Mojave Miocene Robert E. Reynolds, editor California State University Desert Studies Center 2015 Desert Symposium April 2015 Front cover: Rainbow Basin syncline, with rendering of saber cat by Katura Reynolds. Back cover: Cajon Pass Title page: Jedediah Smith’s party crossing the burning Mojave Desert during the 1826 trek to California by Frederic Remington Past volumes in the Desert Symposium series may be accessed at <http://nsm.fullerton.edu/dsc/desert-studies-center-additional-information> 2 2015 desert symposium Table of contents Mojave Miocene: the field trip 7 Robert E. Reynolds and David M. Miller Miocene mammal diversity of the Mojave region in the context of Great Basin mammal history 34 Catherine Badgley, Tara M. Smiley, Katherine Loughney Regional and local correlations of feldspar geochemistry of the Peach Spring Tuff, Alvord Mountain, California 44 David C. Buesch Phytoliths of the Barstow Formation through the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum: preliminary findings 51 Katharine M. Loughney and Selena Y. Smith A fresh look at the Pickhandle Formation: Pyroclastic flows and fossiliferous lacustrine sediments 59 Jennifer Garrison and Robert E. Reynolds Biochronology of Brachycrus (Artiodactyla, Oreodontidae) and downward relocation of the Hemingfordian– Barstovian North American Land Mammal Age boundary in the respective type areas 63 E. Bruce Lander Mediochoerus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Oreodontidae, Ticholeptinae) from the Barstow and Hector Formations of the central Mojave Desert Province, southern California, and the Runningwater and Olcott Formations of the northern Nebraska Panhandle—Implications of changes in average adult body size through time and faunal provincialism 83 E. Bruce Lander Review of peccaries from the Barstow Formation of California 108 Donald L. Lofgren, Meredith Hess, Julia Hernandez, and Jake Todd Additions to the floras of the Barstow Formation in the Mud Mills, Mojave Desert, California 119 Robert E. Reynolds and Thomas A. Schweich Palynology of the “Slug Bed” in the middle Miocene Barstow Formation in the Mud Hills, Mojave Desert, southern California 130 Lanny H. Fisk and David F. Maloney Nimravides marshi (Felidae): an early scimitar-cat from the upper Barstovian section of the Mud Hills, Mojave Desert, California 136 Ian Browne and Robert E. Reynolds Robbins Quarry: taphonomy and stratigraphic position in the Barstow Formation, Mojave Block, California 145 Robert E. Reynolds and Ian Browne Old McDonald had a well… (McDonald Well 32S43E28K01) 149 Anna L. Garcia, Jeffrey R. Knott, Anthony D. Winkel, Matthew Howard, and Amanda Lopez Mojave Desert Neogene tectonics and the onset of the Eastern California Shear Zone 153 Michael O. Woodburne Fossil plants, gastropods and camel tracks from Early Miocene sediments in the southern Bristol Mountains, Mojave Desert, California 200 Robert E. Reynolds, Janet Harvey, Axel K. Schmitt, and Tomas Spinks Manganese deposits in the Cady Mountains, San Bernardino County, California 206 Paul M. Adams Geology and mining history of the Cronese, Cave and Northern Cady Mountains, San Bernardino County, California 211 Gregg Wilkerson Understanding secondary tellurium mineralization at Otto Mountain, California: the relationship between mineral composition, crystal structure and paragenetic sequence 221 Stuart J. Mills, Andrew G. Christy, Anthony R. Kampf, Robert M. Housley, Brent Thorne and Joe Marty 2015 desert symposium 3 Evidence for middle Pleistocene surface uplift of the northern Cady Mountains, California 223 Norman Meek Geomorphic lineament analysis for evidence of faulting associated with an unnamed hill east of Langford Well Lake, Fort Irwin, San Bernardino County, California 233 Frank Jordan and Jeffrey Fitzsimmons The latest Miocene Anaverde Flora, Palmdale, CA: no desert in sight 238 Jeffrey A. Myers and Diane M. Erwin Silver Mountain and the Oro Grande Mining Company 244 Larry M. Vredenburgh Approaches for reconstructing paleoenvironment in the Cajon Valley and Crowder formations, Southern California 251 Tara M. Smiley, Ethan G. Hyland, and Jennifer M. Cotton Chalicothere material (Perissodactyla, Chalicotheriidae, Schizotheriinae) from late Hemingfordian and early Barstovian faunas of the Cajon Valley Formation in the Mojave Desert Province of southern California 259 Margery C. Coombs and Robert E. Reynolds Harrymys maximus (James): new interpretation for a Miocene geomyoid rodent 274 Everett Lindsay and Robert E. Reynolds New ursid and talpid occurrences from Hemingfordian and Barstovian units of the Cajon Valley Formation, Cajon Pass, California 281 Robert E. Reynolds Alpine plants as indicators of climate change 284 Jim and Catie Bishop Repeat photography and the Mojave landscape 290 Jeff R. Knott and Anna L. Garcia Analysis of basalts in the