Not a drop left to drink Robert E. Reynolds, editor California State University Desert Studies Center 2014 Desert Symposium April 2014 not a drop left to drink Table of contents Not a drop left to drink: the field trip 5 Robert E. Reynolds Ozone transport into and across the Mojave: interpreting processes from long-term monitoring data 30 Richard (Tony) VanCuren Stratigraphy and fauna of Proterozoic and Cambrian formations in the Marble Mountains, San Bernardino County, California 42 Bruce W. Bridenbecker Tertiary basin evolution in the Ship Mountains of southeastern California 48 Martin Knoll Ship Mountains mines 52 Larry M. Vredenburgh History of mining in the Old Woman Mountains 54 Larry M. Vredenburgh Chubbuck, California 57 Larry M. Vredenburgh Danby Dry Lake salt operations 60 Larry M. Vredenburgh Danby Playa: ringed with salty questions 63 Robert E. Reynolds and Thomas A. Schweich Vertebrate fossils from Desert Center, Chuckwalla Valley, California 68 Joey Raum, Geraldine L. Aron, and Robert E. Reynolds Population dynamics of the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia): twenty-three-year analysis, Lost Horse Valley, Joshua Tree National Park 71 James W. Cornett A notable fossil plant assemblage from the Indio Hills Formation, Indio Hills, Riverside County, California 74 Joey Raum, Geraldine L. Aron, and Robert E. Reynolds Dos Palmas Preserve: an expanding oasis 78 James W. Cornett Width and dip of the southern San Andreas Fault at Salt Creek from modeling of geophysical data 83 Victoria Langenheim, Noah Athens, Daniel Scheirer, Gary Fuis, Michael Rymer, and Mark Goldman Records of freshwater bony fish from the latest Pleistocene to Holocene Lake Cahuilla beds of western Imperial County, California 94 Mark A. Roeder and Gino Calvano A mineralogical inventory of geothermal features southeast of the Salton Sea, Imperial County, California 100 Paul M. Adams and David K. Lynch Salton Sea carbon dioxide field 112 Larry M. Vredenburgh Mullet Island has become a peninsula 113 David K. Lynch, Paul M. Adams, and David M. Tratt Hot volcanic vents on Red Island, Imperial County, California 117 David K. Lynch and Paul M. Adams The first fossil record of Gila elegans (bonytail) from the Ocotillo Formation (late Pleistocene), Borrego Badlands of Anza -Borrego Desert State Park, San Diego County, California 121 Mark A. Roeder and Jeanne Johnstone 2 2014 desert symposium not a drop left to drink A preliminary report on new records of fossils from the Brawley Formation (Middle to Late Pleistocene), northern Superstition Hills, Imperial County, California 123 Mark A. Roeder and Paul Remeika Mullet added to El Golfo De Santa Clara Paleofauna, Irvingtonian (Early to Middle Pleistocene), northwestern Sonora, Mexico 124 Mark A. Roeder The first record of Rancholabrean age fossils from the Anza-Borrego Desert 126 Lyndon K. Murray, George T. Jefferson, Sandra Keeley, Robert Keeley, and Arnold Mroz Imperial Group invertebrate fossils—Part 1: The science of the proto-gulf 130 N. Scott Rugh Imperial Group invertebrate fossils—Part 2: The Kidwell collection 138 N. Scott Rugh Digitizing ichnotypes from the Cenozoic of the southwestern United States at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology 144 Tristan T. Duque, Stephanie J. Rapoport, and Andrew A. Farke Tortoises from the Middle Miocene Barstow Formation of California 150 Don Lofgren and Rachel Choi Preliminary analysis of an important vertebrate-bearing horizon with abundant avian material from the upper member of the Barstow Formation of California 155 Donald Lofgren, Christopher Kwon, Jake Todd, Skyler Marquez, Adam Holliday, Robert Stoddard, and Peter Kloess Mojaveite and bluebellite, two new minerals from the central Mojave Desert 165 Stuart J. Mills, Anthony R. Kampf, Andrew G. Christy, Robert M. Housley, George R. Rossman, Robert E. Reynolds, and Joe Marty Geologic history, ore mineralization, and paragenetic sequence of Lead Mountain, Barstow, CA 168 Taylor van Hoorebeke A regional-scale landslide model for the origin of west-vergent, low-angle faults in the Silurian Hills, Old Dad Mountain, Soda Mountains, and other areas, Eastern Mojave Desert, California 176 Kim M. Bishop Interstratified arkosic and volcanic rocks of the Miocene Spanish Canyon Formation, Alvord Mountain area, California—descriptions and interpretations 190 David Buesch Possible origin of the myth that “California is falling into the ocean” 204 Norman Meek Stream capture to form Red Pass, northern Soda Mountains, California 208 David M. Miller and Shannon A. Mahan The terrestrial opposition effect on desert playas 218 David K. Lynch Abstracts from proceedings—2014 Desert Symposium 222 Robert E. Reynolds, editor Invertebrate fossils from the Kidwell collection in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park paleontology collection 222 Louise Bahar Monitoring soil moisture dynamics on Mojave Desert piedmonts 222 David R.Bedford, David M. Miller, and Kevin M. Schmidt Alpine plants as indicators of climate change 223 Jim and Catie