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• 201. [Article] Subsurface structural evolution along the northern Whittier fault zone of the eastern Los Angeles basin, Southern California

  The Whittier fault forms the central part of a fault system extending from the East Montebello fault at Whittier Narrows to the Elsinore fault, which is traced as far as the Mexican border. The Whittier ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Subsurface structural evolution along the northern Whittier fault zone of the eastern Los Angeles basin, Southern California Author: Herzog, David W. The Whittier fault forms the central part of a fault system extending from the East Montebello fault at Whittier Narrows to the Elsinore fault, which is traced as far as the Mexican border. The Whittier fault forms a restraining bend in this fault system, resulting in uplift of the Puente Hills. The northwestern part of the Whittier fault in the Whittier oil field in the eastern Los Angeles basin strikes approximately N65°W and dips 70-75° northeast. The fault is near the range front of the Puente Hills northwest of Turnbull Canyon, and within the Puente Hills to the southeast. The central reach of the Whittier fault had normal separation in the Relizian and Luisian stages of the middle Miocene. From the Mohnian through Repettian stages of the late Miocene and early Pliocene, little, if any, offset occurred until the initiation of reverse offset in the Venturian stage of the late Pliocene. A component of right-lateral strike-slip may have been added near the end of the Pliocene, coinciding with the formation of the Elsinore fault. The Workman Hill and Whittier Heights faults may have formed in the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene, coinciding with the possible initiation of strike-slip on the Whittier fault. The present sense of slip on the Whittier fault southeast of the study area is nearly pure right-lateral strike-slip, with a slip rate of 2-3 mm/yr. The northwestern part of the Whittier fault has a component of reverse slip of approximately 1 mm/yr. The amount of strike-slip on this part of the fault was not determined by this study. The Rideout Heights, 304, and 184 low-amplitude anticlines formed in the Whittier oil field area in the late Miocene and early Pliocene. The Rideout Heights anticline is a southwest-verging fault-propagation fold trending northwesterly from the mouth of Turnbull Canyon through the Rideout Heights area. Strata are overturned in the southwest limb of the fold, and normally dipping in the northeast limb; the fold has been cut along its hinge by the Whittier fault. The 304 and 184 anticlines are north-verging and appear to be beddingplane shear folds in the northeast limb of the La Habra syncline. Recent strike-slip on the Whittier fault may have reactivated the 184 anticline, causing uplift of the footwall block south of Turnbull Canyon. North of Turnbull Canyon, the Whittier fault is at the range front with no evidence of Quaternary footwall uplift. The 304 anticline could be a fault-propagation fold from a previously-unknown southwest dipping blind reverse fault south of the Whittier fault; uplift on this fold could also be the cause of footwall uplift south of Turnbull Canyon. Active fault traces, possibly strike-slip, are on or near the Whittier fault south of Turnbull Canyon, but to the north, recent offsets appear to be northeast of the Whittier fault in the Puente Hills. These offsets may represent an attempt of the Whittier fault to straighten itself by bypassing the restraining bend at Turnbull Canyon. so, this movement is too recent to offset conglomerate beds more than a few tens of meters. Title: Subsurface structural evolution along the northern Whittier fault zone of the eastern Los Angeles basin, Southern California Author: Herzog, David W. The Whittier fault forms the central part of a fault system extending from the East Montebello fault at Whittier Narrows to the Elsinore fault, which is traced as far as the Mexican border. The Whittier fault forms a restraining bend in this fault system, resulting in uplift of the Puente Hills. The northwestern part of the Whittier fault in the Whittier oil field in the eastern Los Angeles basin strikes approximately N65°W and dips 70-75° northeast. The fault is near the range front of the Puente Hills northwest of Turnbull Canyon, and within the Puente Hills to the southeast. The central reach of the Whittier fault had normal separation in the Relizian and Luisian stages of the middle Miocene. From the Mohnian through Repettian stages of the late Miocene and early Pliocene, little, if any, offset occurred until the initiation of reverse offset in the Venturian stage of the late Pliocene. A component of right-lateral strike-slip may have been added near the end of the Pliocene, coinciding with the formation of the Elsinore fault. The Workman Hill and Whittier Heights faults may have formed in the late Pliocene to early Pleistocene, coinciding with the possible initiation of strike-slip on the Whittier fault. The present sense of slip on the Whittier fault southeast of the study area is nearly pure right-lateral strike-slip, with a slip rate of 2-3 mm/yr. The northwestern part of the Whittier fault has a component of reverse slip of approximately 1 mm/yr. The amount of strike-slip on this part of the fault was not determined by this study. The Rideout Heights, 304, and 184 low-amplitude anticlines formed in the Whittier oil field area in the late Miocene and early Pliocene. The Rideout Heights anticline is a southwest-verging fault-propagation fold trending northwesterly from the mouth of Turnbull Canyon through the Rideout Heights area. Strata are overturned in the southwest limb of the fold, and normally dipping in the northeast limb; the fold has been cut along its hinge by the Whittier fault. The 304 and 184 anticlines are north-verging and appear to be beddingplane shear folds in the northeast limb of the La Habra syncline. Recent strike-slip on the Whittier fault may have reactivated the 184 anticline, causing uplift of the footwall block south of Turnbull Canyon. North of Turnbull Canyon, the Whittier fault is at the range front with no evidence of Quaternary footwall uplift. The 304 anticline could be a fault-propagation fold from a previously-unknown southwest dipping blind reverse fault south of the Whittier fault; uplift on this fold could also be the cause of footwall uplift south of Turnbull Canyon. Active fault traces, possibly strike-slip, are on or near the Whittier fault south of Turnbull Canyon, but to the north, recent offsets appear to be northeast of the Whittier fault in the Puente Hills. These offsets may represent an attempt of the Whittier fault to straighten itself by bypassing the restraining bend at Turnbull Canyon. so, this movement is too recent to offset conglomerate beds more than a few tens of meters. Close

• 202. [Article] Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Neahkahnie Mountain - Angora Peak area, Tillamook and Clatsop Counties, Oregon

