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Stateline Fault System: a New Component of the Miocene-Quaternary Eastern California Shear Zone

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Stateline Fault System: a New Component of the Miocene-Quaternary Eastern California Shear Zone Stateline fault system: A new component of the Miocene-Quaternary Eastern California shear zone Bernard Guest† Nathan Niemi‡ Brian Wernicke Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91125, USA ABSTRACT estimated from present-day geodetic observa- relative to North America (Bennett et al., 2003). tions and an order of magnitude greater than The Eastern California shear zone is superim- The Eastern California shear zone is an estimates of average post–mid-Pleistocene posed on the strongly transtensional central Basin active, north-northwest–trending zone of slip rates. This discrepancy between long- and Range province, which began to evolve in intraplate right-lateral shear that absorbs term, short-term, and geodetically derived the early Miocene as the Pacifi c-North America ~25% of Pacifi c-North America relative plate slip rates differs from other geologic-geo- transform boundary began to grow (Atwater motion. The Stateline fault system (SFS), detic, slip-rate discrepancies in the Eastern and Stock, 1998; Wernicke, 1992). Quantitative which includes several previously recog- California shear zone, where geodetic slip reconstructions of the continental geology show nized, discontinuously exposed Quaternary rates are signifi cantly faster than both long- that from 16 to 6 Ma, prior to the opening of the structures along the California-Nevada bor- term and short-term geologic slip rates. This Gulf of California and development of the San der, is in this paper defi ned as a continuous, suggests that either the slip rate on the SFS Andreas system, ~50% of Pacifi c-North America 200-km–long zone of active dextral shear has diminished over time, such that the sys- motion (~20 mm/yr) was accommodated in the that includes (from south to north) the Mes- tem is an abandoned strand of the relatively Basin and Range (Wernicke et al., 1988; Dick- quite, Pahrump, and Amargosa Valley seg- young Eastern California shear zone, or that inson and Wernicke, 1997; Wernicke and Snow, ments. Recognition of this system expands the present-day slip rate represents a tran- 1998; McQuarrie and Wernicke, 2005). After the known extent of the Eastern California sient period of slow slip, such that strands of 6 Ma, Basin and Range average displacement shear zone ~50 km to the east-northeast from the shear zone must accommodate a complex rate and contribution to the total strain budget its traditionally recognized boundary along spatial and temporal distribution of slip. decreased by a factor of two, as a result of more the Death Valley fault system. Proximal coastwise relative plate motion (less extensional volcanic and rock avalanche deposits off- Keywords: Eastern California shear zone, state- component) and more effective localization of set across the Mesquite segment of the SFS line fault, tectonics, fault offset, fault slip rate, strain along the San Andreas system (Atwater indicate 30 ± 4 km of slip on this structure and slip rate discrepancy and Stock, 1998; Oskin and Stock, 2003). The since 13.1 ± 0.2 Ma. This offset is an order shear zone thus represents an overprint of a rela- of magnitude larger than previous estimates INTRODUCTION tively slow, diffuse, transform system on the older across this section of the SFS, but it is consis- transtensional system, and has been a key locale tent with larger offsets previously proposed Pacifi c-North America plate motion is accom- for studying the spatial and temporal distribution for the central and northern sections. The modated across a broad zone of faulting on the of slip in an active fault system (e.g., Reheis and total offset and averaged slip rate since mid- western margin of the continental United States. Dixon, 1996; Lee et al., 2001; Snow and Wer- Miocene time (2.3 ± 0.35 mm/yr) are similar The San Andreas fault system absorbs the great- nicke, 2000; Dixon et al., 2003; Wernicke et al., to those of other major faults across this por- est portion of the 48 mm/yr of relative plate 2004; Faulds et al., 2005; Wesnousky, 2005). tion of the Basin and Range, which, from east motion (~35 mm/yr; e.g., Minster and Jordan, Recent analyses of geodetic data from contin- to west, include the Death Valley, Panamint 1987; Bennett et al., 2003). Most of the remain- uous Global Positioning System (GPS) stations Valley-Hunter Mountain, and Owens Valley der is accommodated by the Eastern California spanning the Eastern California shear zone sug- fault systems. However, in contrast to these shear zone, a diffuse array of primarily north- gest that the eastern limit of dextral Pacifi c-North faults, the average post–mid-Miocene slip