Sediment Provenance and Dispersal of Neogene–Quaternary Strata of the Southeastern San Joaquin Basin and Its Transition Into the GEOSPHERE; V

Research Paper THEMED ISSUE: Origin and Evolution of the Sierra Nevada and Walker Lane

GEOSPHERE Sediment provenance and dispersal of Neogene–Quaternary strata of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin and its transition into the GEOSPHERE; v. 12, no. 6 southern Sierra Nevada, California doi:10.1130/GES01359.1 Jason Saleeby1, Zorka Saleeby1, Jason Robbins2, and Jan Gillespie3 13 figures; 2 tables; 2 supplemental files 1Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA 2Chevron North America Exploration and Production, McKittrick, California 93251, USA 3Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Bakersfield, California 93311, USA CORRESPONDENCE: jason@gps.caltech.edu

CITATION: Saleeby, J., Saleeby, Z., Robbins, J., and ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Gillespie, J., 2016, Sediment provenance and dispersal of Neogene–Quaternary strata of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin and its transition into We have studied detrital-zircon U-Pb age spectra and conglomerate clast The Sierra Nevada and Great Valley of California are structurally coupled the southern Sierra Nevada, California: Geosphere, populations from Neogene–Quaternary siliciclastic and volcaniclastic strata and move semi-independently within the San Andreas–Walker Lane dextral v. 12, no. 6, p. 1744–1773, doi:10.1130/GES01359.1. of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin, as well as a fault-controlled Neo- transform system as a microplate (Argus and Gordon, 1991; Unruh et al., 2003). gene basin that formed across the southernmost Sierra Nevada; we call this Regional relief generation and erosion of the Sierra Nevada are linked to sub- Received 9 May 2016 Accepted 31 August 2016 basin the Walker graben. The age spectra of the detrital-zircon populations sidence and sedimentation in the Great Valley by regional west tilt about an axis Published online 17 October 2016 are compared to a large basement zircon age data set that is organized into that runs along the western Sierra Foothills (Fig. 1 inset). Subsurface studies in age populations based on major drainage basin geometry of the southern the southern Great Valley have shown this region to be unique by the hosting Sierra Nevada and adjacent ranges. We find a direct sediment provenance of a Neogene deep marine basin named the San Joaquin Basin (Hoots et al., and dispersal link for much of the Neogene between the Walker graben and 1954; Bandy and Arnal, 1969; Bartow, 1984; Bartow and McDougall, 1984). This the southeastern San Joaquin Basin. In early to middle Miocene time, this marine basin is unique to the entire Great Valley province with a number of its link was accented by the delivery of volcaniclastic materials into the south- principal facies boundaries trending obliquely across the southern Great Valley eastern Basin margin from the Cache Peak volcanic center that was nested and intersecting the southwestern Sierra Foothills at high angle. within the Walker graben. In late middle Miocene through early Pleistocene The southern Sierra Nevada is widely recognized for its extensive expo- time, this linkage was maintained by a major fluvial system that we call sure of Cretaceous batholithic rocks. This region has gained recent attention the Caliente River, whose lower trunk was structurally controlled by growth for its surface expressions of the progressive loss of its underlying mantle faults along the Edison graben, which breached the western wall of the lithosphere (Saleeby, 2003; Saleeby et al., 2013a, 2013b), leaving distinct struc- Walker graben. The Caliente River redistributed into the southeastern San tural, geomorphic, and thermal imprints (Wood and Saleeby, 1998; Saleeby, Joaquin Basin much of the ~2 km of volcaniclastic and siliciclastic strata 2003; Saleeby et al., 2007, 2013a, 2013b; Chapman et al., 2010, 2012). Many of that filled the Walker graben. This sediment redistribution was forced by a the unique features of the San Joaquin Basin owe their origin to these litho regional topographic gradient that developed in response to uplift along the sphere-scale dynamic processes. Cretaceous batholithic rocks extend for a eastern Sierra escarpment system. The Caliente River built a fluvial-deltaic considerable distance westward from the Sierra Foothills as the Great Valley fan system that prograded northwestward across the lower trunk of the Kern crystalline basement (Saleeby, 2007, 2014), which is particularly well docu- River and thereby deflected the Kern drainage flux of sediment into the Basin mented for the basement of the San Joaquin Basin (May and Hewitt, 1948). edge northward. In mainly late Miocene time, turbidites generated primarily Thus the exhumation history of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith is a criti- off the Caliente River delta front built the Stevens submarine fan system of cal aspect of San Joaquin Basin geologic history. the southeastern and central areas of the San Joaquin Basin. In late Quater- Tertiary strata of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin are currently under nary time, 1–1.8 km of Caliente River–built strata were eroded as an epeiro- going active erosion between ~35.2°N and ~36°N (Fig. 1), along an active genic uplift that we call the Kern arch emerged along the southeastern Basin epeirogenic uplift named the Kern arch (Saleeby et al., 2013a, 2013b). These margin, in response to underlying mantle lithosphere removal. The sediment Tertiary strata and their facies equivalents once extended for an unknown that was eroded off the arch was redistributed mainly into the Maricopa and distance nonconformably across the current southwestern Sierra basement For permission to copy, contact Copyright Tulare sub-basins that are located to the southwest and northwest, respec- uplift, as shown by erosional truncation and up-dip projection patterns and Permissions, GSA, or [email protected]. tively, of the arch. the mapping of the partially exhumed basement nonconformity (Fig. 1).

E 119.5 O W 119 O 118.5 O a 118 O s

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Garlock flt. a gion showing generalized stratigraphic

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l and Warne, 1986; Hirst, 1986; Mahéo et al.,

t r . 22 15 2009; Saleeby et al., 2009a, 2013a, 2013b; N Saleeby and Saleeby, 2013, 2016). Also 11 20 10 shown are our detrital-zircon sample sites Indian as sample numbers (Table 2) and sample 12 S Wells sites of Lechler and Niemi (2011) abbre- 21 Kern Valley Breckenridge viated in yellow as: N—North Fork Kern 19 . arch t l P f channel sand; S—South Fork Kern channel os w - Greenhorn e o 18 . g sand; L—Tejon Formation; W—Witnet For- B d Cre r i e r k e o c n k 35.5 mation; G (G1 and G2)—Golar Formation 1 8 K e e n k e 1 r r id horst c and 2; and from Sharman et al. (2013, n g e 27 r G e G or flt B 2014): S—Uvas member of Tejon Forma- ge . . Kern 14 flt 7 W tion; and SE—San Emigdio Formation. River 6 alk 13 er B E asin l Paso Mtns Inset map of California shows principal 26 d 16 flt. E is features of Sierra Nevada microplate after on 9 flt. 5 3 ? Argus and Gordon (1991) and Unruh et al. CR San (2003). Inset map of Kern River oil field 25 Bea 4 A r shows well core and surface sample loca- ndreas flt. 24 Mt flt. n tions in more detail. flt.—fault. Maricopa lf . fl W t.

sub-basin ck flt. White Wo lo ar G Tejon 35 o 2 proto- L, S & SE embayment es ? 0 10 20 30 k ang S pi r 0 10 20 i an Emigdio - Tehacha Mojave plateau northern facies (Etchegoin & San Joaquin Fms. transitional) Surface projection of Stevens Late Cenozoic southern Sierra “Kern River” Fm. (upper Miocene-Pliocene) submarine fan system Nevada fault system southern (Caliente River) facies Area of Walker graben fill normal, sinistral Tertiary strata exhumed along eastern Kern arch Area of El Paso Basin subsurface Witnet Fm. (lower Paleogene) Zircon sample site Kern arch topographic crest Exhumed early Tertiary nonconformity surface Published zircon sample sites CR Caliente River Area of low relief upland surface Area of multiple published sites terminal channel

The west-tilt axis between Sierra Nevada uplift and erosion and Great Valley dispersal, and deposition of Neogene–Quaternary strata of the southeast- subsidence and sedimentation has long been treated as a regional structural- ern San Joaquin Basin. Structural control on the development of these fea- stratigraphic datum for the tectonic and geomorphic development of the re- tures was provided by a system of Neogene–Quaternary normal and related gion (Huber, 1981; Unruh, 1991). Unlike the axis north of ~37°N, much of the high-angle oblique slip faults that we call the southern Sierra Nevada fault axis south of ~37°N has been affected by late Cenozoic faulting and broad flex- system (Mahéo et al., 2009; Saleeby et al., 2009a, 2013a, 2013b; Saleeby and ure (Le Pourhiet and Saleeby, 2013; Saleeby et al., 2013a, 2013b; Fig. 1 inset Saleeby, 2016). map). This further distinguishes the San Joaquin Basin from the rest of the We recognize the southeastern margin of the San Joaquin Basin as recently Great Valley to the north. emergent over a broad region. This is clearly marked by significant erosional In this paper, we pursue the complexity of the transition between the south- truncations of SW-dipping Neogene strata that are exposed across the Kern eastern San Joaquin Basin and the adjacent western Sierra basement uplift arch (Mahéo et al., 2009; Saleeby et al., 2009a, 2013b). Up-dip stratigraphic pro- by the study of sediment provenance and dispersal patterns of Neogene and jections of the eroded strata are in agreement with subsurface thermochrono Quaternary strata of the southeastern Basin. We employ surface and subsur- metric data indicating 1000–1850 m of Quaternary exhumation of Neogene face structural and stratigraphic mapping, conglomeratic clast analysis, and to lower Pleistocene strata off of the arch (Cecil et al., 2014). These same data U-Pb geochronological studies of detrital and erupted zircon from key silici- further indicate that strata of the arch have been exhumed off of the adjacent clastic and volcaniclastic units of Neogene–Quaternary age. Fingerprinting of western Sierra basement where deeply weathered low-relief areas represent Sierran basement provenance domains is pursued by a synthesis of regional the exhumed nonconformity (Mahéo et al., 2009; Cecil et al., 2014). The ex- basement U-Pb zircon geochronological data and the application of these humed Tertiary nonconformity projects farther upslope as a low-relief upland data in the light of basement exhumation and geomorphic relations. We show surface that is preserved along major Sierran interfluves (Fig. 1). The low-relief that specific domains of the Neogene–Quaternary strata of the southeastern interfluves and adjacent drainage basins have been slowly eroded together Basin can be linked to modern drainage basin patterns by detrital-zircon and through much of Cenozoic time at an average rate of ~0.05 mm/yr (Clark et al., conglomerate clast provenances, although the magnitude of sediment input 2005; Mahéo et al., 2009; Sousa et al., 2016). The low-relief surface lies parallel and the mutual interaction of distinct sediment dispersal domains exiting the to apatite (U-Th)/He age isochronal surfaces over large expanses of the Sierra Sierra Nevada along trunk river channels varied significantly through time. Nevada (Clark et al., 2005; Cecil et al., 2006; Mahéo et al., 2009). The coupling We relate these complexities to a sequence of tectonic forcing mechanisms of the low-relief surface to apatite isochronal surfaces provides planar struc- stemming first from profound tectonic disruption and differential exhuma- tural markers for the approximation of structural relief arising from late Ceno- tion of the southern Sierra basement in the Late Cretaceous (Saleeby et al., zoic vertical components of faulting and tilting related to the southern Sierra 2007; Chapman et al., 2010, 2012) and a rapidly evolving series of late Cenozoic Nevada fault system (Mahéo et al., 2009). events entailing the opening of an underlying slab window (Atwater and Stock, Rock and surface uplift of the Kern arch has partitioned the eastern San 1998), eastern Sierra escarpment formation and derivative regional west tilt Joaquin Basin into the Tulare and Maricopa sub-basins (Fig. 1). The broad up- of the microplate (Unruh et al., 2003), and then the foundering of the regions lift of the arch continues upslope as a fault-controlled, wedge-shaped base- underlying mantle lithosphere (Saleeby et al., 2013b). We further show that the ment uplift that we call the Breckenridge-Greenhorn horst (Fig. 1). The ex- southeastern San Joaquin Basin–southern Sierra transition has been uniquely humed Tertiary nonconformity and adjacent low-relief upland surface across mobile as compared to the western Sierra Nevada–Great Valley transition to the horst exhibit the same west dip as that of the erosionally truncated strata the north, and is also a sensitive indicator of tectonic and geodynamic pro- of the Kern arch. The Breckenridge-Greenhorn horst formed by E-down nor- cesses that were either restricted to, or more intense than along the southern mal faulting along the Breckenridge-Greenhorn–Kern Canyon fault system, 100–200 km of the microplate. and SW-down normal faulting along the west Breckenridge, Kern gorge, and related faults. Principal growth on these and other important normal faults of the region was early to middle, and locally, late Miocene in age (Dibblee and STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA Warne, 1986; Mahéo et al., 2009; Reid, 2009; Blythe and Longinotti, 2013; Chap- NEVADA–SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN BASIN TRANSITION man et al., 2017; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016). In late Quaternary time, the horst and arch together rose epeirogenically, forcing the erosion of Tertiary strata In Figure 1, we show a map of the southern Sierra Nevada and adjacent down to basement along the western margin of the Breckenridge-Greenhorn San Joaquin Basin region denoting a number of late Cenozoic structural and horst, diminishing westward from lower Tertiary to lower Pleistocene stratal geomorphic features (references in caption). The main features that we will levels across the Kern arch. Cover strata–basement contacts along the current focus on below include the Kern arch, the Tulare and Maricopa sub-basins, southern Sierra range front in general consist of NW-striking, SW-down nor- the Breckenridge-Greenhorn horst, and the Walker and Edison grabens. The mal faults and ~NE-striking nonconformity segments along relay ramps in the development of these features strongly influenced sediment provenance, range-front fault system (Fig. 1).