  Four distinct lithologic units compose the Tertiary rocks of the Neahkahnie Mountain - Angora Peak area, located along the northwest Oregon coast near the town of Nehalem. The Tertiary units are the late ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Neahkahnie Mountain - Angora Peak area, Tillamook and Clatsop Counties, Oregon Author: Cressy, Frank Beecher Four distinct lithologic units compose the Tertiary rocks of the Neahkahnie Mountain - Angora Peak area, located along the northwest Oregon coast near the town of Nehalem. The Tertiary units are the late Oligocene to early Miocene Oswald West mudstones, the middle Miocene Angora Peak sandstone member of the Astoria Formation, and middle Miocene intrusive and extrusive rocks of the Depoe Bay Basalt. These units are unconformably overlain by Pleistocene and Recent beach and dune sands, alluvium, and tidal flat muds. The Oswald West mudstones and the Angora Peak sandstone member are informal stratigraphic units proposed in this study. The Oswald West mudstones consist of over 1600 feet of well-bedded, highly burrowed, tuffaceous siltstones and silty mudstones interbedded with minor amounts of graded turbidite sandstones and submarine slump deposits. Foraminifera and trace fossils suggest deposition occurred in marine waters of upper bathyal depths. The Angora Peak sandstone consists of over 1800 feet of thin- to thick-bedded, locally cross-bedded, fine- to coarse-grained arkosic sandstones, pumiceous and basaltic conglomerates, carbonaceous and micaceous siltstones, and local coal beds. The inter-fingering shallow marine and fluvial sandstones are interpreted to have been deposited in a high-energy, wave dominated, deltaic environment which reworked the sediments into extensive delta-front sheet sands similar to those observed in the modern Niger and Rhone deltas. Mineralogy, heavy minerals, and conglomerate clast lithologies indicate that most of the sediments were derived from local uplifted areas of Eocene basalts and early Tertiary sediments and from the Oligocene Little Butte Volcanics in the western Cascades. Rare metamorphic and plutonic clasts, sedimentary quartzite, heavy minerals, and sandstone mineralogy suggest that metamorphic, igneous, and Paleozoic sedimentary terranes in eastern Oregon and Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana supplied some of the sediments, possibly via an ancestral Columbia River. Dikes, sills, and plugs of aphanitic to finely crystalline Depoe Bay Basalt intrude the older sedimentary rocks and locally are feeders for palagonitized pillow breccias which unconformably overlie the Angora Peak sandstone. The major intrusive body is a 1200-foot thick diabasic sill referred to as the Neahkahnie sill. The extrusive basalts formed in a subsiding marine basin in which over 1600 feet of pillow lavas, pillow breccias, and minor basalt flows were locally extruded. The area is cut by a series of west-northwest and north-trending faults. Two synclines and an anticline strike subparallel to the west-northwest trending faults. Title: Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Neahkahnie Mountain - Angora Peak area, Tillamook and Clatsop Counties, Oregon Author: Cressy, Frank Beecher Four distinct lithologic units compose the Tertiary rocks of the Neahkahnie Mountain - Angora Peak area, located along the northwest Oregon coast near the town of Nehalem. The Tertiary units are the late Oligocene to early Miocene Oswald West mudstones, the middle Miocene Angora Peak sandstone member of the Astoria Formation, and middle Miocene intrusive and extrusive rocks of the Depoe Bay Basalt. These units are unconformably overlain by Pleistocene and Recent beach and dune sands, alluvium, and tidal flat muds. The Oswald West mudstones and the Angora Peak sandstone member are informal stratigraphic units proposed in this study. The Oswald West mudstones consist of over 1600 feet of well-bedded, highly burrowed, tuffaceous siltstones and silty mudstones interbedded with minor amounts of graded turbidite sandstones and submarine slump deposits. Foraminifera and trace fossils suggest deposition occurred in marine waters of upper bathyal depths. The Angora Peak sandstone consists of over 1800 feet of thin- to thick-bedded, locally cross-bedded, fine- to coarse-grained arkosic sandstones, pumiceous and basaltic conglomerates, carbonaceous and micaceous siltstones, and local coal beds. The inter-fingering shallow marine and fluvial sandstones are interpreted to have been deposited in a high-energy, wave dominated, deltaic environment which reworked the sediments into extensive delta-front sheet sands similar to those observed in the modern Niger and Rhone deltas. Mineralogy, heavy minerals, and conglomerate clast lithologies indicate that most of the sediments were derived from local uplifted areas of Eocene basalts and early Tertiary sediments and from the Oligocene Little Butte Volcanics in the western Cascades. Rare metamorphic and plutonic clasts, sedimentary quartzite, heavy minerals, and sandstone mineralogy suggest that metamorphic, igneous, and Paleozoic sedimentary terranes in eastern Oregon and Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana supplied some of the sediments, possibly via an ancestral Columbia River. Dikes, sills, and plugs of aphanitic to finely crystalline Depoe Bay Basalt intrude the older sedimentary rocks and locally are feeders for palagonitized pillow breccias which unconformably overlie the Angora Peak sandstone. The major intrusive body is a 1200-foot thick diabasic sill referred to as the Neahkahnie sill. The extrusive basalts formed in a subsiding marine basin in which over 1600 feet of pillow lavas, pillow breccias, and minor basalt flows were locally extruded. The area is cut by a series of west-northwest and north-trending faults. Two synclines and an anticline strike subparallel to the west-northwest trending faults. Close

• 203. [Article] Hydro‐isostatic deflection and tectonic tilting in the central Andes: Initial results of a GPS survey of Lake Minchin shorelines

  This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the American Geophysical Union and can be found at: http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/.

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Hydro‐isostatic deflection and tectonic tilting in the central Andes: Initial results of a GPS survey of Lake Minchin shorelines Author: Worden, Bruce, Donnellan, Andrea, Bills, Bruce G., Currey, Donald R., Emenger, Robert S., de Silva, Shanaka L., Lillquist, Karl D. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the American Geophysical Union and can be found at: http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/. Title: Hydro‐isostatic deflection and tectonic tilting in the central Andes: Initial results of a GPS survey of Lake Minchin shorelines Author: Worden, Bruce, Donnellan, Andrea, Bills, Bruce G., Currey, Donald R., Emenger, Robert S., de Silva, Shanaka L., Lillquist, Karl D. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the American Geophysical Union and can be found at: http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/. Close

• 204. [Article] Petrology of the Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff, a Pleistocene Cascade eruption involving magma mixing

  The Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff are products of a plinian eruption which occurred sometime between 0.89 and 2.6 m.y. The Bend pumice is a poorly consolidated, air-fall vitric lapilli tuff, which overlies ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Petrology of the Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff, a Pleistocene Cascade eruption involving magma mixing Author: Hill, Brittain Eames The Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff are products of a plinian eruption which occurred sometime between 0.89 and 2.6 m.y. The Bend pumice is a poorly consolidated, air-fall vitric lapilli tuff, which overlies a zone of reworked tephra. Perlitic obsidian in the reworked zone probably represents the remains of a dome which filled the eruptive vent and is chemically related to the Bend pumice magma. Detailed grain size analysis of the air-fall part of the Bend pumice shows that the eruptive vent was located approximately 10-20 km west of Bend, Oregon. Grain size variations in vertical section are probably related to fluctuations in the diameter of the vent rather than interruptions in deposition of the Bend pumice. The Tumalo tuff is nonwelded to moderately welded ash-flow tuff which directly overlies the Bend pumice. Lack of discernable normal grading in the upper 50 cm of the Bend pumice indicates that the Tumalo tuff was emplaced before the Bend pumice was completely deposited and leads to the conclusion that the Tumalo tuff is the product of collapse of the Bend pumice eruption column. The Tumalo tuff was formed by one episode of flow and has a well developed basal 2a layer. Variations in the distal character of layer 2a are thought to represent complex flow conditions in the head of the Tumalo tuff ash flow. Mixed pumices also are found in proximal Tumalo tuff deposits. The Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff are peraluminous and rhyodacitic. Within analytical uncertainties, they have identical major, minor, and trace element abundances. Both contain fresh hornblende in the mineral assemblage Plg + Opx + Mgt + Zr + Ap. The hornblende appears to have been a liquidus phase and indicates that the rhyodacite evolved under high pressure, hydrous conditions. A hight La to Ce ratio and a strong negative Eu anomaly in the B-T rhyodacite further indicates that the Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff evolved under physical conditions quite distinct from other rhyodacites in the central Oregon High Cascades analysed by Hughes (1982). Mixed pumices in the Tumalo tuff represent the incomplete mixing between Bend-Tumalo rhyodacite and a dacitic magma. Trace element modeling fails to provide an unequivocally common path of crystal fractionation between these two magmas. The magmas can not be directly related through thermogravitational diffusion or assimilation. While mixed pumice formation is usually attributed to mixing of genetically related magmas, Tumalo tuff mixed pumices were produced through the mixing of genetically unrelated magmas. Title: Petrology of the Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff, a Pleistocene Cascade eruption involving magma mixing Author: Hill, Brittain Eames The Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff are products of a plinian eruption which occurred sometime between 0.89 and 2.6 m.y. The Bend pumice is a poorly consolidated, air-fall vitric lapilli tuff, which overlies a zone of reworked tephra. Perlitic obsidian in the reworked zone probably represents the remains of a dome which filled the eruptive vent and is chemically related to the Bend pumice magma. Detailed grain size analysis of the air-fall part of the Bend pumice shows that the eruptive vent was located approximately 10-20 km west of Bend, Oregon. Grain size variations in vertical section are probably related to fluctuations in the diameter of the vent rather than interruptions in deposition of the Bend pumice. The Tumalo tuff is nonwelded to moderately welded ash-flow tuff which directly overlies the Bend pumice. Lack of discernable normal grading in the upper 50 cm of the Bend pumice indicates that the Tumalo tuff was emplaced before the Bend pumice was completely deposited and leads to the conclusion that the Tumalo tuff is the product of collapse of the Bend pumice eruption column. The Tumalo tuff was formed by one episode of flow and has a well developed basal 2a layer. Variations in the distal character of layer 2a are thought to represent complex flow conditions in the head of the Tumalo tuff ash flow. Mixed pumices also are found in proximal Tumalo tuff deposits. The Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff are peraluminous and rhyodacitic. Within analytical uncertainties, they have identical major, minor, and trace element abundances. Both contain fresh hornblende in the mineral assemblage Plg + Opx + Mgt + Zr + Ap. The hornblende appears to have been a liquidus phase and indicates that the rhyodacite evolved under high pressure, hydrous conditions. A hight La to Ce ratio and a strong negative Eu anomaly in the B-T rhyodacite further indicates that the Bend pumice and Tumalo tuff evolved under physical conditions quite distinct from other rhyodacites in the central Oregon High Cascades analysed by Hughes (1982). Mixed pumices in the Tumalo tuff represent the incomplete mixing between Bend-Tumalo rhyodacite and a dacitic magma. Trace element modeling fails to provide an unequivocally common path of crystal fractionation between these two magmas. The magmas can not be directly related through thermogravitational diffusion or assimilation. While mixed pumice formation is usually attributed to mixing of genetically related magmas, Tumalo tuff mixed pumices were produced through the mixing of genetically unrelated magmas. Close

