Chapter 40 The Kingston Peak Formation in the eastern Death Valley region

Abstract

The late Neoproterozoic Kingston Peak Formation (Fm.) is a several-kilometre-thick sedimentary succession primarily influenced by syndepositional tectonism and located in the region around Death Valley, California ( Fig. 40.1). Its distribution is divisible into an eastern facies assemblage, the subject of this paper, and a western facies assemblage covered in a separate chapter. The diamictitebearing Kingston Peak Fm. is bounded by the underlying shallow platform carbonates of the Beck Spring Fm. and overlain by the Noonday Dolomite. There is an absence of direct palaeolatitude or radiometric age constraints and any correlation is based on broad similarities with other coarse-grained strata (diamictite) located in a northward trending belt along the Cordilleran miogeocline. The overlying Noonday Dolomite has been interpreted to be a late Cryogenian 'cap carbonate' and shares a set of unique facies associations and isotopic and lithological characteristics with other late Neoproterozoic post-glacial carbonate intervals in Namibia, Canada, Australia and Brazil. Research to date has focused on understanding local basin evolution, glacial sedimentology, correlation between the eastern and western facies assemblages and initiation and development of the North American Cordillera. The intimate association of tectonic and glacial facies with rapid local thickness and facies changes corresponding with syn-sedimentary faulting is the most distinctive stratigraphic characteristic of the Kingston Peak Fm. The complex local stratigraphy complicates correlation both within the Death Valley region as well as globally, and pending absolute age dates, does not fit easily with conventional Cryogenian Period glacial models identifying two or more discrete ice ages.

Detrital zircon provenance and paleogeography of the Pahrump Group and overlying strata, Death Valley, California

“…In light of recent lithostratigraphic, tectonostratigraphic and chronologic investigations (e.g. Mrofka and Kennedy, 2011;Petterson et al, 2011aPetterson et al, , 2011bVerdel et al, 2011;MacDonald et al, 2013;Mahon et al, 2014), our data provide a detailed record of the chronology, provenance and paleogeographic evolution of the ca. 1300-650 Ma time represented (as both preserved sedimentary rock and unconformities) by the Pahrump Group and Noonday Dolomite.…”

Geochronologic and stratigraphic constraints on the Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic Pahrump Group, Death Valley, California: A record of the assembly, stability, and breakup of Rodinia

“…Despite extensive research on Pahrump Group stratigraphy (e.g., Hewett, 1940Hewett, , 1956Wright, 1949;Troxel, 1956, 1966;Troxel, 1967;Gutstadt, 1968Gutstadt, , 1969Cloud et al, 1969;Maud, 1979Maud, , 1983Roberts, 1982;Wright and Prave, 1993;Prave, 1999;Petterson et al, 2011aPetterson et al, , 2011b, fundamental disagreements about formal stratigraphic boundaries, inferred age constraints, and correlations across the outcrop area of the Pahrump Group remain unresolved (e.g., Mbuyi and Prave, 1993;Prave, 1999;Corsetti et al, 2007;Mrofka and Kennedy, 2011;Petterson et al, 2011aPetterson et al, , 2011b. These disagreements signifi cantly hinder regional correlations and paleogeographic reconstructions involving this key region.…”

Chapter 41 Glaciogenic and related strata of the Neoproterozoic Kingston Peak Formation in the Panamint Range, Death Valley region, California

“…In this discussion, we will also include the overlying Sentinel Peak Member of the Noonday Dolomite (for discussion of the chemostratigraphy of the underlying Beck Spring Fm. in the eastern Death Valley region, see Mrofka & Kennedy 2011).…”

“…The strata east of Death Valley are described in detail in Mrofka & Kennedy (2011). In that area, units are well exposed and have experienced only minor metamorphism.…”