Fluvial response to on-going tectonism and base-level changes, lower Amargosa River, Southern Death Valley, California

Butler, Paul Ray

doi:10.1016/0037-0738(84)90076-9

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A and B are model estimates for knickpoint migration during the Wisconsin glaciation of the Mississippi River from Salter (1993) and Leeder & Stewart (1996), respectively. The numbers represent river data from: 1 West Tennessee channels (Simon, 1991); 2 Homochitto River (Yodis & Kesel, 1993); 3 Dry Creek (Begin, 1988); 4 Deep Creek (Schumm et al ., 1996); 5 St. Catharine Creek (Yodis & Kesel, 1993); 6 Homochitto tributaries (Yodis & Kesel, 1993); 7 Pechahalee Creek (Begin, 1988); 8 Crawfords Creek (Begin et al ., 1981); 9 St. Catharine Creek tributaries (Yodis & Kesel, 1993); 10 Harding Bayou (Yodis & Kesel, 1993); 11 Spanish Bayou (Yodis & Kesel, 1993); 12 Saikawa River (Begin, 1988); 13 Pleasant Valley, Nevada (Begin, 1988); 14 Oaklimiter Creek (Begin, 1988); 15 Indus (Leland et al ., 1998); 16 Wolf Creek (Eaton, 1991); 17 Mattole River (Pazzaglia et al ., 1998); 18 Blue Hills channels (Dick et al ., 1997); 19 Gully near Imlay, Nevada (Begin, 1988); 20 Niagara Falls (Wohl, 1998); 21 South River (Bank & Harbor, 1998); 22 Rio Jemez (Pazzaglia et al ., 1998); 23 Rappahannock River (Howard et al ., 1994); 24 Susquehanna (Pazzaglia et al ., 1998); 25 Swede (Stock & Montgomery, 1999); 26 French (Stock & Montgomery, 1999); 27 Amargosa River (Butler, 1984); 28 Tumut River (Young & McDougall, 1993); 29 Cowlet (Stock & Montgomery, 1999); 30 Tumbarumba Creek (Young & McDougall, 1993); 31 Wheeo Creek (Stock & Montgomery, 1999); 32 Shoalhaven River (Nott et al ., 1996); 33 Paddys River (Young & McDougall, 1993); 34 Dabang River (Yang & Li, 1988); 35 Maclean River (Weissel & Seidl, 1997); 36 Hawaiian channels (Seidl et al ., 1994); 37 Boggy Creek (Young & McDougall, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluvial response to sea‐level changes: a quantitative analogue, experimental approach

2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Quantitative evaluation of fluvial response to allogenic controls is crucial for further progress in understanding the stratigraphic record in terms of processes that control landscape evolution. For instance, without quantitative insight into time lags that are known to exist between sea‐level change and fluvial response, there is no way to relate fluvial stratigraphy to the sea‐level curve. It is difficult to put firm constraints on these time‐lag relationships on the basis of empirical studies. Therefore, we have started to quantify time‐averaged erosion and deposition in the fluvial and offshore realms in response to sea‐level change by means of analogue modelling in a 4 × 8‐m flume tank. The rate of sea‐level change was chosen as an independent variable, with other factors such as sediment supply, discharge and initial geometry kept constant over the course of 18 experiments. Our experimental results support the common view that neither fall nor rise in sea level affects the upstream fluvial system instantaneously. An important cause for the delayed fluvial response is that a certain amount of time is required to connect initial incisions on the newly emergent shelf (canyons) with the fluvial valley. Lowering of the fluvial longitudinal profile starts only after the connection of an active shelf canyon with the fluvial valley; until that moment the profile remains steady. We quantified the process of connection and introduced the quantity ‘connection rate’. It controlled, in conjunction with the rate of sea‐level fall: (1) the amount of fluvial degradation during sea‐level fall; (2) the total sediment volume that bypasses the shelf edge; (3) the percentage of fluvial relative to shelf sediment in the lowstand delta; (4) the volume of the transgressive systems tract and (5) the amount of diachroneity along the sequence boundary. Our experiments demonstrate also that the sequence‐stratigraphic concept is difficult to apply to continental successions, even when these successions have been deposited within the influence of sea level.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluvial response to sea‐level changes: a quantitative analogue, experimental approach

2001

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Death Valley itself is interpreted to be a pull-apart basin formed in the step between the en echelon northern and southern branches of the fault system (Burchfiel and Stewart, 1966). Offset of Quaternary gravels along the fault system led Butler (1984) to conclude that there has been between 20 and 35 km of offset on the southern Death Valley fault zone. All of the lateral displacement along the western side of the southern Death Valley fault zone probably took place between about mid-Miocene time and 1 Ma (Butler et al, 1988).…”