• 205. [Article] Warner Valley Fish Investigations- Warner Suckers Progress Reports 2008

  Abstract -- The Warner sucker (Catostomus warnerensis) is endemic to the Warner Valley, an endorheic subbasin of the Great Basin in southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada. This species was historically ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Warner Valley Fish Investigations- Warner Suckers Progress Reports 2008 Abstract -- The Warner sucker (Catostomus warnerensis) is endemic to the Warner Valley, an endorheic subbasin of the Great Basin in southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada. This species was historically abundant and its historical range includes three permanent lakes (Hart, Crump, and Pelican), several ephemeral lakes, a network of sloughs and diversion canals, and three major tributary drainages (Honey, Deep, and Twentymile Creeks). Warner sucker abundance and distribution has declined over the past century and it was federally listed as threatened in 1985 due to habitat fragmentation and threats posed by the proliferation of piscivorous non-native game fishes (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1985). The Warner Valley is a northeast-southwest trending endorheic basin which extends approximately 90 km (Figure 1). The elevation of the valley floor is approximately 1,370 m and the basin is bound by fault block escarpments, the Warner Rim on the west and Hart Mountain and Poker Jim Ridge on the east. The Warner basin was formed during the middle Tertiary and late Quaternary geologic periods as a result of volcanic and tectonic activity (Baldwin 1976). Abundant precipitation during the Pleistocene Epoch resulted in the formation of Pluvial Lake Warner (Hubbs and Miller 1948). At its maximum extent approximately 11,000 years ago, the lake reached approximately 100 m in depth and 1,300 km2 in area (Snyder et al. 1964, Weide 1975). In 2008, precipitation and snow pack were near average and Hart and Crump Lakes never filled completely. In 2007, Crump Lake water levels were very low with less than a quarter of the surface area wetted during the winter. Both lakes have been watered continuously since 1993. The Warner sucker inhabits the lakes and low gradient stream reaches of the Warner Valley. Two life history forms are present that comprise the metapopulation of Warner suckers: lake and stream morphs. The lake suckers are lacustrine adfluvial or potamodromous fish which normally spawn in the streams. However, upstream migration may be blocked by low stream flows during dry water years or by irrigation diversion dams and spawning may occur in nearshore areas of the lakes (White et al. 1990). The stream suckers inhabit and spawn in the three major tributary drainages (Honey, Deep, and Twentymile Creeks). Large lake-dwelling populations of introduced fishes in the lakes likely reduce sucker recruitment by predation on young suckers (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998). The Recovery Plan for the Threatened and Rare Native Fishes of the Warner Basin and Alkali Subbasin (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998) sets recovery criteria for delisting the species. These criteria require that (1) a self-sustaining metapopulation is distributed throughout the Twentymile, Honey, and Deep Creek (below the falls) drainages, and in Pelican, Crump, and Hart Lakes, (2) passage is restored within and among the Twentymile, Honey, and Deep Creek (below the falls) drainages so that the individual populations of Warner suckers can function as a metapopulation, and (3) no threats exist that would likely threaten the survival of the species over a significant portion of its range. In 2008, we conducted investigations in Hart and Crump Lakes to quantify the abundance and distribution of Warner suckers, to search for evidence of recent recruitment, and to estimate sucker abundance relative to nonnative fish abundance. In addition we investigated growth and movement patterns. We used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tagged suckers to determine growth rates and movements, tracked radio-tagged suckers to document seasonal spawning migrations, fished a screw trap in Twelvemile Creek to monitor downstream movements, and operated a trap at the Dyke diversion dam on Twentymile Creek to monitor upstream movements. Title: Warner Valley Fish Investigations- Warner Suckers Progress Reports 2008 Abstract -- The Warner sucker (Catostomus warnerensis) is endemic to the Warner Valley, an endorheic subbasin of the Great Basin in southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada. This species was historically abundant and its historical range includes three permanent lakes (Hart, Crump, and Pelican), several ephemeral lakes, a network of sloughs and diversion canals, and three major tributary drainages (Honey, Deep, and Twentymile Creeks). Warner sucker abundance and distribution has declined over the past century and it was federally listed as threatened in 1985 due to habitat fragmentation and threats posed by the proliferation of piscivorous non-native game fishes (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1985). The Warner Valley is a northeast-southwest trending endorheic basin which extends approximately 90 km (Figure 1). The elevation of the valley floor is approximately 1,370 m and the basin is bound by fault block escarpments, the Warner Rim on the west and Hart Mountain and Poker Jim Ridge on the east. The Warner basin was formed during the middle Tertiary and late Quaternary geologic periods as a result of volcanic and tectonic activity (Baldwin 1976). Abundant precipitation during the Pleistocene Epoch resulted in the formation of Pluvial Lake Warner (Hubbs and Miller 1948). At its maximum extent approximately 11,000 years ago, the lake reached approximately 100 m in depth and 1,300 km2 in area (Snyder et al. 1964, Weide 1975). In 2008, precipitation and snow pack were near average and Hart and Crump Lakes never filled completely. In 2007, Crump Lake water levels were very low with less than a quarter of the surface area wetted during the winter. Both lakes have been watered continuously since 1993. The Warner sucker inhabits the lakes and low gradient stream reaches of the Warner Valley. Two life history forms are present that comprise the metapopulation of Warner suckers: lake and stream morphs. The lake suckers are lacustrine adfluvial or potamodromous fish which normally spawn in the streams. However, upstream migration may be blocked by low stream flows during dry water years or by irrigation diversion dams and spawning may occur in nearshore areas of the lakes (White et al. 1990). The stream suckers inhabit and spawn in the three major tributary drainages (Honey, Deep, and Twentymile Creeks). Large lake-dwelling populations of introduced fishes in the lakes likely reduce sucker recruitment by predation on young suckers (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998). The Recovery Plan for the Threatened and Rare Native Fishes of the Warner Basin and Alkali Subbasin (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1998) sets recovery criteria for delisting the species. These criteria require that (1) a self-sustaining metapopulation is distributed throughout the Twentymile, Honey, and Deep Creek (below the falls) drainages, and in Pelican, Crump, and Hart Lakes, (2) passage is restored within and among the Twentymile, Honey, and Deep Creek (below the falls) drainages so that the individual populations of Warner suckers can function as a metapopulation, and (3) no threats exist that would likely threaten the survival of the species over a significant portion of its range. In 2008, we conducted investigations in Hart and Crump Lakes to quantify the abundance and distribution of Warner suckers, to search for evidence of recent recruitment, and to estimate sucker abundance relative to nonnative fish abundance. In addition we investigated growth and movement patterns. We used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tagged suckers to determine growth rates and movements, tracked radio-tagged suckers to document seasonal spawning migrations, fished a screw trap in Twelvemile Creek to monitor downstream movements, and operated a trap at the Dyke diversion dam on Twentymile Creek to monitor upstream movements. Close

