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Large Dextral Offset Across Owens Valley, California from 148 Ma to 1872 A.D

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Large Dextral Offset Across Owens Valley, California from 148 Ma to 1872 A.D 1 LARGE DEXTRAL OFFSET ACROSS OWENS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA FROM 148 MA TO 1872 A.D. Allen F. Glazner1, Jeffrey Lee2, John M. Bartley3, Drew S. Coleman1, Andrew Kylander- Clark1,4, David C. Greene5, Kimberly Le2,6 1 Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3315 2Dept. of Geological Sciences, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA 98926 3 Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0111 4present address: Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara CA 93106 5 Dept. of Geology and Geography, Denison University, Granville, OH 43023 6present address: Dept. of Geological Sciences, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92834 INTRODUCTION Evidence that dextral movement has domi- nated slip on the Owens Valley fault for at least Eastern California is caught up in the wide the past several thousand years (Beanland and deformation boundary between the Pacifi c and Clark, 1994) has led us to speculate that cumu- North American plates (Fig. 1). Active defor- lative dextral displacement across Owens Val- mation between the Sierra Nevada and stable ley could be tens of km. However, the prevail- North America accounts for about 20-25% of ing view has been that offset across the valley relative plate motion (e.g., Gan et al., 2000; is no more than a few km. This was based on McClusky et al., 2001; Bennett et al., 2003). Deformation of this region, which is referred 124°W to variously as the Walker Lane or the eastern 44°N 112°W Juan de Fuca 44°N California shear zone, produces the extreme Plate Tertiary volcanic cover Plain topography of eastern California and clearly Snake River denotes signifi cant seismic hazard. Several Cascades groups have used geologic and geodetic studies North American Plate to quantify the rates and processes of defor- CNSB WLB ISB mation in this area (e.g., Beanland and Clark, Sierra Nevada 1994; Dixon et al., 1995; Gan et al., 2000; Lee Great Valley et al., 2001; McClusky et al., 2001; Stockli et al., 2003). ECSZ Colorado S 36°N a Plateau Active deformation in eastern California n 124°W A 36°N n was dramatically demonstrated on March 26, dr 112°W ea s 1872, when a major earthquake (estimated Pacific Plate f. moment magnitude ~7.5) occurred in Owens Valley. Ground breakage extended from Big Pine to Owens Lake (Fig. 2) along a branch of Figure 1. Simplifi ed tectonic map of the the Owens Valley fault zone, and is well dis- western part of the U.S. Cordillera showing played just west of the town of Lone Pine. Al- the major geotectonic provinces and modern though this fault system runs along the eastern plate boundaries. Basin and Range extensional side of the 3200-m eastern escarpment of the province in dark gray; CNSZ (central Nevada Sierra Nevada (Fig. 15), movement was domi- seismic zone), ECSZ (eastern California shear nantly right-lateral, not vertical (Gilbert, 1884; zone), ISB (intermountain seismic belt), and Beanland and Clark, 1994). WLB ( Walker Lane belt) in light gray. 2 118° 117° Queen Valley Figure 2. Shaded relief fault 38° Coaldale fault index map showing major CALIFORNIA NEVADA Quaternary faults in the Fish Lake Valley fault zone Silver Peak White Mountains fault zone N northern part of the east- Range White Mountains ern California shear zone. Volcanic Inset shows location of Tableland index map. Solid circles Index Map are located on the hang- Furnace Creek ing wall of normal faults; fault arrows indicate relative Bishop motion across strike-slip fault faults. Deep Springs Big Pine Saline Independence 37° Range Inyo Mountains Death Valley fault Fig. 4 Owens Valley fault Sierra Nevada Death Valley Lone Hunter Mountain fault Pine Owens Lake fault Towne Pass Panamint Valley Panamint Mountains Coso Range Argus Range Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone 36° 0 20 40 60 kilometers Garlock Fault two lines of evidence. First, Ross (1962) sug- indicate net offset of at least 65 km across the gested that Jurassic Tinemaha Granodiorite in valley. We fi rst discuss active faulting (Part 1), the Sierra Nevada correlated with the Santa then evidence for large cumulative offset (Part Rita Flat pluton in the Inyo Range. Second, 2), and fi nish with a roadlog to 13 stops chosen Moore and Hopson (1961) suggested that the to illustrate these features. Photos of many rel- Independence dike swarm runs across Owens evant features are grouped into the roadlog. Valley without interruption. We use the term “Owens Valley” for con- In this guide we review evidence for the venience as a regional term that includes val- present state of deformation in Owens Valley, leys along the eastern escarpment of the Sierra and then show that correlation of Jurassic and Nevada from Long Valley south to the