Death Valleys, Southern California 2005 Guidebook Pacific Cell Friends of the Pleistocene
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Geomorphology and tectonics at the intersection of Silurian and Death Valleys, southern California 2005 Guidebook Pacific Cell Friends of the Pleistocene Edited by David M. Miller and Zenon C. Valin Open-File Report 2007–1424 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Trip leaders: David M. Miller, Christopher M. Menges, and Matthew R. McMackin With trip contributions from: Kirk Anderson, Jordon Bright, Richard Hereford, Heather Green, Shannon Mahan, Jennifer Mendonça, Joanna Redwine, Kevin Schmidt, Roger Smith, and Jonathan Stock Landsat 7 image of the southern Death Valley and northern Silurian Valley area that is the subject of the field trip. Processing of the image by John Dohrenwend. Front cover photograph: View to the south of the Amargosa River gorge where it cuts through the “Tecopa Hump.” Salt Springs Hills in the middle distance lie in the bottom of the Silurian Valley trough, and the upthrust Avawatz Mountains frame the skyline. Photo courtesy of M. McMackin. ii U.S. Department of the Interior DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Mark D. Myers, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2007 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Miller, D.M., and Valin, Z.C., eds., 2007, Geomorphology and tectonics at the intersection of Silurian and Death Valleys, southern California—2005 Guidebook, Pacific Cell Friends of the Pleistocene: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007–1424, 171 p. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. iii iv Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………..…..1 By Christopher M. Menges and David M. Miller Chapter A: Geomorphology and tectonics at the intersection of Silurian and Death Valleys, southern California: Field trip road log……………………………………………………7 By David M. Miller, Christopher M. Menges, and Matthew R. McMackin Chapter B: Re-interpretation of Pleistocene Lake Dumont, Salt Spring basin, California, based on ostracode faunal analyses…………………………………………………………………51 By Jordon Bright and Kirk C. Anderson Chapter C: Late Quaternary stratigraphy and luminescence geochronology of the northeastern Mojave Desert, with emphasis on the Valjean Valley area………………….……63 By Shannon A. Mahan, David M. Miller, Christopher M. Menges, and James C. Yount Chapter D: Debris-flow deposits and watershed erosion rates from the Kingston Range, CA......99 By Kevin M. Schmidt and Christopher M. Menges Chapter E: Reconnaissance studies of soils-geomorphic correlations and late Quaternary deformation of alluvial fan deposits east of the Avawatz Mountains, Mojave Desert, California………………………………………………………………………………………….…113 By Heather L. Green, Joanna L. Redwine, and David M. Miller Chapter F: Preliminary results on neotectonic and geomorphic evolution of the northeastern Avawatz Mountains, southern Death Valley, California………………………………………..141 By Jennifer Mendonça Chapter G: Dumont Dunes…………………………………………………………………………….149 By Roger S.U. Smith Chapter H: A new Quaternary view of northern Mojave Desert tectonics suggests changing fault patterns during the late Pleistocene………………………………………………………….....…157 By David M. Miller, Stephanie L. Dudash, Heather L. Green, David J. Lidke, Lee Amoroso, Geoff A. Phelps, and Kevin M. Schmidt v vi Introduction By Christopher M. Menges1 and David M. Miller2 Trip Overview We will present contributions from new regional and detailed surficial geologic mapping, combined with geomorphologic, geochronologic, and tectonic studies, to a long-standing problem: the tectonic and geomorphic evolution of the intersection between three regional tectonic provinces: the eastern California Shear Zone, the Basin and Range region of southern Nevada and adjacent California, and the eastern Mojave Desert region. This intersection is centered on southeastern Death Valley and northern Silurian Valley and the bordering highlands to the southwest (Avawatz Mountains) and northeast (Sperry-Alexander Hills, Kingston Range and Shadow Mountains) (Fig. 1). During the course of this trip we will examine a variety of structures, deposits, and landforms that reflect neotectonic deformation in this region, many of which bear on the tectonic origin of the southern Death Valley and northern Silurian Valley “trough”. In addition we will present new observations on processes of piedmont and fan development, the role of depositional processes on soil hydrology and pedogenesis, the evolution of axial-valley drainage systems, and