• 206. [Image] Geologic and hydrologic characterization and evaluation of the Basin and Range Province relative to the disposal of high-level radioactive waste [part 3 geologic and hydrologic evaluation]

  	SUMMARY This report describes the first phase in evaluating the geology and hydrology of the Basin and Range Province for potential suitability of geohydrologic environments for isolation of high-level ...
  	Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Geologic and hydrologic characterization and evaluation of the Basin and Range Province relative to the disposal of high-level radioactive waste [part 3 geologic and hydrologic evaluation] Author: Bedinger, M. S.; Sargent, Kenneth A.; Reed, J. E. Year: 2008, 2005 SUMMARY This report describes the first phase in evaluating the geology and hydrology of the Basin and Range Province for potential suitability of geohydrologic environments for isolation of high-level radioactive waste. The evaluation of the Province applies the guidelines, discussed in Part I (Bedinger, Sargent, and Reed, 1983) of this report to the geologic and hydrologic information compiled for the Province in Part II (Sargent and Bedinger, 1983). The geologic and hydrologic factors considered in the Province evaluation include distribution of potential host rocks, tectonic conditions and data on ground-water hydrology. Potential host media considered include argillaceous rocks, tuff, basaltic rocks, granitic rocks, evaporites, and the unsaturated zone. The tectonic factors considered are Quaternary faults, late Cenozoic volcanics, seismic activity, heat flow, and late Cenozoic rates of vertical uplift. Hydrologic conditions considered include length of flow path from potential host rocks to discharge areas, interbasin and geothermal flow systems and thick unsaturated sections as potential host media. The Basin and Range Province was divided into 12 subprovinces; each subprovince is evaluated separately and prospective areas for further study are identified. About one-half of the Province appears to have combinations of potential host rocks, tectonic conditions, and ground-water hydrology that merit consideration for further study. The prospective areas for further study in each subprovince are summarized in a brief list of the potentially favorable factors and the issues of concern. Data compiled for the entire Province do not permit a complete evaluation of the f avorability for high-level waste isolation. The evaluations here are intended to identify broad regions that contain potential geohydrologic environments containing multiple natural barriers to radionu-clide migration. Title: Geologic and hydrologic characterization and evaluation of the Basin and Range Province relative to the disposal of high-level radioactive waste [part 3 geologic and hydrologic evaluation] Author: Bedinger, M. S.; Sargent, Kenneth A.; Reed, J. E. Year: 2008, 2005 SUMMARY This report describes the first phase in evaluating the geology and hydrology of the Basin and Range Province for potential suitability of geohydrologic environments for isolation of high-level radioactive waste. The evaluation of the Province applies the guidelines, discussed in Part I (Bedinger, Sargent, and Reed, 1983) of this report to the geologic and hydrologic information compiled for the Province in Part II (Sargent and Bedinger, 1983). The geologic and hydrologic factors considered in the Province evaluation include distribution of potential host rocks, tectonic conditions and data on ground-water hydrology. Potential host media considered include argillaceous rocks, tuff, basaltic rocks, granitic rocks, evaporites, and the unsaturated zone. The tectonic factors considered are Quaternary faults, late Cenozoic volcanics, seismic activity, heat flow, and late Cenozoic rates of vertical uplift. Hydrologic conditions considered include length of flow path from potential host rocks to discharge areas, interbasin and geothermal flow systems and thick unsaturated sections as potential host media. The Basin and Range Province was divided into 12 subprovinces; each subprovince is evaluated separately and prospective areas for further study are identified. About one-half of the Province appears to have combinations of potential host rocks, tectonic conditions, and ground-water hydrology that merit consideration for further study. The prospective areas for further study in each subprovince are summarized in a brief list of the potentially favorable factors and the issues of concern. Data compiled for the entire Province do not permit a complete evaluation of the f avorability for high-level waste isolation. The evaluations here are intended to identify broad regions that contain potential geohydrologic environments containing multiple natural barriers to radionu-clide migration. Close

• 207. [Image] Report of 1994 Workshop on the Correlation of Marine and Terrestrial Records of Climate Changes in the Western United States

  	Imprint from transmittal sheet; Distributed to depository libraries in microfiche; Shipping list no.: 97-0071-M; One ill. on 1 folded leaf in pocket; Includes bibliographical references
  	Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Report of 1994 Workshop on the Correlation of Marine and Terrestrial Records of Climate Changes in the Western United States Author: Workshop on the Correlation of Marine and Terrestrial Records of Climate Changes in the Western U.S. (3rd : 1994 : Watsonville, Calif.) Year: 1996, 2007, 2005 Imprint from transmittal sheet; Distributed to depository libraries in microfiche; Shipping list no.: 97-0071-M; One ill. on 1 folded leaf in pocket; Includes bibliographical references Title: Report of 1994 Workshop on the Correlation of Marine and Terrestrial Records of Climate Changes in the Western United States Author: Workshop on the Correlation of Marine and Terrestrial Records of Climate Changes in the Western U.S. (3rd : 1994 : Watsonville, Calif.) Year: 1996, 2007, 2005 Imprint from transmittal sheet; Distributed to depository libraries in microfiche; Shipping list no.: 97-0071-M; One ill. on 1 folded leaf in pocket; Includes bibliographical references Close

• 208. [Article] Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the middle eocene Cowlitz Formation and adjacent sedimentary and volcanic units in the Longview-Kelso area, southwest Washington

