Landscape Evolution at an Active Plate Margin - Biological Science ...

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144.1 (3.0) View right (northeast) of recessional shorelines. Historically the lake was 30 to 50 feet deep, deeper in the Pleistocene. 145.7 (1.6) Continue past a left (west) turn to Lubken Canyon Road. 147.0 (1.3) Left (west) is Diaz Lake, a sag pond created between the Lone Pine and Owens Valley faults during the 1872 earthquake. The sag pond was empty in 1955 and did not hold water until 1969. The name Diaz comes from Eleuterio and Rafael Diaz, who were the unfortunate owners of the ranch that became the site of the lake following the earthquake (Clark, 1997). The Alabama Hills west of Lake Diaz form a prominent, 10 mile long, north-trending ridge of Cretaceous granite and Jurassic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks separated from the main Sierra massif by a frontal fault (the Independence fault). As such, they are only one of two areas of arc-related rocks within the valley. The other arc-related rocks are the Poverty Hills, 35 miles to the north. 148.3 (1.3) Continue on Hwy 395 past a junction on the right with Hwy 136 to Death Valley. 149.6 (1.3) Enter Lone Pine. 149.8 (0.2) A movie museum is on the left (west). 150.1 (0.3) TURN LEFT (west) at the traffic light onto Whitney Portal Road. 150.5 (0.4) Intersection of Tuttle Creek and Fairbanks Road. Portagee Joe Creek campground is 0.1 mile south (left). 150.7 (0.2) TURN RIGHT just beyond the LADWP aqueduct. 150.9 (0.2) Cross two tree-lined creeks, immediately TURN RIGHT, and BEAR LEFT (north) on a dirt road. 151.1 (0.2) PARK and WALK to the fault scarp (Fig. 1-9). STOP 1-5 (N 36°36’19.2”; W 118°04’28.9”). White granite debris against dark rock debris. This scarp, on the Lone Pine fault, preserves evidence of slip during the Lone Pine earthquake of March 26, 1872. The Owens Valley fault generated a magnitude 7.5 to 7.8 earthquake considered to be the third largest historic earthquake in the conterminous United States (Ellsworth, 1990; Beanland and Clark, 1994). This rupture had both oblique-normal and right slip displacements. Dextral displacement averaged 6.0 D. R. Jessey and R. E. Reynolds Figure 1-9. View looking to the north along the Lone Pine fault. [D. R. Jessey photo] ± 2.0 m with 1.0 ± 0.5 m of normal slip (Bacon and Pezzopane, 2007) Surface rupture length has been measured at 110 km (Beanland and Clark, 1994). This particular scarp has been extensively studied (Oakeshott, et al., 1972, Beanland and Clark, 1987, Lubetkin and Clark, 1988). It lies near the southern extent of the 1872 surface break. The Owens Valley fault near Lone Pine consists of the main trace and a secondary branch. The “main” fault extends along the western side of the town of Lone Pine forming the east side of Lake Diaz to the south. The discontinuous secondary trace lies approximately 1.0-1.5 kilometers to the west at the base of the Alabama Hills. This secondary fault was termed the Lone Pine fault by Lubetkin (1980). While both faults ruptured during the 1872 earthquake, the Lone Pine fault experienced right-oblique slip and the Owens Valley fault only dextral shear. Following the 1872 earthquake researchers initially focused on vertical displacement reporting 12–18 feet of offset (Hobbs, 1910). It wasn’t until the 1960s that the right-slip component was fully documented and recognized as the dominant component of motion (Bateman, 1961). Offset of roughly 18 feet vertically and 40 feet horizontally was ascribed to the 1872 earthquake. In the 1980s it was determined that this scarp was, in fact, the product of three separate Holocene events. The dip-slip component from the 1872 earthquake was estimated to be 3–6 feet with horizontal slip of 12–18 feet. Lubetkin and Clark (1988) proposed three 18 2009 Desert Symposium
