Sonoma orogeny Sonoma orogeny The Sonoma orogeny was a period of mountain building in western North America. The exact age and structure of the Sonoma orogeny is controversial. The orogeny is generally thought to have occurred during the Permian / Triassic transition, around 250 million years ago, following the Late Devonian Antler orogeny. The Sonoma orogeny was one of a sequence of accretionary events along the Cordilleran margin, possibly caused by the closure of the basin between the island arc of Sonomia and the North American continent. Evidence of this event has been reported throughout western North America, but most distinctly in
Petermann Orogeny a set of vertically arcuate thrust faults which dip toward each other and accommodate vertical movement by essentially "squeezing" the central block up and out. Several northeast trending discontinuities including the Mundrabilla lineament divide the Petermann orogeny, with extensive vertical offsets across them, usually west-side-up, though the timing of this event is unknown. Six deformations are known (to be completed) Foliations associated with the Petermann Orogeny are typically steeply to gently south-dipping and subparallel to the thrust faults upon which they were developed. S regionally pervasive stretching lineation is potentially associated with some of these faults, especially in the deeper