  Geologic mapping of the Longview-Kelso area and the measurement and description of a composite 650-meter thick stratigraphic section of the Cowlitz Formation (Tc) in Coal Creek using bio-, magneto-, litho-, ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the middle eocene Cowlitz Formation and adjacent sedimentary and volcanic units in the Longview-Kelso area, southwest Washington Author: McCutcheon, Mark S. Geologic mapping of the Longview-Kelso area and the measurement and description of a composite 650-meter thick stratigraphic section of the Cowlitz Formation (Tc) in Coal Creek using bio-, magneto-, litho-, and sequence stratigraphy reveals a complex interplay of Cowlitz micaceous, lithic arkosic shelf to tidal/estuarine to delta plain facies associations, and Grays River basalt lava flows and interbedded basalt volcaniclastics from nearby Grays River eruptive centers (e.g., Mt. Solo and Rocky Point). The lower 100 meters of the Coal Creek section (informal unit 1, Chron 18r) consists of micaceous, lithic arkosic sandstone and siltstone and minor coals, was deposited as part of a highstand system tract (HST) at the base of 3rd order cycle number 3. This unit consists of four dominantly tidal shoaling-upward arkosic sandstone parasequences reflecting upper shoreface to delta plain depositional environments. The overlying unit 2 (Chron 18n) is defined by abundant Grays River basalt volcaniclastic interbeds that intertongue with Cowlitz lithic arkoses. This unit represents the latter part of 3rd order cycle 3, and consists of mostly fining- and thinning-upward parasequences of middle shoreface to delta plain successions of an aggradational to transgressive parasequence set. Near the top of unit 2 is a maximum marine flooding surface depositing lower shoreface lithic arkosic sandstone to shelf siltstones over upper shoreface micaceous lithic arkose. Unit 3 comprises 3rd order cycle 4 (Chron 17r), a lowstand system tract, and consists of 6 mostly fining- and thinning-upward parasequences of lower shoreface to delta plain facies associations. A parasequence or erosional boundary at the base of unit 5 (Chron 17r) consists of submarine channel-fill scoured into underlying micaceous siltstones, produced during a lowstand system tract (LST) of 3rd order cycle 5. This deep marine channel-fill sequence is overlain by thinlybedded to laminated overbank distal turbidites and hemipelagic siltstones that define the top of the Coal Creek section. These 5 informal units in Coal Creek lithologically and chronologically correlate to 5 similar informal units defined by Payne (1998) in the type section of Cowlitz Formation in Olequa Creek near Vader -30 km to the north. Middle Eocene Grays River Volcanics of the study area are mapped as two separate units: a lower unit over 150 meters thick in places, consisting of subaerial basaltic flows and invasive flows (Tgvl), intrusions (Tgvis and Tgvid), and volcaniclastics (Tgvsl); and an upper unit consisting of commonly mollusk-bearing, shallow marine basaltic sedimentary interbeds that intertongue with the Cowlitz Formation (Tgvs2), particularly Cowlitz unit 2 of the Coal Creek section. These volcaniclastic deposits are intrabasinal, derived from volcanic highlands to the west and northwest, and local phreatomagmatic tuff cones. The lower Grays River volcaniclastic unit typically overlies Grays River flows in the study area and is divided into 5 informal facies. Geochemically, Grays River flows in the study area fall within normal parameters (3 to 4% TiO2 and high iron tholeiitic basalts). However, basalt flows and bedded scoriaceous breccias near Rocky Point are anomalously low in TiO2 and are considered in this study to be a separate volcanic subunit (Rocky Point Basalts), time equivalent to and interfingering with Grays River lavas, but may represent mixing with shallower western Cascade calc-alkaline magma. Over 60 younger Grays River dikes intrude the Cowlitz Formation in Coal Creek. A dike low in the Coal Creek section is dated at 40 ± 0.36 Ma, and an invasive flow at Mt. Solo is dated at 36.98 ±.78 Ma. Volcanics capping the hills east of the Cowlitz River are chemically distinct as slightly younger western Cascade basaltic andesite flows, and two dikes east of the river are chemically distinct as western Cascade andesite. Overlying Grays River Volcanics and Cowlitz Formation in much of the study area, are clayey and commonly tuffaceous siltstones and silty sandstones, possibly of the late Eocene-early Oligocene Toutle Formation, a new unit to this area. The Toutle Formation is a mixture of wave and stream reworked micaceous and arkosic Cowlitz Formation and fresh silicic pyroclastic ash and pumice from the active western Cascade arc. An angular unconformity separates the Paleogene Grays River Volcanics, Cowlitz Formation, and Toutle Formation from the early to middle Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group. Based on lithology, geochemistry, stratigraphic relationships, and magnetic polarity, 6 individual Columbia River Basalt flows have been mapped in this study. The three lower Grande Ronde flows are of normal polarity and Ortley low MgO chemical composition. The lowermost flow (N2 Ortley #1) is absent in the Columbia Heights area, low MgO, about 10 meters thick and consists of pillow-palagonite sequences in the upper quarry on Mt. Solo. Aphyric N2 Ortley flow #2 is over 35 meters thick with well-developed upper and lower colonnade, and of intermediate MgO. N2 Ortley flow #3 is pillow-palagonite in the Storedahl Quarry and low MgO. A -4-meter thick tuffaceous overbank siltstone and basalt conglomeratic channel interbed separates the three low MgO Ortley flows from the overlying high MgO N2 Grande Ronde Sentinel Bluffs flow. A single exposure of well-developed large colonnade with sparse 1 cm labradorite laths, and reddish oxidized soil, defines the N Sand Hollow flow of the Frenchman Springs Member of the Wanapum Formation. The overlying Pomona Member is mapped based on previous work by other authors. Pliocene gravels and arkosic sand of the Troutdale Formation form upland terrace deposits up to 100 meters thick in southern parts of the study area, and represent the uplifted paleo-thalweg and overbank flood deposits of the downcutting, antecedent ancestral Columbia River. Well-rounded clasts are a mixture of extrabasinal granitic and metamorphic quartzite, and intrabasinal porphyritic basaltic andesite, dacite, and basalt from the western Cascades and Columbia River Basalts. Troutdale terrace gravels grade northward into contemporaneous volcanic pebble and cobble gravel terrace deposits produced along the ancestral Cowlitz River that are dominantly composed of porphyritic andesite gravel and volcanic sand from the western Cascades. Lower terraces along the Cowlitz River were deposited by the late Pleistocene Missoula Floods. All of these unconsolidated to semiconsolidated gravels and sands are prone to landslides, and the Aldercrest-Banyon landslide, the second worst landslide disaster in American history, occurred in the Troutdale Formation gravels. After eruption of the Grays River Volcanics and deposition of the Cowlitz Formation, the forearc underwent a period of transtension in the late-middle Eocene related to magmatic upwelling and reorganization of the subducting Farallon Plate. This event produced a northwest-trending set of oblique slip normal faults, along which Grays River dikes intruded. Starting in the early Miocene the region underwent a transpressional event, reactivating many of the northwest-trending faults, and producing the Columbia Heights Anticline, Hazel Dell Syncline, the Coal Creek Fault, and the Kelso Fault Zone. The paleotopography resulting from this event was stream eroded to a nearly flat plain before emplacement of the Columbia River Basalts, which are nearly horizontal today. Continued offset along the northwest-trending fault set has also offset the Columbia River Basalts. Continued oblique slip post-Miocene broad arching of the Coast Range and downcutting by the Columbia and Cowlitz Rivers has resulted in Pliocene and