The southern Sierra Nevada and adjacent area of the Kern arch hosted a that Miocene normal faults penetrated into the currently emergent basement series of grabens that served as localized accommodation spaces during the of the thrust belt. Miocene. These grabens are resolved by structural, stratigraphic, and geomor- In summary, a broad spectrum of data indicates that the southeastern San phic relations and by low-temperature thermochronometry. The graben fills Joaquin Basin and adjacent Sierra Nevada–Tehachapi basement uplifts were and their bounding structures have been differentially exhumed over the past cut by a complex and regionally distinct mainly normal fault system in the ~10 m.y. with the regional rise of the southern Sierra Nevada and Kern arch. late Cenozoic and that, particularly in early and middle Miocene time, numer- NE-down normal faults such as the Edison fault zone, in conjunction with the ous structures of the system served as growth structures during prolific sedi SW-down west Breckenridge, Kern gorge, and related fault sets, form a com- mentation. plex range-front graben system along the eastern Kern arch. The southeast Supplemental File 1: Citations and references for Figure 2 map that shows igneous age units for the southern Sierra Nevada batholith as well segment of the range-front system is called the Edison graben, delineated on as selected drainage divides (Z=zircon U/Pb geochronology, M=map LATE CENOZOIC SEDIMENT PROVENANCE DOMAINS relations; note that majority of zircon age sample locations are plotted on regional map of Nadin et al., 2016, Fig. 2a). Figure 1 by the Edison fault. The Edison graben formed an important Miocene OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA REGION

Domain 1-Kings, Kaweah and Tule river drainages sediment channeling and accommodation space. The eastern end of this gra-

Bateman (1965) ben projects into the transition zone between the E-down Breckenridge fault Overview Busby (1982) Z and M Chen and Moore (1982) Z and the NW-down (Neogene phase) White Wolf fault (Fig. 1). This relation- Clemens-Knott and Saleeby (1999) Z and M Klemetti et al., (2014) Z ship helped intensify sediment channeling through the Edison graben area The southern Sierra Nevada and San Joaquin Basin are well suited for Lackey et al., (2012) Z Moore (1963) M (see below). basement provenance and sediment-dispersal studies owing to the existence Moore (1981) M Moore and Nokleberg (1991) M Moore and Sisson (1987a) M In early and middle Miocene time, a complex graben that we call the of a large and aerially extensive database for U-Pb zircon ages of the Sierra Moore and Sisson (1987b) M Saleeby (2004) Walker graben formed across southern Sierra basement. Principal bounding Nevada batholith, in conjunction with surface exposures and subsurface core Saleeby and Sharp (1980) Z and M Saleeby et al. (1990) Z and M structures are the E-down Breckenridge fault, the SW-down Walker Basin fault, samples for the eastern part of the Basin that can be characterized by their Saleeby and Dunne (2015) Z and M Stern et al., (1981) Z and M the NE-down Bear Mountain fault, and the north-tilted footwall block of the detrital-zircon age spectra. In this section, we characterize distinct basement Tobisch et al., (1986) Z and M Tobisch et al., (1995) Z and M SE-down proto–Garlock fault (Fig. 1; Michael, 1960; Dibblee and Louke, 1970; provenance domains based on U-Pb zircon age patterns (Table 1; Supplemen- Wolf and Saleeby (1995) Z and M Quinn, 1987; Coles et al., 1997; Mahéo et al., 2009; Saleeby et al., 2009a, 2013b; tal File 11). With distinct basement age domains defined, our detrital-zircon Domain 2-White River-Poso Creek range front

Ross (1989, 1995) M Blythe and Longinotti, 2013; Chapman et al., 2017; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016). data can be more readily presented in the context of regional sediment disper- Saleeby and Sharp (1980) Z and M Saleeby et al., (2008) Z and M The Walker graben hosted the ca. 20–15 Ma Cache Peak volcanic center, which sal patterns that link basement provenance domains to depositional domains

Domain 3-Kern River drainage consists of silicic ignimbrites, domes and plugs, basaltic flows, and andesitic in the Basin. We also factor in the potential complexities of the relative sur-

Bergquist and Nitkiewicz (1982) M stratocones. Volcanic strata of the Cache Peak center are interbedded with vivability and dilution of detrital-zircon populations along the length of large Chen and Moore (1982) Z Diggles (1987) M and both conformably and unconformably overlain by locally derived silici- Sierran drainage basins, as well as periods of prolonged Tertiary sediment Diggles and Dellinger (1988) M Diggles et al. (1987) M clastic strata that accumulated into late Miocene time. This Neogene graben burial in some areas of the currently exposed basement. For Mesozoic time, Moore (1981) M fill is internally faulted, tilted, and partially exhumed off its Sierran basement. basement ages are sufficiently abundant and show enough spatial variation 1Supplemental File 1. Sediment provenance and dis- The plausible extent of the fill (Fig. 1), beyond its current erosional remnants, that grouping of ages into 10 m.y. bins based on 206Pb/238U ages that are within persal of Neogene–Quaternary strata, southeastern is broadly constrained by stratigraphic, geomorphic, and low-temperature 10% concordant of 207Pb/235U ages is both warranted and useful for comparison San Joaquin Basin Quaternary strata of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin and its transition into thermochronometry (Mahéo et al., 2009; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016). We show to detrital-zircon age spectra from the Basin samples. the southern Sierra Nevada, California. Please visit below that Neogene strata of the Walker graben fill were in continuity with Relative to the southeastern San Joaquin Basin margin, we recognize six http://dx .doi .org /10 .1130/GES01359 .S1 or the full- strata of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin principally through the area of distinct Sierran basement provenance domains (Fig. 2), which from north to text article on www.gsapubs.org to view Supplemen- tal File 1. the transition between the White Wolf and Breckenridge faults (Fig. 1). south are: (1) the Kings, Kaweah, and Tule rivers domain; (2) White River–Poso Facies relations indicate that the San Joaquin Basin deepened southward Creek range-front domain; (3) the Kern River domain; (4) the southernmost during the Neogene across the area of the Kern arch and Maricopa sub-basin Sierra–eastern Tehachapi domain; (5) the western Tehachapi–San Emigdio do- (Bandy and Arnal, 1969; Olson, 1988; Saleeby et al., 2013b). Surface and sub- main; and (6) the southern Owens and Indian Wells valleys domain (Fig. 2). Do- surface mapping farther south indicates that Neogene units of the Basin thin mains 1 through 3 may be treated for the most part as simple drainage basins southward across the White Wolf fault, where they lie above deeply exhumed that delivered first-cycle detritus into the San Joaquin Basin during Cenozoic Sierran basement of the Tejon embayment, and farther south along the emer- time. Domains 4, 5, and 6 require special treatment, having been extensively gent forelimb of the Tehachapi–San Emigdio fold-thrust belt (Davis, 1983; Hirst, covered by Tertiary strata and having undergone significant structural and 1986, 1988; Goodman and Malin, 1992; Gordon and Gerke, 2009; Chapman and topographic changes in late Neogene–Quaternary time. We start our analy- Saleeby, 2012). Subsurface mapping in the Tejon embayment indicates that sis with an assessment of the age patterns derived from basement age and Miocene normal faults of the southern Sierra system also influenced sedimen- map patterns from each domain and then progress to the superposed com- tation of that region, and mapping along the basement-cover strata contact of plexities of Tertiary sediment burial and derivative reworking, late Cenozoic the emergent forelimb of the Tehachapi–San Emigdio fold-thrust belt reveals topographic changes, and potential cryptic provenance elements. Quantitative

TABLE 1. APPROXIMATE AREAS (KM2) OF 10 M.Y. AGE BINS BETWEEN 80 Ma AND 280 Ma FOR SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA BATHOLITH BROKEN INTO PROVENANCE DOMAINS AS PRESENTED IN FIGURE 2 AND SUMMARIZED IN HISTOGRAMS OF FIGURE 3* Ma Domain 1 Domain 2Domain 3Domain 3’ Domain 4Domain 5Domain 6Composite 80–90 936 0 1231 484 23 0 733 1240 90–100 1140 184 1514 801 916 114 316 2033 100-110 1996 935 734 0 462 350 30 492 110–120 948 1135011 257 011 120–130 5100000000 130–140 4800002900 140–150 201167540184 263 150–160 49 0111 0013 126 126 160–170 71 0 369 176 001003 1179 170–180 0083 83 00251 334 180–190 00000016 16 190–200 16 0 000000 200–210 00000000 210–220 00000000 220–230 0019 10 00010 230–240 00730003 240–250 00037 00037 250–260 0037 00063 63 260–270 00000000 270–280 00003058 Total 5716 1232 4219 1669 1419 763 2727 5815 *Domain 1—Kings, Kaweah, and Tule rivers drainage; Domain 2—White River–Poso Creek range front; Domain 3—Kern River drainage (total); Domain 3′—south Fork Kern River; Domain 4—southernmost Sierra Nevada–eastern Tehachapi Range; Domain 5—western Tehachapi–San Emigdio ranges; Domain 6—southern Owens and Indian Wells valleys; Composite consists of domains 3′, 4, and 6.

data on relative zircon fertility across the Figure 2 age bin units are sparse and eastern San Joaquin Basin, these drainages are considered to have coalesced may be considered a significant issue for our analysis, considering the trans- southward as one major distributary system that debouched southward into verse gradients in bulk and isotopic compositions that characterize the south- the northern Basin margin off the southward-prograding Kings River fan (see ern Sierra Nevada batholith (Nadin and Saleeby, 2008). However, batholithic Atwater et al., 1986). Domain 4 includes batholithic rocks that lie south of the gabbros, diorites, and mafic tonalites along the western Sierra Foothills and Garlock fault, proximal to its south-facing scarp, because these rocks consti- Tehachapi Range are shown to be comparably fertile to that of typical Sierran tute part of the upper-plate complex of the southern Sierra detachment sys- granitoids that constitute the axial to eastern zones of the batholith (Saleeby tem, which was in part derived from, and in part lay above, autochthonous and Sharp, 1980; Saleeby et al., 1987). rocks of domain 4 (Wood and Saleeby, 1998; Chapman et al., 2012, 2017). Do- main 5 consists of western Tehachapi–San Emigdio ranges rocks north of the Southern Sierra Nevada Basement Age Domains San Andreas and westernmost Garlock faults. On Figure 3, we present basement age spectra plots as histograms for each Regionally mapped and dated plutons, or pluton clusters, of the southern of the domains shown on Figure 2. This is done for each domain by divid- Sierra Nevada batholith are color coded on Figure 2 by 10 m.y. age bins and, ing the area of each age bin by the total area for which age and map data for domains 1 through 3, are clipped at bounding drainage divides. Areas of exist (Table 1). Our comparative analysis with detrital-zircon age spectra below poor age or map control are not color coded and are deleted from our analysis. leads us to construct additional basement age spectra plots. For the Kern River We also include in Figure 2 the thicker silicic metavolcanic units from meta- domain, we break out a South Fork subdomain (Fig. 3F) considering the plausi morphic pendants that have yielded zircons that are dated. These data do little ble early Tertiary southerly course for the Kern South Fork that debouched to alter the main age patterns of each domain, but as discussed below, small southward into the Walker graben and possibly the southern Indian Wells Val- early Mesozoic peaks in the age spectra are potentially significant. Domain 1 ley region (after Kleck, 2010). On Figure 3H, we show a southeastern Sierra groups the Kings, Kaweah, and Tule drainages because relative to the south- regional composite domain that combines data from Figures 3D, 3F, and 3G.

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a Kaweah R. D 1 f

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e Tule R. K 36 o D 3’ Figure 2. Map of southern Sierra Nevada White R. Indian W batholith U-Pb zircon age domains grouped V ell al into 10 m.y. age bins based on age data ley s integrated with regional map relationships. D 2 Kern ? Also shown are major drainage divides, which delineate sediment provenance arch Poso Creek D 3 domains as discussed in text. Sources for 35.5 o map construction are in Supplemental Item 1 (see footnote 1). Kern R. D 4

Caliente R. SES ock fault Garl

Wolf fault San Andre Mojave plateau White

35 o D 5 as fa WSE u lt SES 50 km SES P Batholith age bins (10 Ma) 80–90 130–140 180–190 230–240

90–100 140–150 190–200 240–250

100–110 150–160 210–220 250–260

110–120 160–170 220–230 270–280

120–130 170–180 Southern Sierra detachment ystem: WSE Western San Emigdio sheet D 1, ..., D 6 Sediment provenance Domains P Pastoria sheet Lower trunk channels SES Southeastern Sierra sheets Drainage divide Selected major faults Assigned intra-drainage provenance divide Location of Neogene-Pleistocene detrital zircon samples (Fig. 1)

40 80 50 3A 3B 3C 30 70 40 % Kings, Kaweah, White River - Poso Creek % Kern River total and Tule Rivers range front (Domain 3) 20 (Domain 1) 60 (Domain 2) 30

10 50 20

0 40 10 % 70 3D 30 0

60 60 20 Southernmost Sierra - 3F Eastern Tehachapi range 50 50 (Domain 4) 10 South Fork Kern River Figure 3. Histograms of U-Pb zircon age distributions from southern Sierra Nevada 40 40 (Domain 3’) 0 batholith divided into provenance domains % % as shown on Figure 2. U-Pb zircon ages 30 30 are binned into 10 m.y. groups, and area 50 of each bin is divided by total area of data 3E coverage for each domain. Tabulated data 20 20 given in Table 1. 40 Western Tehachapi - San Emigdio Ranges 10 10 30 (Domain 5) % 0 0 20 40 40 3G 3H 10 30 Southern Owens 30 SE Sierra regional and Indian Wells (Domain 3’ , 4 and 6 % % Valleys 0 composite) 20 (Domain 6) 50 100 150 200 250 300 20 Age (Ma) 10 10

Supplemental File 2. Zircon U/Pb isotopic age data (1 sigma errors). Analyses performed at the Arizona Laserchron Center, University of Arizona, Tucson. Analytical methods available at: https://sites.google.com/a/laserchron.org/laserchron/

