Possibilities of similar rift histories for the central North American rift system in Kansas and the Hartville Uplift in Wyoming

Abstract

Using gravity and magnetics, Kinsland (1983) proposed that a large, late Precambrian to early Paleozoic fault traversed North America. Among the features offset by this proposed fault were the Central North American Rift System (CNARS) in Kansas from the Hartville Uplift in southeastern Wyoming. An implication central to Kinsland's hypothesis is that failed rift tectonics are part of the structural history of both the Hartville uplift and the CNARS. Gravity and magnetic models of both these structures created from available geophysical and geological data have been used to test this implication. The lack of geologic constraint due to the burial of both features allows many interpretations consistent with the geophysical data. -from Authors