Pleistocene terraces, and produced an east-west fault set that offsets all earlier structural features. Title: Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the middle eocene Cowlitz Formation and adjacent sedimentary and volcanic units in the Longview-Kelso area, southwest Washington Author: McCutcheon, Mark S. Geologic mapping of the Longview-Kelso area and the measurement and description of a composite 650-meter thick stratigraphic section of the Cowlitz Formation (Tc) in Coal Creek using bio-, magneto-, litho-, and sequence stratigraphy reveals a complex interplay of Cowlitz micaceous, lithic arkosic shelf to tidal/estuarine to delta plain facies associations, and Grays River basalt lava flows and interbedded basalt volcaniclastics from nearby Grays River eruptive centers (e.g., Mt. Solo and Rocky Point). The lower 100 meters of the Coal Creek section (informal unit 1, Chron 18r) consists of micaceous, lithic arkosic sandstone and siltstone and minor coals, was deposited as part of a highstand system tract (HST) at the base of 3rd order cycle number 3. This unit consists of four dominantly tidal shoaling-upward arkosic sandstone parasequences reflecting upper shoreface to delta plain depositional environments. The overlying unit 2 (Chron 18n) is defined by abundant Grays River basalt volcaniclastic interbeds that intertongue with Cowlitz lithic arkoses. This unit represents the latter part of 3rd order cycle 3, and consists of mostly fining- and thinning-upward parasequences of middle shoreface to delta plain successions of an aggradational to transgressive parasequence set. Near the top of unit 2 is a maximum marine flooding surface depositing lower shoreface lithic arkosic sandstone to shelf siltstones over upper shoreface micaceous lithic arkose. Unit 3 comprises 3rd order cycle 4 (Chron 17r), a lowstand system tract, and consists of 6 mostly fining- and thinning-upward parasequences of lower shoreface to delta plain facies associations. A parasequence or erosional boundary at the base of unit 5 (Chron 17r) consists of submarine channel-fill scoured into underlying micaceous siltstones, produced during a lowstand system tract (LST) of 3rd order cycle 5. This deep marine channel-fill sequence is overlain by thinlybedded to laminated overbank distal turbidites and hemipelagic siltstones that define the top of the Coal Creek section. These 5 informal units in Coal Creek lithologically and chronologically correlate to 5 similar informal units defined by Payne (1998) in the type section of Cowlitz Formation in Olequa Creek near Vader -30 km to the north. Middle Eocene Grays River Volcanics of the study area are mapped as two separate units: a lower unit over 150 meters thick in places, consisting of subaerial basaltic flows and invasive flows (Tgvl), intrusions (Tgvis and Tgvid), and volcaniclastics (Tgvsl); and an upper unit consisting of commonly mollusk-bearing, shallow marine basaltic sedimentary interbeds that intertongue with the Cowlitz Formation (Tgvs2), particularly Cowlitz unit 2 of the Coal Creek section. These volcaniclastic deposits are intrabasinal, derived from volcanic highlands to the west and northwest, and local phreatomagmatic tuff cones. The lower Grays River volcaniclastic unit typically overlies Grays River flows in the study area and is divided into 5 informal facies. Geochemically, Grays River flows in the study area fall within normal parameters (3 to 4% TiO2 and high iron tholeiitic basalts). However, basalt flows and bedded scoriaceous breccias near Rocky Point are anomalously low in TiO2 and are considered in this study to be a separate volcanic subunit (Rocky Point Basalts), time equivalent to and interfingering with Grays River lavas, but may represent mixing with shallower western Cascade calc-alkaline magma. Over 60 younger Grays River dikes intrude the Cowlitz Formation in Coal Creek. A dike low in the Coal Creek section is dated at 40 ± 0.36 Ma, and an invasive flow at Mt. Solo is dated at 36.98 ±.78 Ma. Volcanics capping the hills east of the Cowlitz River are chemically distinct as slightly younger western Cascade basaltic andesite flows, and two dikes east of the river are chemically distinct as western Cascade andesite. Overlying Grays River Volcanics and Cowlitz Formation in much of the study area, are clayey and commonly tuffaceous siltstones and silty sandstones, possibly of the late Eocene-early Oligocene Toutle Formation, a new unit to this area. The Toutle Formation is a mixture of wave and stream reworked micaceous and arkosic Cowlitz Formation and fresh silicic pyroclastic ash and pumice from the active western Cascade arc. An angular unconformity separates the Paleogene Grays River Volcanics, Cowlitz Formation, and Toutle Formation from the early to middle Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group. Based on lithology, geochemistry, stratigraphic relationships, and magnetic polarity, 6 individual Columbia River Basalt flows have been mapped in this study. The three lower Grande Ronde flows are of normal polarity and Ortley low MgO chemical composition. The lowermost flow (N2 Ortley #1) is absent in the Columbia Heights area, low MgO, about 10 meters thick and consists of pillow-palagonite sequences in the upper quarry on Mt. Solo. Aphyric N2 Ortley flow #2 is over 35 meters thick with well-developed upper and lower colonnade, and of intermediate MgO. N2 Ortley flow #3 is pillow-palagonite in the Storedahl Quarry and low MgO. A -4-meter thick tuffaceous overbank siltstone and basalt conglomeratic channel interbed separates the three low MgO Ortley flows from the overlying high MgO N2 Grande Ronde Sentinel Bluffs flow. A single exposure of well-developed large colonnade with sparse 1 cm labradorite laths, and reddish oxidized soil, defines the N Sand Hollow flow of the Frenchman Springs Member of the Wanapum Formation. The overlying Pomona Member is mapped based on previous work by other authors. Pliocene gravels and arkosic sand of the Troutdale Formation form upland terrace deposits up to 100 meters thick in southern parts of the study area, and represent the uplifted paleo-thalweg and overbank flood deposits of the downcutting, antecedent ancestral Columbia River. Well-rounded clasts are a mixture of extrabasinal granitic and metamorphic quartzite, and intrabasinal porphyritic basaltic andesite, dacite, and basalt from the western Cascades and Columbia River Basalts. Troutdale terrace gravels grade northward into contemporaneous volcanic pebble and cobble gravel terrace deposits produced along the ancestral Cowlitz River that are dominantly composed of porphyritic andesite gravel and volcanic sand from the western Cascades. Lower terraces along the Cowlitz River were deposited by the late Pleistocene Missoula Floods. All of these unconsolidated to semiconsolidated gravels and sands are prone to landslides, and the Aldercrest-Banyon landslide, the second worst landslide disaster in American history, occurred in the Troutdale Formation gravels. After eruption of the Grays River Volcanics and deposition of the Cowlitz Formation, the forearc underwent a period of transtension in the late-middle Eocene related to magmatic upwelling and reorganization of the subducting Farallon Plate. This event produced a northwest-trending set of oblique slip normal faults, along which Grays River dikes intruded. Starting in the early Miocene the region underwent a transpressional event, reactivating many of the northwest-trending faults, and producing the Columbia Heights Anticline, Hazel Dell Syncline, the Coal Creek Fault, and the Kelso Fault Zone. The paleotopography resulting from this event was stream eroded to a nearly flat plain before emplacement of the Columbia River Basalts, which are nearly horizontal today. Continued offset along the northwest-trending fault set has also offset the Columbia River Basalts. Continued oblique slip post-Miocene broad arching of the Coast Range and downcutting by the Columbia and Cowlitz Rivers has resulted in Pliocene and Pleistocene terraces, and produced an east-west fault set that offsets all earlier structural features. Close

