Possible Correlations of Basement Rocks Across the San Andreas, San Gregorio- Hosgri, and Rinconada- Reliz-King City Faults
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Possible Correlations of Basement Rocks Across the San Andreas, San Gregorio- Hosgri, and Rinconada- Reliz-King City Faults, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1317 Possible Correlations of Basement Rocks Across the San Andreas, San Gregorio- Hosgri, and Rinconada- Reliz-King City Faults, California By DONALD C. ROSS U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1317 A summary of basement-rock relations and problems that relate to possible reconstruction of the Salinian block before movement on the San Andreas fault UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1984 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WILLIAM P. CLARK, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Boss, Donald Clarence, 1924- Possible correlations of basement rocks across the San Andreas, San Gregrio-Hosgri, and Rinconada-Reliz-King City faults, California (U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1317) Bibliography: p. 25-27 Supt. of Docs, no.: 119.16:1317 1. Geology, structural. 2. Geology California. 3. Faults (geology) California. I. Title. II. Series: United States. Geological Survey. Professional Paper 1317. QE601.R681984 551.8'09794 84-600063 For sale by the Distribution Branch, Text Products Section, U.S. Geological Survey, 604 South Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304 CONTENTS Page Abstract _____________________________________________________________ 1 Introduction __________________________________________________________ 1 San Gregorio-Hosgri fault zone ___________________________________________ 3 San Andreas fault zone _________________________________________________ 8 Rinconada-Reliz-King City fault zone ______________________________________ 16 Problems of Salinian-block reconstruction that still remain.____________________ 18 Cordilleran miogeoclinal rocks_____________________________---_-------_ 18 Bean Canyon Formation _____________________________________________ 19 Temblor clasts _____________________________________________________ 19 Sierran quartzites __________________________________________________ 19 Metallic-mineral deposits.____________________________________________ 19 Barrett Ridge slice.________________________________________________ 20 Montara Mountain and Gualala granitic clasts ___________________________ 21 Europium-anomaly contrast __________________________________________ 21 Unlocated west flank of the Salinian block. ______________________________ 23 Conclusions.__________________________________________________________ 23 References cited _______________________________________________________ 24 Supplemental information _______________________________________________ 27 Comparison of the porphyritic granodiorites of Point Reyes and Monterey _____ 27 Comparison of the granitic rocks near the Pinnacles and Neenach Volcanic Formations of Matthews (1976) ______________________________________ 31 ILLUSTRATIONS Page FIGURE 1. Index map of central and southern California, showing selected geologic and geographic features __________ 2 2. Map showing postulated realinement of some basement-rock units along the San Gregorio-Hosgri fault zone 3 3. Generalized geologic map of the Gualala area ____________________________________________________ 4 4. Generalized geologic map of the northern Salinian block ___________________________________________ 6 5. Generalized geologic map of the central Salinian block _____________________________________________ 7 6. Generalized geologic map showing location of a possible north-south-trending fault connecting the Ben Lomond and La Honda faults ______________________________________________________________ 8 7. Map showing probable offset of the west margin of the Salinian block by the San Gregorio-Hosgri fault zone 8 8. Map showing locations of wells to basement between the Chalone Creek and San Andreas faults ___________ 9 9. Generalized geologic map of the southernmost Sierra Nevada and the westernmost Mojave Desert _________ 10 10. Generalized geologic map showing locations of sheared rocks along the Vergeles fault.___________________ 11 11. Map showing extrapolation from well-core data of some basement-rock units in the central Salinian block ___ 15 12. Generalized geologic map of the southern Salinian block ___________________________________________ 17 13. Triangular diagram showing comparison of modally analyzed specimens of the porphyritic granitic rocks of Thermal Canyon and the porphyritic granodiorite-granite of the La Panza Range.