User:Cataclasite/sierramadreoccidentalvolcfielddraft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sierra Madre Occidental large igneous province (SMO LIP) is a silicic large igneous province (LIP) located in western Mexico. It is composed of relatively undeformed silicic volcanic rocks, and is one of the largest silicic LIPs in the world. It forms a high elevation plateau approximately 200 to 500 km wide by 1200 km long that mostly coincides with the mountainous Sierra Madre Occidental physiographic province, and is incised by deep canyons, including Copper Canyon. It is remarkable for being the largest relatively undeformed silicic LIP in the world, the largest silicic LIP of Cenozoic age, host to numerous epithermal gold deposits, and one of the least-studied large igneous provinces in the world, due in part to the remoteness of area.