Sample 1 U/Pb age data U206Pb U/Th 206Pb* ±207Pb*±206Pb* ±error 206Pb* ±t 207Pb* ±t 206Pb*± (ppm) 204Pb 207Pb* (%)235U* (%)238U (%)corr.238U* (Ma) 235U (Ma) 207Pb* (Ma) 0 185 2634 2.420.5081 13.7 0.0950 13.8 0.01411.8 0.13 90.41.6 92.112.2136.3 323.9 0 266 3814 5.822.0378 7.80.09078.3 0.01452.9 0.35 92.82.6 88.27.0 -35.4189.3 3358 4571220.820.7288 2.10.09772.4 0.01471.2 0.51 94.01.1 94.72.2 111.1 48.9 278 3394 4.720.4090 5.40.09936.1 0.01472.7 0.44 94.02.5 96.15.6 147.7127.8 50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300 166 2336 2.921.1248 17.4 0.0963 17.5 0.01481.6 0.09 94.41.5 93.415.6 66.3417.2 741 5642 4.520.9723 4.20.09714.4 0.01481.4 0.31 94.51.3 94.14.0 83.5 99.6 139 3564 2.121.7539 17.1 0.0936 17.2 0.01481.6 0.09 94.51.5 90.914.9-4.0414.9 224 2010 2.718.0173 36.2 0.1134 36.2 0.01481.3 0.04 94.81.2 109.037.5432.5 831.5 Age (Ma) Age (Ma) 203 3458 3.422.3750 7.00.09217.2 0.01491.6 0.23 95.61.5 89.46.1 -72.4170.5 138 4020 4.122.3229 16.7 0.0930 16.9 0.01512.6 0.16 96.32.5 90.314.6-66.7 410.5 228 3012 2.622.8414 10.6 0.0917 10.8 0.01521.9 0.18 97.21.8 89.19.2 -123.0262.7 89 5542 2.724.1118 14.2 0.0873 14.3 0.01531.7 0.12 97.61.6 85.011.6-258.4360.7 1024 138641.8 21.1607 2.30.09972.8 0.01531.7 0.60 97.91.6 96.52.6 62.2 53.8 201 2596 2.923.0404 10.1 0.0917 11.0 0.01534.3 0.39 98.04.2 89.19.4 -144.5250.9 854 132762.3 20.9621 2.40.10093.3 0.01532.3 0.69 98.12.2 97.63.1 84.6 56.9 661 8308 3.821.3600 4.50.09925.3 0.01542.8 0.53 98.32.7 96.04.8 39.9107.1 872 234662.5 20.4224 2.90.10393.6 0.01542.1 0.58 98.42.0 100.43.4 146.2 68.9 723 8398 3.121.2334 2.50.10003.4 0.01542.3 0.68 98.52.2 96.73.1 54.1 58.7 104 1746 2.620.9031 27.6 0.1016 27.7 0.01541.2 0.04 98.51.2 98.225.9 91.4665.6 763 7700 2.620.0305 10.2 0.1060 10.6 0.01542.8 0.27 98.62.8 102.310.3191.5 237.5 226 3262 3.122.2617 6.90.09547.1 0.01541.8 0.25 98.61.7 92.66.3 -60.0167.3 724 1154012.820.6840 3.00.10323.3 0.01551.4 0.43 99.11.4 99.73.1 116.2 69.8 230 3006 2.721.7251 5.40.09855.7 0.01551.6 0.29 99.31.6 95.45.2 -0.8 131.0 110 2006 3.725.3173 22.1 0.0847 22.1 0.01550.9 0.04 99.50.9 82.517.6-383.6580.9 Figure 3 shows clear distinctions between each plot based primarily on the zircon age spectrum from a terrace sand along the lower Kern trunk (sample 1, 299 4244 2.622.5651 8.50.09518.6 0.01561.4 0.16 99.51.4 92.27.6 -93.1208.0 656 6532 2.220.8512 4.70.10294.9 0.01561.4 0.28 99.61.3 99.54.6 97.2110.7 644 9488 2.321.0101 2.90.10253.3 0.01561.6 0.49 99.91.6 99.13.1 79.2 67.7 114 3566 3.821.2656 17.1 0.1014 17.1 0.01561.2 0.07 100.1 1.2 98.116.0 50.4410.8 2 246 3816 2.622.6205 9.90.095410.10.01562.3 0.23 100.1 2.3 92.59.0 -99.1243.0 relative abundances of Early versus Late Cretaceous peaks and the occurrence Table 2, Supplemental File 2 , and Fig. 1). Figure 4A shows that the detrital- 183 2370 1.522.2617 11.1 0.0970 11.2 0.01571.0 0.09 100.2 1.0 94.010.0-60.0 272.3 429 3816 6.321.0289 6.70.10276.9 0.01571.7 0.24 100.2 1.6 99.36.5 77.1158.5 395 5022 3.121.7732 6.40.09927.2 0.01573.3 0.45 100.2 3.3 96.16.6 -6.1 155.6 and intensity of Jurassic and (mainly Early) Triassic (±Late Permian) peaks. zircon signature of 80–90 Ma batholithic rocks that are abundantly exposed in 2Supplemental File 2. Zircon U-Pb isotopic age data Survivability and/or dilution of detrital-zircon populations along large the upper reaches of both Kern Forks is diluted by the signature of 90–100 Ma (1 sigma errors). Analyses performed at the Arizona Sierran drainage basins are shown to be a factor for data from the Kern River and 100–110 Ma batholithic rocks that dominate downstream basement ex- LaserChron Center, University of Arizona, Tucson. drainage (Fig. 4). This figure shows the Kern drainage basement age spec- posures (Fig. 2). This figure also shows that Jurassic and Triassic peaks from Please visit http://dx.doi .org /10 .1130/GES01359 .S2 or the full-text article on www.gsapubs.org to view trum in comparison to modern channel sands for the medial reaches of the widespread yet restricted areas of the Kern drainage (Fig. 2) are for the most Supplemental File 2. North and South Kern forks (Lechler and Niemi, 2011), as well as our detrital- part lost in lower trunk sands at the resolving power of ~100 detrital grain

ABLower Kern trunk South Fork Kern terrace sand (1) channel sand (S)

n=92 n=95

50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300 Figure 4. U-Pb detrital-zircon age-probability distribution plots for modern Kern North Fork Kern 60 River sands in comparison to U-Pb age channel sand (N) spectrum in Kern River provenance domain (Fig. 3C). (A) lower Kern River trunk n=96 terrace sand and medial North Kern Fork 50 channel sand detrital-zircon age-probability distribution plots in comparison to 50 100 150 200 250 300 Kern River basement provenance domain 40 40 South Fork Kern spectrum; (B) medial South Fork channel basement sand age-probability distribution plot in Kern River drainage (Domain 3’) comparison to South Fork basement- 30 basement 30 domain spectrum (Fig. 3F). Samples N (Domain 3) and S are from Lechler and Niemi (2011). %%Sample locations are shown on Figure 1, and location data for sample 2 are given in 20 20 Table 2 with its analytical data in Supple- mental Item 2 (see footnote 2).

10 10

0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300 Age (Ma) Age (Ma)

analyses per sample. Figure 4B shows that the medial South Fork channel and eastern hanging wall under sedimentation, thus driving the alluviation sand in general retains the principal Cretaceous spectrum of the South Fork of Isabella basin. Inasmuch as the Kern Canyon system experienced similar basement exposures, while the subsidiary Jurassic and Triassic peaks of the normal displacement episodes reaching back into Miocene time (Mahéo et al., basement are greatly amplified. The medial North Fork channel sand data 2009; Saleeby et al., 2009a; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016), such sediment dam- show a similar relative amplification for the earlier Mesozoic peaks, although a ming is considered a potentially recurring transient in the overall sediment factor of 3–4 less as compared to the medial South Fork sand. The Jurassic and flux through the lower Kern trunk. In sections that follow, we pursue additional Triassic peaks for the medial North and South Fork channel sands are inter- complexities in the fractionation of detrital-zircon age spectral elements by preted to be only partially derived from the upper reaches of these drainages geomorphic processes. (Fig. 2). Both of these channel sand sample locations are adjacent to metamorphic pendants that contain Jurassic siliciclastic units that are enriched in early Mesozoic detrital zircon (Saleeby and Busby, 1993; J. Saleeby and A.D. Chap- Cryptic Components of Basement Provenance Domains man, personal commun., 2012). Proximally derived detrital zircon from these virtual point sources very likely enriched early Mesozoic zircon species relative Widespread burial of the southern Sierra Nevada batholith by Tertiary strata to the principal Cretaceous peaks in these sands. Dilution of North and South is a significant factor in our analysis. These strata were derived from basement Fork detrital-zircon signatures relative to the lower trunk signature is also prob- domains that extended beyond the depositional limits currently mapped for ably accentuated by sediment damming along the late Cenozoic scarp of the these strata, and such strata are more tractable than most basement exposures Kern Canyon fault system that crosses the North and South Fork confluence and thus liable for reworking into the San Joaquin Basin during superposed into the lower Kern trunk channel (Amos et al., 2010; Nadin and Saleeby, 2010; late Cenozoic uplift. Furthermore, poorly constrained, yet potentially wide- Fig. 1). This scarp currently places western footwall basement under incision spread burial of deeply exhumed southern Sierra basement by higher-level

TABLE 2. LOCATION DATA AND SAMPLE INFORMATION FOR U-Pb ZIRCON SAMPLES Sample number and sample(s) Latitude (°N) Longitude (°W) 1. Lower Kern trunk terrace sand 35.49350 118.69808 2. Uvis member sandstone, Tejon Formation 34.89603 119.10041 3. Cache Peak ash-flow tuff (basal Kinnick Formation) 35.18637 118.34263 4. Ash-flow tuff (Kinnick Formation outlier) 35.17139 118.47639 5. Walker Formation fluvial reworked tuff 35.33849 118.71859 6. Basal Walker Formation outlier, air-fall tuff 35.37001 118.67561 7. Lower Walker Formation fluvial reworked tuff 35.41344 118.75229 8. Olcese Formation, marine reworked tuff 35.51287 118.90165 9. Caliente River channel wall sand 35.33834 118.71879 10. Kern River Formation conglomerate 35.44274 118.91480 11. Oil well KER0009TO, Kern River Formation 35.44457 118.98703 12. Kern River Formation deltaic sandstone 35.42649 118.93643 13. Upper Bena Formation fluvial sandstone 35.39588 118.78157 14. Chanac Formation fluvial sandstone 35.41444 118.83795 15. Oil well 33_14TO, Kern River and Chanac formations 35.44969 118.96746 16. Lower Bena Formation shallow marine sandstone 35.36415 118.76300 17. Kern River Formation northern facies sandstone 35.53076 118.95386 18. Kern River Formation northern facies sandstone 35.57330 118.95885 19. Kern River Formation northern facies sandstone 35.60378 118.95088 20. Water well, Etchegoin Formation sandstone 35.81082 118.98829 21. Oil well ROD0116, Kern River Formation 35.41586 118.96362 22. Oil well TEJ0002TO, Kern River Formation 35.45503 119.01285 23. Oil well 19_0012TO, Kern River Formation 35.48312 119.00428 24. Oil well Houchin #1, Stevens Sandstone 35.20765 118.84326 25. Oil well K&M #27-5, Stevens Sandstone 35.25551 118.89290 26. Oil well Fee #2, Stevens Sandstone 35.39449 119.05038 27. Oil well Friant Prospect #21-36, Stevens Sandstone 35.45563 119.13371

batholithic detachment sheets that were transported along low-angle normal 1998; Saleeby et al., 2007; Chapman et al., 2012, 2017). As a result, lower Paleo faults during the Late Cretaceous from areas as far north as ~35.7°N presents gene coarse, mainly marine siliciclastic units of the Uvas (lower member Tejon another potential cryptic sediment provenance component. The upper-crustal Formation), Witnet and Golar formations (Nilsen et al., 1973; Cox, 1987) were detachment sheets are pervasively brecciated and retrograded in many local- deposited across deeply exhumed basement as well as tectonic veneers of ities to clay grade and thus also highly tractable and liable for erosion. The upper-crustal detachment sheets of the Tehachapi–San Emigdio ranges, south- current distribution of such detachment sheets (Fig. 2) probably only accounts easternmost Sierra and El Paso Mountains region (Wood and Saleeby, 1998; for a small proportion of their original distribution (Wood and Saleeby, 1998; Chapman and Saleeby, 2012; Chapman et al., 2012, 2016). Figure 5 shows Chapman et al., 2012, 2017), and thus some non-trivial component of the re- detrital-zircon age-probability distribution plots for two Uvas samples (sample gion’s Cenozoic sediment load was likely derived from such materials. Below, 2, Fig. 1 and Table 2, and sample “S” from Sharman et al., 2013) and for the we pursue the potential impact of these cryptic sediment sources on southern Tejon (“L”), Witnet (“W”), and Golar (“G1” and “G2”) formations from Lechler Sierra region provenance patterns for Neogene–Quaternary time. and Niemi (2011). These plots are shown in comparison to the basement provenance age spectra of Figures 3E and 3H. We first note that the Cretaceous peaks of the Uvas and Tejon are Early Cretaceous dominant, whereas the Wit- Lower Paleogene Overlap Strata and Basement Detachment Sheets net and Golar are Late Cretaceous dominant. This reflects the east-west age gradient in high-volume batholithic rocks (Fig. 2) and the local proximity of the The southernmost Sierra Nevada batholith, including the area of the Teha siliciclastic units to the respective batholithic age zones. chapi–San Emigdio ranges, underwent subsidence to marine conditions at the The relative intensities of the principal age peaks for the lower Paleogene end of Cretaceous time as a result of regional extension (Wood and Saleeby, overlap strata (Fig. 5) are poor matches to the age spectra of the autoch

ABTejon Fm (L) Witnet Fm (W) n=103 n=96

50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300

Uvas (S) Golar Fm (G1) n=100 n=94

Figure 5. U-Pb detrital-zircon age-proba bility distribution plots for lower Paleo- gene marine siliciclastic overlap strata in comparison to adjacent basement-domain 50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300 U-Pb zircon age spectra. (A) Uvas (lower Tejon Formation) samples S and number 2 (our data), and Tejon Formation (sample L) Uvas (2) Golar Fm (G2) detrital-zircon age-probability distribution n=99 n=97 in comparison to western Tehachapi– San Emigdio basement-domain spectra (Fig. 3E); and (B) Witnet (sample W) and Golar Formation (samples G1 and G2) detrital-zircon age-probability distribution in comparison to southeastern Sierra re- 50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300 gional basement-domain spectra (Fig. 3H). Samples L, W, G1, and G2 are from Lechler 50 50 and Niemi (2011), and sample S is from Sharman et al. (2013). Sample locations W. Tehachapi - San Emigdio SE Sierra regional are shown on Figure 1, and location data 40 (Domain 5) 40 composite for sample 2 given in Table 2 with its ana (Domains 3’, 4 & 6) lytical data in Supplemental Item 2 (see footnote 2). 30 30