Bishop Geochemical correlation of basalts in northern Deep Springs Valley, California, by X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF)23 Aaron J. Case 2014 desert symposium 3 not a drop left to drink Mary Hunter Austin—Land of Little Rain, Country of Lost Borders 223 Walter Feller Death of a tortoise: decomposition and taphonomy of a Hesperotestudo in the Anza-Borrego Desert 224 Linda Gilbert, Robert H. Keeley, and Ron Pavlu Tracking the tracks with photogrammetry 225 Jon Gilbert, Hugh Vance, and Gabriel Vogeli Geology of a Tertiary intermontane basin of the Last Chance Range, northwest Death Valley National Park, California 225 Christopher Johnson Preparation and jacketing of a mammoth skull in a sand environment 226 Robert Keeley, Sandra Keeley, Jon Gilbert, Lyndon K. Murray, and George T. Jefferson Discovery of a Mammuthus columbi partial skeleton in late Pleistocene sediments of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, southern California 226 Sandra Keeley, Lyndon K. Murray, George T. Jefferson, Robert Keeley, and Arnie Mroz Airborne hyperspectral infrared imaging survey of the southern San Andreas Fault 227 David K. Lynch, David M. Tratt, Kerry N. Buckland, and Patrick D. Johnson Holocene loess vs. modern dust in the Cima volcanic field 228 Marith Reheis, Shannon Mahan, Jim Budhan, and David Rhode A review of the hydrological and geochemical evolution of Bristol Dry Lake 228 Michael R. Rosen Debris flow deposits on Starvation Canyon Fan, Death Valley, California 229 Kelly Shaw Identifying fossil logs in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park 230 Tom Spinks Monitoring reptile habitat preference in the East Mojave, Soda Springs area 230 Jason K. Wallace The Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility 231 Darrick Weissenfluh, Olin Feuerbacher, Lee Simons, and Ambre Chaudoin Front cover: snow geese at Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge, Salton Sea Back cover: terns at Corvina Beach, Salton Sea Title page: Ship Mountains from Fenner Valley 4 2014 desert symposium Not a drop left to drink: the field trip Robert E. Reynolds Redlands, California, [email protected] Day 1 Trip leaders: Robert E. Reynolds, David M. Miller, Keith 0.2 (0.2) The Mojave National Preserve sign on the Howard right, elevation 935', is at the high stand of pluvial What We Will See Lake Mojave. The lake was about 40 ft deep in its Our route will pass through floras of the eastern terminal stages about 18 to 14 ka, and very broad and Mojave Desert and, at lower elevations, those of shallow. the Colorado Desert. At Granite Pass, we enter 1.6 (1.4) Cross a second cattle guard. On the right Bristol–Danby Trough which contains closed basins skyline, Old Dad Mountain at 1:30 and the Cowhole that would drain to the Colorado River near Vidal, Mountains at 2:30 flank the northern edge of Devils if filled. At Amboy, outcrops of Bouse Formation Playground, a region of sand ramps in the mountains sediments containing the early Pliocene Lawlor Tuff and dune fields in lowlands that may be covered (4.83 Ma) indicate that the Bristol–Danby Trough by flowers in the spring (Gardner, 2008). Climbing was indeed filled in the past to approximately dunes bury the flanks of Little Cowhole Mountain 950 feet elevation, allowing it to connect with the Blythe Basin to the southeast. Elsewhere in the Bristol–Danby Trough, sediments containing Pleistocene vertebrate fossils suggest wetlands and vegetation supported a complex biotic community. Post-Ice Age evaporation reduced water flow along axial drainage of valleys. This allowed alluvial fans to build on slopes, to surround outlying outcrops to form inselbergs, and to overload the carrying capacity of Fenner Valley’s axial drainage. Convene at the Desert Studies Center in Zzyzx For the Day 1 240-mile trip, fill your gas tank Saturday evening and check fluids and tire pressure. Wear sturdy shoes and dress for hot or cold windy weather; bring water, hat, and sunscreen. Proceed north to I-15. At the Zzyzx Road overpass, proceed east on I-15 to Baker. Exit at Kelbaker Road, turn south, and proceed toward Kelso. At the first cattle guard, reset odometer to 0.0 0.0 (0.0) Cross the first cattle guard. Continue easterly on Kelbaker Road. 2014 desert symposium 5 r. e. reynolds | not a drop left to drink: the field trip at 3:00. The dune fields came into existence when basalt ponded against the flank of Old Dad Mountain the Mojave River first began depositing in the Soda and the stream shifted west to cut into the older rock. basin, supplying sand for transport. The road crosses 16.6 (2.4) On the left is the Black Tank flow, the recent fan deposits that have transported well- youngest in the Cima field, dated by several methods varnished basaltic boulders twelve miles westward as ~10,000 yr (Wells and others, 1995; Phillips, 2003). from the Cima volcanic field. Adjacent lava tubes in older flows contain a record of 5.0 (3.4) The outcrop ahead is Teutonia Quartz accumulation of Holocene eolian dust (Reheis and Monzonite.