White Mountains, California by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy 298 Jacob Kiyoshi Kato Paleontology and paleoclimatology of Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument and adjacent Nevada State Parks land 301 Stephen M. Rowland and Joshua W. Bonde The Snowmastodon Project: a view of the Last Interglacial Period from high in the Colorado Rockies 310 Jeffrey S. Pigati Influence of dust in landscape brightness and color 319 David K. Lynch Shadows are more interesting than you think 323 David K. Lynch Abstracts from proceedings: 2015 Desert Symposium 325 Robert E. Reynolds, editor Cnidaria (corals) found in Anza Borrego Desert State Park 325 Louise Bahar Reconstructing the water level record at MC Spring since 1990 325 Jennifer Bailard, Geoff Moret, and Nita Tallent Good guys and bad guys—a local’s perspective on Doc Springer 325 Brian Brown The Calico Archaeologic Site: age, context, and the artifact/geofact issue 326 Fred E. Budinger, Jr., Theodore M. Oberlander, James L. Bischoff, and Lewis A. Owen Tortoises, sunflowers, and subsidies: solar energy and landscape governance in California and Andalusia 326 Patrick Donnelly 4 2015 desert symposium Early Tertiary sedimentary red beds in the eastern Mojave Desert and adjacent Colorado River corridor: A preliminary assessment 327 William J. Elliott Jedediah Smith in the Mojave Desert 327 Walter Feller A large barnacle discovery in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park 327 Linda Gilbert Geology and geomorphology of the Three Bare Hills Lake Manly Deposit, Death Valley, California 328 Christopher R. Hugh and Jeffrey R. Knott Carbonate geochemistry and “clumped” isotope paleothermometry of the Bouse Formation in Mohave Valley, lower Colorado River 328 Karl Lang, Erin Barry, Zoe Dilles, Sarah Granke, Mark Raftrey, and Katharine Huntington Detectability of Agassiz’s desert tortoise in the Morongo Valley, San Bernardino County, California 329 Ed LaRue Geochronology and lithostratigraphy of the late Pleistocene Las Vegas Formation 330 Craig R. Manker, Kathleen B. Springer, and Jeffrey S. Pigati Strain partitioning and timing of strike-slip faulting in the central Mojave Desert, CA, indicated by newly dated latest Miocene, Pliocene, and early Pleistocene deposits 330 David M. Miller, P. Nuriel, J. L. Oster, K. M. Schmidt, M. C. Reheis, B. F. Cox, and K. Maher From the field to the collections: building a database of fossil heteromyids 331 Molly Moroz, Catherine Badgley, Tara M. Smiley Changes of hyperspectral reflectance in Ambrosia dumosa following supplemental nitrogen additions 331 Travis Reilly, Aaron Cohodas, and Darren Sandquist Sedimentary facies and paleosol distribution in relation to Miocene tectonic and paleoclimate change in the Andean foreland, northwestern Argentina 332 Jose J. Rosario, T.E. Jordan, C.N. Garzione, J.I. Hernández, R.M. Hernández, and P. Higgins Preliminary investigation into paleoclimatic changes at Ivanpah Dry Lake California using chemical evidence of obliterated shorelines 333 Douglas B. Sims and Gavin Gillmore Trace elements transport and associated desert varnish in in a dry ephemeral wash containing former metals mining 333 Douglas B. Sims, Amanda C. Hudson, John E. Keller, Konstantinos I. Vatalis, Konstantinos Modis and Peter S. Hooda The use of 3-D photogrammetry to record a new fossil plant from the Pliocene Colorado River Delta. 333 Tom Spinks and Jon Gilbert The geochronologic and paleontologic framework of the Late Pleistocene Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument 334 Kathleen Springer, Craig R.Manker, Eric Scott, Jeffrey S.Pigati, Shannon Mahan Clastic sedimentary provenance of the Bouse Formation in Mohave Valley, lower Colorado River 334 Jacky Tran, Nick Browne, Brytne Okuhata, Karl Lang 2015 desert symposium 5 6 2015 desert symposium Mojave Miocene: the field trip Robert E. Reynolds 1 and David M. Miller 2 1Research Associate, Calif. State Univ. Desert Consortium, [email protected] 2United States Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS-973, Menlo Park, CA 94025 The Mojave Desert has long held a geologic enigma: Where are the deposits that formed between the middle Miocene (~12 Ma) and the Quaternary (~2.5 Ma)? Many early geolo- gists referred to scattered, difficult-to-date gravels in this interval as “Pliocene” and even suggested that a Pliocene “orogeny” affected the desert, but the puzzling question has endured (and has never been answered). Over the past five years or so, the Desert Symposium themes have focused on topics related to this enigma by addressing chronology and correlation of middle Miocene sequences, especially the Barstow Formation, and by identifying Pliocene deposits and addressing their origins. This year’s theme seeks the final pieces—the late Miocene into Pliocene rocks—and takes local to