% %

20 20

10 10

0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 50 100 150 200 250 300 Age (Ma) Age (Ma)

thonous rocks from the underlying basement domains. The Uvas samples with the enrichment of Jurassic detrital zircon in the Uvas. The western San from domain 5 show inordinately strong Jurassic peaks as compared to Emigdio mafic complex is an upper-crustal detachment sheet that is inter- those of domain 5. We interpret this as a virtual point-source enrichment of preted to have been derived from the southern end of the western Sierra Jurassic zircon derived from the western San Emigdio mafic complex (Fig. 2), Foothills belt in the region currently occupied by the eastern reaches of the which lies nonconformably beneath the Uvas. The lower levels of the Uvas Maricopa sub-basin (Saleeby et al., 2009b; Chapman et al., 2012). The lateral also include submarine landslide deposits that contain clasts and blocks de- extent of this allochthonous sheet above the domain 5 autochthon during rived from the mafic complex (Chapman et al., 2012, Fig. 4). This is consistent early Paleogene time is poorly constrained. The Uvas basal nonconformity

overlaps both this upper-crustal detachment sheet as well as deep crustal– Neogene Overlap Basins lower-plate batholithic rocks of the principal San Emigdio basement complex (Chapman and Saleeby, 2012), further posing the possibility of an expansive Between late Eocene and Oligocene time, substantial areas of the lower ephemeral Jurassic provenance terrane in the area, which has been largely Paleogene overlap strata of the southernmost Sierra and Tehachapi ranges lost to Cenozoic erosion. The Permo-Triassic peaks in sample S from the Uvas region were erosionally stripped, thereby re-exposing basement (Michael, (Fig. 5A) do not have an exposed proximal source. Zircon-bearing rocks of 1960; Dibblee and Louke, 1970; Nilsen et al., 1973; Reid and Cox, 1989; Mahéo this age are absent along the western reaches of the Sierra Nevada batholith et al., 2009; Saleeby et al., 2013b). Subsequently, in the early Miocene, the (Fig. 2) but are present in the southeastern provenance domains (3′ and 6). normal-fault–controlled Walker graben formed an important accommodation The Pastoria detachment sheet also lies tectonically on the principal base- space within southern Sierra basement (Mahéo et al., 2009; Blythe and Longi ment complex (Fig. 2) and is hypothesized to have originated above the notti, 2013; Saleeby et al., 2013b; Chapman et al., 2017; Saleeby and Saleeby, deeply exhumed batholithic autochthon of the southeastern Sierra Nevada 2016). Similar age normal faulting spread across the southeastern San Joaquin (Chapman et al., 2012). Batholithic rocks of 90–100 Ma age are widespread Basin, extending southward across the area of the western Tehachapi–San in the Pastoria sheet, as they are in the southeastern batholithic autochthon Emigdio ranges and Tejon embayment (Nilsen et al., 1973; Hirst, 1986, 1988; (Fig. 2). The most plausible explanation for the Permo-Triassic peaks in the Davis and Lagoe, 1988; Goodman and Malin, 1992; Reid, 2009; Chapman and Uvas is that such zircon-bearing pluton fragments were transported into Saleeby, 2012). We focus here on the Walker graben, which had an important in- the region as part of the Pastoria sheet and that such fragments have been fluence on southeastern San Joaquin Basin stratigraphy and paleogeography. subsequently lost to erosion. The Uvas sample with the Permo-Triassic peaks The Walker graben accommodated the deposition of up to ~2 km of the is also enriched in 90–100 Ma zircon, relative to both the other Uvas sam- lower and middle Miocene Kinnick and Bopesta formations (Michael, 1960; ple and the overlying Tejon sample (sample L), further suggesting a Pastoria Dibblee and Louke, 1970; Quinn, 1987), which hosted the ca. 20–15 Ma Cache sheet detrital component. Peak volcanic center (Michael, 1960; Coles et al., 1997; Saleeby and Saleeby, The Witnet and Golar samples are compared to the southeastern Sierra re- 2013, 2016). Our preliminary sediment provenance and dispersal studies of the gional provenance domain in Figure 5B, in recognition of the southerly paleo- southeastern San Joaquin Basin suggested a direct stratigraphic linkage be- topographic gradient of the southern Sierra Nevada (Saleeby et al., 2013b), the tween Miocene strata of the Walker graben and the southeastern San Joaquin likelihood of a latest Cretaceous structurally controlled topographic lineament Basin (Saleeby et al., 2013a; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2013, 2016). Most telling is having developed along the trace of southern Owens and Indian Wells Valleys the widespread occurrence of boulders, cobbles, and pebbles of distinct ande (Bartley et al., 2007), and based on the hypothesis of southerly flowing river sitic and dacitic volcanic rocks of the Cache Peak center within upper Neo- drainages having fed the Golar-Witnet basin (Kleck, 2010; Lechler and Niemi, gene–lower Pleistocene mainly fluvial strata of the southeastern Basin margin, 2011). The intensities of the principal age peaks for these samples are diver- as first recognized by Bent (1985). Compounded on this is the presence of: gent from one another and from those of the adjacent basement. Cretaceous, (1) clasts containing distinct plant remains that occur in Kinnick lacustrine se- Jurassic, and Triassic batholithic rocks are irregularly distributed across the quences; and (2) clasts of leucogranite and granodiorite that occur as volumi- southeastern Sierra regional provenance domain, both in the autochthon and nous internal composite dike swarms within large southeastern Sierra batho- in detachment sheets (Fig. 2). Taking into account the likelihood of erosional lithic plutons, both in situ and in detachment sheets (Saleeby et al., 1987, 2008; loss of substantial areas of the detachment sheet complex, both during depo- Ross, 1989; Wood and Saleeby, 1998; Chapman et al., 2012, 2017). Figure 6A is sition of the lower Paleogene overlap strata and during extensive pre-Neogene a field photograph from the sample 10 “Kern River Formation” conglomerate erosion of these strata, virtual point sources for Jurassic and Triassic zircon, bed, with a clast population that is representative of populations dispersed dispersed amongst the more extensive Cretaceous sources, are likely to have throughout the Kern River, Chanac, and Bena formations (Fig. 7 stratigraphic been rendered largely cryptic and recorded primarily as the divergent zircon column). The clast association of Neogene volcanics, plant fossils, and leuco age spectra of the Witnet and Golar samples. granites and granodiorites is unique to the southeastern Sierra region, as Exposures of the lower Paleogene overlap strata are quite limited and compared to all other areas of the southern Sierra Nevada. Below, we refer dispersed along the southernmost Sierra region (Fig. 1). These strata were to this distinctive clast association as “Caliente River type.” Recognition of this extensively eroded in late Eocene to Oligocene time prior to localized sedi- clast association stimulated further investigation into provenance relations by mentary overlap in the Neogene. Such erosion cut into batholithic basement detrital-zircon U-Pb studies and the additional application of these techniques as well and undoubtedly contributed to the progressive loss of upper-level to pyroclastic deposits that extend from the Walker graben into the southeast- basement detachment sheets that were dispersed across the region (Chapman ern San Joaquin Basin. et al., 2017). In this regard, the lower Paleogene overlap strata constitute an Silicic ignimbrite beds derived from the Cache Peak volcanic center occur important proxy for basement detrital-zircon provenance components lost to within the alluvial and lacustrine strata of the Kinnick and Bopesta formations early Tertiary erosion. (Michael, 1960; Dibblee and Louke, 1970; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2013; Chapman

Figure 6. Field photographs from selected U-Pb age sample sites: (A) Sample 10 “Kern River Formation” conglomerate bed displaying the Caliente River–type clast with Cache Peak center andesites (maroon) and dacites (rust to buff) and Cretaceous leucogranites (light toned– to rust toned–granular textured). (B) Sample 5 fluvial reworked ash within the lower Miocene Walker Formation.

et al., 2017). Initial topography that was at least locally controlled by syndepo Fig. 1). Sample 5 is from one of several fluvial reworked ash beds from Walker sitional faulting appears to have strongly influenced deposition and preser- Basin Creek (Fig. 6B). The bed sampled was the thickest observed and had the vation of the more proximal ignimbrites, but more distal deposits preserved lowest content of exotic clasts observed. It yields a zircon microphenocryst as lacustrine water-laid deposits exposed along the westernmost outlier of age that is within error and carries similar exotic age peaks as the sample 3 Kinnick exposures indicate dozens of distinct explosive events (Dibblee and ash-flow tuff (Fig. 8). This poses the possibility that the sample 5 tuff bed is the Louke, 1970; Chapman et al., 2017). More distal equivalents of the Kinnick direct distal equivalent of the sample 3 ash flow. Sample 6 is a fine ash bed ignimbrites occur in strata of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin as air-fall, sitting directly on Sierran basement at the base of an erosional outlier of the water-laid and fluvial reworked tuffs. U-Pb age data on zircon micropheno Walker Formation. Sample 7 is a discontinuous tuff layer near the base of crysts from the Kinnick ignimbrites and derivative felsic tuffs of the Basin the Walker Formation, adjacent to where it interfingers with the lower part (Fig. 1) indicate numerous explosive eruptions between 19.5 and 17.5 Ma of the shallow-marine Olcese Formation (Bartow, 1984). Samples 6 and 7 yield (Saleeby and Saleeby, 2013, and data presented below). the same zircon microphenocryst ages within error (ca. 19.65 Ma) and share Figure 8 shows U-Pb zircon age-probability distribution plots for ash-flow similar exotic peaks (Fig. 8). This, in conjunction with stratigraphic position, tuffs proximal to the Cache Peak center and from the westernmost Kinnick suggests that they record the same eruptive event. This event may also be exposure and for four tuff layers that lie in lower Miocene strata of the south- expressed by one of two fluvial reworked tuffs that lie in fluvial Walker strata eastern San Joaquin Basin. Sample 3 is from the thickest recognized Kinnick stratigraphically below the sample 5 tuff bed. Continuing northwestward to the ash-flow tuff taken proximal to the Cache Peak center. In addition to its micro Poso Creek area (Fig. 1), sample 8 is from a shallow-marine reworked tuff bed phenocrystic zircon, it entrained zircon grains with ages that are typical of lying within the lower Olcese Formation. It yields a ca. 19.5 Ma zircon micro the underlying basement of domain 4 (Figs. 3D and 8). These data show that phenocryst age that is within error of the basal Walker tuff bed ages (samples entrainment of basement zircon occurred at the eruption site. All other tuff 6 and 7, Fig. 8). The zircon yield of sample 8 is the lowest of the group of samples include similar Late Cretaceous exotic zircon with various admixtures tuffs studied, and its Cretaceous exotic age peak is the largest amongst the of older Mesozoic grains with ages that match peaks from the southeastern group. We interpret this to be a result of its more distal position from the Cache Sierra regional provenance domain (Fig. 3H). The Tehachapi Creek sample Peak center, relative to the other samples, and to its reworking under shallow- (sample 4, Fig. 8) is from one of a series of ash-flow tuffs that lie below (lacus marine conditions. trine) water-laid tuffs of the westernmost Kinnick outlier (Fig. 1). Its overall The lower Miocene tuff horizons provide important time-stratigraphic con- age spectrum is similar to that of sample 3 but with its microphenocryst age straints for the southeastern San Joaquin Basin, as well as additional informa- ~0.6 m.y. older than sample 3. Accessibility restrictions in the areas of samples tion on detrital components contributed to the Basin from the Walker graben. 3 and 4 allowed the sampling of only the medial stratigraphic levels of both The microphenocryst ages that we report span 17.4–20 Ma, including errors ignimbrite sequences. The ca. 17.7 and 18.3 Ma ages on these samples (Fig. 8) (Fig. 8). We show below that detrital zircon within Neogene–Pleistocene strata lie in the medial range of the 16–20 Ma age bounds placed on the Cache Peak of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin that were most plausibly derived from center by magnetostratigraphy (Coles et al., 1997). the Cache Peak volcanic center range down to ca. 15 Ma. We thus interpret Three silicic tuff beds were sampled from the lower Miocene Walker For- the eruptive history of the Cache Peak center to have spanned ca. 20 Ma to mation along the southeastern margin of the Kern arch (samples 5 through 7, ca. 15 Ma.

GEOSPHERE | Volume 12 | Number 6 Saleeby et al. | Sediment provenance and dispersal of Neogene–Quaternary strata, southeastern San Joaquin Basin Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article-pdf/12/6/1744/1000572/1744.pdf 1755 by guest on 02 October 2021 on 02 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article-pdf/12/6/1744/1000572/1744.pdf Research Paper for Kern arch area shown below section AA our U-Pb zircon samples. Note that widespread faults are omitted and are primary control on unit thickness variations. Generalized geologic map and stratigraphic column Figure 7 ( on this and following page (1986); Olson (1988, 1990); Miller et al. (1998); Scheirer and Magoon (2007); Mahéo et al. (2009); Saleeby al. et (2013b); and Robbins (2014). MSL—mean sea level. Bartow (1984, 1991); Bartow and McDougall (1984); Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (1984); Dibblee and Warne (1986); Olson et al. and Lohman (1964); Dibblee et Saleeby and Saleeby (2015, personal observation), and for C (plagioclase Ar/Ar) from Baron et al. (2007). Sources for sections and map: Addicott (1956, 1965, 1970); Klausing –1000 –500 100 200 meters 0 20

EOCENE OLIGOCENE MIOCENE PLIOCENE PLEISTPLEIST. SERIES A 40 30 20 10 MA AG E 0 10 km 0 10 mi h g Richfield SP f SP e Round Mtn. 1 d Bradford c Murdock 26A b V a Carver 41-19 a b c d & M & MACOM A ETCHEGOI N ETCHEGOI N JOAQUI SAN FA Steven s S N J S TULARE T MARGARI SAN TA VEDDER tevens O U AN Stratigraphic Colum Generalized Kern arch Te M R MOUNT ROUND MOSO SA A LAR edder 55 27S 28E S 9 O O jon Ranch 15-1 30 Q - JEWET FREEMAN 1 M ACO UN NT UN UI CO ARG E OLCESE O N N OLCESE A A RG D TA MA AI N uplift of Kern arch IN N ARI A batholithic basement MSL T FM “KERN RIVER” FA CALIENTE RIVER CHANAC 15-1 TA

(initial exhumation to deep WA crusta TA BASEMEN T A 40.1

LKER Nozu N

depths in Late Cretaceous o al. (1965); Richardson (1966); Lofgren and Klausing (1969); Bandy and Arnal (1969); San Joaquin Nuclear Project (1975); MacPherson (1978); CIES OF W “NEO” z 29 28S 28E S3 6 27S 28E S3 4 28S 28E S1 4 29S 29E S 25S 28E S1 9 u

