Research Paper GEOSPHERE Crustal-scale tilting of the central Salton block, southern California Rebecca J. Dorsey1 and Victoria E. Langenheim2 1Department of Geological Sciences, 1272 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1272, USA GEOSPHERE; v. 11, no. 5 2U.S. Geological Survey, MS 989, 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA doi:10.1130/GES01167.1 ABSTRACT in transtensional strike-slip basins can occur as a result of plate motions reori- 11 figures; 2 tables ented by continental collision and escape tectonics (Mann, 1997), and transla- The southern San Andreas fault system (California, USA) provides an ex- tion of crust through large bends in a master strike-slip fault (Cormier et al., CORRESPONDENCE:
[email protected] cellent natural laboratory for studying the controls on vertical crustal motions 2006; Sorichetta et al., 2010). In general, the causes of large-scale crustal tilting related to strike-slip deformation. Here we present geologic, geomorphic, in strike-slip fault zones remain little-studied and poorly understood. CITATION: Dorsey, R.J., and Langenheim, V.E., and gravity data that provide evidence for active northeastward tilting of The San Andreas fault (SAF) system in southern California provides an 2015, Crustal-scale tilting of the central Salton block, southern California: Geosphere, v. 11, no. 5, the Santa Rosa Mountains and southern Coachella Valley about a horizontal excellent natural laboratory for the study of vertical crustal motions and tilt p. 1365–1383, doi:10.1130/GES01167.1. axis oriented parallel to the San Jacinto and San Andreas faults. The Santa patterns associated with active strike-slip faulting.