ABSTRACT The major roof pendants of the eastern Sierra Nevada, including the Bishop Creek, Pine Creek, Mount Morrison, Deadman Pass, Gull Lake, and part of the Northern Ritter Range and Log Cabin Mine pendants, are composed of continental-margin rocks rang- ing in age from Middle(?) Cambrian to mid- dle(?) Permian. This group of pendants ap- parently is separated from all other exposures of Paleozoic rocks by faults, forming a geo- logic and geographic entity here referred to as the Morrison block. Here, for the first time, a common stratigraphy, consisting of 10 forma- tional units, one named herein, is recognized throughout the pendants of the Morrison block, providing a basis for new correlations and regional interpretations. Middle(?) Cambrian through Ordovician rocks of the Morrison block compare closely with rocks exposed south of Miller Mountain in west-central Nevada, suggesting paleogeo- graphic continuity along an originally linear belt. In both areas rocks of this age are repre- sented by deep-water, continental-margin se- quences that contrast significantly with the dominantly platform deposits in the White- Inyo Range to the east. Devonian rocks, which in the Morrison block are represented by a submarine-fan system, can be traced into submarine channels in the western Inyo Mountains and thence onto the shelf in the eastern Inyo Mountains, providing a tie be- tween these areas. Eugeoclinal rocks now composing the Antler belt are distal equivalents of rocks in the Mor- rison block that were deposited and deformed during the Late Devonian–Early Mississippian Antler orogeny at a considerable distance to the west. Later, in post-Early Permian time, rocks of the Morrison block were deformed, rocks of the Antler belt were emplaced against the Mor- rison block, and the facies boundaries and structural belts defined here were offset on northwest-trending dextral faults. INTRODUCTION Paleozoic metasedimentary rocks are present in numerous roof pendants and wall-rock septa in the eastern Sierra Nevada of east-central Califor- nia. These rocks have been mapped and generally described in a number of previous investigations, but the regional stratigraphy, lateral variations, and correlation with strata in other areas have not been previously documented. As a result, the pa- leogeographic and tectonic significance of these rocks has remained unclear. New mapping and stratigraphic investigations throughout the east- ern Sierra Nevada have shown that a consistent stratigraphy, representing a common geologic history, is present in a series of pendants extend- ing about 115 km northwestward from the south- ern end of the Bishop Creek pendant to just south of Conway Summit (Fig. 1). The stratigraphy of these pendants can be correlated with or linked by facies with continental-margin rocks in west- central Nevada, miogeoclinal rocks in the White- Inyo Range to the east, and eugeoclinal rocks in the Roberts Mountains allochthon (Antler belt) to the west (Fig. 1). These relationships provide a basis for a better understanding of the nature of the North American continental margin during Paleozoic time, and allow recognition of facies belts that can be employed in restoration of the original early Paleozoic continental margin. Although Paleozoic rocks in the eastern Sierra Nevada pendants can now be correlated with rocks in surrounding areas, they are separated from them by faults, inferred faults beneath more recent deposits, or faults thought to have been present prior to intrusion of Mesozoic granitic rocks. These rocks therefore are inter- preted to form a discrete structural block, al- though they do not constitute a terrane as defined by Howell et al. (1985). We refer to these rocks collectively as the Morrison block because the most complete stratigraphic sequence is exposed in the Mount Morrison pendant. The concept of the Morrison block is somewhat similar to that of the Owens terrane proposed by Nokleberg (1983), but we believe that differences in the de- finition would be large enough to cause confu- sion if the name Owens terrane or block were applied here. The Morrison block includes pen- dants that we have mapped and studied in detail, including the Bishop Creek pendant (Fig. 2), Mount Morrison pendant (Fig. 3), Gull Lake pendant (Fig. 4), and part of the Log Cabin Mine pendant (Fig. 5). It also includes areas that we have studied in less detail, including the Pine Creek, part of the Northern Ritter Range, and Deadman Pass pendants, and several smaller outcrops including a limestone mass south of Conway Summit, calcareous sandstone near Big Springs Campground, shale near Arcularius Ranch, and limestone in the hills south of Bishop (Fig. 1). Rocks in the Big Pine Creek pendant (Fig. 1) are not included in the Morrison block because the rocks exposed there are very similar to coeval rocks in the White-Inyo Range, and they are older than any rocks in the other roof pendants, making comparison impossible. Rocks in the Big Ram Mine area northwest of Independence (Fig. 1) also are excluded from the Morrison block because they compare most closely with rocks of the central Inyo Mountains. 919 Stratigraphy, depositional history, and tectonic evolution of Paleozoic continental-margin rocks in roof pendants of the eastern Sierra Nevada, California Calvin H. Stevens* Department of Geology, San Jose State University, San Jose, California 95192-0102 David C. Greene Department of Geology and Geography, Denison University, Granville, Ohio 43023 *E-mail: stevens@geosun1.sjsu.edu. Data Repository item 9952 contains additional material related to this article. GSA Bulletin, June 1999; v. 111; no. 6; p. 919–933; 16 figures.