ALKER (A Bealville S 30E S1 5 S 30E S3 1

). Stratigraphic cross sections that show generalized stratigraphic relations of the Kern arch area as well as positions for a key subset of ? ) BEN A

n U. L. ) l S ′ . Dated volcanic horizon sources are shown for our data (sample numbers) and for A (U-Pb zircon), and B (plagioclase Ar/Ar) from 9 19 uplif normal faulting episodic subsidenc and ex opening slab window and westward tilt microplate brakeo transients subsidence and uplift delamination relate T ectonic Evolutio tensional faulting 18 vo t lcanism ,

19.5 19.5

V=24H

( (8 n ) c 17 d d Geologic Ma Generalized (m) e f g ( N m ) e arch Kern 10 1 0 25 km

B i p a j 11 A d(m ) k 14 9° b l W c

e n Nevada Sierra f g(q) o (q) 13 B′ p 6. 1 16 (C )

Kern Rive 17 graben Edison 35.5°N C′ r h h (F detrital zircon sample Ma (source ) dated volcanic horizon age contro paleontologic oil well location

r A′ ig. 1 and

17.0 T (B able 2) ) 19.5 A′ (5) -5000 -4000 -3000 -2000 -1000 0 1000 feet l

GEOSPHERE | Volume 12 | Number 6 Saleeby et al. | Sediment provenance and dispersal of Neogene–Quaternary strata, southeastern San Joaquin Basin 1756 Research Paper

B B′ C C′

(7) i j k l m (d) n o p q (g) r (A) ) 13 19.8 (8 (C) 26.9 1 Edison 6.16. 19.5 graben 1000000 1000

100 15 100 11 0 0 0 0 t ee f feet feet meters meters

–1000 –1000

–500 –500

–2000 –2000

–3000 –3000 –1000 –1000

26 –4000 –4000

–1500 –1500 –5000 –5000

i Fee 2 29S 27E S23 j WD 2 29S 28E S 7 –6000 –6000 k Kern TO 9 28S 28E S32 l Fuhrman 1 28S 28E S28 –2000 m Bradford 28S 28E S14 –2000 n Shultz 2 28S 29E S 5 –7000 –7000 25 o K&M 27 31S 29E S 5 V=24H p Brown G8 30S 29E S14 q Richfield SP 15-1 29S 30E S31 0 10 km r Reay 1 29S 30E S28 –8000 –8000 –2500 0 10 mi –2500

V=24H

0 10 km –9000

0 10 mi Figure 7 (continued).

3. Kinnick Fm. 4. Tehachapi Creek 5. Walker Basin Creek ash flow Kinnick Fm. fluvial reworked tuff (Cache Pk. proximal) outlier ash flow tuff n=86 47 n=78 n=64 17.57 ± 0.13 Ma 18.34 ± 0.20 Ma 17.75 ± 0.35 Ma

35 30

Figure 8. U-Pb zircon age-probability distribution plots for silicic pyroclastic rocks erupted from the Cache Peak volcanic center and dispersed into the southeastern San Joaquin Basin. Stratigraphic settings of San Joaquin Basin samples are shown 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 in Figure 7. Interpreted eruptive ages for zircon microphenocrysts with 2 sigma 6. Basal Walker Fm. outlier 7. Breckenridge Rd. 8. Olcese Fm. uncertainties are shown for each sample air fall tuff Walker Fm. reworked tuff water laid tuff based on mean of 206Pb/238U ages. Sample locations are shown on Figure 1, location n=94 n=49 n=90 data given in Table 2, and analytical data are shown in Supplemental Item 2 (see 19.47 ± 0.59 Ma footnote 2). 19.56 ± 0.30 Ma 19.79 ± 0.27 Ma

21 12

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Age (Ma) Age (Ma) Age (Ma)

DETRITAL-ZIRCON ANALYSIS OF SOUTHEASTERN SAN into the southeastern San Joaquin Basin from distinct sources at several time JOAQUIN BASIN NEOGENE AND PLEISTOCENE STRATA intervals through the Neogene. First is the lower Miocene Bealville Fanglom- erate, which reflects rapid structural and topographic relief generation along Stratigraphic Framework and Sampling Strategy the west Breckenridge, Breckenridge, and eastern White Wolf faults; next is the middle Miocene shallow-marine lower Bena Formation, for which its In Figure 7, we present diagrammatic stratigraphic cross sections for three lower stratigraphic levels consist of mudflows containing Cache Peak–type traverses across the Kern arch and adjacent areas of the southeastern San Joa- boulders (modified after Dibblee and Warne [1986] and Bartow [1984, 1991]; quin Basin. Subsurface stratigraphy is based on oil-well logging and discontin- Saleeby and Saleeby [2013]). With small angular discordance above the Bena uous intervals of coring. Well names are listed for each section. The profound Formation lies the fluvial Kern River Formation, which contains Cache Peak– lateral changes in the unit thicknesses in the area of the Edison graben are a type clasts at least in part reworked out of the underlying Bena Formation. result of (mainly early) Neogene growth faulting. The faults are not shown on With small angular discordance above the Kern River Formation lie Pleisto- Figure 7, which focuses on first-order stratigraphic relations. The stratigraphic cene fluvial sands, which include the terminal channel walls of the demised positions of a subset of our zircon samples are shown diagrammatically as lower trunk of what we call the Caliente River (Fig. 1). As discussed below, projected relatively short distances onto the respective section traces. Also the structural setting of the Edison graben is critical for sediment dispersal shown on the sections are the stratigraphic positions and ages of dated vol patterns during the middle Miocene through early Pleistocene because it canic horizons, as well as positions of paleontological age control. provided a structurally controlled basement channel that linked the Walker The stratigraphy of the Edison graben area is important because it con- graben and the southeastern San Joaquin Basin (Saleeby et al., 2013a, 2013b; tains distinct boulder beds that signal high-energy delivery of coarse detritus Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016).

The Figure 7 sections show that the base of the Walker Formation is time Stevens submarine fan system (MacPherson, 1978; Harrison and Graham, transgressive from early Miocene in the south, progressing to Oligocene and 1999; Hewlett and Jordon 1993; Lamb et al., 2003). Sections BB′ and CC′ (Fig. 7) late Eocene northward (after Olson et al., 1986). This is shown by the ages and show that Stevens submarine fan strata are basinal equivalents to shallow- stratigraphic positions above basement of the samples 5, 7, and 8 tuff beds, marine and fluvial-deltaic strata of the Santa Margarita, Chanac, and Bena for- and farther north by the positions of 26.9 Ma and 40.1 Ma tuff beds within the mations. Our Stevens submarine fan samples encompass a north-south tran- lower Walker Formation. This relationship is interpreted as an expression of sect that tests the extent to which the Caliente River system was capable of the late Eocene to Oligocene erosional event that removed most of the Witnet delivering detritus into the deeper parts of the Basin during the late Miocene. and Tejon formations off of southernmost Sierra and Tehachapi–San Emigdio ranges basement prior to Neogene nonconformable overlap (Michael, 1960; Dibblee and Louke, 1970; Nilsen et al., 1973; Cox, 1982; Reid, 1988; Mahéo et al., Middle Miocene to Pleistocene Provenance Patterns 2009; Chapman et al., 2017). This relationship leads us to break out the in- of Kern Arch Sandstone Exposures formal “Neo”–Walker Formation for distinct strata sitting nonconformably on Sierran basement south of the lower Kern River gorge. The south end of sec- Middle Miocene to lower Pleistocene sand-rich units of the Kern arch that tion AA′ shows a series of northwestward facies changes from mainly fluvial are named the Bena, Chanac, and Kern River Formations are variably sorted, Neo–Walker Formation to shallow-marine Olcese Formation (lower Miocene), commonly immature plutonoclastic sandstones and sandy conglomerates and shallow-marine lower Bena Formation to bathyal marine Round Mountain with roughly subequal quartz, K-feldspar, and plagioclase modes. They typi- Formation (middle Miocene). Section AA′ also shows an important lithofacies cally contain pebbles, cobbles, and locally boulders of the Caliente River–type boundary within exposures of the uppermost Miocene to lower Pleistocene clast (Fig. 6A). From the area of Poso Creek northward, generally time-equiva “Kern River Formation” (as mapped by Bartow, 1984). We detail this boundary lent strata change markedly in composition, most notably losing Caliente below, and it is also expressed in the subsurface relations shown in sections River–type clasts. Local stratigraphic nomenclature in the Poso Creek area BB′ and CC′. recognizes the Santa Margarita shallow-marine sandstone, age equivalent to A major focus of our study is on the Kern River Formation (Bartow and Pitt- upper Bena and Chanac to the south, and the Kern River Formation (Addicott, man, 1983; Baron et al., 2007; Robbins, 2014), which is well exposed over a large 1965, 1970; Bartow, 1984; Fig. 7, sections AA′ and BB′). The Santa Margarita sector of the Kern arch and is well studied and cored in oil fields within and Formation of this area lacks the Caliente River–type clast, in contrast to Chanac adjacent to the arch. Detailed study of the Kern River Formation is warranted and upper Bena exposures to the south. Furthermore, strata mapped in this because virtually all exposures of strata mapped as Kern River Formation, south area as Kern River Formation are in stark contrast to Kern River Formation to of 35.7°N, possess abundant clast populations of the Caliente River type, calling the south of the Poso Creek area, being characterized in the north by plagio into question the commonly assumed Kern River drainage provenance for the clase-dominant gritty green siltstones and fine sandstones. These strata more Formation. We studied the type exposures of the lower Kern River Formation closely resemble the uppermost Miocene to upper Pliocene Etchegoin Forma- that are deeply dissected along the trunk channel of the Kern River and a dense tion and sandy intervals of the upper Pliocene San Joaquin Formation. Our cluster of subsurface samples from the nearby Kern River oil field (Figs. 1 and 7, northernmost detrital-zircon sample (20) is from cuttings from a water well section BB′). The Kern River oil field samples cover a significant three-dimen- and consists of a green gritty siltstone that contains diatoms that resemble sional mass of the Kern River Formation. These subsurface samples help clar- those present in the Etchegoin Formation, which may be in situ or possibly re- ify two critical spatial problems presented by the Kern River Formation. In the worked (W.W. Wornack, Micro-Strat, Inc., 2013, written commun.). Well-dated vertical dimension, these samples encompass part of the ~1–1.8 km of section Etchegoin and San Joaquin strata have been cored and studied paleontologi eroded off the eastern margin of the Kern arch and which projects stratigraph- cally in wells located ~5 km downdip from the sample 20 site (Klausing and ically above the exposed type lower section (Saleeby et al., 2013a, 2013b; Cecil Lohman, 1964; Lofgren and Klausing, 1969). et al., 2014). The Kern River oil field is also strategically located in the area where We provisionally correlate green gritty siltstone and sandstone that were mesoscopically observable Caliente River clasts begin to diminish rapidly north- mapped as Kern River Formation from the Poso Creek area northward along ward, giving way to coarse detrital components more typical of the lower Kern the Kern arch as transitional into shallow-marine to estuary strata of the River drainage and western Sierra range front to the north. Etchegoin and San Joaquin formations (samples 17–20, Fig. 7, section AA′). From the dense cluster of what we consider to be “ideal” Kern River Forma- The compositional changes that occur in strata mapped as “Kern River Forma- tion samples within and adjacent to the Kern River oil field, we extended our tion” across the Poso Creek area lead us to define two lithosomes for the “For- sampling horizontally across the Kern arch, in order to test for provenance dis- mation” based on conglomerate clast compositions and detrital-zircon age tinctions between outcrops and shallow cores and/or cuttings that possess the facies (Fig. 7 stratigraphic column): (1) Caliente River lithosome to the south, Caliente River–type clast and those that do not. Finally, we studied individual characterized by the Cache Peak–type clast ± microphenocrystic detrital zircon, core samples from each of the four principal lobes of the mainly late Miocene and by detrital-zircon age spectra dominated by Late Cretaceous ages with