west-striking faults to the east and south of Sierra America shear between latitudes 35° N and 37° rate on the SFS is approximately twice that Nevada/Great Valley microplate (Dokka and Tra- N lies to the east of Death Valley along the Cali- vis, 1990). This relatively young (<6-Ma) system fornia-Nevada state line (Fig. 1A; Wernicke et †Present address: Department für Geo- und Um- of predominantly right-lateral, strike-slip faults al., 2004; Hill and Blewitt, 2006). These results weltwissenschaften, Sektion Geologie, Ludwig-Max- currently accommodates ~9 mm/yr of north- indicate the potential existence of a dextral fault imilians Universität, Luisenstraβe 37, München, D- northwest motion of the Sierra Nevada/Great Val- ~50 km east of the easternmost fault considered in 80333, Germany; [email protected]. ‡Present address: Department of Geological Sci- ley microplate relative to the eastern Great Basin, previous tectonic models of this region (e.g., Snow ences, University of Michigan, 1100 North Univer- which, in turn, accommodates an additional and Wernicke, 2000; Miller et al., 2001; Dixon et sity Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. 2–3 mm/yr of displacement of the Sierran block al., 2003). A northwest-southeast– trending zone GSA Bulletin; November/December 2007; v. 119; no. 11/12; p. 1337–1346; doi: 10.1130B26138.1; 5 fi gures; 1 insert; Data Repository Item 2007257. For permission to copy, contact [email protected] 1337 © 2007 Geological Society of America Guest et al. 120°W 119°W 118°W 117°W116°W115°W114°W W N A BWFZ 3 BS PLF F 2 1 Z Z GHFZ WSVF SFS W Z 1 HLF 2 3 DVFCFZ SDVFZ N 2 34° 1 HMF LF OVF FIF S 2 TMF PF 1 4 3 BLF CF Age of Offset Markers 1 2 2 PMF K GF BF 1 N 41° CF 1 1 CRF Pliocene 2 5 3 HF 2 LWF 4 SAF Mid-Late Miocene LHF Early Miocene HDF Early Cenozoic N W121° Mesozoic SJFZ 33° Paleozoic EFZ 123° 4 5 RCF 3 1 W114° CF 6 2 HF SAF 117° N40° 4 39° 3 1 6 2 SGF 124°W123°W122°W121°W 120°W 119°W 118°W Las Vegas E l do B ng Mount ra Spri ains ~30~30 kmkm do Va lley F MRMR YMYM V RVFR Primm BMBM eeggmeennt Pahruahrump S L Iv a Pahrump t an n Beatty SFSS quittee SegSegmmenten p f FS MesquMes a a h ir IFIF V V AmA a a margosagosa Valalleley ssegegme MMMM l ll nt le ey NRNR IMIM y NYMNYM untains RRRR Funeral Mo KRKR Shoshone NDNDVFFCFZC Death Va Tecopa FZ lley Bla ck Mt CMCM TMTM ns 116°30'W 116°W 115°30'W 36°N C 37°N 35°30'N 117°W 117°W 116°30'W 116°W 35°30'N 1338 Geological Society of America Bulletin, November/December 2007 Stateline fault system: A new component of the Miocene-Quaternary Eastern California shear zone Figure 1. (A) Map showing the position of the SFS relative to the other major fault zones involved in the accommodation of dextral transla- tion along the Pacifi c-North America Plate boundary. Black triangles are continuous GPS sites. Displaced arrows show offsets on major dextral faults in this system, color-coded by the age of the offset marker (see Table DR11 for notes and references regarding fault offsets), numbers distinguish between offset markers on a fault that are the same age (see Table DR11). (B) Map of the detailed trace of the SFS and major nearby structures. The white arrow points to the Devil Peak rhyolite intrusion, and the black arrow points to the offset exposures at Black Butte. (C) Landsat ETM+ mosaic of the same region is shown in Figure 1B. Trace of the SFS is clearly discriminated by vegetation lineaments and soil-color changes as it runs through playa along the California-Nevada border (open arrows indicate surface expression of the fault zone). Note the absence of topographic expression of the fault in 30-m DEM (digital elevation model) data in Figure 1B. White brackets defi ne the three major segments of the SFS, as denoted in Figure 1B. Abbreviations used throughout the fi gure: HF—Hayward fault, RCF—Rogers Creek fault, CF—Calaveras fault, SAF—San Andreas fault, SGF—San Gregorio fault, EF—Elsinore fault, SJFZ—San Jacinto fault zone, PMF—Pinto Mountain fault, HDF— Helendale fault, LHF—Lockheart fault, LWF—Lenwood fault, CRF—Camprock fault, HF—Hidalgo fault, CF—Calico fault, BF—Blackwater fault, PF—Pisgah fault, BLF—Bicycle Lake fault, TMF—Tiefort Mountain fault, FIF—Fort Irwin fault, GF—Garlock fault, SDVFZ—Southern Death Valley fault zone, KCF—Kern Canyon fault, OWFS—Owens Valley fault system, HMF—Hunter Mountain fault, DVFCFZ—Death Valley Furnace Creek fault zone, IF—Ivanpah fault, SFS—Stateline fault system, RVF—Rock Valley fault., BWF—Bettles Well fault, BSF—Benton Spring fault, GHFZ—Gumdrop Hills fault zone, PLFZ— Pyramid Lake fault zone, WSVFZ—Warm Springs Valley fault zone, HLFZ—Honey Lake fault zone, YM—Yucca Mountain, BM—Bare Mountain, CM—Cottonwood Mountains, TM—Tucki Mountain, RR—Resting Spring Range, NR—Nopah Range, KR—Kingston Range, MM—Mesquite Mountains, IM—Ivanpah Mountains, NYM—New York Mountains, MR—McCullough Range.
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