Neogene Evolution of Central Texas Landscape after Balcones Faulting

Peter R. Rose

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Publication Date

February 2019

Abstract

The Edwards Plateau and the Balcones Fault Zone (BFZ) dominate the geology and physiography of Central Texas. The Edwards Plateau was formed during Early Miocene time by uplift of the area west and north of the arcuate BFZ. The Albian Edwards Group was a continuous sheet of resistant shallow-shelf carbonate strata that covered all of central Texas: the Edwards Plateau, BFZ, and subsurface of the Central Texas Platform. At the time of first Balcones faulting, the Edwards was widely exposed west and north of the BFZ. Regional headward erosion and dissolution following Balcones faulting progressively stripped away Edwards strata, leaving steep, ragged bluffs that delineated the boundaries of the Edwards Plateau. Just as geological maps outline the Edwards Plateau today, a reconstruction of past Edwards Limestone outcrop locations records the stages of westward and northern erosional retreat through Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene times.

Keywords

Neogene Evolution, Central Texas Landscape, Balcones Faulting

Document Type

Article

Notes

Vol. 8 (2019-02-04).

Identifier

SFS0073404_00001

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