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Late Quaternary geomorphology and soils in Crater Flat, Yucca mountain area, southern Nevada

Journal Article · · Geological Society of America, Bulletin
; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV (United States)
  2. Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States)
  3. Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Crater Flat is an alluvium-filled structural basin on the west side of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, which is under consideration for a high-level nuclear waste repository. North-trending, late Quaternary faults offset alluvium in Crater Flat both along the canyons of the western flanks of Yucca Mountain and out on the piedmont slope. We believe the initial lack of young offsets at Yucca Mountain was in part due to unrecognized late Quaternary stratigraphy. We hypothesize that alluviation in the Yucca Mountain region was more active during the late Quaternary than previously thought. Several techniques were tried to test this hypothesis. Results are compared with previous soils and surface-exposure dating studies, and correlated to stratigraphy of other late Quaternary units in the southern Nevada, Death Valley, and Mojave Desert areas, and provide new stratigraphic data relevant to understanding climatic-alluvial processes in the Basin and Range Province during the late Quaternary. 76 refs., 7 figs., 6 tabs.
OSTI ID:
81288
Journal Information:
Geological Society of America, Bulletin, Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Bulletin Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 107; ISSN BUGMAF; ISSN 0016-7606
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English