Structural geology and kinematic history of rocks formed along low-angle normal faults, Death Valley, California

2003 ◽  
Vol 115 (10) ◽  
pp. 1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrel S. Cowan ◽  
Trenton T. Cladouhos ◽  
Julia K. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Structural Geology ◽  
Death Valley ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
History Of

scholarly journals Structural evolution of central Death Valley, California, using new thermochronometry of the Badwater turtleback

Lithosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-447
Author(s):  
Travis Sizemore ◽  
Matthew M. Wielicki ◽  
Ibrahim Çemen ◽  
Daniel Stockli ◽  
Matthew Heizler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Structural Evolution ◽  
Detachment Fault ◽  
Death Valley ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Owens Valley ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
Brittle Ductile Transition ◽  
History Of ◽  
Copper Canyon

Abstract The Badwater turtleback, Copper Canyon turtleback, and Mormon Point turtleback are three anomalously smooth, ∼2-km-high basement structures in the Black Mountains of Death Valley, California. Their structural evolution is linked to the Cenozoic tectonic history of the region. To explore their evolution, we apply (U-Th)/He, Ar/Ar, and U-Pb analyses, with multi-domain diffusion modeling to 10 samples from the Badwater turtleback. The cooling history of the Badwater turtleback is used as a proxy for its exhumation history as it uplifted from warmer depths. We find slow (<2 °C/m.y.) cooling from ca. 32 to 6 Ma, followed by rapid (120–140 °C/m.y.) cooling from ca. 6 to 4.5 Ma, and finally moderate (30–120 °C/m.y.) cooling occurred from ca. 4.5 Ma until the present. When these data are added to previously published cooling paths of the Copper Canyon turtleback and Mormon Point turtleback, a northwest cooling pattern is broadly evident, consistent with a top-to-NW removal of the hanging wall along a detachment fault. We propose a six-phase tectonic history. Post-orogenic collapse and erosion dominated from ca. 32 to 16 Ma. At 16–14 Ma, a detachment fault formed with a breakaway south and east of the Black Mountains, with normal faults in the hanging wall. Moderate extension continued from 14 to 8 Ma causing exhumation of the turtlebacks through the brittle-ductile transition. Dextral transtension at 7–6 Ma produced a pull-apart basin across the Black Mountains with rapid extension. The locus of deformation transferred to the Panamint and Owens Valley fault systems from 4.5 to 3.5 Ma, slowing extension in the Black Mountains until present.

THERMOKINEMATIC HISTORY OF THE BADWATER TURTLEBACK IN DEATH VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Travis M. Sizemore ◽  
◽  
Ibrahim Cemen ◽  
Matthew Wielicki ◽  
Daniel F. Stockli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Death Valley ◽  
History Of

STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY AND KINEMATIC HISTORY OF THE LACHESIS TESSERA QUADRANGLE (V-18), VENUS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra L. Buczkowski ◽  
◽  
Eileen M. McGowan ◽  
Lillian R. Ostrach ◽  
George McGill
Keyword(s):  
Structural Geology ◽  
History Of

Fluid flow and faulting history of the Iano tectonic window (Southern Tuscany, Italy).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Fulignati ◽  
Martina Zucchi ◽  
Andrea Brogi ◽  
Enrico Capezzuoli ◽  
Domenico Liotta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
High Angle ◽  
Quartz Veins ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tectonic Window ◽  
Liquid Vapor

&lt;p&gt;In the Iano area (Southern Tuscany) a small tectonic window of Tuscan metamorphic units is observed. This belongs to the northernmost part of the so-called Mid-Tuscan ridge and, during Pliocene, formed a submarine high, now defining the easternmost shoulder of the Volterra Pliocene basin. The area gives the opportunity to investigate the complete cycle of negative inversion from crustal thickening to crustal thinning, which characterizes Southern Tuscany. Our new data focus on the western margin of the Iano ridge, and in particular on a system of high angle normal faults that represents the youngest structures of the investigated area. These structures, deformed low angle regional detachments locally juxtaposing the uppermost units of contractional nappe stack (the ophiolite-bearing Ligurian units), with the Tuscan metamorphic units, with an almost complete excision of at least 3.5 Km thick Mesozoic to Tertiary Tuscan nappe succession. The high angle normal faults show variable Plio-Quaternary vertical displacements from few meters to about 500 meters, and acted as pathways for the upwelling of hydrothermal fluids, as revealed by Pleistocene travertine deposits, hydrothermal alteration and occurrence of different generations of fluid inclusions in hydrothermal veins associated with these fault systems. Fluid inclusions were studied in quartz veins hosted in the Verrucano metasediments forming the top of the Tuscan metamorphic unit, as well as in some carbonate lithotypes (Cretaceous to Tertiary in age) of the overlying Tuscan Nappe. Two different kinds of fluid inclusions were documented. The Type 1 are multiphase (liquid + vapor + 1 daughter mineral) liquid-rich fluid inclusions whereas the Type 2 are two-phase (liquid + vapor) liquid-rich fluid inclusions. Type 1 fluid inclusions are primary in origin and were found only in quartz veins present in Verrucano metarudites, whereas Type 2 fluid inclusions occur in quartz veins present in both Verrucano phyllites and quartzites and in the carbonate units of the Tuscan Nappe. These are secondary and can be furthermore distinguished in two sub-populations (Type 2a and Type 2b) on the basis of petrographic observation and microthermometric data. Fluid inclusion investigation evidenced an evolution of the hydrothermal fluids from relatively high-T (~265&amp;#176;C) and hypersaline (35 wt.% NaCl&lt;sub&gt;equiv.&lt;/sub&gt;) fluids trapped at about 100 MPa, to lower temperature (~195&amp;#176;C) and salinity (~9.5 wt.% NaCl&lt;sub&gt;equiv.&lt;/sub&gt;) fluids, having circulated in the high-angle fault system. Based on the new data and a revision of the local tectonic setting a fluid-rock interaction history has been reconstructed with new hints and constraints for the Plio-Quaternary extensional history of the Volterra basin.&lt;/p&gt;

