The Evolution and Relationship of the Western North American Paleozoic Carbonate Platform and Basin Depositional Environments to Carlin-Type Gold Deposits in the Context of Carbonate Sequence Stratigraphy

The Western North American continent developed by passive-margin rifting
from a Late Proterozoic supercontinent. This breakup formed a ~5,000-km-long passive
continental margin from the Late Proterozoic (~600 Ma) through the Devonian
(~360 Ma), upon which a ~15,000–20,000 foot-thick (~4,500–6,000 m) carbonate platform
and basin formed. Carbonate sequence stratigraphy is a powerful tool to understand
how this carbonate platform and basin evolved.