widely dispersed Early Cretaceous and earlier Mesozoic ages; and (2) western source of the mixed detrital-zircon signal. Sample 14 (Chanac sandstone expo- range-front lithosome to the north (including lower Kern trunk), which lacks sure) has a distinct mid-Cretaceous peak that resembles part of the composite Cache Peak volcanic detritus, and which exhibits detrital-zircon age spectra peak of sample 16, and it also has a large Cache Peak ignimbrite peak at ca. dominated by Early Cretaceous ages with rare earlier Mesozoic ages. 18 Ma. Jurassic peaks are apparently diluted out at the resolving power of In Figure 9, we present detrital-zircon U-Pb age-probability distribution ~100 zircon analyses per sample. The intensity of the ca. 18 Ma peak is of inter- plots for middle Miocene to Pleistocene sand-rich strata exposed across the est, in the context of the enrichment of Early Cretaceous over Late Cretaceous Kern arch, as well as a pertinent subset of samples studied from the Kern detrital zircon. The sample 6 air-fall tuff in the Walker Formation outlier (Fig. 1) River oil field subsurface (Figs. 1 and 7; Table 2). The plots for the Mio-Plio- lies directly on 100–110 Ma range-front basement. Erosion of such an ash-on- cene samples are arranged from north to south, with a break in the plot at the basement sequence from the footwall block(s) of the Kern gorge and/or west approximate position of Poso Creek. The samples from Poso Creek northward Breckenridge fault(s) mixed into subordinate Caliente River detritus would have mesoscopic features of the western range-front lithosome, while those to produce the sample 14 spectrum. In contrast, the 15.7 Chanac core sample ex- the south have features of the Caliente River lithosome. Samples 17–19 have hibits an age spectrum more typical of the Caliente River lithosome but never- detrital-zircon age spectra dominated by the western range-front signal (do- theless somewhat enriched in Early versus Late Cretaceous zircon (Fig. 9). This main 2, Fig. 3B). The sample 20 spectrum more closely resembles the Kings, sample site is ~15 km WNW of the sample 14 Chanac site, which was evidently Kaweah, and Tule rivers basement signal (domain 1, Fig. 3A). This comparison ample distance for the Caliente detrital flux to dilute locally derived range-front is stronger by factoring in the likely downstream dilution of the Late Creta- detritus producing the observed age spectrum. ceous basement zircon, which for domain 1 is derived in total from the head- The importance of locally derived range-front zircon added to Caliente waters of the Kings drainage (Fig. 2). The small Jurassic peaks of samples River detritus is also expressed in zircon age spectra from the youngest strata 17–19 also have sources in domain 1. studied (Fig. 9). Sample 9 was taken from the wall of the Caliente River termi- The Caliente River lithosome zircon age facies is clearly expressed in the nal channel. This sample has a Caliente River lithosome-like spectrum but with age-probability distribution plots of samples 12 and 13 from the “type”–Kern enrichment of Early Cretaceous relative to Late Cretaceous ages. The Early River and upper Bena formations (Fig. 9). Defining spectral features include Cretaceous zircon signal is interpreted as a local admixture of western range- significant Late Cretaceous peaks that dominate over Early Cretaceous peaks, front detritus (Figs. 3B and 4A). The walls of the Caliente River terminal chan- dispersed modest Jurassic peaks, subordinate Early Triassic peaks, and for nel were deposited during significant uplift and erosion of the Kern arch and some samples, small Cache Peak ignimbrite peaks. These defining features the adjacent Breckenridge-Greenhorn horst (Mahéo et al., 2009; Cecil et al., are also well expressed in data presented below for a dense cluster of subsur- 2014). This included erosion of the western range-front area that is primarily face samples from the Kern River oil field (Fig. 10). For comparison with our Early Cretaceous in age (Fig. 2). Sample 10 is from the sand matrix of a con- outcrop sample data, we show on Figure 9 a subset of the Figure 10 data. The glomerate lens (Fig. 6A) mapped as part of the “lower Pleistocene” interval of major producing sand packets of this oil field are identified by letters ranging the Kern River Formation (Bartow, 1984). We alternatively interpret this, and from the uppermost G-sand to lowermost R-sand(s) (after Nicholson, 1980). other similar surface level clast-rich conglomerate lenses, as Pleistocene ero- The type–Kern River Formation exposure (sample 12) is correlative to the sub- sional lags that were concentrated into low-gradient channels as ~1400 m of surface R-sand. On Figure 9, we also present plots for R-sands from well sites Kern River Formation strata were eroded off of the Kern River oil field area 15 and 21, which are the well sites most proximal to the sample 12 outcrop during the Pleistocene uplift of the Kern arch (Mahéo et al., 2009; Cecil et al., (Fig. 1). We also present a G-sand zircon age-probability plot for the nearby 2014). The footwalls of both the Kern gorge and west Breckenridge faults were well site 11. Figure 9 shows that all of these subsurface samples are composed undergoing exhumation at this time as well, exposing abundant 100–110 Ma of Caliente River lithosome sands. basement (Fig. 2) to be eroded and mixed into Caliente River detritus as it was Modest admixtures of range-front zircon added to the Caliente River de- eroded and locally reworked. tritus is recorded in samples 14 and 16 (Fig. 9). The lower Bena sample (16) Comparative viewing of the Figure 9 detrital-zircon age spectra, with the is from well-sorted shallow-marine sandstone that clearly has the Caliente basement age distributions of Figures 2 and 3, and the Figure 1 sample loca- River lithosome signature with its Cache Peak ignimbrite peak, but with tions, indicates that together a northerly derived flux of detritus from the Kings Jurassic peaks muted, and a broad Cretaceous peak displaced toward Early to Tule drainages, and a more locally east-derived range front plus lower Kern Cretaceous relative to typical Caliente River lithosome spectral patterns. Cache trunk sediment flux bounded the southeasterly derived detrital flux from the Peak–type clasts are not present in the sample 16 sequence of sandstone and Caliente River during the late Neogene. This produced the profound composi- siltstone-shale but are abundant in mudflows deeper in the lower Bena sec- tional changes observed in the area of Poso Creek. Compounded on this was a tion. The sample 16 field site is within the Edison graben (Fig. 7, section AA′), secular change in the availability of distinctive range-front, basement-derived which in middle Miocene time was bounded by proximal fault-controlled base- detrital zircon adjacent to the area of the southern Kern arch, which we will ment exposures of mainly Early Cretaceous age (Figs. 1 and 2), the interpreted return to below under “Paleogeography.”

SOUTH NORTH Caliente River zircon facies Lower Kern River-western range front zircon facies A ge (Ma) n=94 n=85 n=78 n=91 n=98 n=92 n=93 n=92 n=99 n=78 n=99 n=92 n=93 n=93 n=93

“T wall terminal channel Caliente River Lower Bena Fm. Upper Bena Fm. Chanac Fm. conglomerate “Kern River Fm” well ROD0 R sand, 286 Kern River Fm. River Fm . well KER G sand, 172 m Kern River Fm. well 33-0014T 267 m Chanac Fm well 33-0014T R1 sand, 196 m Kern River Fm. well 33-0014T R sand, 173 m Kern River Fm Poso Creek S. Etchegoin Fm San Joaquin/ Poso Creek M. Etchegoin Fm San Joaquin/ Poso Creek N. Etchegoin Fm San Joaquin/ Five Dog Creek water well, Etchegoin Fm San Joaquin/

ype” Kern T O9 11 ~ .

70 m 6 . . . . O O O .

(see footnote 2). data are shown in Supplemental Item 2 data are given in Table 2, and analytical locations are shown on Figure 1, location detrital-zircon facies dominate. Sample Poso Creek, south of which Caliente River downward, with break in plot area of in general north to south progression apparent mixtures. Samples are arranged lithosome zircon age spectra, as well as Caliente River and western range-front Kern arch displaying differences between exposure and selected core samples of the cene to Pleistocene strata from surface bility distribution plots for middle Mio - Figure 9. Detrital-zircon U-Pb age-proba

GEOSPHERE | Volume 12 | Number 6 Saleeby et al. | Sediment provenance and dispersal of Neogene–Quaternary strata, southeastern San Joaquin Basin 1761 on 02 October 2021 by guest Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geosphere/article-pdf/12/6/1744/1000572/1744.pdf Research Paper data given in Table 2, and analytical data are shown in Supplemental Item 2 (see footnote 2). are all traditionally mapped as “Kern River Formation” (Dibblee et al., 1965; Bartow, 1984). Sample locations shown on Figure 1, including inset map, location tive probability plot for all core samples shown (except for Chanac sample number 15.7) and samples 11, 12, and 17–19 (Fig. 9), for which respective sample sites samples. The plots are shown in stratigraphic sequence for each well with the wells arranged spatially from southwest to northeast. Upper-right plot is cumula - Figure 10. Detrital-zircon U-Pb age-probability distribution plots for core sample sequences in Kern River and Chanac formations from Kern River oil field core Sample depth (m) Sample depth (m) 35 4 31 7 28 6 26 6 23 6 44 1 42 4 38 8 35 9 30 8 29 6 26 3 0 50 100 150 200 250 30 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Ma Sand unit (sample no.) Sand unit (sample no.) R2 (21.5) R1 (21.4) R (21.3) K2 (21.2) K1 (21.1) R2 (22.7) R1 (22.6) R (22.5) K2 (22.4) K1 (22.3) K (22.2) G (22.1) front zircon facies Lower Kern River-western range Caliente River zircon facies SOUTH NORT H

Age (Ma) 22 (W 21 (W ell TEJ0002 TO ell ROD1

16) n=61 n=63 n=99 n=91 n=72 n=94 n=96 n=93 n=94 n=82 n=69 n=83 ) 0 Chana c 0 50 100 150 200 250 30 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Ma 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Ma NEOGENE Sand unit (sample no.) Sand unit (sample no.) (15.7) R1 (15.6) R (15.5) K2 (15.4) K1 (15.3) K (15.2) G (15.1) R1 (23.3) K2 (23.2) K1 (23.1) PA LEOGENE CRET AC EOUS JURASSIC

15 (W Age (Ma) 23 (W ell 33_0014T ell 19_0012T TRIASSIC PE

O) n=92 n=93 n=93 n=95 n=87 n=87 n=94 RMIA N O) n=98 n=36 n=87 267 196 173 153 11 83 69 0 0. 5 1. 0 367 317 301 5

Sample depth (m) Sample depth (m) Cumulative probability

GEOSPHERE | Volume 12 | Number 6 Saleeby et al. | Sediment provenance and dispersal of Neogene–Quaternary strata, southeastern San Joaquin Basin 1762 Research Paper

Subsurface Interface between Caliente River Regional Sediment Provenance Patterns of and Western Range‑Front Lithosomes the Stevens Submarine Fan System

The Kern River oil field is an ideal area to pursue the spatial relations be- Upper middle (?) to upper Miocene submarine fan strata of the southern tween the Caliente River and western range-front lithosomes in the area of San Joaquin Basin are broadly referred to as the Stevens Sandstone (Mac the type–Kern River Formation. The oil field spans the area where surface ex- Pherson, 1978; Webb, 1981; Hewlett and Jordon, 1993; Harrison and Graham, posures express this transition in mesoscopic detrital components, and there 1999; Lamb et al., 2003). These distinctive strata are restricted to the Basin in is a wealth of subsurface log and core data and samples available (Robbins, the region southwest and south of the Kern arch and are ponded to the south 2014). In Figure 10, we present detrital-zircon age-probability distribution plots against the White Wolf fault (Fig. 1). In subsurface, the Stevens sandstone is for vertical sequences of core samples from four locations in the Kern River inter-gradational with Santa Margarita Formation, updip to the northeast (Fig. oil field. The stratigraphic positions of our samples based on informal sand 7, sections BB′ and CC′). MacPherson (1978) has divided the system into four packet designations (Nicholson, 1980) are shown for each well, and the map principal lobes with the oldest to the south, termed the Valpredo fan, and distribution of the well sites is shown on the Figure 1 inset map. Distinct silt decreasing in age progressing northward through the Bena, Fruitville, and and silty shale-bounded sand units within the Kern River Formation, as identi- Rosedale fans. The Fruitvale and Rosedale fans are relatively well studied due fied by log and core data (Robbins, 2014), were analyzed. Up to ~200 m of Kern to their prolific hydrocarbon reserves. These two fans occur over considerably River Formation section are encompassed in the sample sequence with well shallower depth intervals than the Valpredo and Bena fans, lying above the site 15 sampling into the underlying Chanac Formation. Figure 7 section BB′ southwestern basement ramp of the Kern arch and partly affected by anticlinal shows the approximate stratigraphic intervals studied for samples 11 and 15 culminations that border the southern margin of the arch. In contrast, the Val- well sites. In Figure 10, we also compile a detrital-zircon age–cumulative-prob- predo and Bena fans lie in the Maricopa sub-basin beneath thick Pliocene– ability plot for the suite of samples included in the figure, as well as samples Pleistocene sections that have been eroded primarily off of the emergent Kern 11 and 12 from the Kern River Formation and samples 17–19 from the area arch and Tehachapi–San Emigdio fold-thrust belt. Each of these fans has been north of Poso Creek (Fig. 9). Chanac Formation samples are excluded because interpreted to have been fed by submarine canyons (MacPherson, 1978; Webb, the cumulative plot focuses on uppermost Miocene–Pliocene strata that are 1981) with: (1) the Valpredo fan fed from a canyon cut across the Tejon embay- mapped as Kern River Formation (Dibblee et al., 1965; Bartow, 1984). ment and draped northward across the White Wolf fault; (2) the Bena fan fed Figure 10 shows that the sand units of the Kern River Formation from the from the Bena channel (Edison graben) issuing from the mouth of what we call Kern River oil field are primarily Caliente River lithosome, as exhibited in the Caliente River but interpreted by these workers as the ancient course of the the detrital-zircon age spectra of 21 out of the 23 core samples (including well Kern River; and (3) the Fruitvale and Rosedale fans, hypothetically fed from can- site 11, Fig. 9). In aggregate, the 21 spectra strongly resemble the age spectra yons issuing from the then newly established lower Kern River gorge drainage. from our surface-exposure samples from the type–Kern River and upper Bena Subsequently, Harrison and Graham (1999) have studied in considerable detail formations (samples 12 and 13, Fig. 9). The spectra of the K-sand of well site the Fruitville and Rosedale fans and have refuted the submarine canyon feeder 15 and the R1-sand of well site 23 display a significant western range-front model for these two fans. They interpret these fans to have issued directly off detrital contribution, as expressed by a shift in its principal batholithic peak the front of coalesced river deltas that were built across a narrow faulted shelf. to Early Cretaceous dominant. On Figure 10, well sites 22 and 23, and 21 and Below, we adopt this model for the Bena fan as well, but we also recognize that 15 are arranged in south to north sequence relative to one another, akin to the a canyon-fed system may be at least in part applicable for the Valpredo fan. spatial pattern plot of Figure 9. In parallel to the Figure 9 relationship, the two We have studied Stevens Sandstone cores from four well locations that wells that contain the range-front signal in their K- and R-sands are located to in general correspond to the medial stratigraphic intervals along the eastern the northeast of the wells that do not (Figs. 1 and 10). We interpret these rela- margin of each principal lobe (Fig. 1). On Figure 11, we present detrital-zircon tionships to indicate that lenses of western range-front (including lower Kern age-probability distribution plots for each Stevens sample, and in order to trunk) sands were transported to the southwest and west to be intercalated evaluate possible detrital contributions from the south, we show the age-distri and partially mixed with more voluminous Caliente River sands that were bution plot for the western Tehachapi–San Emigdio basement domain (Fig. transported from the southeast into the area of the oil field. The cumulative 3E, domain 5). We also show a composite detrital-zircon age-probability dis- age-probability plot (Fig. 10) further contrasts the distinct detrital-zircon facies tribution plot for all available samples of the lower Paleogene marine overlap that characterize the distinctive Caliente River versus range-front lithosomes. strata lying on domain 5 basement. These consist of the two Uvas and the The interfingering of these lithosomes in the Kern River oil field area is signifi- Tejon Formation samples shown in Figure 5A, as well as an additional sample cant because the oil field is located virtually along the modern lower Kern trunk of the Tejon Formation and two samples from the overlying upper middle to channel, where it is now vigorously eroding through Neogene strata of the upper Eocene San Emigdio Formation (from Sharman et al., 2013, 2014). These Kern arch. We return to the paleogeographic significance of this finding below. units were extensively eroded prior to depositional overlap by Oligocene and