Figure 1-10. Offset drainages of Lone Pine Creek by the Lone Pine fault. Jm = Jurassic metavolcanics of the Alabama Hills [Google Earth, 2008]. separate events; the antepenultimate event between 10,500 and 21,000 cal yr BP, and the penultimate event at 5000 cal yr BP. Subsequently, Bacon and Pezzopane (2007) reported ages of 14,000–24,000 and 8800–10,200 for the two events. Calculated slip rates vary from 0.4 to 1.33 mmy/yr horizontally and 0.12-0.25 mm/yr vertically, with a recurrence interval of approximately 10,000 years (Lubetkin and Clark, 1988, Bacon and Pezzopane, 2007). Figure 1-10 is a recent aerial photo available through Google Earth. It reveals the presence of an abandoned stream channel southeast of the main drainage of Lone Pine Creek that was not previously recognized. This portion of the channel has been offset 70–80 meters to the south along the fault. Assuming a horizontal displacement of 1 mm/yr this channel would represent ~75,000 years of fault motion. Interestingly, the channel also appears to be offset ~25 meters in the direction of dip. The reason for this offset is less clear. If one postulates a 45° dip on the Lone Pine fault, the ratio of horizontal to vertical offset would be similar to that reported by other researchers. However, Lubetkin and Clark (1988) state the Lone Pine fault dips 75–90° and as such the resulting separation cannot be accounted for simply by the dip-slip component of motion. It appears more likely to result from incision of the channel and deposition of debris flows in the abandoned channel. Just when this would have happened is problematic as Lubetkin and Clark (1988) suggest this channel has been abandoned for at least 10,000 to 20,000 years. See also Bishop (this volume) 2009 Desert Symposium Landscape evolutuion at an active plate margin: field trip and Copenhaver (this volume). Lone Pine Creek supports classic riparian woodland with cottonwood trees, willows, and grasses. Jeffrey pines come from cones washed down Lone Pine Creek from the Portal area. Return to the Whitney Portal Road. 151.4 (0.3) TURN RIGHT (west) on Whitney Portal Road. 154.2 (0.1) Continue past the right turn to Movie Flat Road, with an information plaque about the Alabama Hills as a film and television location. The Alabama Hills are a popular location for television and movie productions; often Westerns. Since the 1920s, over a dozen television shows have filmed here, including The Gene Autry Show, The Lone Ranger, and even episodes of I Love Lucy. Over 250 movies including classics such as Gunga Din, Springfield Rifle, A Star is Born, and How the West Was Won, as well as more recent productions such as Star Trek V and Tremors, were also filmed here. In Gladiator, Russell Crowe rides a horse in front of the Alabama Hills, with Mount Whitney in the background, for a scene presumably set in southern Europe (Internet movie database, 2009; Wikipedia, 2008). 151.5 (0.1) Continue past the Alabama Hills visitor turnout on the right. Mt. Whitney, ahead, reaches 14,496 ft. 153.5 (2.0) Pass through Movie Flats. 153.9 (0.4) Continue past a left turn to Horseshoe Meadows. 156.3 (2.4) Continue past Olivas Ranch Road to the left. 157.2 (0.9) Continue past Lone Pine campground to the left (southwest). 159.0 (1.8) PULL RIGHT into interpretive overlook on the north side of Whitney Portal Road. (Caution— watch for downhill traffic!) STOP 1-6 (N 36°35’45.5”; W 118°12’46.7”). As we look to the east across the Owens Valley we can see some of the tectonic features shown on Figure 1-11. We are standing on or very near the scarp of the Independence fault. The valley floor lies at an elevation of 4000 feet while the Sierra crest averages 12–14,000 ft. and the Inyo Range averages 9,000, making the Owens Valley one of, if not the “Deepest Valley” in the United States. The Lone Pine fault (previous stop) 19
Page 1 and 2: Landscape Evolution at an Active Pl
Page 3 and 4: Table of contents Landscape evoluti
Page 5 and 6: Evaluation of minor and trace eleme
Page 7 and 8: Landscape evolution at an active pl
Page 9 and 10: 25.3 (0.2) Continue past Osdick Rd.
