need tectonics locally in the plains.
November 29, 2025 at 3:32 AM
First one is more key- uplift continuing into recent-ish & seds being deposited. You don’t need a big basin, just a broad “area” to deposit the seds. Don’t need tectonics locally in the plains.
There was/is still some upflit, likely also some rio grande /extensiknal effects cauaing mayhem - that extends north of I-70
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
Postdepositional tilt of the Miocene-Pliocene Ogallala Group on the western Great Plains: Evidence of late Cenozoic uplift of the Rocky Mountains | Geology | GeoScienceWorld
Abstract. The Rocky Mountains and adjacent western Great Plains share a common history of late Cenozoic stream incision. Both epeirogenic uplift and
pubs.geoscienceworld.org
November 29, 2025 at 3:14 AM
There was/is still some upflit, likely also some rio grande /extensiknal effects cauaing mayhem - that extends north of I-70
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/...
Yeah there’s not much tephra in the Ogallala - discrete fall deposits- vs the older seds
November 29, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Yeah there’s not much tephra in the Ogallala - discrete fall deposits- vs the older seds
But do you need local tectonics ? I mean you have massive uplifted mtns that were shedding those seds just to the west…
November 29, 2025 at 3:07 AM
But do you need local tectonics ? I mean you have massive uplifted mtns that were shedding those seds just to the west…
The tribal cessations - wow- didn’t realize there were that many.
November 24, 2025 at 3:54 AM
The tribal cessations - wow- didn’t realize there were that many.
I worked two years doing geotechnical work across northern Indiana (south bend based - home where I grew up).. lots of soil/peat/marl/till drilling, sampling, basically along I-80. It was pretty awesome
November 24, 2025 at 3:45 AM
I worked two years doing geotechnical work across northern Indiana (south bend based - home where I grew up).. lots of soil/peat/marl/till drilling, sampling, basically along I-80. It was pretty awesome