• 209. [Article] Sedimentary texture--a key to interpret deep-marine dynamics

  The processes responsible for transporting and depositing thick sections of coarse-grained terrigenous clastics on the abyssal floor and for forming associated sedimentary structures are still conjectural. Many ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Sedimentary texture--a key to interpret deep-marine dynamics Author: Allen, David William The processes responsible for transporting and depositing thick sections of coarse-grained terrigenous clastics on the abyssal floor and for forming associated sedimentary structures are still conjectural. Many workers attribute coarse deep-sea sediments and their probable lithified equivalent, the graywackes of flysch deposits to some type of density movement. Deductions concerning the processes operating in a density flow generally are made from flume studies--in which an artificial situation may develop, or from lithified units--where the magnitude of post-depositional change is unknown. Both approaches contribute to our knowledge, but the unconsolidated elastics themselves should contain a unique key to understanding the dynamics of abyssal sedimentation. To test this theory, divisions of parallel lamination, found in deep-sea sand and silt, were selected for analysis. Since individual laminae closely approach discrete populations of particles assembled under contrasting conditions, their use carries environmental sampling to its practical limits. Northeast Pacific sediments of late Pleistocene and Holocene age, from deep-sea channel and abyssal plain environments, and representing two or three provenances were studied. A total of 115 light-colored and 84 dark-colored laminae were sampled from eight sequences at five locations. Samples averaged about 0.8 gram and were quantitatively processed using quarter-phi calibrated sieves and decantation techniques. Statistical evaluation of the procedure shows better than 95 percent sample recovery, and indicates that textural variance between laminae is significantly greater than within-sample variance. The classic concept of density transport--that coarsest material is carried by the nose of the current, and that clastic size grades tail-ward and upward in a uniformly decreasing manner--is not substantiated by moment measures, sand-silt-clay percentages or factor analysis of grain-size distributions, at least during deposition of the coarse division of parallel lamination. Coarse abyssal lamination develops within a narrow range of current velocity, the limits of which are defined texturally. Absolute velocity values for these limits can only be related, at the present time, to the few flume or in situ bottom current measurements available. Texture indicates that while the total amount of sand carried in suspension varies, lamination does not begin to form until a current is essentially depleted of all material coarser than fine sand--establishing an upper competency limit. At that time, coarse suspended material is distributed throughout the flow mostly in large eddies or vortices whose velocities are estimated on the order of about one meter/sec. Mean current velocity must be sufficient to maintain a dispersed traction carpet without deformation of bedform into ripples. This is postulated at about 50 cm/sec. A current model, based on textural evidence, is proposed to account for lamination. It is suggested that the critical stage in the formation of coarse abyssal lamination occurs while sediment is being dragged along the bottom as bedload. The flowing clastic traction carpet acquires kinetic energy as the current bypasses material lost from suspension. In turn, this energy results in grain shear. When the concentration of granular material in traction is large, it dissipates the energy of bottom shear mostly in collision contacts between gliding grains. The dispersive stresses developed tend to maintain grain separation and prevent settling. Eventually, turbulence in seawater entrapped between grains is suppressed and the net path of grans impelled by repeated collisions becomes quasi-laminar. Within this quasi-laminar traction system, dispersive pressure causes some migration of finer sizes toward the base of the carpet and a concentration of coarser grains in the upper bedload. As new material is introduced in large quantities from suspension, the zone of internal shear--the base of the moving carpet--is displaced progressively upward. As it passes, sediment compacts to a fraction of its dispersed thickness and a population of grains with a slightly finer size distribution than the carpet load comes to rest. This is buried by new deposition and a densely-packed, dark layer continues to accrete upward as long as a moving traction carpet is sustained and a dense rain of clastics is contributed from suspension. When a sand-laden eddy impinges on the bottom, it releases its coarsest load into traction and the dark layer then accreting increases significantly in grains larger than 44 microns. Any eddy, whether laden or not, on striking bottom adds to, or deducts its velocity from the velocity of the traction carpet and either increases or decreases bottom shear. Additional impulse given to tractive shear by eddies merely results in more effective size sorting. However, an eddy whose velocity of rotation is opposed to current movement may reduce shear below the critical necessary to maintain a thick carpet by dispersive pressure, The dispersed carpet collapses and instantaneously ceases moving. This less-densely packed layer has a slightly higher sand content than the accreted material below. When partially dried or weathered, alternate layers exhibit different moisture retention properties--the less-porous, accreted layers appearing dark and the more loosely packed layers appearing light. Title: Sedimentary texture--a key to interpret deep-marine dynamics Author: Allen, David William The processes responsible for transporting and depositing thick sections of coarse-grained terrigenous clastics on the abyssal floor and for forming associated sedimentary structures are still conjectural. Many workers attribute coarse deep-sea sediments and their probable lithified equivalent, the graywackes of flysch deposits to some type of density movement. Deductions concerning the processes operating in a density flow generally are made from flume studies--in which an artificial situation may develop, or from lithified units--where the magnitude of post-depositional change is unknown. Both approaches contribute to our knowledge, but the unconsolidated elastics themselves should contain a unique key to understanding the dynamics of abyssal sedimentation. To test this theory, divisions of parallel lamination, found in deep-sea sand and silt, were selected for analysis. Since individual laminae closely approach discrete populations of particles assembled under contrasting conditions, their use carries environmental sampling to its practical limits. Northeast Pacific sediments of late Pleistocene and Holocene age, from deep-sea channel and abyssal plain environments, and representing two or three provenances were studied. A total of 115 light-colored and 84 dark-colored laminae were sampled from eight sequences at five locations. Samples averaged about 0.8 gram and were quantitatively processed using quarter-phi calibrated sieves and decantation techniques. Statistical evaluation of the procedure shows better than 95 percent sample recovery, and indicates that textural variance between laminae is significantly greater than within-sample variance. The classic concept of density transport--that coarsest material is carried by the nose of the current, and that clastic size grades tail-ward and upward in a uniformly decreasing manner--is not substantiated by moment measures, sand-silt-clay percentages or factor analysis of grain-size distributions, at least during deposition of the coarse division of parallel lamination. Coarse abyssal lamination develops within a narrow range of current velocity, the limits of which are defined texturally. Absolute velocity values for these limits can only be related, at the present time, to the few flume or in situ bottom current measurements available. Texture indicates that while the total amount of sand carried in suspension varies, lamination does not begin to form until a current is essentially depleted of all material coarser than fine sand--establishing an upper competency limit. At that time, coarse suspended material is distributed throughout the flow mostly in large eddies or vortices whose velocities are estimated on the order of about one meter/sec. Mean current velocity must be sufficient to maintain a dispersed traction carpet without deformation of bedform into ripples. This is postulated at about 50 cm/sec. A current model, based on textural evidence, is proposed to account for lamination. It is suggested that the critical stage in the formation of coarse abyssal lamination occurs while sediment is being dragged along the bottom as bedload. The flowing clastic traction carpet acquires kinetic energy as the current bypasses material lost from suspension. In turn, this energy results in grain shear. When the concentration of granular material in traction is large, it dissipates the energy of bottom shear mostly in collision contacts between gliding grains. The dispersive stresses developed tend to maintain grain separation and prevent settling. Eventually, turbulence in seawater entrapped between grains is suppressed and the net path of grans impelled by repeated collisions becomes quasi-laminar. Within this quasi-laminar traction system, dispersive pressure causes some migration of finer sizes toward the base of the carpet and a concentration of coarser grains in the upper bedload. As new material is introduced in large quantities from suspension, the zone of internal shear--the base of the moving carpet--is displaced progressively upward. As it passes, sediment compacts to a fraction of its dispersed thickness and a population of grains with a slightly finer size distribution than the carpet load comes to rest. This is buried by new deposition and a densely-packed, dark layer continues to accrete upward as long as a moving traction carpet is sustained and a dense rain of clastics is contributed from suspension. When a sand-laden eddy impinges on the bottom, it releases its coarsest load into traction and the dark layer then accreting increases significantly in grains larger than 44 microns. Any eddy, whether laden or not, on striking bottom adds to, or deducts its velocity from the velocity of the traction carpet and either increases or decreases bottom shear. Additional impulse given to tractive shear by eddies merely results in more effective size sorting. However, an eddy whose velocity of rotation is opposed to current movement may reduce shear below the critical necessary to maintain a thick carpet by dispersive pressure, The dispersed carpet collapses and instantaneously ceases moving. This less-densely packed layer has a slightly higher sand content than the accreted material below. When partially dried or weathered, alternate layers exhibit different moisture retention properties--the less-porous, accreted layers appearing dark and the more loosely packed layers appearing light. Close

• 210. [Article] Genesis of the El Salvador porphyry copper deposit, Chile and distribution of epithermal alteration at Lassen Peak, California