San Emigdio mafic complex basement inlier (Fig. 2) that is nonconformable sample 27 n=100 beneath the Uvas member of the Tejon Formation. As discussed above, de- Rosedale fan trital zircon derived from the mafic complex was abundantly contributed to the lower Paleogene marine overlap strata (Fig. 5A), as further shown by the n=87 sample 26 composite age-probability distribution plot for these strata on Figure 11. Fruitvale fan Samples 24–27 from the Stevens submarine fan system yield similar age-probability distribution plots to each other, at first order, and these resemble spectra of the Caliente River zircon facies (Figs. 9 and 10). Sample 24, n=91 sample 25 Bena fan from the Valpredo fan, has a modest relative enrichment in 100–120 Ma zircon, as well as Jurassic zircon. We interpret the enrichment of the 100–120 Ma grains as detritus derived from domain 5 basement, and the Jurassic grains n=97 sample 24 as detritus reworked from the lower Paleogene overlap strata (Fig. 11). These Valpredo fan Figure 11. Detrital-zircon U-Pb age-proba- detrital contributions were mixed into Caliente River lithosome sands that bility distribution plots for core samples from each of the principal lobes of the were shed from the Caliente River delta front into the basin as Stevens fan 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Stevens Formation submarine fan system system turbidites. Comparison of the samples 25–27 age spectra to spectra (Fig. 1) in comparison to the basement age from most of the Caliente zircon facies samples (Figs. 9 and 10) shows a shift lower Paleogene marine spectrum from the western Tehachapi– in the principal Cretaceous peak from 80 to 100 Ma age bins to the 100–110 age n=6/596 overlap strata of Domain 5 San Emigdio ranges basement domain ( Samples 1, L, S & SE ) (5; Fig. 3E) and a composite detrital-zircon bin. This is interpreted as a lower Kern River range-front lithosome admixture U-Pb age-probability distribution plot for to the Caliente River lithosome. Except for areas from Poso Creek northward, lower Paleogene marine overlap strata including the Uvas member, Tejon Forma- such lithosome mixing appears to have been more vigorous for pre– and post– tion, and San Emigdio Formation (sample Kern River Formation samples (lower Bena and Chanac samples 14 and 16 and 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 2, Lechler and Niemi, 2011; Sharman et al., upper Pleistocene channel samples 9 and 10). We return to this observation 2013, 2014). Core sample location and data 50 are given in Figure 1, Table 2, and Sup- below under “Paleogeography.” plemental Item 2 [see footnote 2]). L and In the discussions that follow, we integrate the provenance relations that S are as on Figure 5A; SE—San Emigdio we have presented for middle Miocene to Pleistocene sandstones with struc- 40 Formation. tural, geomorphic, and low-temperature thermochronometric data in the de- Western Tehachapi - velopment of a sediment provenance, dispersal, and related paleogeographic San Emigdio Ranges model. We reject the notion of the lower Kern River drainage being the prin- 30 (Domain 5) % cipal conduit for detritus of the Stevens, Santa Margarita, Chanac, Bena, and “Kern River” formation sands. We alternatively bootstrap a number of differ- 20 ent data relations into a model whereby the Walker graben fill and progressively exhumed parts of its bounding basement fault blocks supplied most of 10 the detritus for these sands via the structurally controlled course of the middle Miocene to early Pleistocene Caliente River. Of focus are the structural and stratigraphic settings of the Edison graben as well as late Miocene–Pliocene re- 0 gional tectonic forcing of eastern Sierra Nevada rock and surface uplift, which 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Age (Ma) resulted in the redistribution of most of the Walker graben fill into the southeastern San Joaquin Basin.

mainly Miocene strata (Nilsen et al., 1973; Chapman and Saleeby, 2012), and PALEOGEOGRAPHY thus detritus reworked from these units may have contributed significantly to the Valpredo lobe (MacPherson, 1978; Webb, 1981). In particular, Hirst (1988) Nomenclature maps, in the Tejon embayment subsurface, NW-trending sand tongues within the upper Miocene Monterey Formation that are plausibly interpreted as chan- The detrital-zircon age data along with conglomerate clast assemblages nel fills lying in NW-trending slope gullies. The age spectrum for basement and map relations reveal a problem with the widely accepted stratigraphic domain 5 is dominated by Early Cretaceous peaks ranging from 100 to 120 Ma nomenclature of the Kern arch (after Bartow and Pittman, 1983; Bartow and (Fig. 11). The small Upper Jurassic peak (150–160 Ma) represents the western McDougall, 1984; Bartow, 1991). This is the assumption that widespread allu

vial, fluvial, and deltaic strata termed by these workers as “Kern River For- eastern San Joaquin Basin margin (Saleeby et al., 2013a; Sousa et al., 2013). The mation” were derived from the Kern River drainage through the lower Kern late Pliocene–Quaternary component of incision has cut the steep inner canyon gorge. This is shown to be incorrect by the Caliente River detrital-zircon age slots that are typical of many Sierran river trunks and that which is so well facies that greatly dominate our sample suite from the Kern River Formation developed in Kings Canyon (Stock et al. 2004). Based on geomorphic obser- (Figs. 9 and 10), as well as the presence of the Caliente River–type clast that vations, Figueroa and Knott (2010) interpret the lower Kern River gorge, where is either present in our Kern River Formation outcrop samples and/or is wide- incised across the footwall of the Kern gorge fault and a modest distance into spread in beds that are in stratigraphic proximity to our sample sites. We assert the footwall of the west Breckenridge fault (Fig. 1), to be of similar antiquity as that the name “Kern River Formation” should be restricted to a descriptive the inner canyon slots to the north. We agree with this interpretation and fur- term based on the active incision of the modern Kern River through the type- ther note that the broader deep canyon form of the lower Kern River as incised area of the Formation (sample 12 site and Kern River oil field, Fig. 1 inset) and across the footwall of the west Breckenridge fault resembles the older Eocene not as a genetic term denoting the source of the Formation. (±Late Cretaceous) canyon form. This analysis cannot be extended to areas east of the Kern Canyon fault due to Neogene–Quaternary offsets and areas of sediment ponding related to the southern Sierra fault system (Fig. 1). Constraints on Sediment Provenance and Dispersal Posed by The recognition of substantial erosional regimes of Late Cretaceous and the Topographic Evolution of the Southern Sierra Nevada Eocene age in major southern Sierra drainage basins in conjunction with late Pliocene–Quaternary rock and surface uplift of the Kern arch and Brecken- The topographic evolution of the southern Sierra Nevada is directly linked ridge-Greenhorn horst provides a critical geomorphic framework to interpret to the flux of sediment into the southeastern San Joaquin Basin through gen- the relative amplification patterns of Sierran basement provenance domains erally west-flowing trunk channels of major Sierran drainage basins (Fig. 2). in the detrital-zircon age spectra of Neogene–Pleistocene strata studied here. The origin of the trunk channels is directly related to the long-term landscape evolution of the range. An ongoing debate has persisted over the past century on this subject, polarized by the contrasting views that major trunk canyons Structural Controls on Sediment Dispersal and Ponding owe their first-order morphology to ancient (Late Cretaceous) versus more recent (late Neogene–Quaternary) incision regimes (reviewed in Jones and On Figure 1, we show the principal members of the late Cenozoic southern Saleeby, 2013; Sousa et al., 2016). Recently, more quantitative constraints have Sierra Nevada fault system, including members that cut strata of the south- been added to this debate by the development and application of cosmogenic eastern San Joaquin Basin. A number of lines of evidence indicate significant surface dating and low-temperature thermochronometry integrated with geo- activity on the system in early and middle and locally extending into late Mio- morphic observations (House et al., 1998, 2000; Stock et al., 2004; Clark et al., cene time (Nugent, 1942; Dibblee and Warne, 1986; Hirst, 1986, 1988; Goodman 2005; Mahéo et al., 2009; Sousa et al., 2013, 2016). These studies are broadly and Malin, 1992; Reid, 2009; Blythe and Longinotti, 2013; Saleeby et al., 2013b; applicable to the San Joaquin to Kern River drainages, although the direct Chapman et al., 2017; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016). In the analysis presented quantitative constraints are greatest for the medial to lower Kings River drain- below, we show that this fault system was highly instrumental in controlling age. Nevertheless, the constraints that do exist for the Kern River drainage sediment dispersal and ponding relations throughout the southeastern San can be bootstrapped with regional geomorphic patterns and the Kings River Joaquin Basin and across much of the southern Sierra Nevada area south quantitative constraints to offer a plausible history for the incision for the Kern of 35.5°N. River drainage system. Structure sections presented in Michael (1960), Samsel (1960), Quinn (1987), Focusing on the area of the Kings River canyon that is below the area af- Dibblee and Louke (1970), Mahéo et al. (2009), and Chapman et al. (2017) taken fected by extensive glaciation, three distinct phases of canyon incision are rec- in aggregate show that much of the crystalline basement of the southern Sierra ognized: Late Cretaceous (500-m scale), middle to late Eocene (1000-m scale), Nevada was covered by Miocene strata that were ponded in the Walker graben. and late Pliocene–Quaternary (~400 m) (House et al., 2001; Stock et al., 2004; The intra-graben Kinnick and Bopesta formations consisted of ~2 km of Mio- Sousa et al., 2016). The Late Cretaceous and Eocene paleotopographic compo- cene volcanic and siliciclastic strata (Michael, 1960; Dibblee and Louke, 1970; nents are broadly incised into the low-relief upland surface shown on Figure 1 Quinn, 1987; Coles et al., 1997). The occurrence of the Cache Peak ignimbrites (House et al., 1998, 2001; Clark et al., 2005; Mahéo et al., 2009). The Eocene of the graben fill in the Tehachapi Creek area outlier (sample 4 site) and the component constitutes the principal deep broad canyon forms that characterize occurrence of vesiculated hypabyssal intrusions and brecciated volcanic neck the medial to lower Kings River drainage. This paleogeomorphic domain ex- remnants of the Cache Peak center extending northwestward to within 3 km of tends westward to the edge of the western Sierra Foothills, where its antiquity the Breckenridge fault (Dibblee, 1953; our personal observations, 2012) indi has been directly determined in the region between the San Joaquin and White cate that the Miocene section extended westward into immediate proximity River drainages (Fig. 1), retaining up to ~500 m of paleorelief relative to the to the Breckenridge fault. Disturbance patterns of apatite He/(U-Th) ages from

batholithic basement of the Tehachapi Creek area and the hanging wall of the delta transport (Saleeby et al., 2013a, Station 2-6). Serial resistivity amplitude Breckenridge fault further indicate that a similar thickness of sediment over- maps for the Kern River Formation of the Kern River oil field subsurface (Fig. burden as that of the principal Kinnick-Bopesta section extended westward 12) show a strong NW-trending fabric between sand and silt-shale packets. into the area of the Breckenridge fault (Mahéo et al., 2009). Structural and The scale and intensity of the resistivity fabric are interpreted to have formed topographic relief on the Breckenridge fault diminishes southwestward into primarily in a braided stream environment, controlled by a NW-directed topo- its transition zone with the northeast end of the White Wolf fault (Fig. 1). Adja- graphic gradient (Gillespie et al., 2014; Robbins, 2014). cent to this transition zone, normal displacements along the NW-striking Bear The predominance of NW-directed paleocurrent indices for Miocene and Mountain fault to the southeast and the west Breckenridge-Kern gorge system Pliocene strata of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin is consistent with the and Edison fault to the northwest accentuated a transverse structural trough structural channeling of the Caliente River system through the Edison graben across the White Wolf–Breckenridge system (Fig. 1). The northwest segments and the northwestward progradation of the Caliente River fan system into the of this trough consist of the Edison and range-front graben system. southeastern San Joaquin Basin. The role of the Edison graben in controlling Neogene sediment dispersal was recognized by MacPherson (1978), who used the term “Bena channel.” This fault-controlled channel was hypothesized to have been the principal conduit Paleogeographic Model and Tectonic Forcing for the delivery of the late Miocene Bena submarine fan deposits (Stevens sandstone) into the area of Maricopa sub-basin. Our field studies have revealed In Figure 13, we present a generalized paleogeographic model for the south- other important dispersal relations. Boulders and cobbles of Cache Peak vol eastern San Joaquin Basin and adjacent southern Sierra Nevada for the time canic rocks occur in mudflow deposits of the lower Bena Formation within the interval of 8–10 Ma (medial late Miocene). This time interval appears pivotal Edison graben (Saleeby and Saleeby, 2015). These deposits demonstrate that by for sediment-dispersal patterns of the Sierra Nevada with widespread erosion middle Miocene time, there was a high topographic gradient linkage between forced by the initiation of the eastern Sierra escarpment system and attendant the Walker graben and the southeastern San Joaquin Basin, via the Edison gra- regional W-tilting of the Sierran microplate (Busby and Putirka, 2009; Saleeby ben. This is interpreted as the principal path that coarse Cache Peak volcanic et al., 2009a). During this time interval, the Walker graben sedimentary-volcanic debris followed into the southeastern San Joaquin Basin. Lower Bena marine fill transitioned from sediment accumulation to extensive erosion. Sediment strata of the Edison graben area are in mixed gradation upward, entailing mul- accumulation and localization of volcanism in the Walker graben were con- tiple internal erosional surfaces, with the fluvial-deltaic strata of theupper Bena trolled by normal offsets on the southern Sierra fault system that initiated by Formation (Fig. 7, sections AA′ and CC′). Lower and upper Bena strata of the ca. 20 Ma in response to the underlying opening of the Pacific-Farallon slab Edison graben and adjacent Kern arch area are also in modest angular uncon- window (Atwater and Stock, 1998). By 8–10 Ma, active slab window opening formity beneath the Kern River Formation (Bartow and McDougall, 1984; Dibblee had migrated northward by hundreds of kilometers, thereby ceasing its prin- and Warne, 1986). This discontinuity, as well as those within the Bena Formation, cipal impact on the region, leaving the southern Sierra fault system as mainly represents viable reworking paths for coarse Cache Peak volcanic debris into benign basement penetrating breaks with up to kilometer-scale structural re- the fluvial sediment flux of the upper Bena, Chanac, and Kern River formations lief (Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016). As the Walker graben fill was eroded, under- along the late Miocene and Pliocene course of the Caliente River. lying structural relief on the basement surface emerged as local topographic relief. Initial growth along the eastern Sierra escarpment also forced rapid east-directed sedimentation into the El Paso basin and Indian Wells Valley sub- Constraints Posed by Paleocurrent Data surface (Loomis and Burbank, 1988; Monastero et al., 2002; Fig. 13). This time interval also entailed the transition from the normal displacement phase of the Exposures of the upper Bena, Chanac, and Kern River formations on the proto–Garlock fault to the inception of the widely recognized left-slip Garlock Kern arch and the Walker Formation in the Edison graben are well suited for fault (Monastero et al., 1997; Blythe and Longinotti, 2013). paleocurrent determinations. The Walker, upper Bena, Chanac, and parts of In Figure 13, we show (in red) select members of the southern Sierra fault the Kern River formations along the current eastern San Joaquin Basin margin system that were active in early, middle, and locally late Miocene time and had are dominated by coarse fluvial sandstones, whose channel and foreset bed- a significant influence on the late Miocene and Pliocene paleogeography. We ding relations indicate a dominance of northwestward transport (Miller, 1986; also show (in black) significant faults that initiated in the late Miocene. The model Saleeby et al., 2013a). Farther into the Basin, more proximal to the Kern River oil posits that fault-controlled regional west tilt of the Sierran microplate forced field, the Kern River Formation is deltaic lower in the section, passing upward the exhumation of the Walker graben fill, resulting in the redistribution of much to braided stream facies higher in the section (Saleeby et al., 2013a; Robbins, of its fill into the southeastern San Joaquin Basin. Preexisting basement relief 2014). Inward-facing foresets from lateral bar deposits in the type–Kern River along a number of early to middle Miocene normal faults that in part bounded deltaic exposures (sample 12 site) are likewise consistent with northwest river the Walker graben were instrumental in the sediment redistribution pattern.