Garlock Cretaceous dike swarms, Cretaceous leuco- fault in addition to Owens Valley proper. granites, and a Devonian submarine channel 3 PART 1: ACTIVE FAULTING IN OWENS logic data that indicate active dextral and nor- VALLEY, CALIFORNIA mal faulting along the Owens Valley fault and SNFFZ, respectively. Jeffrey Lee, Kimberly Le ACTIVE TECTONIC SETTING ABSTRACT The Owens Valley fault and SNFFZ are Field mapping, geomorphologic, paleo- located along the western margin of the Basin seismologic, geochronologic, and geodetic data and Range Province in the northern part of the indicate active faulting across Owens Valley. eastern California shear zone (ECSZ) where The Owens Valley and Sierra Nevada frontal NW-directed dextral shear overprints earlier fault zones form a paired normal-strike slip east-west extension. The region of dextral fault system that accommodates translation of shear is ~100-200 km wide and contains four the Sierra Nevada both parallel and perpen- major NNW-striking strike-slip fault zones— dicular to the Pacifi c-North American plate the Death Valley-Furnace Creek, Fish Lake boundary. The Owens Valley fault is a right- Valley, Hunter Mountain-Panamint Valley, and lateral strike-slip fault that lacks geomorphic Owens Valley fault zones—and a series of con- evidence for a consistent sense of vertical slip. necting NE-striking normal faults such as the The fault last ruptured in 1872, and two studies Towne Pass, Deep Springs, and Queen Valley yield different ages for the penultimate rupture. faults (Fig. 2). Geologic and geodetic data indi- Holocene dextral slip rate estimates range from cate that the ECSZ is an important component 2.0 ± 0.8 to 3.1 ± 0.7 mm/yr. If slip across the of the Pacifi c-North American plate boundary fault began at 3.0 ± 0.5 Ma and the slip rate re- zone (e.g., Dokka and Travis, 1990; Gan et mained constant, then net dextral offset across al., 2000). Results from recent GPS (Global the Owens Valley fault zone would be 6.0 ± 2.6 Positioning System) measurements indicate a to 9.3 ± 2.6 km, although evidence presented right-lateral shear rate of 10-13 mm/yr across in Part 2 demonstrates 65 km or more of total the zone, accounting for ~20-25% of the total offset. The Sierra Nevada frontal fault system relative plate motion (e.g., Gan et al., 2000; comprises a series of NNW-striking normal McClusky et al., 2001; Bennett et al., 2003). faults that cut alluvial fan deposits, do not Geologic estimates of late Miocene to exhibit geomorphic evidence for a lateral com- Pleistocene slip rates of ~5 mm/yr (range 1-12 ponent of slip, and yield constant vertical slip mm/yr; Table 1a) across the Death Valley-Fur- rates of 0.2-0.4 ± 0.1 mm/yr since ~138 ka. nace Creek and Fish Lake Valley fault zones suggest that right-lateral shear east of the Si- INTRODUCTION erra Nevada was concentrated on those faults before 3 Ma. Fault scarps along the Death Val- The dextral Owens Valley fault zone and ley-Furnace Creek fault zone that cut Holocene the normal Sierra Nevada frontal fault zone deposits (Butler et al., 1988; Brogan et al., (SNFFZ) accommodate present-day displace- 1991; Klinger, 1999; Klinger and Piety, 1999) ment across Owens Valley (Fig. 2). Motion of and offset channels on a Holocene surface in the rigid Sierra Nevada block with respect to Fish Lake Valley (Reheis and Sawyer, 1997) North America is ~N47°W at the latitude of indicate that the fault zones are still active to- Owens Valley, oblique to the strike of Owens day. Valley fault and SNFFZ. This oblique motion The other major strike-slip faults in the is partitioned into NW-dextral slip across the region, the Hunter Mountain-Panamint Valley Owens Valley fault and ENE-WSW normal slip and Owens Valley fault zones (Fig. 2), may across the SNFFZ. In this paper, we describe play an equal or lesser role (Table 1a). The fi eld, tectonic geomorphologic, and geochrono- 4 long-term dextral slip rate across the Hunter There is a long history of research on the Mountain fault is 1.3-3.4 mm/yr (Burchfi el et origin of Sierra Nevada topography and the al., 1987; Sternlof, 1988). Right-lateral offset tectonic role the SNFFZ plays in the evolu- of an alluvial fan across the southern Panamint tion of this part of the U.S. Cordillera (e.g., Valley fault indicates a minimum slip rate of Lindgren, 1911; Christensen, 1966). More 2.4 ± 0.8 mm/yr since the late Pleistocene recently, a combination of GPS, topographic, (Zhang et al., 1990). Geologic mapping, geo- geoid, and Quaternary fault slip and style morphologic, paleoseismic, and geochronolog- data from western boundary of the Basin and ic studies across the Owens Valley fault zone Range Province led a number of workers (e.g., indicate a Holocene slip rate of ~2-3 mm/yr Flesch et al., 2000; Bennett et al., 2003; Ham- (e.g., Beanland and Clark, 1994; Lee et al., mond and Thatcher, 2004) to hypothesize that 2001; Bacon et al., 2002; Schroeder, 2003; see this complex zone of NW-dextral shear and below).
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