Page 11 and 12: and Wesnousky, 1994). Reported rate
Page 13 and 14: into six units which range in age f
Page 15 and 16: Nevada & California railroad were u
Page 17: een built to meet the growing deman
Page 21 and 22: tary and metavolcanic units are lar
Page 23 and 24: Landscape evolutuion at an active p
Page 25 and 26: the Independence fault is dip-slip,
Page 27 and 28: Figure 1-18. Upper—view to the no
Page 29 and 30: 2009 Desert Symposium Landscape evo
Page 31 and 32: eruption of the Long Valley caldera
Page 33 and 34: Figure 2-2. Collapsed aqueduct pipe
Page 35 and 36: 63.7 (0.4) PARK at turnout. STOP 2-
Page 37 and 38: Sierra Nevada fault system has offs
Page 39 and 40: Landscape evolutuion at an active p
Page 41 and 42: (Cleveland, 1962). The rhyolite has
Page 43 and 44: ahead on the left. 95.6 (1.2) Stop
Page 45 and 46: ay. The big 40m dish is now used by
Page 47 and 48: cupied in 1865, and finally abandon
Page 49 and 50: Figure 3-6. Independence dikes. [S.
Page 51 and 52: which has significant concentration
Page 53 and 54: The Pliocene (Blancan NALMA) Coso F
Page 55 and 56: Current Research in the Pleistocene
Page 57 and 58: Quaternary data and references: A c
Page 59 and 60: and volume, p. 26-35. Smith, G. I.,
Page 61 and 62: Stolzite and jixianite from Darwin,
Page 63 and 64: (112) (Palache, et al., 1951). The
Page 65 and 66: ing gold and silver deposits. From
Page 67 and 68: the United States. Several small de
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at the base of the Lost Burro were
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silver-lead ore and is the one exce
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Significance of the Independence Di
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Independence Dike Swarm Figure 2: C
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40 km of displacement was too low.
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dominant northwest strike. Dikes wi
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Moore, J.G., 1963, Geology of the M
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summarizes the formations you will
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The Perdido Formation conformably r
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note the spheroidal weathering patt
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Lower Cambrian-Precambrian stratigr
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lus. Six to ten species of echinode
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The Olancha Dunes, Owens Valley, Ca
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Triassic ammonoids from Union Wash,
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Archaeocyathids from Westgard Pass,
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Basaltic volcanism in the southern
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Basaltic volcanism in the southern
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oxene, whereas Pleistocene basalt i
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in much slower rates of displacemen
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Vegetation of the Owens Valley and
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cone and limber pine woodlands and
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Figure 21. The alpine zone of the W
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The rush from the Kern River mines
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The rush from the Kern River mnes i
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2009 Desert Symposium The rush from
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mining company; and A. K. Warner an
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chinery and the castings for a smel
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Advertisement for the Hobard and Re
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November 1864, a series of lines be
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When the geologist W. A. Goodyear v
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Montgomery City Alan Hensher, 593 C
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The Blue Chert Mine: an epithermal
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2009 Desert Symposium The Blue Cher
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2009 Desert Symposium The Blue Cher
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Tectonic implications of basaltic v
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The Goler Club Figure 2. Outcrop ma
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closest relatives were early Paleoc
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The Goler Club Figure 8. Goler Club
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prospecting, Baum wandered over to
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ejonian age (Thewissen 1990; Lofgre
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Fish Creek rhythmites and aperiodic
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We analyzed each of the three rhyth
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Figure 10. Threshold rhythmite prod
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Holocene slip rate and tectonic rol
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Figure 2. Camelops sp. (camel) meta
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moist, brush- and grass-covered, fr
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Recent records of fossil fish from
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geal arches are similar to S. b. sn
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elatives seen in Pliocene and early
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Jennings, C.W. 1958, Geologic map o
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Competing mesquite and creosote dun
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Figure 9. Sheetwash area near the w
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The Oak Crrek mudflow of July 12, 2
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Photo 8. Deeply incised channel of
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than the north fork because of the
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mass contents of Gram negatives (sa
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to different uses. I do not suggest
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Geochronology and paleoenvironment
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Reproductive ecology of female Sono
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Garbage production is the other sid
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ties and preparation for use of som
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