33_0014TO 33_0014TO K1 SAND K2 SAND 19_0012TO 115-115.5 m 19_0012TO 153.4-153.8 m Silt /shale Sand Silt /shale Sand Silt /shale Sand N N

TE J0002TO TE J0002TO

33_0014TO 33_0014TO

KER0009TO KE R0009TO

Kern River Kern River

oil eld oil eld Figure 12. Lithologic map showing orien- tations of sand versus silt-shale packets within four stratigraphic intervals sampled for detrital zircon in three of the core 2 km 2 km ROD0116 ROD0116 sections studied from the Kern River oil r field. Maps differentiate, in two dimen- Kern River Kern Rive sions, high-resistivity sand packets from low-resistivity silt-shale packets as derived from three-dimensional resistivity ROD0116 KTEJ0002TO amplitude mapping based on hundreds of wells within the oil field. Specific depth in- K2 SAND R2 SAND tervals between ~115 m and ~441 m mea- 19_0012TO 265.5-265.8 m 19_0012TO 441-441.4 m sured depths are correlated with specific core sample levels in red (after Gillespie et al., 2014; Robbins, 2014). The strong NW-SE–trending fabric is interpreted as primary braid plane channel structure.

Silt /shale San d Silt /shale San d Note NE-SW orientation of modern Kern N N River channel in lower right of each frame.

TE J0002TO TE J0002TO

33_0014TO 33_0014TO

KE R0009TO KER0009TO

Kern River Kern River oil eld oil eld

2 km ROD0116 2 km ROD0116 r r Kern Rive Kern Rive

Sandstone Siltstone and “shale” Well location

119°W 118.5° 118°

t s in Isabella basin n h f N shelf break o e e r r r e e m l El Paso early Kern i d rp n a e basin sc

? e 35.5°N

ern

n r

S. K

Rosedale t s

fan a e Figure 13. Generalized paleogeographic Bakersfield map for the southern Sierra Nevada– Cache Peak southeastern San Joaquin Basin region for volcanic the time interval of 8–10 Ma (medial late center Miocene). Sources are given in text. This Caliente Rive10 km pivotal time interval was chosen based Fruitvale r fan on the hypothesis that it corresponds to 0 10 km the initiation of eastern Sierra escarpment Walker . 0 10 mi system and regional west tilt of the Sierra graben Nevada microplate, which forced the re- Bena fan fill GarlockGarlock flt t. distribution of the Walker graben fill into the southeastern San Joaquin Basin, via the Caliente River system. Major fluvial-deltaic Valpredo fan Tejon 8 Embayment systems 35° San Andreas Possible river course t ? Range front stream . Slope gulley Active late Miocene strike-slip and normal faulting Shelf Selected early Neogene normal faults, dashed where blind Fault-controlled bank Early Neogene normal fault footwall tilt block Alluvial, fluvial, and lacustrine environments

The transition zone between the E-down Breckenridge fault and the NW-down of the fluvial-deltaic Chanac Formation across middle to upper bathyal Round White Wolf fault provided a structurally controlled breach in the west wall of Mountain Formation (Bandy and Arnal, 1969; Fig. 7, section AA′). Progradation the Walker graben for the main trunk of the Caliente River to exit the graben of upper Bena and Chanac intervals of the Caliente River lithosome occurred and distribute its detritus into the Basin via the Edison graben (Figs. 1 and while there was substantial relief on the west Breckenridge fault. Sierran base- 13). Thickness variations across the Edison graben that are well expressed in ment of the emergent footwall of this fault carries the range-front and lower lower and middle Miocene strata are also expressed in upper Miocene strata Kern trunk zircon age signal (Fig. 2). It follows that detrital contributions by (Fig. 7, sections AA′ and CC′), suggesting that growth along the graben also minor streams issuing off of this scarp into the northwestward-prograding contributed to northwest-directed river-trunk channeling (Bena channel of Caliente River lithosome resulted in admixtures of locally derived zircon into MacPherson, 1978). Late Miocene as well as Pliocene growth along significant the more voluminous Caliente River lithosome, as recorded in samples 14 and early to middle Miocene normal faults is widely observed elsewhere along the 16 (Fig. 9). Note that the Kern gorge fault scarp is depicted as completely, or in southeastern Basin margin (Reid, 2009; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2016). large part, buried in the late Miocene, while in Pliocene time, it was completely Figure 13 depicts fluvial-deltaic sands of the upper Bena Formation prograd- buried (Mahéo et al., 2009; Cecil et al., 2014; Saleeby and Saleeby, 2015). ing northwestward across the shallow-marine lower Bena Formation within the The 8–10 Ma time interval also entailed prolific turbidite deposition of Edison graben. This is paralleled farther to the northwest by the progradation the Stevens submarine fan system (Hewlett and Jordon, 1993; Harrison and

Graham, 1999; Lamb et al., 2003), although early fan growth may have initi- system extended from Isabella basin to the northern margin of the Walker ated in late middle Miocene time (MacPherson, 1978). The transition from the graben, conceivably to be followed by the South Fork of the Kern River (Fig. shallow-marine to fluvial-deltaic Bena is likewise broadly constrained in time 13; Kleck, 2010). across the middle to upper Miocene boundary, and it follows that upper Bena The predominance of Caliente River lithosome sands throughout our Kern (+Chanac) delta growth corresponds to initial Stevens submarine fan growth. River Formation sample suite (Figs. 9 and 10) shows that the Walker graben fill Integrating our work with that of MacPherson (1978) and Harrison and Graham and its bounding basement scarps continued to serve as the principal sediment (1999), we envisage a voluminous fluvial-deltaic system prograding out into source for the southeastern San Joaquin Basin margin through Pliocene and the San Joaquin Basin along, and ultimately burying, the Edison graben, with perhaps early Pleistocene time. In the area of the Kern River oil field (Fig. 1), the issuing of delta-front turbidites first into the Valpredo and Bena fans, and the northwestward progradational Caliente River fan system is observed to then migrating northwestward to contribute to the Fruitvale and Rosedale have passed from deltaic to braided stream facies over latest Miocene into fans. We favor the production of the two northern lobes from the northwest- Pliocene time (Fig. 12; Miller, 1986; Saleeby et al., 2013a, Station 2-6; Robbins, ward-growing Caliente River delta front over the hypothesis of having been 2014). Updip stratigraphic truncations of the Kern River Formation (Fig. 7, sec- canyon fed from the northeast (MacPherson, 1978) because of the strength tions BB′ and CC′; and structure sections in Mahéo et al., 2009; Saleeby et al., of the Caliente River lithosome detrital-zircon signature in samples 26 and 27 2009a, 2013b), as well as thermochronometric data (Mahéo et al., 2009; Cecil (Fig. 11). The mixed detrital-zircon age signal from the southern (Valpredo) et al., 2014) indicate that up to 1850 m of Neogene strata were eroded off the Stevens fan is shown to have developed by Monterey Formation sand tongues eastern margin Kern arch and Kern gorge fault footwall in the late Quaternary. and Santa Margarita shallow-marine sand sheets of the Tejon embayment area Much of the eroded strata consisted of the Kern River Formation. It follows (Hirst, 1988) cascading across the White Wolf fault and into the Caliente delta that the entire Kern gorge fault scarp, as well as much of the west Brecken- front along slope gullies or small canyons. We reject a commonly held view ridge fault scarp, were buried during Kern River Formation deposition. Such (e.g., MacPherson, 1978) that the transition from the Bena to the Fruitvale and burial would conceal range-front ± lower Kern trunk sediment sources thereby Rosedale fans originated from the lower Kern River gorge capturing the upper explaining the lack of this proximal provenance signal in most Kern River For- Kern drainage. We argue below and elsewhere (Saleeby and Saleeby, 2013, mation samples south of the Poso Creek area. Exposure of these scarps prior 2016; Saleeby et al., 2013a; Cecil et al., 2014; also Figueroa and Knott, 2010) to Kern River Formation deposition and their re-exposure by exhumation in that the lower Kern River gorge, west of the west Breckenridge fault, was in- the late Pleistocene plausibly explains the modest to strong signal from the cised entirely in the Pleistocene. As discussed above, the lower Kern drainage range-front provenance in underlying Chanac sands, as well as our Pleistocene between the west Breckenridge and Kern Canyon–Breckenridge faults has a channel samples (Fig. 9). morphology that is more akin to the Late Cretaceous to Eocene paleoland- Pleistocene time issued in profound changes in the tectonics and sedi scape regime of the southern Sierra Nevada. As such, the Neogene sediment ment-dispersal patterns of the southeastern San Joaquin Basin–southern flux through the lower Kern trunk was probably modest as compared to its Sierra Nevada transition. Mantle lithosphere delamination, which promoted Quaternary flux. Sierran microplate breakoff with its attendant regional W-tilt, propagated in The modest sediment flux inferred for the restricted lower Kern trunk late Pliocene–early Pleistocene time diagonally across the San Joaquin Basin– for Neogene time is consistent with the northwestward progradation of the western Sierra transition driving late Quaternary epeirogenic uplift of the Kern Caliente River lithosome out into the San Joaquin Basin across the path of arch and adjacent Breckenridge-Greenhorn horst (Saleeby et al., 2013a, 2013b). the lower Kern trunk. Not only was the Walker graben fill more easily eroded This drove rapid erosion of up to ~1850 m of lower Pleistocene and Neogene than coherent Sierran basement of the greater Kern drainage to the north, strata off the Kern arch and adjacent western Sierra basement (Mahéo et al., but also large tracks of the basement adjacent to, and possibly beneath, 2009; Cecil et al., 2014; Fig. 7). As the basement was exhumed across the foot- the graben fill consisted of a veneer of highly shattered and retrograded wall of the Kern gorge fault, the lower Kern trunk channel was superimposed detachment sheets (Wood and Saleeby, 1998; Chapman et al., 2012, 2017). as a steep-walled basement channel with large meanders that resemble the These highly tractable materials readily supplied abundant detritus into meander pattern that is still expressed downstream where the channel con- the Caliente drainage system just as the Walker graben fill did. Coherent tinues eroding through Neogene strata of the arch. The late Quaternary Kern basement incision of the Kern drainage compounded by local base-level dis- River fan is distributing its sediment load into the axial southern Great Valley ruptions and sediment ponding intervals driven by normal displacements (Fig. 1). Sediment eroded off the northern and southern flanks of the arch is along the Kern Canyon fault (Saleeby et al., 2009a; Nadin and Saleeby, 2010) redistributed northward into the Tulare sub-basin and southward into the Mari resulted in a limited sediment flux along the lower Kern trunk, as compared copa sub-basin (Saleeby et al., 2013b, Figs. 5 and 8). Seismic-reflection data to the voluminous flux of the Caliente River. Sediment ponding along the presented in Miller (1999) suggest that significant sediment redistribution off Kern Canyon fault resulted in an unknown amount of alluviation in Isabella of the arch and into the Tulare sub-basin initiated between 1 and 2 Ma (middle basin. It is possible that in much of Miocene time a deeply alluviated valley to late Pleistocene time).

Maximum structural and topographic relief of the Kern arch and adja- ranges. This approach should be applied equally well to fluvial-deltaic strata cent western Sierra produced by Quaternary epeirogenic uplift runs along a of the Chanac, Santa Margarita, Bena, and Kern River formations, and sub- NE-SW–trending axis that crosses the Poso Creek area (Fig. 1). We hypothesize marine fan strata of the Stevens system. We have used the current standard that the trunk channel of the now demised Caliente River was progressively technique of ~100 petrographically selected zircon grains per detrital sample deflected southward into is current orientation (Figs. 1 and 2), forced by the analysis. We emphasize here that minor peaks in the various age spectra that related southward tilting of the southern flank of the arch. The demise of this we have presented potentially carry important information. We suspect that once voluminous fluvial system appears to have resulted from the exhaustion the significance of these peaks, and potentially unresolved peaks of interest of its principal siliciclastic-volcaniclastic Walker graben fill source. Residual could be brought into greater focus and utility by recently developed, auto- Neogene rocks now remaining in the eroded remnants of the graben consist mated 1000-grain analysis techniques (Gehrels et al., 2012). mainly of highly indurated vent-proximal lava flows, dome, plug, and hypa byssal rocks that once constituted the core of the Cache Peak volcanic center. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Conversations and written communications with L. Knauer, D.D. Miller, and S.A. Reid greatly enriched this research. Technical assistance from A.D. Chapman, K.A. Farley, G.E. Gehrels, and F.J. Sousa is kindly acknowledged. Acquisition of core samples from the California State University, CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS Bakersfield Core Repository, Chevron North American Exploration and Production, and James Baxley was essential for this study. J. Saleeby and Z. Saleeby acknowledge support from the We have presented data on the age distribution of major plutonic units of Caltech Tectonics Observatory, and J. Robbins and J. Gillespie acknowledge support from the the southern Sierra Nevada batholith and used these data to define provenance Department of Physics and Geology, California State University, Bakersfield, and from Chevron North American Exploration and Production. We also acknowledge the use and intellectual sup- domains and major drainage systems linking the batholith source region to port of the University of Arizona LaserChron Center. Critical reviews by Trevor Dumitru and S.A. 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