new chronologic data on local and regional surficial stratigraphy. The material presented in this trip is derived from a large body of work, much of which is previously unpublished, attested by the number of workers represented in the long list of contributors to this guidebook. The fundamental data sources for much of the work presented during the course of this trip are regional mapping of surficial deposits and neotectonic structures, which is in the process of being published through the U.S. Geological Survey as regional maps at 1:100,000 scale, including the Qwlshead Mountain sheet containing the actual area of the trip (Menges), and the adjoining Mesquite Lake sheet (Schmidt and McMackin, 2006) and Soda Mountains sheet (Miller and D.J. Lidke). This mapping involved basic photo-interpretive mapping and compilation supported by field study and data collection. McMackin has also completed geologic and structural mapping in bedrock highlands throughout the area. Many of the neotectonic interpretations also benefited greatly from the excellent geologic mapping in the northeastern Avawatz Mountains by Bennie Troxel and Roland Brady III (Brady, 1984). Detailed surficial mapping by Dave Miller and Jim Yount in the Valjean area provided not only the basic framework for the regional surficial mapping, but specific data for parts of this field trip. The results of a variety of more detailed or local mapping and (or) topical research programs are presented, as evidenced by summaries at specific stops in the road log, or included papers in this guidebook. This trip and guidebook represent the first Friends of the Pleistocene (FOP) field excursion conducted in this specific area. The field area lies to the southeast of the location of the 1986 FOP 1U.S. Geological Survey, 520 N. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 2U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS 973, Menlo Park, CA 94025 1 trip led by Roland Brady III, Paul R. Butler, and Bennie Troxel, which was centered on southern Death Valley between the Avawatz Mountains and the Confidence Hills (see Troxel and Brady, 1986). The FOP field trip led by Michael Machette, Ralph Klinger, and Jeff Knott in 2001 was located even farther north in central and northern Death Valley (see Machette and others, 2001). Summary of Field Trip The trip is designed for 2.5 days, and described in three daily road logs found in Chapter A of this guidebook. This road log is followed by Chapters B through I that either (a) provide regional neotectonic summaries for deformational features presented in the field trip, or (b) summarize research that supplements specific topics discussed at field trip stops. Figure 1. Map of trip stops, roads, and topography of the area. First number refers to day, second to stop sequence during the day. 2 On the first day we present an overview of the southern Death Valley and northern Silurian Valley area at a site in the southern Salt Spring Hills. At this stop we summarize major themes of the field trip, including the tectonic origin of the main valley system. We also describe fine-grained sediment on the east side of the hills and discuss evidence for lacustrine vs. ground- water origins for these deposits, as well as a pronounced marginal topographic bench. We also will discuss the significance of anomalous late Quaternary axial valley incision into bedrock along this reach of Salt Creek. From there we move to the Valjean piedmont and look at: (a) evidence for historic sediment yield and climatic variations from local deposits; (b) tectonic framework; (c) depositional history of the large Kingston Wash tributary drainage, including evidence for a large Holocene hyperconcentrated flow deposit; and (d) study of debris flow chronology in the Kingston Range. We continue with the study of the hyperconcentrated flow at Salt Creek, where we discuss possible tectonic controls on Salt Creek and Silurian Lake. On the second day we examine evidence for neotectonic contractional deformation along and adjacent to the northern and eastern range fronts of the Avawatz Mountains that form the southern and western margin of the Death and Silurian valleys, respectively. We begin by traversing the lower piedmont below the eastern Avawatz Mountains front, looking at deposits, soils and evidence for warping and local faulting of Pleistocene fans. Then we move to the medial part of the southern Death Valley piedmont and discuss transportation mechanisms for alluvial fan deposits and their influence on deposit characteristics, intra-fan incision, and soil development. We continue