  The El Salvador porphyry copper deposit in the Indio Muerto district of northern Chile has been geologically investigated for more than 60 years and provides one of the best bases for understanding similar ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Genesis of the El Salvador porphyry copper deposit, Chile and distribution of epithermal alteration at Lassen Peak, California Author: Lee, Robert G. (Robert George) The El Salvador porphyry copper deposit in the Indio Muerto district of northern Chile has been geologically investigated for more than 60 years and provides one of the best bases for understanding similar environments of ore formation elsewhere in the world. Fourteen new zircon U/Pb isotopic ages obtained via in situ SHRIMP-RG analysis are here coupled with previous geological studies to allow refinement of the timing of Eocene porphyry magma emplacement responsible for copper and molybdenum mineralization that occurs in several ore bodies within the district. The earliest intrusions are rhyolites that crop out throughout the district, but are more abundant in the north. In contrast, the later granodiorite porphyries were emplaced only in the central and southern parts of the district. Two age periods of mineralization have been documented using zircon U/Pb geochronology. The low grade and small copper deposit at Old Camp in the northern district is associated with a quartz porphyry intrusion that yielded an age of 43.6 ± 0.5 Ma, whereas the main copper molybdenum deposit at Turquoise Gulch is associated with emplacement of the granodioritic L porphyry plug that yielded an age of 42.0 ± 0.5 Ma. The final intrusion is a series of latite porphyry dikes, which post-date ores and yielded a U/Pb zircon age of 41.6 ± 0.5 Ma. Inherited Eocene zircons with ages from ~45 Ma to ~47 Ma are found within younger porphyry intrusions and likely formed via magmatic recycling of older intrusions. Therefore, the zircon U/Pb ages suggest magmatism spanned approximately 5 million years from 47 to 42 Ma, with hydrothermal copper-molybdenum ores dominantly forming during the final stages of porphyry emplacement. Geochemical analyses by XRF, ICP-MS, electron microprobe and laser-ablation ICP-MS define a wide range of major, minor and trace element contents for the Eocene porphyry intrusions within the district. The early rhyolite and quartz porphyry intrusions have rare earth contents with strong negative europium anomalies and relatively low Sr/Y and Sm/Yb ratios consistent formation via fractional crystallization of plagioclase-rich mineral assemblages from more mafic parental melts. The granodiorite porphyries have no europium anomalies and a wide range of Sr/Y and Sm/Yb ratios that support an origin via fractional crystallization of garnet, hornblende ± titanite, and minor plagioclase from an andesitic parental melt. The granodiorite intrusions at M Gulch – Copper Hill are ~1 m.y. older than and have less evolved trace element ratios than the younger granodiorite intrusions associated with the main mineralization event. The evolving Eocene intrusions are the result of lower to middle crust melts ascending to mix with silica-rich differentiated melts derived from fractional crystallization of older andesitic magmas. Progressive decrease of Eu/Eu* ratios in the zircons with decreasing age gives direct evidence in support of the hypothesis that the main ore mineralization is directly related to the evolution of the upper crustal magma reservoir to progressively more oxidized conditions. A second goal of this study was to document the mineralogy and zonation of altered wall rock at Lassen National Volcanic Park in northern California, in order to understand the pressure, temperature, fluid composition, and epithermal processes along the southern flank of Lassen Peak. Extensive epithermal wall rock alteration occurs along the southern flank of the Cascadia volcano and includes both active and fossil geothermal systems. Geologic mapping coupled with mineral identification using a portable infrared spectrometer and X-ray diffraction outline several hydrothermal systems within the park. Currently active, steam-heated acid sulfate alteration is characterized by kaolinite, alunite, opal, and cristobalite with accessory iron sulfates. The active hydrothermal zones are proximal to thermal pools and fumaroles at Sulphur Works, Pilot Pinnacle, Little Hot Springs Valley, and Bumpass Hell. At least three fossil systems occur within andesite lavas and flow breccias of the eroded Pleistocene Brokeoff Volcano. Intermediate argillic alteration occurs at higher elevations on the flanks of the eroded volcano and is characterized by mixed layer illite-smectite, quartz, pyrite, and albite. Propylitic alteration occurs within the eroded lower elevations of Little Hot Springs Valley and is characterized by chlorite, calcite, quartz, pyrite, illite, albite, and rare epidote. Also present to a lesser extent is an advanced argillic alteration defined by pyrophyllite, dickite, alunite, kaolinite, and quartz formed at Pilot Pinnacle. Title: Genesis of the El Salvador porphyry copper deposit, Chile and distribution of epithermal alteration at Lassen Peak, California Author: Lee, Robert G. (Robert George) The El Salvador porphyry copper deposit in the Indio Muerto district of northern Chile has been geologically investigated for more than 60 years and provides one of the best bases for understanding similar environments of ore formation elsewhere in the world. Fourteen new zircon U/Pb isotopic ages obtained via in situ SHRIMP-RG analysis are here coupled with previous geological studies to allow refinement of the timing of Eocene porphyry magma emplacement responsible for copper and molybdenum mineralization that occurs in several ore bodies within the district. The earliest intrusions are rhyolites that crop out throughout the district, but are more abundant in the north. In contrast, the later granodiorite porphyries were emplaced only in the central and southern parts of the district. Two age periods of mineralization have been documented using zircon U/Pb geochronology. The low grade and small copper deposit at Old Camp in the northern district is associated with a quartz porphyry intrusion that yielded an age of 43.6 ± 0.5 Ma, whereas the main copper molybdenum deposit at Turquoise Gulch is associated with emplacement of the granodioritic L porphyry plug that yielded an age of 42.0 ± 0.5 Ma. The final intrusion is a series of latite porphyry dikes, which post-date ores and yielded a U/Pb zircon age of 41.6 ± 0.5 Ma. Inherited Eocene zircons with ages from ~45 Ma to ~47 Ma are found within younger porphyry intrusions and likely formed via magmatic recycling of older intrusions. Therefore, the zircon U/Pb ages suggest magmatism spanned approximately 5 million years from 47 to 42 Ma, with hydrothermal copper-molybdenum ores dominantly forming during the final stages of porphyry emplacement. Geochemical analyses by XRF, ICP-MS, electron microprobe and laser-ablation ICP-MS define a wide range of major, minor and trace element contents for the Eocene porphyry intrusions within the district. The early rhyolite and quartz porphyry intrusions have rare earth contents with strong negative europium anomalies and relatively low Sr/Y and Sm/Yb ratios consistent formation via fractional crystallization of plagioclase-rich mineral assemblages from more mafic parental melts. The granodiorite porphyries have no europium anomalies and a wide range of Sr/Y and Sm/Yb ratios that support an origin via fractional crystallization of garnet, hornblende ± titanite, and minor plagioclase from an andesitic parental melt. The granodiorite intrusions at M Gulch – Copper Hill are ~1 m.y. older than and have less evolved trace element ratios than the younger granodiorite intrusions associated with the main mineralization event. The evolving Eocene intrusions are the result of lower to middle crust melts ascending to mix with silica-rich differentiated melts derived from fractional crystallization of older andesitic magmas. Progressive decrease of Eu/Eu* ratios in the zircons with decreasing age gives direct evidence in support of the hypothesis that the main ore mineralization is directly related to the evolution of the upper crustal magma reservoir to progressively more oxidized conditions. A second goal of this study was to document the mineralogy and zonation of altered wall rock at Lassen National Volcanic Park in northern California, in order to understand the pressure, temperature, fluid composition, and epithermal processes along the southern flank of Lassen Peak. Extensive epithermal wall rock alteration occurs along the southern flank of the Cascadia volcano and includes both active and fossil geothermal systems. Geologic mapping coupled with mineral identification using a portable infrared spectrometer and X-ray diffraction outline several hydrothermal systems within the park. Currently active, steam-heated acid sulfate alteration is characterized by kaolinite, alunite, opal, and cristobalite with accessory iron sulfates. The active hydrothermal zones are proximal to thermal pools and fumaroles at Sulphur Works, Pilot Pinnacle, Little Hot Springs Valley, and Bumpass Hell. At least three fossil systems occur within andesite lavas and flow breccias of the eroded Pleistocene Brokeoff Volcano. Intermediate argillic alteration occurs at higher elevations on the flanks of the eroded volcano and is characterized by mixed layer illite-smectite, quartz, pyrite, and albite. Propylitic alteration occurs within the eroded lower elevations of Little Hot Springs Valley and is characterized by chlorite, calcite, quartz, pyrite, illite, albite, and rare epidote. Also present to a lesser extent is an advanced argillic alteration defined by pyrophyllite, dickite, alunite, kaolinite, and quartz formed at Pilot Pinnacle. Close