Section: Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Butler (1984) dated the unconformity at the top of the section at 0.621.14 Ma, based on an ash collected from just above the unconformity. The tilted strata of the Confidence Hills Formation are overlain by shoreline features related to Lake Manly.…”

Section: Age Control and Depositional Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pliocene-Pleistocene stratigraphy and depositional environments, southern Confidence Hills, Death Valley, California

Beratan¹,

Hsieh²,

Murray³

1999

Cenozoic Basins of the Death Valley Region

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Pliocene to Recent lacustrine and playa deposits in the southwestern UnitedStates preserve a sedimentary record of climate change and tectonic activity. The middle Pliocene record is particularly important, because it represents the beginning of the glacial-interglacial climate that characterizes the Quaternary. However, continental sedimentary records of this time period are scarce. Well-exposed playa margin deposits in the Confidence Hills, southern Death Valley National Monument, California, were deposited between about 2.5 and 1.5 Ma. Detailed chronometric control is provided by tephrochronology and magnetostratigraphy.A new stratigraphic unit, the Confidence Hills Formation, is herein defined. This formation consists of interbedded fine-to coarse-grained siliciclastic strata with abundant gypsum and anhydrite. Ten distinct sedimentary lithofacies were defined within the Confidence Hills Formation based on variations in their siliciclastic and evaporite components. Lithofacies dominated by siliciclastic components include the siltstone, fine-grained sandstone, coarse-grained sandstone, and interbedded coarse-grained sandstone/conglomerate lithofacies. Those dominated by evaporitic components include the halitic mudstone/siltstone/fine-grained sandstone, gypsiferous mudstone/siltstone/fine-grained sandstone, banded anhydrite, and thin-bedded to massive anhydrite lithofacies. The siliciclastic component shows an overall coarsening-and thickening-upward trend, from dominantly thinly bedded siltstone in the lower part of the section to dominantly medium-bedded, fine-to medium-grained sandstone in the upper part. Superimposed on this pattern is variation in amounts, types, and textures of evaporite deposits.The lithofacies observed in the Confidence Hills are readily interpretable using the classification of saline lake subenvironments developed by Hardie et al. (1978). The halitic mudstone lithofacies is interpreted as having been deposited within the center of the saline lake. The anhydrite-and gypsum-bearing lithofacies are interpreted as having been deposited in the saline mudflat subenvironment marginal to the saline lake. The siliciclastic sediment was derived primarily from the Owlshead Mountains to the west and deposited by streamflood mechanisms in a distal alluvial fan setting.The overall coarsening-upward sequence is interpreted as recording progradation of one or more marginal alluvial fans into a saline lake. The depositional rate was fairly constant at about 29 mm/ka. Major changes in depositional setting occurred

show abstract

“…A number of previous studies have defined the pre-Quaternary geologic history of the map area (for example, Muehlberger, 1954;Noble and Wright, 1954;Wright, 1954Wright, , 1976aWright and Troxel, 1954, 1967, 1984Jennings and others, 1962;Noble and others, 1963;Brady, 1984Brady, , 1986Troxel, 1986a;Thompson and others, 1999;Serpa and Pavlis, 1996;Workman and others, 2002a, b;Luckow and others, 2005;Miller, 2005;Fridrich and Thompson, 2011;others, 2012, 2014). The pre-Quaternary geology for some areas of the map was primarily derived from unpublished maps by B. Troxel (California Geological Survey and University of California, Davis, 1980Davis, -1995, L.A. Wright (Pennsylvania State University, 1980-1995, R.H. Brady, III, (University of California, Davis, 1980-1985, and California State University, Fresno, 1985-2000, and M.R.…”

Section: Physiographic and Geologic Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surficial geologic map of the Owlshead Mountains 30' x 60' quadrangle, Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California

Menges,

Cossette

2023

Scientific Investigations Map

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fluvial response to on-going tectonism and base-level changes, lower Amargosa River, Southern Death Valley, California

Cited by 10 publications

References 11 publications

Fluvial response to sea‐level changes: a quantitative analogue, experimental approach

Fluvial response to sea‐level changes: a quantitative analogue, experimental approach

Pliocene-Pleistocene stratigraphy and depositional environments, southern Confidence Hills, Death Valley, California

Surficial geologic map of the Owlshead Mountains 30' x 60' quadrangle, Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, California

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About