Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Sevier orogeny
Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics
Quick Facts
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Sevier orogeny

geology
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Sevier orogeny, a mountain-building event that produced the Sevier Orogenic Belt, a linear zone of deformed rock strata in the western United States extending from southeastern California northeastward through southern Nevada and western Utah to western Wyoming. The deformation took place between 165 million and 80 million years ago during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. It produced a zone of eastward-directed thrust faults and folds that represent 40 to 65 kilometres (25 to 40 miles) of crustal shortening in response to compressional forces.

The Sevier orogeny also may be considered a phase of the Laramide orogeny.

This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.