___________________ 18 14. Maps showing possible reconstructions of the northern and central Salinian block before San Andreas fault movement-_____________________________________________________________________________ 22 15. Generalized geologic maps showing locations of modally and chemically analyzed samples of the porphyritic granodiorites of Point Reyes and Monterey ___________________________________________________ 27 16. Triangular diagrams showing modes of the porphyritic granodiorites of Point Reyes and Monterey _________ 28 17. Histograms showing chemical analyses of the porphyritic granodiorites of Point Reyes and Monterey _______ 28 18. Triangular diagrams showing chemical compatibility of the porphyritic granodiorites of Point Reyes and Monterey ______________________________________________________________________________ 30 19. Triangular diagrams showing modes of the Tomales Point and Inverness granitic bodies _________________ 30 20. Maps showing locations of granitic rocks of the Pinnacles and Neenach areas and of modally and chemically analyzed samples._______________________________________________________________________ 31 21. Triangular diagrams showing modes of granitic rocks of the Pinnacles and Neenach areas ________________ 34 22. Histograms of chemical analyses of samples of granitic rocks of the Pinnacles and Neenach areas __________ 35 23. Triangular diagram showing modes of chemically analyzed samples of granitic rocks of the Pinnacles and Neenach areas __________________________________________________________________________ 36 24. Triangular diagrams showing chemical compatibility of granitic rocks of the Pinnacles area with those of the Neenach area___________________________________________________________________________ 36 ill IV CONTENTS Page FIGURE 25. Histograms showing semiquantitative-spectroscopic-analysis "midpoints" of trace-element concentrations in samples of the tonalite and granodiorite of Johnson Canyon, the granodiorite of the Fairmont Reservoir, the granite of Bickmore Canyon, and the felsic variant of the Fairmont Reservoir body _______________ 37 TABLES Page TABLE 1. Chemical analyses of selected granitic rocks from the Point Reyes and Monterey areas, California-_________ 29 2. Modes of selected granitic-rock samples from the Neenach area, California-____________________________ 33 3. Chemical analyses of selected samples of the tonalite and granodiorite of Johnson Canyon, the granodiorite of the Fairmont Reservoir, the granite of Bickmore Canyon, and the felsic variant of the Fairmont Reservoir body._________________________________________________________________________ 35 POSSIBLE CORRELATIONS OF BASEMENT ROCKS ACROSS THE SAN ANDREAS, SAN GREGORIO-HOSGRI, AND RINCONADA-RELIZ-KING CITY FAULTS, CALIFORNIA By DONALD C. Ross ABSTRACT quartzite and marble units of the Cordilleran mio- geocline units that almost certainly reach the A reconstruction that treats the Salinian block as a south San Andreas fault southeast of the Sierra Nevada. ward extension of the Sierra Nevada is supported by (1) the Two recent developments, however, lend support possible correlation of several basement-rock features of the central Salinian block and the south end of the Sierra Nevada, to a reconstruction model that would derive the and (2) reversal of right-lateral movement on the San Gregorio- Salinian block from the southern Sierra Nevada Hosgri fault zone that significantly telescopes and shortens the region. First, my mapping in the east-west-trend north end of the Salinian block. However, currently accepted ing tail of the Sierra Nevada (San Emigdio Moun and documented movements on the San Gregorio-Hosgri and tains) has revealed a major structural break that San Andreas fault zones are not great enough to allow either the Barrett Ridge slice or the K-feldspar-rich Cretaceous and juxtaposes oceanic basement1 on the north against lower Tertiary sedimentary rocks of the Gualala area to be continental basement on the south. The Vergeles- derived from the southern Sierra Nevada. Additional fault dis Zayante fault zone in the central Salinian block placement or transportation of exotic blocks from considerable may be a continuation of that fault zone in the distances would seem to be required. A model that treats the Sierra Nevada. Salinian block solely as a fault-derived fragment of the southern Sierra Nevada does not appear to completely resolve the re Second, Graham and Dickinson (1978a) and, more construction problem. Yet the similarities between the base recently, Clark and others (1984) have suggested ment rocks of the Salinian block and the southern Sierra Ne that significant right-lateral offset may have taken vada are great enough that strong data would be required to place along the San Gregorio-Hosgri fault zone. A support alternative models of Salinian-block origin. reconstruction that took account of such offset could significantly telescope the northern part of INTRODUCTION the Salinian block (Bodega Head to Ben Lomond) and help resolve