Tectonic evolution of Honey Lake basin, northeastern California

Conference · Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5097827

Wagner, D L ^[1]; Saucedo, G J ^[2]; Grose, T L.T. ^[3]

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1. Division of Mines and Geology, Sacramento, CA (United States)
2. Division of Mines and Geology, San Francisco, CA (United States)
3. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geological Engineering

New geologic mapping in northeastern California provides additional data on the age and tectonic evolution of the Honey Lake Basin. Rhylitic ash flow tuffs of latest Oligocene to early Miocene age (30 to 22 Ma) occur in the Fort Sage Mountains and in the Sierra Nevada but are not apparent in wells drilled in the Honey Lake basin. Though other interpretations can be made, the authors take this as evidence that the basin did not exist at that time. Volcanic rocks as old as 12 Ma do occur in the basin indicating initiation in mid-Miocene time probably as a graben due to block faulting. Syntectonic andesitic and basaltic volcanism occurred along faults bounding the Sierra Nevada block at 9 to 10 Ma. Lava issuing from these fractures flowed westward along Tertiary drainages indicating that the Sierran block had been uplifted and tilted westward. Andesites erupted during this time north and east of the basin are lithologically distinct from Sierran andesites. Strike-slip faulting began to dominate the tectonic setting of the region during late Pliocene and Quaternary time with the development of the Honey Lake Fault Zone. Holocene strike-slip displacement is indicated by offsets of the 12,000 year old Lake Lahontan shoreline and deposits containing a 7,000 year old ash.

• OSTI ID: 5097827
• Report Number(s): CONF-9305259-; CODEN: GAAPBC
• Journal Information: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:5; Conference: 89. annual meeting of the Cordilleran Section and the 46th annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Reno, NV (United States), 19-21 May 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
CALIFORNIA
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
TECTONICS
ANDESITES
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGY
MAPPING
ORIGIN
RHYOLITES
TERTIARY PERIOD
TUFF
CENOZOIC ERA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
IGNEOUS ROCKS
NORTH AMERICA
ROCKS
USA
VOLCANIC ROCKS
580000* - Geosciences