Ernest Leslie Ransome

2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-96
Author(s):  
Stephen Mikesell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
The United States ◽  
Art Museum ◽  
Death Valley ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
History Of ◽  
Culinary Institute Of America ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
St Helena

Ernest L. Ransome is a famous but often misunderstood 19th century California engineer and builder. Architectural historians and engineering professionals see him as a central figure in developing reinforced concrete as a usable building material decades before its use became prevalent. He is most commonly recognized as building the first reinforced concrete bridge, San Francisco's Alvord Lake Bridge, which was built in 1890 and is still in use. Historical accounts of his work, however, are based chiefly upon secondary sources and are sometimes incorrect or misleading. This article clarifies Ransome's true role in concrete building in California and debunks misinformation about the famous Alvord Lake Bridge. It traces his career in the United States (he emigrated to California in 1870 at the age of 26), first as a manufacturer of imitation stone and later as a builder of increasingly large and complex buildings and structures. It discusses his work on a series of iconic Northern California buildings and structures: the 1888 Bourn Winery (now the Culinary Institute of America school in St. Helena); the 1890 Torpedo Building, still standing on the Oakland side of Yerba Buena Island; the 1890 Alvord Lake Bridge and its near twin the Conservatory Bridge, both still in use in Golden Gate Park; the 1891 Art Museum, now being used as the Canter Center on the Stanford University campus. It also discusses Ransome's partnership with Sidney Cushing, a railroad magnate in Marin County for whom the Cushing Amphitheater on Mt. Tamalpais was named, and Francis Marion “Borax” Smith, who built the borax industry in Death Valley and who founded and owned the Key System transit in the East Bay. The article concludes with observations about Ransome's true place in the history of concrete engineering in the United States and concrete construction in California.

scholarly journals Diabolical survival in Death Valley: recent pupfish colonization, gene flow and genetic assimilation in the smallest species range on earth

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1823) ◽  
pp. 20152334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher H. Martin ◽  
Jacob E. Crawford ◽  
Bruce J. Turner ◽  
Lee H. Simons
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Genetic Assimilation ◽  
Death Valley ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Devils Hole ◽  
Supreme Court Case ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Outstanding Question

One of the most endangered vertebrates, the Devils Hole pupfish Cyprinodon diabolis , survives in a nearly impossible environment: a narrow subterranean fissure in the hottest desert on earth, Death Valley. This species became a conservation icon after a landmark 1976 US Supreme Court case affirming federal groundwater rights to its unique habitat. However, one outstanding question about this species remains unresolved: how long has diabolis persisted in this hellish environment? We used next-generation sequencing of over 13 000 loci to infer the demographic history of pupfishes in Death Valley. Instead of relicts isolated 2–3 Myr ago throughout repeated flooding of the entire region by inland seas as currently believed, we present evidence for frequent gene flow among Death Valley pupfish species and divergence after the most recent flooding 13 kyr ago. We estimate that Devils Hole was colonized by pupfish between 105 and 830 years ago, followed by genetic assimilation of pelvic fin loss and recent gene flow into neighbouring spring systems. Our results provide a new perspective on an iconic endangered species using the latest population genomic methods and support an emerging consensus that timescales for speciation are overestimated in many groups of rapidly evolving species.

Rocky shores and development of the Pliocene-Pleistocene Arroyo Blanco Basin on Isla Carmen in the Gulf of California, Mexico

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 1149-1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M Eros ◽  
Markes E Johnson ◽  
David H Backus
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Rocky Shore ◽  
Normal Faults ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Marine Terraces ◽  
Shell Beds ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cap Rock

Arroyo Blanco Basin on Isla Carmen preserves a 157 m thick, nearly complete record of Pliocene–Pleistocene history in the Gulf of California. Examples of rocky-shore geomorphology occur on all margins of this trapezoidal-shaped, 3.3 km2 basin. A shoreline is developed in low relief on Miocene andesite from the Comondú Group at the rear of the basin parallel to the long axis of the island. Two end walls trace normal faults that stayed active during the life of the basin and maintained steep rocky shores. The basin is 64% filled by calcarudite and calcarenite derived from crushed rhodolith debris. Other facies include shell beds and stringers of andesite conglomerate that define a 4°–6° ramp. The ramp expanded onshore through Pliocene time, based on a succession of overlapping range zones for 22 macrofossils typical of Lower through Upper Pliocene strata in the Gulf of California. The unconformity exposed 1 km inland at the rear of the basin is between Miocene volcanics and Pleistocene cap rock at an elevation of 170 m above sea level. Whole rhodoliths encrusted on andesite pebbles occur above this unconformity. Presumably, the older Miocene-Pliocene unconformity is buried beneath the ramp. Four marine terraces with sea cliffs notched in Pliocene limestone occur at elevations of 68, 58, 37, and 12 m. The 12 m terrace is associated regionally with the last interglacial epoch between 120 000 and 135 000 years ago. Juxtaposition of ramp and terrace features in the same exhumed basin supports a long history of gradual Pliocene subsidence followed by episodic Pleistocene uplift.

Quantifying the growth history of seismically imaged normal faults

2014 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 382-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edoseghe E. Osagiede ◽  
Oliver B. Duffy ◽  
Christopher A.-L. Jackson ◽  
Thilo Wrona
Keyword(s):  
Normal Faults ◽  
Growth History ◽  
History Of
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